The Deli Restaurant & Z-Bar

TheSevenDuffs

Ontario (Canada)

4.03/5  rDev +17.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

I only stumbled upon this place by accident because I went out of my way to visit the Hop Shop in the basement. This place must have really brought up its game lately because it is certainly not a C+ place. The tap selection is outstanding, there must have been 40-50 taps. There was one rail of BMC but the rest was craft and the selection was great. Founders (Devil Dancer), Bells, Summit, Stone, Sierra Nevada, a bunch of locals. There seemed to be a Rogue feature going on with about 6 or 7 taps dedicated to Rogue.

On the one day I was in town I preferred the selection to that at zeno's and decided to have dinner and my night of beers here instead.

The food was decent and the atmosphere is not quite like Zeno's (more of a sports bar feel) but that worked for me given that it was a Sunday with MLB playoffs and NFL games that I wanted to watch.

Don't dismiss this place because of the mediocre rating on here. This is the only place that even comes close to Zeno's in State College.

10-03-2011 22:43:08 | More by TheSevenDuffs

pcsnyder

Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev +20.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4 | $$

I've been to The Deli & Z Bar a few times now, and I'm always pleased with their draft selection. They have a very good selection, and they offer beers, both on tap and in bottles, that are hard to find in Central PA. I can always find something I want on their menu, which is a huge plus. Their service can be a little slow, but the waitstaff are all very polite and helpful.

05-17-2013 13:23:42 | More by pcsnyder

JimmytheSaintPSU

Pennsylvania

4.1/5  rDev +19.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 2 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$

One of my absolute favorite places to both eat and drink in State College. The draught list is extensive, with 57 beers always on tap and very frequently one or two casks on the hand pump as well. The bartenders are very knowledgeable and eager to give a recommendation or just talk beer. As far as downtown State College goes, the food is very good. I highly recommend their sandwiches, my favorites include the Deli Meshugna and the Pittsburgh Prima. The only problem here is that the service is incredibly slow, regardless of how busy it is. It can get crowded during the weekend so expect at least a short wait and if it is a football weekend it can be well over an hour.

08-22-2012 01:38:55 | More by JimmytheSaintPSU

agroupofletters

Pennsylvania

4.18/5  rDev +22.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 2.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $

The Z Bar at the Deli is my absolute favorite place to go in state college. They have 57 beers on tap and change them out about every two weeks, meaning there's always something new and exciting to try. They also have one of the best deals in town, every night from 9-11 they have 2 dollars off draft beers, no exceptions. That meant the other night I got a founders imperial stout, rogue double chocolate stout, and rogue smoke ale for under 10 dollars. You'd be hard pressed to get 3 buds for that press, never the less 3 world class beers. On top of that the deli has pretty average food, but their sweet potato fries ( my regular) are dynamite so they up the quality of food for me. Service is usually terrible though, the waitstaff is always understaffed, that being said the bartenders are great, so if you're at a table my advice is to get your first beer from the bar, then order 1 drink in advance from your waiter! all in all, amazing place.

04-17-2012 19:05:07 | More by agroupofletters

merc7186

New York

3.63/5  rDev +6.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 2 | $$$

I came to The Deli after a bartender at Zenos had stated that this bar may have landed VooDoo Brewings Headless Horseman previously. The atmosphere of the place seems to cater for more of the upscale people that visit the area. I am not knocking Zenos but it is a dark basement bar where The Deli was much nicer to drink in. The service was above average as the bartenders were attentive. The selection of beers was great as they featured over 40 taps and another 50+ bottles to purchase, which were spread out throughout the US and had great variety of type of beers. The food IMO was weak, i ordered two different appetizers to munch on while watching MNF and one tasted like it was frozen and the other was still frozen in the middle...for 7 and 9 dollars, please pretend like they were fresh. The value of the place seemed a bit higher than its local haunts as the beers were either higher in price or same price but small drink glass portions. Overall, a decent place to watch TV and drink good beer.

11-22-2011 05:31:53 | More by merc7186

russwbeck

Virginia

3.78/5  rDev +10.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

The Z Bar at the Deli is really where you want to go. They have 57 taps I believe and have a nice stock of bottles as well. When I was there last week they had 3 Dogfish Heads, 3 or 4 Ommegangs, 3 Rogue, Weyerbacher Fireside, a Nugget Nectar firkin along with some other Troegs on tap, bottles of 2009 Mad Elf, Duvel Green, and a lot else. They've had Bitches Brew recently, and Hoptimum on the way.

