Sometimes the first part of the meal is the star of the show. Appetizers are the perfect small bites to curb your appetite, but these excellent restaurants do apps so well, they deserve to have a spotlight shined on them. From jalapeno poppers, to calamari, to stuffed grape leaves, here are the 10 best places for appetizers in Pennsylvania.
Are you a foodie with an adventurous spirit who likes to try new things? Than Spoon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a must-see place to try. Dedicated to enlarging your food vocabulary, you can experience things like cauliflower pierogis, rampi, churro, farroto, and sunchoke. Using fresh local ingredients in every dish, this premier city destination is open every day at 5 p.m. and has a Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.
William Penn Tavern in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a casual sports bar with the best appetizers around according to several social media sites. But tasting is believing, and you can see for yourself from their menu list of munchies like mac and cheese bites, jalapeno poppers, and clam strips. You’ll want to try their $1 wings in flavors like spicy ranch, honey Cajun, Thai chili, and their famous Kitchen Sink Wings. Open every day, they have daily food and drink specials.
This is Italian at its best. Boccaccio Restaurant in Newtown, Pennsylvania, is open for business with full and half trays of amazing appetizers like calamari fritto misto, polipo, carciofini, and escarole and beans. You won’t walk away hungry from these large portions. Also available for parties and catering events, you can treat yourself to a plate of something delizioso every day except Sunday.
This amazing quaint little eatery is a welcome surprise for anyone who loves Italian and Sicilian food. Tucked away in Centre County, Pennsylvania, Mamma Lucretia’s went through an extensive renovation in 2014, and has turned around to become one of the best restaurants in the area. Their appetizer list includes crispy calamari, lobster bisque, arancini, and the best in-house made bruschetta with garlic and tomato basil. Open every day except Sunday.
If you love Korean food or just want to try something different, stop by Kimchi Korean Restaurant in State College, Pennsylvania. If you’re not sure what to try, the friendly staff will be happy to help you identify the tastes you like and make recommendations. They have some of the best appetizers around, including rice cakes that come with a boiled egg, fish cakes, cabbage, carrots, white and green onions, and a house made sweet and spicy sauce, and the best kimchi, udon, dolsot dishes in town. You can also ask them to go easy on the spiciness of a dish. Open every day except Tuesday.
Buona Sera is a great Italian restaurant located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, that serves great appetizers. From the fried calamari to the eggplant rollatine to the clams oreganata, you can eat them as a starter to your dinner or share them with friends with a glass of your favorite wine. This quaint dining establishment is reminiscent of the cafés in Italy, and is open every day but Tuesday.
Small plates are the order of the day at the unique Tria Café Wash West in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. You’ll enjoy the prompt and courteous response from the wait staff who will guide you to delicious selections like shrimp toast with Calabrian chilies, radish, and fennel salt, truffled egg toast, warm poached black mission figs with gorgonzola and prosciutto, and chicken liver mousse with shallot marmalade, grapes, and mustard. You won’t find large-screen TVs or other entertainment at Tria Café, open since 2004, because they emphasis is on the food, the wine, and the company you keep, just as it should be. Open every day.
A Puerto Rican and Caribbean-influenced restaurant, Mi Caldero in York, Pennsylvania, offers appetizers, entrees, soups, desserts, sandwiches, and drinks in a casual and relaxed atmosphere. Mi Caldero is open every day but Sunday, and has an impressive list of appetizers best eaten without utensils like beef, chicken, shrimp, or crab empanadillas, pork or shrimp alcapurrias, relleno de papa, plantanos maduros, and bacalaítos.
Bollywood Bar and Grille is one of the top rated Indian restaurants in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, area. Foods rich in flavor from the spices and herbs used in Northern India, the meals are filling and delicious. Menu items are available for vegetarian or traditional tastes and include aloo papri chaat, pakora, tandoori mushrooms, chicken samosa, garlic honey shrimp, and lasooni kabab.
There are many Lebanese proverbs about food because it is known that food and conversation go together well. Located in Scranton, Pennsylvania, is Savory Maza, a small yet popular eatery that offers homemade Lebanese food with style. Open Tuesday through Saturday, the only problem you’ll have is deciding what to have first. Authentic dishes include appetizers like makdouss, balili, grape leaves stuffed with rice, tomatoes, parsley, mint, and onions, and drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil, and the very popular baba ghanouj. This is a place not to miss.