Stopped here after a kayaking trip that ended at Smithfield Beach. A short jaunt and we were there, hungry and thirsty. Shawnee Craft beers were very good. Buffalo wings were awesome; we had to order a second helping. My black bean burger was moist and amazing and the kettle chips were yum. Friends did not care for the naan with mozzarella or the goat cheese appetizer (lots of breading, not any cheese flavor). So hit or miss, but I enjoyed my meal and the setting. Service was slow but waitress was flying solo. Enjoyed eating on the downstairs patio.
Review Source:I wanted so badly to give you 5 stars...
We were here this weekend. Â Stopped for a beer Friday night and had the cheddar ale sauce pretzel app and were super impressed, so we decided to come for dinner on Saturday after a kayaking trip.
Beer- overall was a 3 it was average...but this is coming from beer snobs. Â Bourbon Barrel Porter was a 4 though...definitely give it a shot if your there.
We ordered the Philly cheese steak and honey mustard chicken sandwich. Â The Philly cheese steak was just a mess. Â Cheese steak sandwiches are generally a mess to begin with but this was just inedible meat just wasn't right..who splits both sides of the bun?? Â Chicken sandwich was pretty standard but alittle dry. Â The way their menu describes their food hypes it up, but when it gets to the table you will feel a little disappointed.
But on the plus- Â Shannon our waitress was top notch and totally on top of the sandwich not being up to par and brought out Tom the manager. Â Who asked us what was wrong and how to fix it....which was totally a stand up move in our book. Â 2 thumbs up to Shannon and Tom. Â Without even expecting it the sandwich was removed from our bill.
Just a few little adjustments and I would totally give this place 5 stars...hoping to visit again and update this review.
***Restock your growlers and T-shirts...we really wanted to bring some home with us, but they were completely out of stock.
This place is really weird. Â The facade is nice, the menus are professional, and what is offered looks great, but when it comes down to it, the food is not great! Â I don't think I can blame this all on being from an area with so many great restaurants, as you can tell by the taste that there is something rotten in the state of Gem & Keystone's kitchen. Â The buffalo wings tasted like they were microwaved, I had a beer battered sausage type thing that was dry. Â We had a subpar appetizer, and I was hearing general complaints all around my table. Â We tried this place as a post-hike retreat, and while it basically gave us nutrients to continue the day, I wouldn't come back here. Â One thing I heard by a person at the table is that the beer is pretty good, I think he tried something that was special to the pub. Â If you want an alcoholic drink, come here, but other than that, try somewhere else!
Review Source:The food here is pretty average. The menu is kind of drab and the preparation of said leaves a lot to be desired. Typical for a Poconos resort.
The beer is really good though. Well above average. Especially the Beir Blanche, the Blonde Ale and the Belgian Tripel.
Overall not a bad place for a family outing.
I like this place better as a bar to come throw back a few pints. I wouldn't order food here though. But then again I'm somewhat of a neurotic about food being a former chef.
I will make this a short review since I only had their beer. I was skiing at Shawnee and since we had lift tickets and already tried their beer at the bar, we got a free beer for popping in. It was worth it and I ended up leaving with a growler of their double IPA. It was good and I sampled just about all of their beer and really enjoyed it. It definitely adds a bonus for skiing in that area!
Review Source:We went to Gem and Keystone Pub after reading their reviews on Yelp after a long day of skiing.  Our server (I believe her name was Jade?) was  outstanding.  Yes, it is pub fare, so you don't have that fancy food wow factor, however we all know that some restaurants can even manage to mess up pub fare.  The service was impeccable and the staff was extremely friendly.  The food is reasonably priced and the servings were plentiful. The next time I am in this area I definitely will be back.
Review Source:We went to lunch before going to a play. We were met by waitress & Â hostess. They were friendly and pleasant making the start as pleasant as the rest of the visit. I had two their beers. The were excellent and reasonably priced. My fish and chips was the best I have had at any restaurant in the Poconos & Lehigh Valley. My wife had chili. The waitress warned her than it was spicy. It turned out to excellent. While it had some bite, it was not overwhelming.
Excellent beer, very good food, and excellent service. Snowstorm Nemo stopped us from a day in the Poconos, but we will make it up later in the month. The Gem & Keystone will be on the agenda for lunch.
