When anybody mentions Gettysburg (or as the locals pronounce it get-iss-berg) food and cuisine is not the first thing that comes to mind. The town and surrounding battlefield park offers a one-of-a-kind experience commemorating the pinnacle battle of the Civil War. The famous 3-day battle can be relived through multiple tours and monuments spread throughout the gorgeous Appalachian foothills. Gettysburg received its fame in 1863 with the battle and The Gettysburg Address but the town was founded in 1786. Well, The Dobbin House Tavern was built even before that in 1776. During its history the tavern served a multitude of functions including a field hospital (during the battle), a stop on the Underground Railroad, and a civil war diorama and visitor center. Since the mid 1970s the building was reverted back to its tavern form. The consumer has an opportunity to sit in the downstairs Springhouse Tavern or the slightly more affluent Dobbin House.
On the particular trip, Cassie, myself and our close friends Tom and Morgan elected the Springhouse for a Saturday night dinner. The atmosphere of the tavern is rustic colonial-era with a large fireplace, simple tables, booths, chairs and a fully-stocked eighteenth century bar. For most people, this atmosphere is the draw to the Dobbin House. The tavern does not accept reservations and the wait on a Saturday night around 5:30 could be one hour. But it’s definitely worth the experience.
The Springhouse Tavern offers a full bar with craft beers, a complete and thorough wine list with some local wineries included and “period-inspired” cocktails. The food menu is traditional American lunch fare while maintaining a standard for the period for the most part. Items include sandwiches, crabcakes, steak and fire roasted chicken.
The french onion soup is possibly the most popular item on the menu. The lore of Dobbin’s french onion soup resonates throughout town amongst the locals and returning tourists. It has all the accoutrement of typical french onion soup; however, this particular soup contains cubes of beef in its broth. This addition mellows the otherwise salty flavors of the broth and provide a little added bite and protein. Topped with some bread and the requisite cheese, and you have yourself quite the hard soup. I assume colonials had to take their protein any way they can get.
The main courses at our table included the roasted chicken, fillet mignon, chicken sandwich and the tavern burger. Not a whole lot to critique here. Every item was prepared and flavored well, nothing pretentious and no modern surprises. Perhaps the winner amongst the four items was the chicken. Since chicken is a usual weeknight fare at our house, I tend to overlook chicken options at most restaurants. However, this chicken is almost on par with most chicken served at “fancier” places. The skin was crispy, salty while the white and dark meat was extremely tender.
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| Fire roasted chicken and fillet mignon |
The finale of our dinner was the homemade Apple Pie; pure Americana and I assume colonial Americana at that. This apple pie, however, was one of the best apple pies I ever tried. The apples were still crisp and tart. The dough was flaky and buttery while the filler was perfectly sweet and sugary. Served a la mode with vanilla ice cream, this was a true hit to conclude our Dobbin House experience.
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| Dobbin House's apple pie |
If you are looking for a life changing culinary experience, this is not the place to go. But if you want to get a feel for what it was like even before the Battle of Gettysburg in a small farm town in central PA, then this is a good meal option for you. The atmosphere is as cozy as it gets. It is easy to forget the hustle and bustle of living in the Philly area when you go to Gettysburg and have places like this as a dining experience. And I don’t mean this in a bad way. It is a nice weekend getaway with the promise of history and the added bonus of some unique dining experiences. Who could ask for more?
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