The servers aren't knowledgeable of the beers, but the guy who runs the place is. Really an up and coming part of the State College craft beer scene.

02-05-2011 20:00:08 | More by russwbeck

PABeerHiker

Pennsylvania

2.98/5  rDev -12.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 2.5 | selection: 3 | food: 3 | $$$

The Deli is fantastically decorated from the bar room to the hippo room in the back with your typical patio set up during nice weather. During the holidays, The Deli is decorated with your usual decorations.

Once you are seated, things start to go down from there. It takes a while for the server to get your drink order and for it to arrive. By this time, you've had more than enough time to figure out what you'd want, but the server typically goes back to grab their pad to grab your order.

The food has generally bland for me, except for their soup weeks. During those weeks, you can get some amazing soups from Green Chili to French Onion and everything in between. During those specials, get the sampler to pick three or four soups to try. You generally can't go wrong.

Now onto the most important part, the beer. They do have a nice selection of beer to pick from, but they are listed alphabetically, not by style. If you are not sitting next to or at the bar, expect a wait to get your beer or mixed drink.

The Deli is on the pricier side for what you'd get, but it is still and enjoyable place to hang out with friends.

08-23-2010 21:27:27 | More by PABeerHiker

OrangeCharlie

Delaware

2.73/5  rDev -20.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 1 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3 | $$

Occasionally I'll have lunch here with coworkers and am almost always reminded why I don't come on my own. Atmosphere is nice, patio seating is available, and very clean.

Beer selection is very thorough and covers a good range of styles. My only complaint here is the cask-conditioned Hop Devil. The first time the beer was completely flat, the second time it had that signature tart, sherry-like flavor of oxidized beer. Seems as if that they are serving out of casks well past when they are tapped. Cask-conditioned beer is wonderful to have, but if you can't finish the cask within the same day of the first pour, either dump the rest or don't bother at all. I've complained to the staff about this both times.

The menu is a bit overwhelming, but has some good options. The food can be good granted that the kitchen doesn't mess up your order (which happens frequently). I'm not talking about forgetting to hold some pickles; they consistently forget crucial ingredients in salads and at one point a friend even got the entirely wrong item! I feel the food is a bit overpriced for what you get as well.

Table service is atrocious! Very slow, inattentive, and inconsiderate.

07-23-2009 18:28:49 | More by OrangeCharlie

bosco7

Pennsylvania

3.13/5  rDev -8.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3 | food: 2.5 | $$$

Decided I needed a beer with my lunch after a long morning in the lab, I chose to give this place a try. The restaurant is pretty large with what seemed to be a lot of tap handles. We sat in a large room full of windows and plants. Nice to have a natural light.

There were a lot of tap handles, it's a shame most of them were macro imports or domestics. The most exciting beers being Arrogant Bastard, Sierra Nevada Celebration, Dead Guy, and Hop Devil. So not bad I guess, I just wish that the other 20 or so handles had something decent on them. The beer is served in those 14 oz pint glasses with the extra thick bottom to make it seem like you are getting a full pint. Lame.

The menu is absolutely huge, which always makes me a little apprehensive about the quality coming from the kitchen. I made the mistake of getting nachos for lunch. 10 bucks for a small amount of chips topped with fake-cheeze sauce, pace picante sauce, and pickled jalepenos. I figured that 10 dollars warranted real cheese and some fresh ingredients, but i guess not.

Overall I was not impressed with the food or the beer. I will probably give it one more try just to see if their other food items are any good.

01-19-2009 20:14:13 | More by bosco7

jsbrendle

Pennsylvania

3.23/5  rDev -5.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3 | $$

Not a place I get to all that often. Recent visits have some what diminished my previous opinions. It is still a nice place to sit down and eat, comfortably appointed, decent amount of space & I do like the open air options. Food isn't as good as in the past to my mind. Not that it's bad food, just not as good as it was which was not saying much really (being better than average in a town where basic food for cheap college kids is the norm isn't really all that hard to do). Beer selection too seems better in memory than what I've seen recently. Not that it's a bad set of choices, just rather predictable. Others in town clearly are working harder to get good beers in. That really seems to be the problem ... get someone to run the show that still has "fire" and maybe things would return to the way they used to be? Worth a stop if you're on that end of town, better than most other options in that area I guess. More of a family/group joint, less the frat boy hang out.

01-01-2008 00:41:08 | More by jsbrendle