Just as Jessica L. said, I'm shocked that the rating/reviews for this place aren't better! Â My boyfriend and I went here at 9:30p on a Saturday after a long ski session and were starving. Â As a vegetarian, I found myself with so many delicious-sounding options that I didn't know what to do! This is a problem I rarely encounter, so I was super excited. Â What to get? The veggie nan? The vegetarian chili? The felafel? Decisions, decisions.... I went with the hand-made black bean burger with lettuce, tomato, onion, and spicy mayo. Â Keyword: spicy! Â And the bun was buttery, soft, and delicious. Â YUM!
We also had an appetizer before our meals. Â The goat cheese fritters with honey? OMG. Â I could have eaten 100 of them.
Our server/bartender, Richard, was very friendly and chatted with us for quite some time after things slowed down a bit. Â They seem to have been short-staffed, and he was really hustling. Â We appreciated his service.
The beer was awesome. Â The Session Porter was our favorite, and we also enjoyed their Blanche. Â I wish they bottled and distributed - both of those are beers I would enjoy regularly if I could. Â One of our fav things about traveling is having local beer, and theirs was definitely a highlight of our trip.
They had free live music downstairs on the Saturday night that we were there, and the atmosphere was great. Â The band was fun. Â We had a really good time!
The crab dip is to die for. They were pretty accommodating for gluten free options. Service was friendly, even for the kids. I had the ipa, which was good, but slightly flat. I hope to go back for the porter.
EDIT: Went back a second time. The porter was very good. Service was excellent. Again they made a gluten free item that wasn't on the menu for us.
I'm really surprised to see how low the reviews are for this place. Five of us stopped here after a hike. Three of us are beer snobs and all of us are pretty discerning eaters. Plus, we had two vegetarians in the group, who really appreciated that there were several non-meat options.
The beer drinkers in the group really enjoyed the beer, namely the Double Pale, Saison, and Session Porter. We had the vegetable naan, fish and chips, burger, pretzels and cheese dip, hummus, mandarin salad, and crab cakes. Everyone enjoyed their food, especially the cheese dip. The service was good and the restaurant itself is comfortable and well-designed. With tip, we paid $150 - not bad for 5 meals, 2 appetizers, and drinks!
The atmosphere is nice - We sat outside and thought there would be a bit more of a view but it was still nice to sit outside.
As for the food we were there for lunch so had sandwiches and an appetizer. Â The appetizer we had was the cheddar cheese dip with the pretzels - warm soft and salty, great pretzels and the dip was also really good.
As for the sandwiches we had the Turkey croissant and the pulled pork. Â Both were fine but not "wow that was amazing." Â It was a good meal and a nice place to eat.
Our server did a really nice job of explaining everything to us and was very attentive. Â We will put this on our list of places to hit every so often and maybe try a dinner at.
From the look of this place, you would think it was going to be a great experience. It has great atmosphere with two outside eating areas with a great view. However we should have paid attention to what other reviewers had to say about the food quality and service - its not very good. We first tried this place a few years ago when it was called Sam Sneeds and had a great experience, but I guess things have changed. We had a late lunch so it wasn't busy and our food came without a long wait. Our server generally gave us the impression that she had better things to do than wait on us. Very curt and wasnt very helpful about making dining decisions. Later when the food came she actually slapped our food and drinks down on the table and left without saying a word. We were pretty confused about it until we read other peoples reviews saying the same thing happened to them. Very weird. The food was not good either for the price you are paying for it. If you just want drinks with a nice view, it's fine. I would look elsewhere if you are looking for anything more than that.
Review Source:It seemed innocent enough. It showed a lot of promise. It had the presence of a "fancy" version of a local feel. Not too busy on a Saturday early evening, but not empty that it would make you suspicious. Most of us (a group of 10) wished we had gone somewhere else, unfortunately. The DQ menu where we got our dessert looked a lot better by the end.
We were seated in the downstairs backyard area. It was really nice to sit outside on a June evening. However, some conversations were difficult to hear because the front porch (right above us) was busy rearranging furniture every 5 minutes or so. Realistically, it was likely that people just got in and out of tables and the chairs were heavy enough that they made a really loud noise. It just happened to be amplified when you were sitting right below it.
