We had a table of 8 and ordered growlers all around. Us girls wanted actual mixed drinks, so our husbands ordered us mixed drinks. The drinks contained almost no alcohol. And when we complained to management, we were greeted with eye rolls and smart ass comments. We are paying customers with high paying careers, not drunk college kids looking for free drinks. Worst experience j have ever had at a bar. read more

Been here a few times, impressive whiskey list and the staff is always very knowledgeable about the drinks. HOWEVER...today we had the worst waitress we've ever had. Anywhere. Ever. Just absolutely miserable. read more

Will never go back due to the rudeness of the staff. Especially the manager who seemed to think he was better than everyone else in the establishment. Sorry dude but you're just a restaurant manager who treats the customers like dirt. read more

The only proper cocktail bar in State College. The importance of this establishment cannot be overstated. Students need to visit Local Whiskey for a lesson in respect of a proper cocktail. Life is too short to drink to get drunk. Drink for style. Drink for taste. Drink properly, my young friends. Drink at Local Whiskey. read more

It's probably no mystery to people that live in this area, but I'm passing through State College PA and I stumbled in here. I'm glad I did because they did great. Good bar staff, namely Nick, who made a cocktail for me I hadn't tried before and he hadn't made before but it ended up really nice. Great place. Just FYI, the tray of fries feeds like 6 people. It's literally a tray of fries. read more

Wonderful experience at local whiskeys! Not only do they have the best craft cocktails in town, but amazing service. All of the bartenders were polite, professional, and very very skilled. Tim was especially great!!!! read more

Great food, cold beer, friendly service. What more do you need. Oh yeah, they'll put any game you want on. BRAVO!

I'm giving this 5 stars for the service, awesome whiskey list, and really good cocktails. As far as food goes we only ordered a plate of fries, but I have it on good authority they're amazing. I'm going to finish my balvenie & move on to their barrel aged manhattan. I've just tasted it, and can't wait for one of my very own. read more

Delicious food! A great place to meet up for dinner and get some drinks. Service sometimes takes awhile but it's definitely worth it in my opinion. Recommend the cheesesteak egg roll! Very tasty! read more

I'm a State College native who eats at Local Whiskey every so often. The food and atmosphere are normally good, however, last night I witnessed something completely inappropriate from the head chef. I went in with my son to visit his girlfriend who is a server at Local Whiskey. We had barely even been seated when, who I later found out was the head chef, came out and cursed out my son's girlfriend right in front of us. My son and I were appalled at what we witnessed as this grown man berated my son's 20 year old girlfriend right in front of us. My son later told me that she immediately went to the bathroom and started crying. This completely ruined our meal as the rest of the night was very tense. Regardless, of my personal bias towards my sons girlfriend this is completely inappropriate behavior from the man "running" the kitchen. He did not know us, but the fact that he was comfortable doing that in front of paying customers is disturbing. This verbal abuse we witnessed was terrible and this was completely inappropriate behavior. The food was good the man who cooked it is not. read more

Meh.... it's ok. 2 stars isn't bad enough to complain or good enough to really say anything.

My favorite bar in Happy Valley serving the BEST wings and fries! The beaver burgers are a must have! This spot will not disappoint you!

Great addition to State College a few years ago. Great atmosphere, very good food, decent beer selection and interesting drink menu. Enough TVs to keep sports people happy and some great "sidewalk seating" if you can find an opening. Huge booths and tables for big parties. Service is sometimes a little slow but that is usually because it's always crowded. Prices are a little high, especially for a college town. read more

While I still really like this place, my last visit was just a little disappointing..on the off chance someone from the kitchen staff is reading this - i wish the "jalapeno slaw" on the fried chicken sandwich was more than just the coleslaw with 2 slices of jalapeño in it. With a true jalapeño slaw this sandwich could be delicious! Also - the turkey sandwich really doesn't need gorgonzola AND cheddar, IMO. I think one or the other would make a lot more sense.. I know this is all somewhat nitpicky but I like this place and don't want the quality to go down! read more

This is a really great place to to just chill with friends. It's A little more upscale than a typical state college bar but Ina good way. They don't let the place get too filled so it's never super crowded and pretty easy to get a drink. They have a lot of interesting cocktails, the staff is super friendly and they have awesome fries. read more

Another great bar, it is a little more pretentious than other bars. Regular bar food is a little on the expensive side and good beer on tap. The fries are the best thing to get along with your drinks. read more

Had no whiskey but a delicious brisket sandwich and a wedge salad with thick smokey bacon. The seats in the booths are designed such that when seated my feet did not reach the floor. Last time I sat like that I was in a high chair wearing a bib. Concerned that my feet would grow numb I moved to a table with stools equipped with cross bars for feet. read more

