BELLEFONTE — A new addition to State Burger Co. is offering nostalgic candies, craft sodas, fresh baked goods and more at the downtown Bellefonte restaurant.
Owners Dustin Smith and Sean Burke spent the last four months converting the adjoining space at 103 S. Allegheny St. into The Emporium at State Burger Co., a kind of general store that also serves as the new entrance to their popular burger and shake joint.
The shop opened on Saturday.
“The concept was that we were trying to do a general store atmosphere with kind of a more upscale, more chic vibe to it, but still offer all the nostalgic chocolates and candies, and then do some pastries, some decor, things like that,” Smith said.
Customers will find table and wall displays with classic candies and treats such as taffy, Mallo Cups, peanut logs, Sky Bars, Rocky Road Bars, lollipops and rock candy. The shop also offers a line of items from Emma’s Gourmet Popcorn, an Amish-owned business based in Lancaster County, with selections including bags of cinnamon bun and peanut butter flavored popcorn and more elaborate cups with an array of toppings.
About 30 varieties of craft sodas are available in individual bottles or create-your-own four-packs, with flavors like honey blonde root beer, maple cream, grape jam, raspberry and peach basil, to name a few, from producers including Reading Soda Works, Boylan’s and Sixth City Craft Soda.
“A lot of them are just really unique sodas that you can’t really get anywhere,” Smith said. “So that’s kind of my favorite thing that we’re currently offering.”
He added that they visit their Pennsylvania-based suppliers in places like Altoona, Reading and Lititz in person to select the items they want for the store.
A case at the counter, meanwhile, features a wide selection of house-made baked goods and other desserts. Offerings on opening day included big cookies; chocolate, lemon and milk and cookies cakes; peanut butter (cream and silk), blueberry and cannoli pies; and a variety of lunchbox cakes such as Oreo, thin mint, cookie butter and buttered popcorn.
Other dessert selections include parfaits, dessert cups and scooped cheesecake, with small-batch cinnamon sugar and garlic herb butters also among the fresh items.
Smith said he and Burke collaborated with their staff to plan what the store would offer.
“These are all really super creative folks that work for us, and almost everyone here has worked for us for quite some time,” Smith said. “They all love desserts, and they all love the sweets and the treats… so everyone’s really had feedback and a say in, like, what kind of pies we’re offering and what kind of cakes we’re offering and things like that. So it’s really been nice. Everyone here has collaborated and has been looking forward to opening today. It’s been really cool. We have a really great staff.”
Amid the nostalgic decor, other items available include house-cooked potato chips and a few other savory snacks, vintage lunchboxes, hamburger coasters, funky hand-made jewelry, cow-print towels and rosemary mint hand soap.
And customers can get a cup of coffee to go with their sweets. In the coming weeks, the store is expected to open earlier in the morning for a pastry and coffee service, but Smith said he and Burke do not intend for it to be a coffee shop.
“We just wanted to go with straightforward, simple coffee. We are not trying to be baristas,” Smith said. “There’s lots of folks in town that do that, and they do a great job of that. So it wasn’t our goal to be competitive with them.”
The shop also provides some much-needed space for State Burger.
Instead of entering directly into the dining room, where there was little standing room to wait, diners now enter through the store and wait there if a table isn’t immediately available. It additionally serves as the location to place or pick up takeout orders.
“That was actually a big deal,” Smith said. “Because [in the main restaurant] when we have a waiting list, everyone’s kind of standing right here. It’s uncomfortable if you’re sitting here eating and you have a group of 10 people standing here waiting. But particularly in the summertime and in the wintertime, it’s really kind of a detriment because it gets so cold or it gets so hot with that door being open and people waiting here. So it is really, really nice to have an area where people can wait, that they’re not intruding on the diner space.”
With its blend of modern and classic Americana, The Emporium aims to complement the unique charm of other businesses in downtown Bellefonte, Smith said.
“We’re really excited about it,” Smith said. “We’re coming up on eight years in Bellefonte right now. And I think one of the really, really charming things about Bellefonte is that there’s a lot of boutique stores in town, and they’re so unique and so creative. And so I really think that was something that we wanted to contribute to. We wanted to do one of those little boutique vibes, but put a foodie spin on it. We were really, really excited to execute that.”
Until it begins morning coffee and pastry service, the shop is open the same hours as the restaurant: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
