The 8 Best Places for BIG Food in Pennsylvania! By
Penny Fox
Big appetites need big food to be satisfied and Pennsylvania has some of the best places for big portions and huge menu items. If your mind and your stomach are up for the challenge, prepare to take on anything from a 50-slice pizza to a 25-pound burger. Here are the best places for BIG food in Pennsylvania.
1. Big Jim’s, Pittsburgh, PA
Serving the local area since 1977, Big Jim’s is big on customer service and great food. Featured on “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives,” this hometown eatery specializes in hoagies piled with meat, vegetables, and all your favorite condiments in addition to appetizers, fresh homemade soups, salads, pasta, pizza, and other sandwiches designed to please and satisfy your hunger. You can even create your own half-pound ham, corned beef, salami, beef, turkey, or cappicola sandwich with your choice of cheese, toppings, and bread.
2. Denny’s Beer Barrel, Clearfield, PA
Does the idea of eating a 25-pound burger interest you? Denny’s Beer Barrel in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, is where you’ll find such a burger. Open every day, this homey diner has been in operation since 1977, they have over 50 flavors of chicken wings, and burgers made with your favorite toppings, cheese, and dressings, and specialty burgers made with ground sirloin, barbecue sauce, red onion, ham, bacon, mozzarella, lettuce, and tomatoes. If choosing what to eat isn’t enough of a challenge, this spot hosts the state’s largest hamburger eating contests with burgers weighing from two pounds all the way up to 25 pounds! Larger burgers have a time limit for eating, but winners receive prizes and discounts.
3. Alexander’s Pizza and Subs, Mount Pleasant, PA
Alexander’s Pizza and Subs in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, is a family owned restaurant, has been open since 2008, and is the birthplace of the “Alexander the Great” 50-slice pizza. With great Italian-style appetizers, salads, pizzas, hoagies, and strombolis, Alexander’s is a great family-friendly place for lunch or dinner any day of the week. They also deliver and have catering services available.
4. Green Eggs Café, Philadelphia, PA
With three convenient locations in Philadelphia, Green Eggs Café has amazing brunch options for those mornings when you just don’t want to eat at home. When you have so many choices, why not choose the best? Community conscious and ecology-minded, Green Eggs Café is committed to sustainable methods and serving the best food in town. You have to try the Kitchen Sink, made with three scrambled eggs, sausage, Gruyere cheese, potatoes, peppers, and onions on a giant biscuit with sausage gravy.
5. Spread Bagelry, Philadelphia, PA
You’ve probably heard of famous burger challenges or steak-eating contests, but have you ever heard about the Classic Whale Challenge at Spread Bagelry in Philadelphia? This monster sized bagel-eating contest features a four-pound everything bagel, three pounds of smoked Nova salmon, two pounds of homemade whitefish salad, two pounds of fresh cream cheese, and a couple pounds of tomatoes, onions, and capers. Up to three people can take the dare with time limits for the number of people eating. Beverages are provided by the restaurant. Call two days in advance.
6. Bakn, Carnegie, PA
Featured on the show “Ginormous Food,” part of the Food Network in 2017, this popular breakfast and lunch diner called Bakn took the challenge to showcase a giant taco called the Bakn Cake Taco. Located in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, this enormous taco is made using a 20-inch pancake stuffed with 12 eggs, a pound of Cheddar cheese, four pounds of bacon, and arugula all topped with delicious Bourbon maple syrup. And if that’s not a big enough challenge, if breakfast isn’t your thing, they have a four-pound Applewood smoked “bakn,” arugula, and tomato BLT on sourdough for lunch lovers.
7. Primanti Bros., Pittsburgh, PA
Anyone living in or visiting Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will most likely know the history behind Primanti Bros. What grew from one man’s passion to offer inexpensive and filling sandwiches to trucker drivers during the Great Depression from his food cart eventually grew into the purchase of a storefront restaurant. Operating for the next 40 years, the Almost Famous Sandwich became a Pittsburgh passion for anyone trying this roast beef, cheese, slaw, and fry-topped sandwich. After an invitation from the Food Network, Primanti Bros created a giant Triple Pitts-Burger, featuring the Almost Famous sandwich with a few twists. It was three times burger than normal and included capicola and three fried eggs. The next time you’re hungry in Pittsburgh, stop by and try the original sandwich, or the triple-sized version.
8. Jake’s Sandwich Board, Philadelphia, PA
You’ll never look at sandwiches the same way after you visit award-winning Jake’s Sandwich Board in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With classic-inspired sandwiches like the Mensch, a slow-roasted brisket with horseradish spread, caramelized onions, and provolone cheese or the Cabo, made from two scrambled eggs, a lime-avocado spread, special house spread, and two potato pancakes on a sweet Hawaiian roll. And for those with an extra hearty appetite, there’s the nine-pound version of a traditional pulled pork sandwich called the 100/100, a pulled pork, bacon, provolone, and Sriracha-sauced taste treat weighing five pounds and measuring two feet-long.