The cheesesteak egg rolls are awesome however service sucks but it's their first arts fest so it's like chilllllll 3.5 stars

Has been pretty good each visit. I like that it is focused on whiskey and cocktails. Tonight we ordered the squid and it was fantastic! The waitress Andrea is great at navigating the menu and helped me pick a cocktail. We will return and continue trying out the menu and learning more about whiskey. read more

Absolutely unacceptable. Was not allowed into this bar & restaurant because of my color. I am so saddened to see that this type of discrimination takes place in such a great place like State College. Very upset & I really hope they change their ways. Not ok. read more

Pricey for State College, but it keeps a lot of the undergrad crowd out. The Peppermint Mocha martini around Christmas time is fantastic! Get the tray of French fries! They are SO good and is the one cheap thing! read more

Good meal. Danielle was very helpful with our drink selections and the food was very good. Brisket sandwich, Reuben, burger and fish n chips were all very good. Would recommend it for sure! Seating could present a problem for bigger groups or 5 stars for sure. read more

We went later in the night and had the limited menu. Good manhattans, and some unique offerings. The cheesesteak egg roll was tasty and unique! The tray of fries was way too much, even for our party of five. The wings were crispy with good sauce. read more

Great fries with lots to share. I had the Reuben, and really had no complaints. The sandwich was really great size, and the beer selection was great also. I've been here a few times and haven't had a bad experience. I think if you go when it's really busy service could be an issue because it's also a bar, but each time I've been here it's been great food. read more

Local Whiskey - Reuben Sandwich was great - Cocktail Bars Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

I didn't eat here, but my wife and I had a few drinks. I like this place. Great friendly service, good drinks, cheap prices and a good atmosphere. If my daughter picks Penn State, I may be spending a lot of time here. read more

Sooo this place isn't the worst butttttt their menu says "famous cheesesteaks" and honestly I would say they are anything BUT famous. You get a huge bun with barely any meat on it, I literally thought it was a joke when they brought it out because I also ordered a hot dog (which was good, get everything on it) and the hot dog was huge compared to the cheesesteak. Also, they were out of ciabatta bread so they couldn't serve anything on the menu that was made with that and they had to be out of oil because the bar was freeeeeezing. I ordered tomato soup thinking it would warm me up and even that was cold! ‍ on to the next bar... read more

Solid spot for young professionals and grad students. Great liquor selection and atmosphere. Major complaint would be the prices. Overpriced drinks and food. Never a happy hour. The service is typically pretty solid. One bartender is definitely a bitch, but many of them are fine. The food situation needs to be improved. Cheesesteaks from Erie's are terrible (super soggy and poor quality). Overall this place is a decent place to pregame or grab a drink after work. read more

Finally, a college town bar for working professionals. For those of you who are tired of bartenders who couldn't mix a proper drink to save their lives, this is your spot. read more

Occasionally, I go to Local Whiskey (perhaps more popularly known as the Second). Much of the bartender, waiter, and bouncer staff is shared between Local Whiskey and the downstairs bar, the Phyrst. That's a good thing, as most of them are pretty cool and some of them among the best in town. The establishment is best known for fostering a good atmosphere for the so-called 'young professional'. It rarely gets raucous in there like it does at many of the other downtown bars; there is no happy hour. The cost of this quieter atmosphere is that drinks are priced on the high side. Food prices, however, run near average. Beer selection is good and includes many craft brews. The food is prepared next door at Ernie's, which also provides food for take-out and for the Phyrst downstairs. Choices range from junk food (french fries -- the best in town, hamburgers, cheesesteaks) to some almost finer dining-type items (recently, for example, a smoked-salmon sammie). Quality is generally very good, so the food availability is certainly an asset to the establishment. Recommended for a quieter drink in an environment that allows for conversation. read more

Definitely one of the best places in town for really good cocktails. I'm so glad the trend is getting away from super sugary fruit juice cocktails. They have the best cocktails in town for me, I like gin and vodka, and they have plenty of variety for ingredients like rosemary or ginger beer, which I love! The food is great, the service is great, they are always on it even when busier. read more

Didn't get a chance to check out their drink menu as I was there for the lunch special ($5 burger), and if you don't go, you aren't missing out. It's very average and I now know why it's $5 and no one's there...service was also average. read more

I approached Local Whiskey after having two beers at Primanti Brothers and they rejected me telling me I'm too drunk. Last time I was there they reluctantly gave me food and my beers were half foam and hot. Avoid this place at all costs read more