The food ranged from nothing special to things that had no taste. The burgers particularly were probably the least favorites. The pasta was cold and totally flavorless and unsalted. Perhaps our overall impression of food wouldn't have been as bad if it wasn't for our server.
At first, our waitress was smiley and cheery enough and showed a lot of helpful potential. At some point, however, not sure at what point exactly it was becoming obvious that she wasn't going to be as helpful through the rest of our stay. Honestly, I kept thinking back as to what may have someone said or did that made this change in her service to us and I couldn't think of anything. We were a pretty polite decent group. Perhaps we were a little loud with our conversations, but not rude or nasty to the staff or others. And I don't think we smelled or anything if that's what you thought.
So what happened was, we got our appetizers and instead of laying out small plates in front of us, the waitress just put a stack in the middle of the table. I didn't really think of it as anything at first, but I noticed that the table next to us, which had just as big of a party, had the plates individually placed for each person. No one ever brought the table glasses of water (again, the other table had plenty of it). After we were done with appetizers it took a good 20 to 30 minutes before our entrees came, and the waitress didn't manage to clear our table of plates with bones and such (we tried the wings), even after someone had asked her to do it.
A friend of ours asked for a glass of water when everyone had finished eating and we were just enjoying our conversations. A minute later the waitress brought as a check. Mind you, we didn't actually ask for it and were still pondering on whether or not we want desert. Needless to say, my friend never got her glass of water. We went to DQ for dessert.
It was an unfortunate affair. I really hope they try better for the local community and the many folks that come to the area for other activities or stays.
Loved this establishment! Â The staff are friendly and efficient. Â Their mini brewery produces a variety of beers that appeal to every taste. Â We so looked forward to having a cool one after a hard day's play that we ate all our dinners there trying different menu items each night. Â The ribs fell off the bone and were adorned with a mild tangy sauce. Â We thought the quesadilla wonderfully flavorful and liked the crispy tortilla rather than a soft floppy one and the chicken was cooked to perfection. Â Two different cheeses were used lending a non traditional flavor to a common favorite. Â The pretzels with cheese dip were a perfect beginning and the brownies triggered childhood memories from Mother's kitchen. Â I highly recommend this comfortable Brewpub! Â Multi-indoor and outdoor seating add charm and space offering a view of the Shawnee Inn Golf Course and the occasional deer!
Review Source:We've eaten here before, and now agree with my friends who live in Stroudsburg. this place is hit or miss. The proprietary lager was terrible-flat and not micro-brewery quality-I didn't even want to risk trying a different beer/ale, the food underwhelming-one person in our party would not take more than a few bites of the Angel Hair Alfredo with shrimp, and the service was just plain horrible. The rest of our dinners seemed to  be reheated meats and not cooked to order. Not only was our server inexperienced, it seemed like she never ate at a restaurant before. I was surprised with this huge fail. It has a nice atmosphere, it's too bad the food, beer, and service couldn't match up to it.
Review Source:I agree with the other guy, if I could give this place a zero, I would too. No wonder when you stay at Shawnee they give you 25 dollar credit toward eating here, that's cause no one wants to go!!!
I went with my girlfriend and her sister while we were checking out timeshares up there. I ordered a quesadilla with supposedly shredded chicken. It was not. It was absolutely undercooked pork. The consistency and taste were way off from anything being chicken and regardless it was pink. The cheese tasted as if it was yellow American, not a mexican blend. The outside of the quesadilla was hard as a rock and not soft at all. Burnt outside, undercooked inside, what the hell.
My girlfriend got a burger which they managed to also somehow screw up, she said it tasted as if it was cooked yesterday and reheated that day. Her sister ordered some klingerhoefers sandwich, to which she asked the waitress is it any good and she said " uuhhhh yeeeaaaa like a lot of people seem to order that ". Good job space cadet, keep hovering up there in outer space. In order to drain the horrible flavors, I asked for a buffalo sauce, her sister asked for mustard and wait what's this? My girlfriend had to ask for ketchup? I thought no way ketchup has to be at our table. Nope, not at ours, not at the next one, as a matter of fact, I walked around and saw no ketchup on any of the tables. I don't know why Pennsylvania has everything ass backwards but the establishments I've gone to have left basic essential condiments on the table. All 3 of these sauces took more than the appropriate few minutes to bring out to the point where her sister just said forget it and just started eating her rotten food. We only ate our food and didn't sent it back because it was our first meal of the day after 1 PM.
