A Taste of Englewood
Today (Monday, 7.20.20) was the opening day for the brand new ‘The Englewood’ in Hershey / Hummelstown PA. So tonight after I got done at work (6PM) I made my way straight there to try it out.
The Englewood is a ‘craft brewery’, ‘restaurant’, ‘fine dining’, ‘live music venue’, and a ‘bar and tavern’ all kind of rolled up into one. Unfortunately, so far the ‘craft brewery’ portion isn’t “up and running yet”, but will be soon (I’ve been told, unofficially, that they should have their own beers on tap in about a month or so). In the meantime they have a relatively large cocktail and liquor (PA only) and a pretty limited beer menu. But, they have a very extensive and delicious food menu.
Before I go into the food and my little trip, I just want to note that this is just kind of a ‘brief trip’ view and not a full in-depth review of the restaurant (or brewery – for obvious reasons); something like that will be forthcoming in the future. I do just also want to note an interesting historical fact (for me personally anyway) – my Great Uncle lived and farmed on the land that is The Englewood and Cocoa Beanery while working for Hershey Dairy and Hershey Farms. I’m not 100% certain of how all the details of his work arrangement was; but he was the head farmer on the land and lived on property. My grandma took me to visit him (her brother) when I was very young and remember going in the barn and seeing the cows and the land. His name was Leroy Speck.
Ok…. moving forward.
I arrived sometime around 6:20-6:30PM. Masked up and walked in the main entrance. At the hostess desk she took my temperature and asked where I’d like to be seated, I said I had no preference and she asked if the deck was fine, I said certainly and off we went.
The back of the barn has a small width deck as well as a lower courtyard like area. Both had decent seating, though much more could be accommodated once we are through with COVID and capacity restrictions. The deck was slim in the area right behind the barn with larger areas on the ends.
Jen was my waitress and she did an absolutely wonderful job. I’m a pretty simple eater and knew pretty quickly from just looking at the menu what I wanted. I ordered the beef brisket. For beers; sadly with them not having their own on tap yet, their options were quite limited. They have a similar license as that of most craft breweries in PA where they can offer guest taps of other PA brewed beers. And similar to how Newfangled Brew Works opened without their beers on tap (due to the government shutdown), The Englewood did the same. Their beer menu consisted of Victory Golden Ale, Victory Dirtwolf IPA, New Trails Broken Heels IPA, Troegs Brewing Haze Charmer, and Troegs Brewing Perpetual IPA.
So not the biggest beer selection to start off with, and mostly ones that people in the area would have already have had numerous times; but on the flipside – ones that are also staples and well beloved so no bad picks to be found, just nothing new or out of the ordinary.
My food arrived promptly and was very delicious. The beef brisket was phenomenal and not very costly either at only 12$ it was enough to fill me up and give me some leftovers for later.
From the deck you have a beautiful view of the area. You can see some of the research center in the background, as well as part of the walking path leading to Bullfrog Pond. To the corner, just out of view of my two pictures (there was a couple at a table in the way and didn’t want to be rude taking a picture) you can see the Life Lion helicopter pad – which actually took off while I was there.
It also looks like they have planted an orchard of some sorts just past the courtyard as well. So once they mature and bloom that will make an impressive and beautiful scenery. The courtyard area below the main deck also looks pretty and impressive with some interesting firepits and seating arrangements. The deck where I sat, possibly from being new or just how it was designed, was a bit …. ‘bouncy’, and not sure if that’s a good term, but I’m no architect or deck – planner. But when people would walk by on the deck, it was loud, and felt like the deck bounced underneath your seat.
I completely enjoyed my quick meal and quick time there. Got to read a bit, got to enjoy a delicious meal, and had a very tasty local beer while sitting out in the shade but with a gorgeous sunny view. Perfect for after 10 hours of work where I’m stuck inside the whole time. The music they played on the speakers had a nice ambience to the venue as well. The venue and restaurant, as well as the food, reminded me of The Mill in Hershey, so if you are a fan of The Mill as far as ascetics and food goes, you will certainly like The Englewood as well.
I definitely recommend giving them a try and checking them out. I’m sure you will love the food and its a beautiful venue. I can’t wait for when the brewery portion opens up and get to try their beers, and its nice that their local as well (just down the road from Bullfrog Pond, Cocoa Beanery, Hershey Medcenter, Lower Dauphin High School and Hummelstown Police Station), its great seeing more breweries and options opening up in the Hummelstown / Hershey area. This technically has a Hummelstown address but is located in Hershey / Derry Township. With Rubber Soul opening soon, as well as Howling Henry’s soon, and with stalwarts like Troegs Independent Craft Brewing and Iron Hill – Hershey, there is a fair amount of options just in the Hershey / Hummelstown area. And that’s not including the Rotunda Brew Pub on the edge of Hershey going into Campbelltown (Palmyra) or Boneshire Brew Works in Rutherford and Official BBQ and Burgers (Pizza Boy’s secondary location) in the back of Rutherford. There is also Newfangled Brew Works just off of Nyes Road as well. Of course there’s also the great breweries of Harrisburg like ZeroDay Brewing, The Millworks, The Vegetable Hunter, as well as Boneshire Brew Works’ Secondary Tap Room soon to open. So as you can see, there is definitely TONS of great options in the area.
All in all, as an “official” review from The Beer Thrillers, I enjoyed it, and definitely recommend it. As a brewery visit alone though, I have to say give it a month til they have their own beers on tap, but in the meantime, its a fantastic restaurant and venue.
Be sure to check out their website at: The Englewood – Hershey.
Cheers!
-B. Kline