I went to go buy a sandwich and enjoy beer when my friend and I were rejected for wearing a pair of bright colored leggings and I was wearing a cartoon tshirt. It was absurd. I thought we would be allowed to patronize this restaurant but we were told we needed to change. Nothing of our clothing was inappropriate in any way. I used to go here regularly but have this treatment and being told my outfit was not appropriate for the public sphere, which was a rugrats tshirt, I cannot imagine ever going again. Rude and unprofessional. read more

This bar has great potential. It's in an excellent location, the decor gives it character, the cocktails are good, and the burgers are tasty. However, the service is consistently slow. And just today, we learned that drinks cannot be served without a significant, unspecified time delay. Have you heard of such a thing? Apparently, it's just their policy. Between the poor service and further delayed drink delivery, we will not be back. read more

The staff is great and food is above average. Now for the bad. They were out of 9 different whiskies we tried to order. Another one seemed to be priced wrong (a 12year old was cheaper than the 10 yr of same brand). When we inquired we were told that we could have it for the correct price which was almost double the menu. It's a college bar pretending to be a whiskey bar. Ernie must be rolling over in his grave read more

Traveling through State College while on a tour. (I am in a dance company), we came across Local Whiskey because it served food after 10. We instantly were excited upon arrival bc the decor was cute. That was about the only cute thing about it. (Your 1 star is for decor). Our group loves a good glass of wine for 2 of the customers it was was vinegary and smelled bad. Although we travel alot, around the world in what we were served was gross. We asked for a new glass where we were told, "well it is fine, we just opened it". At this point I still thought there was customer service hope and moved on. We ate mediocre food at best. The bill came and we were told our initial wine would be on the tab bc it was our fault we didn't like it. Mind you, we ordered 2 more drinks of another wine each so we weren't being cheap, they simply served us a gross wine. When I asked the waitress why we still had to pay, she said she could have the manager speak to us. She basically said that bc it "wasn't the restaurant's fault" we had to pay. Now again, I may be 31, but I am from a belief that the customer is always right, and that is simply poor customer service. After going back and forth with the manager, she FINALLY said, well I'll take it off if its that big a deal. To me, it wasn't about the $7 wine, its about terrible customer service guidelines that are apparently from the General Management down. Even our cabby on the way home knew that this "somewhat high end restaurant" had a reputation for being cheap. Owners, get a clue...public, don't waste your time, calories, or money. read more

Excellent ambiance. The service was terrific. We had pulled pork and grilled cheese sandwiches and they were delicious. Lots of alcohol choices. read more

Wow, this night was very interesting. Went to the bar with a large group for a birthday. Most of the table ordered drinks but I ordered a water and a bowl of chili. The chili was really good but super spicy. The entire table had gotten their drinks except I hadn't gotten my water. I went up to the bar and politely asked for a glass of water and explained how spicy the chili was. I was given a glass of water and thanked the waitress. When I found out the birthday girl had paid for everyone's drinks and I had asked for my check simultaneously, I was told that my food had been charged to her card without my permission. I explained that I wanted to pay for it and then when I was spoken to with attitude from the waitress I asked for the manager. The manager was so unprofessional and childish I could have guessed he was 15. He told me that I had been rude to the waitress all night and that I had some kind of issue for saying how badly I needed a glass of water. I explained to him how spicy the chili was and that I just needed some water to remedy the situation, but he was on a mission. No matter what I said about the situation, in his mind I was rude and needed to be kicked out. Honestly, I'm one of the most polite and sober people you'll ever meet and I honestly believe these people don't know how to run a bar effectively, do not care at all about their customers, are disorganized, and extremely rude to their patrons. Not two weeks ago I met a group of friends here who had to wait for almost three hours because their waitress lost their food ticket. This business has inadequate management and staffing. It is unfortunate but my night was ruined because I asked for a glass of water. There are so many better bars in State College who hire polite, fair workers... please spend your money at those establishments. This bar ruined my night, my friends' night, and my personal self-esteem as a sober, polite patron asking for a simple glass of water. Don't give these fools your money. read more

The bouncer straight up discriminated against our clothing. We had a group of 5 people wearing the same tshirt and he would not let us enter the bar under the pretenses that we were a bar crawl. No one in our group showed signs of intoxication yet we were turned away due to what seems to be a wardrobe malfunction. I pointed out to the bouncer that another group larger than ours and more intoxicated than ours (not wearing matching tshirts) was allowed in and he had no explanation for the discrimination other than we were wearing matching shirts. Not supporting this bar in the future. read more

This is easily my favorite bar in state college. The drinks are a little pricey but worth it - I'm here weekly and never disappointed. The food is also amazing (grilled cheese is BOMB). Bartenders are attentive and remember what I always order. Also a great environment if your not into the crazy, loud bar scene. This place is always chill, only time I've ever seen a line is football weekends. read more