Lionne & 1855 Lounge — Restaurant in State College

We ate at Lionne twice - once for a late Friday dinner and once for breakfast Saturday morning. I hadn't eaten at the Nittany Lion Inn since the University owend it, so a while before it was Lionne.

We were all sad that the buffet hasn't come backl yet, since it was always good.

Our service Friday night was very good and the food was excellent. The menu was a bit annoying. It listed a bunch of beers - most of which were NOT available. Our waitress had to go to the bar to get a list of what was ACTUALLY on tap when a couple people in our party kept asking for things that were not. When she listed them, she mentioned a sour beer (which was NOT on the menu) that I ended up ordering. I think a sheet of paper printed daily that lists the beers that are actually available or a note on the menu telling you to ask for daily beer selections would be smarter than the list on the menu being completely incorrect. I don't like most beers, but I like most sour beers and I really enjoyed the beer I got, but would have had NO clue it was available if everything my partner and father ordered hadn't been unavailable. Not a great system.

Breakfast Saturday was delicious also, but the service was really bad. We had a friend join us who only wanted water and it took forever for him to get it. Getting refills was also difficult for those of us who did get food and wanted more water. We were never asked if we wanted more juice, though I think the answer would have been no for all of us. Very disappointing - especially when compared with my previous experiences there where the water glasses were filled almost immediately.

The booths are also pretty small.... We had a couple larger people in our party and we were hitting knees with each other - we had to organize it so the guys sat in certain places and still be careful. The next morning, we requested a...

The wine selection has seriously declined.

I've visited Lionne numerous times since they opened, and it’s become one of my go-to spots in State College. After returning to town for the school year, I was genuinely looking forward to dinner there again, and I wasn’t disappointed by the warm welcome. It was great to see some familiar, friendly faces like Ryan, Sophia, and even Lisa, who stopped by our table to say hello and welcome us back. That kind of personal touch is exactly why we keep coming back.

As always, the food and service were fantastic, consistently top-notch, especially the Lobster Bisque. However, there was one noticeable letdown: the wine selection has seriously declined.

We attempted to order several bottles of wine, but one after another, they were all out of stock. Our server was doing their best to help, and you could sense their frustration too, having to return to the table multiple times with bad news. In the past, we always enjoyed trying different bottles, and Lionne had a great variety to choose from. This time, it felt like a struggle just to find one that was available.

Before leaving, we peeked into the wine room and were surprised (and disappointed) to see how bare the shelves were. When we last visited in June, the racks were fully stocked, and it was such a beautiful sight. Now, many were empty, a stark contrast, and definitely not what we expected.

We’ll absolutely be back as Lionne still delivers on so many fronts; however, next time, we may opt to bring our own bottle and pay the corkage fee rather than go through the hassle of spending 30 minutes trying to find something and having to settle solely because it...

Our thoughts on dinner at Lionne, Nittany Lion Inn, State College, PA, Sept 4, 2024. We liked the wallpaper ambiance and the chairs were comfortable. The two-top table we sat at was a good size and reasonably far from adjacent tables. Dress code was casual for both customers and staff—perhaps too causal for some of the staff. The wine list was extensive but trending to rather expensive bottles. I would like to see more west USA coast wines and more choice of bottles priced under $60. Dottie picked the signature lobster and chicken blend salad and was very disappointed. The lobster was tough (over cooked?). My Caesar Salad was very good but our server didn’t ask or volunteer fresh ground pepper. Dottie loved her salmon dish and I loved my Day Boat scallops and I would highly recommend the scallops.

One feature of Lionne seriously disappointed me. The table settings used fabric placemats. As I recall, the old Nittany Lion Inn’s main dining room used white linen table cloths and changed them after each seating. In my opinion fabric placemats raise serious health issues. Does anybody really think they can be or are really effectively cleaned between customers? If one does not wish to to use linen table cloths that are changed between seatings, a much better and more easily kept clean surface is a glass or other easily cleaned table top. For this reason I am reluctant to...