First time here and we will definitely be back. This is now one of my top 5 restaurants. We previously had only tried the wings at Tussey, which were a family favorite so we tried a few different menu items this visit and EVERYTHING was delicious!! The portions are huge so we came home with lunch for the next two days. The owner stopped by to check on us and our waiter was very nice and helpful in answering any questions we had and gave some recommendations on his favorite menu items. It's a bit of a drive for us, but worth the trip! read more

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We went a year ago and haven't been back. Slow service--over 2 hours for dinner service. Had to chase someone down to get our bill. Servers hanging with the bartender instead of checking on tables. I can say the hostess and the food runner were super polite and pleasant despite a busy day. I Asked to refill the water for the pitcher at the table multiple times and it never came. In fact I think it was the owner who saw our empty pitcher, took it and said she'd fill it up. Instead she went to all these different tables to sit down and make friends. But the absolute worst part was informing our server that I had a shrimp allergy at least 3 times when I ordered. I ordered a dish that came with shrimp. I asked that they leave it off, and that I'd pay full price. It came with the shrimp on it. The person who brought our food was MORTIFIED (and rightfully so) and said she'd get our server. the server was kind of wishy washy as if it wasn't a huge deal. I politely requested that they do a whole new dish without the shrimp. It finally came sans shrimp! My sister ordered this steak and potato salad with some dressing on the side. It comes out with no dressing. When we asked the server they said oh yeah I'll get it. 5 min later they come back and said oh we are out, what else do you want? 10 min later and she's got her dressing. Food was average. My old fashioned was at least decent. From all the rave reviews on Facebook, I wanted to love it--was excited to finally go..and just not a good experience. read more

Great family-owned spot with huge portions that is great for groups. The menu consists of a variety of dishes from Italian to American food. I opted for the Seafood Risotto ($30), which was part of a special item during the Happy Valley Restaurant Week. The risotto was beautifully plated with a good variety of seafood. The pieces are a bit small and the risotto could be creamier, but still delicious overall. I also tried a slice of The Meat Lover Pizza ($16), which was loaded with toppings. The only thing was that the toppings were under the cheese, so it got a bit messy as the cheese didn't hold onto the pizza. It was still great as leftovers though with a doughy crust. Overall, great portions and variety that's worth your money. All the food we had was good from the salad to pizza to risotto to pasta. read more

The Blonde Bistro - Meat Lover Pizza. - Italian Near Me - Bellefonte, Pennsylvania

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My companion and I enjoyed a nice dinner with friends at the Blonde Bistro. The restaurant's address is Bellefonte PA but it's well out of "downtown" Bellefonte and really closer to Zion PA. Blonde Bistro specializes in pasta and Italian dishes as well as nanobrewing. Portions are HUGE as you can seen in my photo of a deep bowl. I enjoyed Big Springs Vidka pasta, which had a bit of zip thanks to a nice dose of cayenne. My companion ordered Alfredo pasta, and was a bit disappointed with the sauce--leaned more toward cream instead of a better balance of cream and cheeae. I also tried a flight of Blonde Bistro's in-house beers, which were decent but not spectacular. That's consistent with my experience at other nanobreweries; various beer styles can be hit or miss. Their kolsch was a standout and a good choice for non-craft beer drinkers. Service was attentive, but a little overwhelmed during our visit. In addition to our party of four, there were three parties of six or more while we were there. Blonde Bistro is a small spot so that's a lot to handle. Overall it was a good experience and my companion has had multiple other very good visits--hence four stars despite the bumps I noted above. read more

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I've been here at least a half a dozen times and have never had a bad meal. During friends dinners we usually try one another's dishes so I've had at least a dozen items on their menu and all were fantastic. My favorite... My absolute favorite... Meat-lovers Stromboli. The guy that makes the dough does a perfect job. I can honestly say it is the best Stromboli I've ever had in my life. Their pasta dishes that come in the big white bowls are absolutely massive so plan on leftovers going home with you and they warm up and taste just as good as they do in the restaurant. read more

The food is so good. Lots of different choices, service is great! One of the few nicer restaurants in our area, prices are reasonable.

