If you live near Blue Mountain Resort and are a fan of dining out, you may be familiar with Slopeside Pub and Grill and its wide-ranging menu of elevated pub fare. Partly, it's a function of location—there are just not a whole lot of dining options in that neck of the woods, apart from pizza joints, delis and family-style restaurants and diners. But to say you should go there because there's nowhere else doesn't really do Slopeside justice. Let's face it, the location is a serious draw, something that Slopeside capitalizes on easily. From nearly anywhere inside the restaurant, you're afforded a stunning view of the surrounding Pocono Mountains.
But that says nothing about the food, right? And that wouldn't be fair, would it?
Well, suffice it to say the menu is expansive, with items that easily accommodate omnivores, vegetarians and vegans, in addition to those who can't eat gluten. It's a large kitchen staff of about a dozen, led by head chef Ryan Zellner. All the sauces, dressings and stocks are made from scratch. Slopeside strives to source as much as possible locally—most of its lettuces come from Butter Valley Harvest in Bally, along with other vegetables as the summer progresses. “We are not your typical ski resort, where everything is out of the box and frozen,” says Zellner.
Zellner has put together two separate menus—one for the Green Season (about mid-April through November) and the other for winter (remember, when it's not winter at a ski resort, it's green). But the work that happens in one season often helps the kitchen in another. For example, a new-ish item on the menu, Slopeside's linguine with clams, which may sound familiar, is like a dish you've had many times. However, Zellner and his staff prepare this with their own house-made summer sausage (think Herbs de Provence), capers and a Meyer lemon cream—the lemons are preserved in the winter, when Meyer lemons are in season. The flavors are a lovely complement to the each other—and the sauce that settles at the bottom just wants you to dip some crusty bread into it.
Regardless of season, the two menus do share some common items, ones that never get removed, such as the Homegrown Burger with local Koehler Farms beef and local cheddar. It's ground the night before it's delivered. “It's the brightest red you will ever see in a burger; it's so fresh,” says Zellner, whose training includes the Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College in Philadelphia.
Other items receive a bit of a seasonal or periodic tweak. There will always be “some version of a taco,” says Zellner, as there are so many things you can put inside a taco. The current iteration contains blackened whitefish with red cabbage slaw, radishes and a chipotle lime crema. Salads are a staple, too—a Caesar, a Slopeside (bacon and creamy ranch) and a seasonal one. And a restaurant-bar at a resort that doesn't offer wings would probably hear it from customers. “They never change—we only change the flavors,” says Zellner. You can ask for them barbecue-style, mild or hot, with garlic Parmesan, sweet Thai chili, hot and honey or fiery jalapeño lime. Similar alterations occur with the mac and cheese entrée—right now, it's a Cajun-style dish with crab, shrimp and crawfish, bell peppers and onion and Andouille sausage.
If you ski, you probably know to get in line early on the weekends, when it's time for lunch. It's not uncommon for a line to form as early as 11 a.m., says manager Talbot Houck. Slopeside's kitchen staff is large, and that helps accommodate the volume of customers, especially in ski season, when the place is arguably at its peak, and expedite your meals in a timely fashion. And when there's fresh powder, time is of the essence. “People don't want to spend two hours in here during ski season. We try to get them seated and fed in less than an hour,” explains Houck. “The menu for the winter has to be fast and filling,” says Zellner. Think: lots of burgers and fries.
That menu has to also accommodate the unexpected, and the unexpected usually means more people. “It is not uncommon for a party of 10 or 12 to walk in here unannounced,” says Houck. Most restaurants would not be equipped for such a large party, without reservations. You are, however, advised to make a reservation if you want to hold a bridal shower there or some other special celebratory event or any reservation for 20 to 30 people. Those are reservations Slopeside is happy to take. The fact that the menu is printed on the sturdiest piece of cardstock (with a slight sheen to it, so water pools right up on it) that can withstand lots of abuse is by design. Slopeside can accommodate 450 people at full capacity, and can turn out 1,000 meals a day in the winter on the weekends, and the same during a Saturday in the summer.
But enough about the winter! Ski resorts are all-year-round operations, and in the summer, the property is open for tent and RV camping sites, outdoor laser tag, archery and its summer aerial park—a high ropes course with different levels of obstacles, each ending with a zipline. If you want a unique panoramic, floating-in-the-clouds kind of experience, you can take a scenic lift ride up and down the mountain. It's fair to say that the bulk of their activity takes place in the winter, but the summertime can offer a more laid-back change of pace, especially for those of us who live nearby. One bartender said that the locals don't come into the restaurant, for example, in the wintertime—a fact that's not too surprising.
As with much of the rest of the hospitality industry, resorts want to keep apace with what people want, and how people like to relax. Three years ago, Slopeside created its current space—you know, the one where there's a view of the landscape and mountains from nearly anywhere inside the pub—and one with a wall of retractable glass to eliminate the indoor-outdoor dichotomy. In winter, people sit outside on the patio, drinking beer and eating burgers, huddled around the double-sided gas fireplace. “You'd be surprised how many people sit outside in their ski gear around that fireplace, even when it's super cold,” says Houck. It's possible—that fireplace gets warm and there are mounted gas torches around the periphery of the patio, which takes some of the chill off. And in the warmer months, the natural materials used in the design more immediately resemble the environment and add a rustic-meets-industrial touch. It's easy to feel like you are so close to the outside when there's very little, architecturally speaking, to restrict your access to it. It's also easy to enjoy a good meal or a drink while enjoying that access.
Slopeside Pub and Grill
1600 Blue Mountain Dr. Palmerton | 610.824.1557 | skibluemt.com
Hours
Sun.–Thurs.: 11:30 a.m.–10 p.m.; Fri. & Sat.: 11:30 a.m.–11 p.m.
Parking
A whole resort's worth of a lot. Not an issue.
Reservations
Slopeside will always welcome one-hour call-ahead reservations. Reservations for large groups and parties of 12 or more people must be made 24 hours in advance, and are accepted either before 6 p.m. or after 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Payment
Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Cash
What to Order
Hawaiian pork belly sliders with jicama cherry slaw, the Homegrown Burger or, if you are vegan, the Impossible Burger. The wings, the pulled pork nachos and blackened fish tacos are popular appetizers. It's hard to resist fries you can customize: Slopeside's come either beer battered, or with Parmesan chive, Old Bay or a bacon aioli. Mac and cheese is always a hit.
Special Events
This is a resort; there's always something going on. In the spring and summer, it's not uncommon to encounter a pig roast or special wine events. Trivia Tuesdays and Patio Party Thursdays are an ongoing summer special. Thursday through Saturday, there's live music. Various specials with wings, clams, beer and burgers vary depending on the night—suffice it to say there's always a food and drink promotion to entice customers.
