Reviews Bear Creek Cafe

Wonderful food and staff and a beautiful setting for breakfast or lunch. The gift shop has lovely things to purchase. A very nice place to visit!

The Bear Creek Cafe is the perfect spot for breakfast or lunch with delicious food, incredible staff and beautiful scenery its one of the few hidden gems in PA.

Fresh fare in room with a view. You might know it by its sign. Or by its signature glazed green coffee mugs. Both contain two little bears, dining at table together, looking as if they’re about to make a happy toast.

Nope? Then you’re missing a hidden treasure, tucked away in bucolic Bear Creek Village.

Open only for breakfast and lunch, Bear Creek Café has to be one of the cutest, most peaceful places in all of NEPA, we dare say, to enjoy an early meal.

The first-shift crowd surely will find much to love on a breakfast menu whose entrées include everything from The Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Jolly Bear plates – containing varying combinations of eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, potatoes, toast and pancakes – to creamed chipped beef (Chef Rob’s personal recipe), stuffed French toast, a Belgian waffle and assortment of omelets. A Bear Hug and The Yummy Bear round out the morning menu as sandwich options. The first is eggs, cheese and meat in a flour tortilla, and the second is eggs, cheese and meat on a bagel. Both come with country potatoes.

We’ve had – and loved – almost everything on this menu before, but our purposes for this visit were to scope out the lunch menu, which we hadn’t yet had much opportunity to enjoy.

It’s sandwich heavy (as expected), but the options are attractive enough. The signature sandwich is a grilled turkey apple cheddar melt with apple slices and apple butter for $9.95, and that sounded like a great welcome back to almost-autumn, but we were drawn to The Café Quiche and another afternoon item with “bear” in its name.

Our two plates were almost studies in contrast, suitable for a mama and baby bear or perhaps a papa and baby or papa and mama. One of us sure looked hungry is my point.

By that we mean The Grizzly Bear – grilled chicken (or steak) with onions, sweet peppers and cheese (Provolone was chosen) on a hoagie roll for $9.95 – was absolutely huge, and half came home. But it also was absolutely delicious, with special points going out to the tasty roll, crunchy on the outside but all kinds of soft on the inside. Chicken was chopped and plentiful – well-seasoned, too – and the cheese was generous, with the peppers kicking in a sweet bite. Multigrain chips, a deli pickle and a daily side made the portion even larger (and tastier).

The Café Quiche ($7.95), on the other hand, was more delicate-looking, a pretty slice from a homemade pie. But it was plenty tasty: creamy and rich but not too rich.

“A nice, light lunch,” my guest said, noting the generous cubed ham and mild cheese. Presentation was flawless, too.

This one came with a side salad and a dinner roll.

Options we passed over but would like to try in the future include the salmon burger ($8.95), Southwest Wrap ($9.95) and quesadillas ($6.95 or $8.95 with meat). Chef salad and a Mandarin chicken salad also are available for the garden-grazers. Both sounded intriguing and would make a nice lunch with soup.

Yep, there’s soup. We each had a teeming and hot bowl of beef barley, with our only disappointment being the beef was of the ground variety rather than the meaty, tender chunks we prefer. Still, the broth had plenty of flavor, and sometimes soup is all about the broth.

Desserts, if you have the room, change daily, and homemade cakes and pies appear to steal the show.

So maybe plan to come hungry.

Like any self-respecting bear.

If you’re lucky, you might even see one scampering through the scenic grounds complete with a flowing creek/stream, visible through the tall glass windows off the main dining room.

Did we see any bears? Nope, and, sure, that’s probably a good thing. But truly we couldn’t ask for a better view. Or a more pleasant lunch.
If you go
What: Bear Creek Café

Where: 98 White Haven Road, Bear Creek

Call: (570) 472-2299

Credit cards? Yes

Wheelchair accessible? Yes

Hours: 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday

Times Leader food critics remain anonymous.

http://www.timesleader.com/stories/Fresh-fare-in-room-with-a-view,201860?search_filter=bear+creek+cafe&town_id=1&sub_type=stories

I was overwhelmed with joy coming back to this lovely spot. The breathtaking scenery is enough for me to stop in let alone the food. While we visited we enjoyed some offerings off the summer lunch menu. We had the braised short rib quesadilla, the bear claw club and the basil tomato soup. All of the dishes were delicious, a lot of attention to detail and presented by a delightful server. After our meal we enjoyed a walk in their gardens near the creek. This is a must go in the area for a special occasion or just to treat yourself. 10/10 for sure.

Great little place off route 115 by Bear Creek Village. Very quaint with indoor and outdoor seating overlooking a large creek. Sat outside on a great day. Food was great and they have a wonderful dessert case with terrific cakes, cookies and more. The inside also has a small country store with lots of unique items. We had lunch but they also do breakfast which I plan on coming back for sometime soon.

This restaurant had come highly recommended by many! I have to say the food was delicious and when we were finally seated our server was very attentive and friendly. I took one star away because we were not very satisfied with the way they had the waiting list set up. Instead of having a Hostess monitor the list of people who were waiting for a table, they had everyone line up on the register line. This meant that if people were paying their bills you waited in line behind them and then finally put your name down on the list. The list was then never looked at until the register line was cleared. There were tables that were empty and at least five or six separate parties of people standing and waiting around to be seated. It was not a matter of not having enough staff since there were waitresses available. A hostess to monitor the waiting list and to seat people would definitely solve this issue. Otherwise we were very satisfied with the food and our server. The Cafe was so homey with many stained glass windows and a country vibe. I did make one suggestion and that was to possibly create Bear Creek Cafe magnets for sale.

This was my second awesome experience at Bear Creek Cafe--and I'd been looking forward to it for 6 years! My oldest son went to Camp Orchard Hill, about 1/2 hour away, as a HS freshman, which was when I first found this gem of a dining experience on our way from NJ. This year, my youngest son went to camp and I made a point to stop at the Cafe to take in the beautiful sights and great food again. Even though we had to wait 1/2 hour for a table for 5, the time went fast as we walked by the stream and took pictures of the endless flower gardens and unique building with stained glass and other charming touches. There's also a small, quality gift shop to browse in. Everyone's breakfast was delicious (I had the Hawaiian scramble) and our young server did a great job. Bear Creek Cafe is a must for anyone traveling through the area with a little extra time to enjoy an outstanding meal and lots of beauty for the eyes to feast on.

We stumbled upon thus place while checking out some waterfalls in the area. Such a cute place with some really unique items in the gift shop. We had lunch and it was really good! A surprise for basically the middle if nowhere! The flowers were amazing as well, and a really neat view of Bear Creek. We bought several treasures to take home!