Friday's @ 5:01

Friday's @ 5:01
A Review Of The Best Happy Hours In Central PA

The Ground Round
1300 Taylor Bridge By-Pass
Camp Hill
737-4313

by Lisa Hummel

It’s been said that it’s not the Happy Hour that makes the Happy Hour, it’s the people you bring to it. That it’s not the atmosphere. It’s not the mood music. It’s not even the specials. It’s all about the crowd — about who sits at your table. And that was definitely the case when the MODE Happy Hour Review Crew bombarded the The Ground Round in Camp Hill for this, our latest, and by far, rowdiest, edition of Friday’s @ 5:01.

The building of The Ground Round is much like any other of the chain restaurant, a quaint and welcoming stone facade with the welcoming yellow and green sign. Upon entering the restaurant/bar, you are greeted with an almost-rustic interior — wood and block —with walls bedecked with sporting equipment and various signage. Be warned, the decorative sports equipment does not make it a sports bar, however, as there were no obvious TVs from our vantage point, although we were in close quarters with the fully stocked bar.

While The Ground Round may be best known for their dining — a fact which was evidenced in the number of restaurant patrons vs. the number of bar patrons — they do provide a pretty mean Happy Hour. The Happy Hour special runs from 5pm to 7pm, offering $1 off all drinks (both mixed and drafts) and mini-appetizers for $2.50. The mini-appetizers, which range from french fries and wings to nachos and potato skins, were both very appealing and quite tasty, although with most items we opted for the regular servings (with regular prices, roughly $8 for a sampler item.)

The food was delicious — and served rather quickly. Our Review Crew shared the Wing Sampler, The Ground Round’s Pot ‘O Gold (with various snacks), and the Outrageous Nachos, all of which garnered rave reviews. The Wings were lauded for their inclusion of the teriaki kind, the pot o’ gold (whose onion rings, egg rolls, and chicken tenders were referred to as the ‘pot ’o grease’ by one of the Crew members) featured chicken tenders that were “not too greasy or too crispy,” and, finally, the Outrageous Nachos were, well, Outrageous-ly huge. So huge, in fact, that when we asked the General Manager, Gary Willow, if they were always served as such he replied, “of course … and if they aren’t, you’d better let the manager know.”

The across-the-board drink specials are just as impressive. In addition to the regular requests, we ordered Mai-Tais (complete with fruited decorations that took you beachside) and killer Long Island Iced Teas (made just like they come in Long Island, at special request), both of which were excellent. And while the prices were favorable, we ran into a few obstacles. Although the beer came in frosted glasses at both 24 and 14 ounces, a plus, we were unable to order lager by the pitchers — because they don’t have them at The Ground Round — which, while not a big deal, is an inconvenience.

The music was provided from an overhead sound system and the tunes ranged from favorites of the 80’s to well-known hits, all at a comfortable level.

Although the tables were largely empty when we first arrived at the establishment, they were nearly at capacity by the time we called it a night.

Our conclusion: It’s more of a restaurant than a bar, more people go to eat a lot than to drink a lot. But, if you’re with great people, as we were in a pretty large group, it’s easy to have a great time at a very reasonable price.