Byorek's Knotty Pine
Route 309 - Hazleton, PA
We stopped at a Hazleton icon for lunch today before heading down to see the Iron Pigs game in Allentown. I had a cheesesteak with a side of Knotty Pine Fries which are topped with gravy and scumutz, both of which were very tasty.
Knotty Pine opened its doors in 1937 and has been in business ever since, but it's not a place that I remember from my childhood other than seeing the neon sign on the side of the road when we drove down Route 309. When I was growing up, my grandparents would go out for dinner every Saturday night after my grandmother and great-grandmother got out of church, and there were two other diners that were just a few blocks away: The Blue Comet and Pegasus (which has since been renamed The Beltway Diner), so we almost always went to one or the other (usually Blue Comet). Knotty Pine was a few miles up the road from Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, so it was out-of-sight, out of mind. You might think that driving for a few minutes would be no big deal, but if you knew my grandmother, you'd understand. Let's just say that she's not the most patient person in the world.
It wasn't until I became an adult that I stopped at Knotty Pine to eat for the first time, and it was very good. The place also has a very cool roadside diner vibe with thick wooden booths and paneling. Check it out if you're in town.