I am not sure why thisnplace has some mixed reviews it was delicious! Service was great they were working as a team and the owner was busing food! Mexicali deviled wggs were phenomenal! Short ribs were buttery and tender, Shrimp, mussles and clams over pasta with a sauce was delish. Fish and chips was flakey and tarter was homemade. Really good we will be back! read more

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Service was good I feel bad for the bussers and servers. but you know it's making up for the fact that making the food takes forever. Greasy and slow. Will not recommend. read more

The Blonde Bistro - Sausage Rustica - Italian Near Me - Bellefonte, Pennsylvania

You have to start with the wings add bruschetta and then lasagna for dinner!! 9 of us incredibly picky about our Italian cuisine and this incredible gem did NOT disappoint!! Tasty had to take home bc the portions are enormous and the service.... Beyond friendly!! Warm and welcoming!! Don't miss out experiencing such an incredible experience!! read more

Unfortunately this is the third time we have tried to enjoy a meal at this restaurant and while the food is good, the service is terrible. Shame on us for trying to find a silver lining in this place. read more

My drink was great and the food was delicious. Definitely recommend the pizza. I also liked the decorations in the place; it felt like I was in my mom's dining room. Service was just okay. Two of the items I ordered each cost two dollars more on the check than the price on the menu. Not a big deal but then there was also a credit card processing fee on top of that. So only three stars because of the non-transparent pricing. read more

The Blonde Bistro - Strawberry watermelon cocktail - Italian Near Me - Bellefonte, Pennsylvania

Top notch quisine in a relaxed atmosphere. Worth the journey and well worth the fare.

This place was 12/10. First the portions were amazing! And the quality was AMAZING. I am from California and it's as uppity as the stereotypes haha and this place, if it was there would be a TOURIST STOP FOR SURE. I will definitely be back read more

The Blonde Bistro - Italian Near Me - Bellefonte, Pennsylvania

This restaurant is an unsuccessful attempt at a hip brewery with modern, Itali-American fusion. The interior is an odd mix of mismatching chairs and decor that just doesn't work. We were seated in the back corner and I was really not a fan of sitting right under the TV. I was unsure about this restaurant from the start, but was hoping to be pleasantly surprised by the food. Instead, I was incredibly disappointed. The bruschetta, rather than coming with fresh diced tomatoes and herbs, came topped with some tomato sauce and a slice of mozzarella, which looked and tasted unappetizing. The lasagna dip was a strange mixture of puréed acidic tomatoes topped with garlic bread that covered the entire plate. For my "main", I went with what I thought was going to be the safest option on the menu: fries with aioli. I received soggy fries with a translucent, thick and chunky dip that I couldn't even dip my fries into. I didn't know you could mess up an aioli; it's a mayo dip. Within less than an hour of being there, my stomach was so upset, I was ready to unbutton my pants and head out. I'm extremely disappointed in this place. I could not be dragged here even by my best friend. read more

We dropped in on a Friday night. They were really busy which is always a good sign! They were able to squeeze us in. The service was really good and our food came quickly! Our party of 4 each tried something different and they were all amazing! The portions were huge so we had lots to bring home. Can't wait to go back! read more

The good: portions are huge! We saw a burger order go by and it was the tallest, fattest I've ever seen. We were all staring! I got the vodka sauce pasta. Addictive!!! Just a tad bit of heat. We got the ($13 ouch!!) garlic bruschetta. Omg you need to order this! Tons of perfectly soft, roasty garlic pieces in a white sauce (Alfredo?) and toast! It's awesome. We got the carbonara and I didn't care for that. Bland. The bad: almost 60 minutes to get our food. $150 for 5 people. Expensive mixed drinks. Boring basketball on all three flatscreens. Sucks for all of us who hate basketball. The worst part? A total dead zone. Zero cell, could not stare at our phones while we waited forever for our food. No WiFi either. We will go back though! read more

The Blonde Bistro - Vodka sauce pasta - Italian Near Me - Bellefonte, Pennsylvania

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Was looking forward to eating lunch. I had a sub. Very, very lite on any seasoning. My sister had steak sandwich. Ver full of meat but again no seasoning. I had fries which were good but ability dressing was a lost mystery to me. It looked like axel grease. Tasted sweet but had a very nasty look, I asked if it was aoli which I am used to an oil or mayo base. I guess it was their version I would stick to vinegaror ketchup. . My sister said her soda tasted flat, and we tried some beers. I liked mine, which was a seasonal light beer and my water had no ice which it was warm and the water was just cool. They were busy watching races on t.v. I think they could just add some spice so as not be bland. The place clean and friendly. The waitress was very pleasant. Will try again. Could have been an off day. read more

The food is great!! Always a great meal and the staff is very friendly and helpful. Great service

Come here for some beer!!! Rubio Mexican Lager, Dirty Blonde Amber Ale Lager, and Dark and Mild are all excellent and smooth. Blonde bombs, stomboli and wings are all delicious!!!! Don't hesitate. Thank you Mary and Sierra! read more

Came here with my mother-in-law and significant other. We had the Blonde Bombs as an appetizer which was very good! My mother-in-law had the eggplant which was very tasty, my significant other had the signature steak and pasta dish which was also good and I had the Blonde Burger, also good! The servicer was very knowledgeable of the menu and friendly. The interior decor was very cute and the restaurant was very clean! We will be coming back! read more