It was bad bad bad bad, so bad we didnt even want to go back for the wing special at night that they offered at the bar. I'd avoid at all cost or keep your meal very simple at the very least. I tried to and look where it got me. EPIC FAIL.
I don't know what's in the water in Shawnee but the local men are beautiful. Â If you go here, it's worth calling ahead to see if Isaac is working; a little young on the vine but incredible looking. Â He should have his own Twilight Saga movie. Â The service was fantastic (I was with a group of 40), the food was delicious, and the beer was great. Â The style was also lovely, hardwood details, beautiful lamps, gorgeous views, and outside decks that must be wonderful in the summer. Â Again, Isaac, dear sweet Isaac.
Review Source:Stopped here at around 7:30 pm on a friday night and was pleasantly surprised. There was a wait for dinner seating but we went downstairs to the really nice bar room and sat at the bar. I read previous reviews about poor service but tonight it was excellent. We were greeted right away by the bartender who gave us a free taste of 2 beers before we orderded. The IPA on hand pump was really good, and we tried 6 of the other 7 beers offered. There were a few good ones, notably the blanche, and the others were passable to ggod. We did not try any food as we had already had dinner, but it looked and smelled great. The staff downstairs was constantly hustling and we were never ignored. We will most definitely be back here soon to try the food as well as the beers.
Review Source:We read all the reviews that said the service was terrible and they were right. We walked in with a party of six and asked if they had anything available. They looked at us in disgust and told us they didn't know where they would put us. They begrudgingly went in the dining room to look and returned to say the only option was to seat us separately. Given the reviews we read here we just turned around and left.
Review Source:Take this off my Poconos restaurant list!! This place has gone downhill on a ski slope! They have changed the menu removing popular items such as the jalapeno poppers, reduced the portion sizes and raised the prices. The service is virtually non-existent. We went last night, on a Saturday. You would think they would have more than one waitress who completely ignored us. The table next to us had dirty plates, etc on it from the former diners and sat un-bussed for about half an hour while the busboys (maybe 3 or 4 of them) were more interested in the preseason football game on tv. The large group of people at the adjacent table had nothing but complaints about their food and were writing a note to the management. Even though the food is still good, there is a lack of organization and service is abysmal. Â This review is not only based on last night. We have seen a steady decline over the past months. It's a pity that Gem and Keystone has deteriorated to the point of no return.
Review Source:Because we were staying nearby, we ate at the Gem and Keystone last Saturday night. Â The inside of the restaurant was noisy but the back porch was quite pleasant and has a nice view. Â
The service while not five-star was friendly but the food was quite mediocre as was their homemade beer. Â I had an okay North Carolina barbecue chicken and my girlfriend has the chicken apricot special. It was obvious that the chicken was grilled and then the sauce was pasted on. Guys, that doesn't work...you need to marinate. You can get away with pouring the barbecue sauce on after the cooking because it is a strong flavor but an apricot glaze needs to be applied in stages. Â
While reasonably priced, there was little chance of a DWI after my girlfriend's two gin and tonics which were heavy on the tonic (I drove :-)!
Had I not had free Wyndham coupons, I would most likely not have eaten here today. Â As it was, the coupons covered my food but not the %6 PA sales tax and the mandatory 18% gratuity (even though I was alone) or the beer. Â Thanks, Wyndham. Â There was no one to greet me when I walked in. Â Eventually, a young girl walked out and seated me. Â She then, amazingly, set herself up at the bar, and shot the stuff with the bartender! Â My server, Drew, had barely any attitude and did the "cool" yank thing fairly well. Â Yo. Â I was very disappointed by the fact that they didn't have so much--two beers were MIA and even a few of the pork entrees were not available. Â Very irritating. Â I settled for a crab sandwich, which turned out to be sloppy and mushy. Â The sweet potato fries were great, however. Â It cost a whopping $14! Â I also ordered, thanks to Wyndham, an $11 Greek salad (see pics.) Â Overall, with my $5/3 6oz beer sampler, I would say this place is overpriced but worth a shot if you are very much into microbrewed beers. Â I would recommend sitting at the downstairs bar or outside in warmer weather. Â Both areas looked comfortable.
