Harrisburg’s Best Restaurants (west shore)

Naturally, this is the continuation and counterpart to a previous list of Harrisburg’s best restaurants residing on the east shore of the beautiful Susquehanna River. As previously mentioned, don’t write off a restaurant without giving it a twice over and by all means, if you enjoyed your culinary experience somewhere make sure to write a positive review for them, great eateries deserve the promotion! There are countless websites where you can sing the praises of a deserving restaurant, my favorite local site is DineOutHarrisburg.com, and Yelp has a strong presence nationwide.
Here goes!

Best sushi – Zen Japanese Cuisine, 5205 Simpson Ferry Rd, Mechanicsburg. Sorry Sapporo fans, this place is tops for me in the Japanese food category. Sushi, service, and ambiance here are wonderful.

Best Pho- Issei Noodle, 54 W High Street, Carlisle. There aren’t as many Vietnamese options on the west shore but for a grand slam bowl of Pho this place does it best, really neat interior to the place as well.

Best Middle Eastern – Cedars Lebanese Restaurant, 2153 Market Street, Camp Hill. Incredible food, atmosphere and service!

Best Italian – Juliana’s Italian Restaurant, 6108 Carlisle Pike, Camp Hill. Hard to find, but completely worth the effort. This is a classy restaurant that couples great service with quality food.

Best Pizza – Pizza Grille, 3817 Gettysburg Road, Camp Hill. Gourmet pizza, full bar, and lovely interior makes this best pizza, Harrisburg Magazine voters have concurred for the past decade.

Best Korean – Spring Garden, 5 South 35th St., Camp Hill. Since discovering Spring Garden I think Korean food has become my favorite cuisine! You might not notice this place just from driving by, but its really nice inside and the food is definitely ‘best of’ material.

Best Thai – Bankok Wok, 125 Gateway Dr # 111, Mechanicsburg. This place lives up to the hype in every respect, the food is always impressive, the restaurant is completely top notch.

Best BBQ – Memphis Blues, 5202 Simpson Ferry Rd, Camp Hill. Fun atmosphere, quality BBQ.

Best Overall – I’ve got to give it to Spring Garden, the food is really incredible, the owners are extremely helpful and friendly, and the restaurant is quite nice inside. I recommend the dumplings and Jaeyook Bokeum- pan fried pork with veggies in spicy sauce. Don’t forget the kimchi!

Honorable Mention: West Shore Farmers Market, 900 Market Street, Lemoyne. Another awesome farmers market, with plenty of wonderful places to eat and snack from on the first floor and quite a few shops on the second floor.

Think I missed any or disagree? Please use the comment box and let me know!

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Harrisburg’s Best Restaurants (east shore)

Whether you grew up here, pass through on occasion for business, or just randomly find yourself in Harrisburg for mysterious reasons beyond your control, I’d like to point you in the right direction with the local restaurant scene. I’m not a professional food critic by any means, but I do love eating and with as much time and money I’ve spent trying every place to eat around here I could find,  I’ve got a pretty good idea of what’s what and who’s guaranteed to please.

You should first of all be aware that there are A LOT of dining options in and around Harrisburg, so don’t you dare consider Applebees! A good place to start is DineOutHarrisburg.com; Yelp.com is another great way to learn about the best places to eat from those who have already been there.

Now obviously opinions are merely that, so don’t write off any restaurant before you try it at least twice. Many people are quick to complain but slow to write reviews about positive experiences, so don’t take online critiques to be gospel. But enough of the preaching, you’re hungry right!? Well here goes:

Best Burger – The Jackson House, 1004 N 6th St. Lunch hours only and no credit cards but wow you’ll have a new favorite burger place after your first visit. Try the house Jackson Burger.

Best Sandwich – Nonna’s Delicioso, 263 Reily St. This little Italian delicatessen serves up amazing quality sandwiches and Italian side dishes.

Best Pizza – Brother Joe’s Pizza, 6051 Allentown Blvd. Thin ‘n crispy pies, this place looks like your average Joe’s Pizza but the quality is surprisingly noticeable.

Best Sushi – Okini Pan Asian Restaurant, 3402 Walnut St. With so many local sushi places to choose from it’s tough to name one the champion, but personally I’ve always been impressed with the sushi here. Yes it looks like a Pizza Hut from the outside.

Best Indian – Aangan Indian Cuisine, 3500 Walnut St. Never mind the ugly exterior of the building, the inside is really quite nice and the food is wonderful. They specialize in Indian and Nepali food and have a wonderful buffet. Quite a few Indian places around the burg but this place is tops.

Best Vietnamese – Rose’s Vietnamese Cuisine, 2306 Walnut Street. You’ll probably drive by the place the first time, but you’ll know why you turned around to find it after you taste the food. Not much to the interior of the place, but definitely my personal favorite for pho and other Vietnamese dishes.

Best Middle Eastern – La Kasbah, 913 N 2nd St. Incredible Moroccan food, order anything on the menu, but don’t forget to try the tea!

Best Latino- Las Delicias, 2060 Derry St. So it’s not the nicest part of the city to be sure, but for authentic Spanish-American food this is it. Nothing impressive about the look of the place inside or out but the food makes it all worth it.

Best Italian - Zia’s at Red Door, 110 North Second St.  A private and upscale atmosphere, high quality food, and extensive wine list make Zia’s a great pick for Italian.

Suba Tapas Bar

Best overall – Suba Tapas Bar, 272 North Street. Suba is the upstairs part of an Italian restaurant called Mangia Qui and they share the same kitchen. Both places are incredible, but Suba gets my personal nod for best overall place in Harrisburg to eat. It’s not cheap, but the atmosphere, service, drinks, and tapas are so worth it.

Overall Runner Up – Bricco, South 3rd & Chestnut Streets. A close second behind Suba, Bricco is an upscale Mediterranean restaurant with an elegant atmosphere and outrageously delicious cuisine. You will leave impressed from a dinner at Bricco.

Honorable Mention – Broad Street Market, 1233 N 3rd St. I love this market plain and simple. The hours are a little funny so check before you go, but there is such a wonderfully diverse collection of food available for purchase at the market. One building is for food vendors, the other is for groceries and miscellaneous goods.

Think I missed any or disagree? Drop a comment.

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