If you're looking for a relaxed atmosphere with excellent food, this is the place. A short drive from PSU, you'll be very happy that you took the extra time visit this cafe. Not only is the food well prepared, you will not walk away hungry; very well proportioned servings. An A++ experience all the way around. read more

Food was amazing as always! The lasagna dip, risotto and eggplant rollatini were delicious. We will be back. The Italian dishes here are the best. read more

This was a huge disappointment, but 100% expected considering our experiences at their past two location attempts. It started with the, what I believe to be, "owner" opening the door and saying, "we don't open for another 10 minutes" then slammed the door shut in our faces. We stopped on our way home from work so we figured they would be open at 4:50. We contemplated on going somewhere else based on that experience, but really wanted to try the place out since their new location recently opened and assumed our perception may have been off. As we entered after the Neon Open light came on we were met with, "do you have reservations?" We said, "no," which was received with an eye roll and a theatrical deep breath. We were a table of 6 and we were told we could sit if we didn't disturb the other reservations. What!? Again, maybe our perception was off. We obviously were the first table of the day and we were still sat at a DIRTY table. How!? Then we ordered drinks. Everyone seemed to enjoy their drinks and there was a good selection. Kudos to Mark!!! We were a little taken back how there was no on site brewed beer, though. They have a full brewery on site and everyone local figured the beer brewing was what took them sooooo long to open. We also thought the previous owners were helping them brew, but I guess not. Now the food, it was mostly NOT GOOD!!! The lasagna dip tasted like acidic puréed tomatoes heated up with a gob of cold ricotta in the middle (yuck). Two people ordered the EXACT same burger and one had two thick slices of what tasted like beef jerky on top and the other had chopped bacon. The salad was overflowing the tiny plate which made it impossible to eat without food falling all over the table, and forget tossing it!! The Buffalo nachos had drizzles of a thick Buffalo sauce and I think ranch. That is it! They were very underwhelming especially for nachos!! The guest with the pasta said it was very delicious!! The wings were delicious and cooked perfectly! A second beer was ordered along with to go containers, and the waitress never brought the beer nor the containers. We saw the "owner" point to our table and say something to our waitress, then made a shooing away hand gesture and the waitress soon after brought out the check, no "do you want anything else? Dessert?" Nope, and still no to go containers. The second beer was on the tab and once mentioned the server said, "oh I will take that off." Not, "oh I will get that," or "do you still want it?" Nope, apparently our presence was unacceptable. We were only there for one hour total! We got seated at 5:00 and were home by 6:15. The food came out slowly (we were the only table and it took 30 minutes, burgers were medium rare) the server never asked how we were in the mean time. Oh and when the server was taking our orders the "owner" came up to her, interrupted our order to tell her she did something wrong and corrected her. Then said a snarky comment to her and walked away. Just rude, plain rude! Could have waited until she was not at a customer's table! On another note, I am all about lifting women up and supporting one another! However, when your food is being served to you by someone who's very VERY large bust is already OVERFLOWING their very low cut top and ends up dragging her practically bare breast all over your husband's back while trying to set the food on the table; it just makes for everyone, especially the man, to be uncomfortable and lose their appetite. I didn't realize I went to Hooters, not opposed of course, just wouldn't take my child to Hooters and well it is expected there. I will say, blonde bistro's wings do outshine Hooters' wings all day, though! Won't go back and it's a shame because we are very local. Learn how to not be rude to your customers or open a "Dick's" restaurant instead to fit the presentation of personality given. The take away is this is an "owner" who wants to have a restaurant, but without customers. One star is the overall experience, I would have added more stars for the cocktails, wings and pasta, but the bad just overly outweighed the good. read more

On 9/16/23 we went to dinner. The food was delicious, the service friendly and prompt and the ambiance was delightful. I had Spaghetti with clam sauce and I cannot say enough about how delicious it was and, piping hot too. The portion was generous. They brew their beer and carry only PA made wine and mixed drinks. Definitely will return!!! Annie from State College. read more

New location is great. The menu is huge and so are the portions. We had a group of 7 and had made a reservation because we heard they were filling up and turning people away. Must have a reservation, they are new and busy! Everyone in our party raved about their meals and all agree we will be back. read more

The only reason I could justify one star is for my drinks!! Other than that, not impressed at all. We ordered nachos and expected nachos. Instead, we received tortilla chips with some hot sauce and a white sauce. They were not good! Then I had a steak salad. The steak tasted microwaved or like it was thawed in a microwave. The salad didn't fit the plate, not because it was huge, because the plate was so small. It's like it was plated for a picture, not consumption. The staff seemed untrained and scattered, and the half dressed owner is just RUDE! Still trying to find my local go to hangout. This is NOT it. read more

Great food and wait staff! Food is made from scratch and the specials don't disappoint. This is an extremely busy restaurant and I would make reservations if you are able. Overall experience was 5 star. read more