Review Source:I went to the Gem and Keystone Brewpub twice during a weekend away at the nearby Shawnee Inn. Â On both occasions the service was poor. Â On the first night we went to the downstairs bar looking to get a few drinks and a bite to eat. Â We stood at the bar and waited for about 10 minutes, as the bar staff ignored us. We were eventually acknowledged and we placed our order. Â Later that evening, our server went AWOL, and we waited ages to get the bill. Â On the second night we decided to give them another chance, and went for dinner in the main dining area. Â We waited 20 minutes for our server to come over and he would frequently go missing, while we were waiting to order something else or ask for the bill. Â While I've never worked in a restaurant, it seems logical to give a server a section of tables that are together, but they appeared to be all over the place, which I'm sure made matters worse.
Now I've covered the lack of service, on to the food & drink. Â While a little overpriced, the food was good on both occasions. We got the cheese plate and cheese dip & pretzels from the appetizer menu, both of which were good. I had the baby back ribs, which was a very large portion. Â
The pub brews their own beer which is sold under the ShawneeCraft Beer name in the Brewpub and the Shawnee Inn restaurants. Â They offered 7 or 8 varieties, of which I tried 6. Â They were all good, and made a change from the standard domestic beers you would normally find. Â They range in price and size, from $2 for a light beer to $6 for the Very Special Old Pale ale.
The downstairs bar has a number of HDTVs, a pool table and two dart boards. Â There is outdoor seating available on both levels.
Overall our experience at the Brewpub was tainted by the poor service. Â If they can improve in this area, I think this could be a great restaurant. Â As it stands, I'll give it 2 stars.
The Gem and Keystone Brewpub is truly a gem in the rough. Â Located a few miles down the road from Shawnee Mountain Ski area it was a perfect place to stop for lunch after a long day on the mountain.
The ambiance of the place reminds me of an old English Pub.  There's a small bar as you enter the restaurant with a nice wide open seating area off to the right in the main part of the house.  Our party of 3 was seated right away.  We were served quickly, I started with  sampler of their craft beer (3 for $5)  I had the Blanche, Pumpkin Saison and the Frambozenbiere.  All 3 were excellently brewed.  I was a little disappointed that they no longer had the double IPA, which I was looking forward to tasting.  I went with a full size Blanche to enjoy with my meal.
As for the food, for apps we shared some Calamari with Chile Sauce. Â DD had the mac and cheese off of the kids menu. Â DW had the pulled pork sandwich and I went with the Grilled Chicken Panini with Balsamic Roasted Garlic spread. Â All three meals were very good.
I left with a growler of Pumpkin Saison, which leads me to possibly my only complaint. Â The cost of a growler fill (I had my own glass) was $20. Â This is quite possibly the most I have ever paid for a growler fill. Â I thought the $15 I was paying at Gilded Otter was steep, but this took it to a whole new level.
If I could give this restaraunt a zero, I would.
The service was dreadful. The restaraunt has two levels and we were seated at a table next to a staircase and just opposite the door. Our meal was constanty interrupted by the cold air that came in when the door was opened. When we sat down, our server brought us some water and then was no where to be seen for 10 minutes. I told my wife that we should leave, I had a feeling that it would not be a good night. Unfortunately the server came back and took our order. Looking back at the quality of the food and service, I wish we had left.
I ordered something called "Three Sisters", which was described as "corn, squash and beans in a savory broth served in a squash". When it arrived, it this was one of the most horrible looking meals that I have seen. It looked like something that a sixth grader would have made on the first day of a home economics course. It was a small squash, covered with something, I think it was a type of pumpkin pita. Taking the pumpkin pita off of it, the contents looked bad. The broth was no where to be found. The contents were dry. It reaked of ginger. This cook should be ashamed to serve something like that.
My wife had the pumpkin ravoili, which tasted like they were not cooked properly.
Our server was no where to be found during the meal. He seemed to be too busy talking to other customers at the bar. He was one of the slowest servers I have ever seen.
At one time the restaraunt was known as Sam Sneed's and it was actually very good. My wife and I were married 4 years ago at the hotel next door and this area holds a special place in our hearts. This is a great area and this restaraunt is disgrace to it. The area deserves better. We love going up to the Shawnee area and hope that a decent restaraunt replaces this. Until then, avoid this restaraunt.
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