Harrisburg roadfood

Strangely I've seen no postings on the subject of Roadfood in the capital of Pennsylvania. I therefore thought I would share my experiences of two Harrisburg institutions that I believe to be worthy of Roadfood status. I ate at both frequrntly during the 5 years I worked in Harrisburg in the '80s, and have visited both for lunch during my (infrequent) trips to Harrisburg in the years since.

The first is the Jackson House, a storefront sandwich shop on 6th street at the North end of the Capital Complex (The agglomeration of state office buildings extending northward from the state capital Building).


The Jackson House is named in honor of a pre-world War II boarding house, located (I believe) next door, and run by a Mr. Jackson. In those days, although Pennsylvania had no Jim Crow Laws, the "better" hotels apparently refused to accept black guests. The Jackson House was the pre-eminent black lodging house, and many famous entertainers and jazz musicans stayed there while performing in the Harrisburg area.

The Jackson house has excellant deli-style sandwiches, but my favorite meal there has always been their cheeseburger sub. Picture two hamburgers in a crusty sub roll,topped with goeey,creamy cheese with all the normal sub toppings (onions,lettuce,tomatoes) all topped by delectable mayonnaise.Cheeseburger subs are found in almost every hoagie shop in eatern and central Pa, but I've yet to find one as delectable as the Jackson House.

The second place was the Subway on Herr Street. No, not that Subway. This was a dimlylit tavern with an ancient bar and weathered wooden booths, located on a deserted stretch of Herr Street, between Cameron and 7th Street, just to the east of the Norfolk Southern Railroad underpass. The Subways speciality was pizza. Thin , dark-crusted, almost burned pizza, topped with a enticing mixture of tomatoes and cheese. At the time I thought it the best pizza I'd ever had, and I,ve still had none that tasted exactly like it (
I hasten to add that I am not a pizza expert, and have never had the famed pizzas of New Haven, or the pies from the wood fired ovens of New York, so I make no claims that Subways pies would stack up well against them. For Central Pennsylvania,however, it was pretty darn good.

Subway was still there a yaer ago when I was last in Harrisburg. a Yahoo Yellow pages search shows a "Subway Sandwich and Salads" (The other Subway) at the Herr street location, but I believe this to be a case of mistaken identity (Subways official website shows no such location). If any Harrisburg posters can confirm the continued exiastance of the Subway bar,I would be appreciative.

Non topical aside: this is an interesting post, but hard to read.

Could you put some white space between the paragraphs?

done. apologise for my rudimentary typing skills.

rock and roll :-)

no need to apologize, it'll just get read by more people now :-)

Have you tried Issac's or the Riverside?

BB

quote:

Originally posted by BakersBoy

Have you tried Issac's or the Riverside?

BB

Not the Riverside, but if by "Isaacs'' you mean the chain of South Central Pennsylvania restaurants featuring sandwiches named after birds, then yes, both my wife and I enjoy it. Their soft pretzel sandwiches are great and their soups always excellant.

What would you reccomend at the Riverside?

Brookquarry, thanks for the tips. Harrisburg is a less than two hour drive for me, and both of those places sound like they are worth a stop!

As we drive through Harrisburg quite a bit, your post was most interesting. I decided to do a little online search for your Subway and came up with this in a sales of commericial property listings.

Subway Cafe, 1000 Herr Street, Harrisburg, PA - 6,941 SF building with 2,702 SF restaurant

It was strange but this was the only property listed that did not identify the buyer.

Is The Spot still there? Spot Dogs might be worthy of a Roadfood entry.

quote:

Originally posted by chezkatie

As we drive through Harrisburg quite a bit, your post was most interesting. I decided to do a little online search for your Subway and came up with this in a sales of commericial property listings.

Subway Cafe, 1000 Herr Street, Harrisburg, PA - 6,941 SF building with 2,702 SF restaurant

It was strange but this was the only property listed that did not identify the buyer.

Yep thats definately the place. Wonder what will happen to it?

quote:

Originally posted by brookquarry

quote:

Originally posted by chezkatie

As we drive through Harrisburg quite a bit, your post was most interesting. I decided to do a little online search for your Subway and came up with this in a sales of commericial property listings.

Subway Cafe, 1000 Herr Street, Harrisburg, PA - 6,941 SF building with 2,702 SF restaurant

It was strange but this was the only property listed that did not identify the buyer.

Yep thats definately the place. Wonder what will happen to it?

This week, I am sort of taking a vacation as I had 3 little ones all last week to look after. So I did some more research as I thought it was strange that the sales listing did not tell who it was sold to.

Anyway, I found a telephone number and called. A very nice man answered and said "Yes, this place was sold in mid-October, but don't worry; the new owners are keeping it just the same with the same great pizza's etc."

This is good news for all Roadfood lovers.

Subway Café 1000-02 Herr Street Harrisburg PA 17103 717-255-9470

Has anyone been to Prudhomme's Lost Cajun Kitchen down the road a piece in Columbia? I've not but heard good things.

Prudhomme's is awesome! The food there is absolutely fabulous. If you're going to Prudhomme's you have to try the blackened catfish sandwich.

Check it out here: http://www.lostcajunkitchen.com/

A friend of mine in Washington DC used to get this salad dressing from the 'Gazebo Room' in Harrisburg. It was simply called 'Gazebo Room Greek' and he would take a Mason jar to the restaurant whenever he traveled there and they would sell him a jar of it. (btw: they now sell it on the internet)

It's the best salad dressing I've ever tasted.

I've never been to Harrisburg, but if their salad dressing is any indication, I'd certainly try the 'Gazebo Room' for a meal.


Dino