The Garlic Poet Restaurant & Bar

We love the Garlic Poet! It’s one of our favorite restaurants. The menu changes seasonally, but there are always lots of great choices in the menu. One of the best things about this place is that you can choose a sandwich or a full meal, and both are equally delicious and unique. The beer and cocktail menu will cover anything that you might be in the mood for. For dessert, try the Crème Brulee. You’ll thank me later! The staff is always so helpful and amazing, too!

A true gem in central PA and a must go to if you are staying in the area. The food and cocktail program are quality and taste at its finest and to top it off the service was beyond exceptional.

It pains me to write this review, as we are locals who have been loyal patrons of the Poet for several years. The food is still excellent but what is going on with the service? Has there been a change in management? We were at the Poet last Friday evening and the waiter was very inexperienced, uncomfortable and inattentive.
Tonight, we brought friends to dine with us and waited 45 minutes to get our dinners… finally we were told by our waiter that our orders were «lost» (???) and to make a long story short, we waited another 30 minutes until we finally got our meals.
We were very patient and understanding but the waiter was clearly avoiding us afterward and never came back to check on us. We love the quality of the food, the hostess is wonderful and our favorite bartender, AJ is the bomb but if the waitstaff service doesn’t improve, we won’t be back.

Excellent mixed drinks. Food was very tasty. My group got a bunch of different things and everything was great. I felt the portions were very substantial. My only complaint… the restaurant is inside a hotel, so if you are dining along a «window» seat, your view is the guests checking into the hotel and people walking around in their jammies. Not classy.

Seriously what happened to this place it’s like day and night you said be so good I used to love going there the service was great and knowledgeable everything on the menu was amazing and when I went this last time it was like a 360 changed the lettuce wraps are beyond my favorite dish because there an appetizer so they’re low priced but you can actually eat it as a meal and it will fill you up.
First of all the lettuce was not the same velvety big Leslie’s as normal and the chicken was way too crunchy like I’ve never had chicken that crunchy before. And they added a new side that I didn’t really like and the sesame sauce if they normally come with was super spicy and the micro greens were mushy I was just completely disappointed.
My friend ordered the Francis Bacon which is my second favorite meal and usually comes on this really unique homemade style bread that is a girl to perfection which again and I cutie slab of bacon me and the fries are delicious but as you can tell from the picture I posted it was not like that all I’ve never seen the Francis Bacon look the way it was supposed too. It was disgusting she didn’t even eat it and she ends up actually getting sick the chicken didn’t look like the normal grilled fresh chicken it looked chard boiled like when you buy it out of the packaging.
My boyfriend and I also went to the garlic poet on Valentine’s Day and I was really unimpressed I was waiting to write another review and I just was not impressed.

If you’re in the area and looking for an excellent place to eat, Garlic Poet is the place. It is a little deceiving when you get there, the restaurant is inside a run down hotel; however, looks are quite deceiving. The Garlic Poet offers a superb selection of housemate and local assortments of food. They have frequent specials and various gluten free options and substitutions. They offer almost any type of fish and unique red meats like elk or boar. Once looking at the menu, since it’s so big, Garlic Poet offers different dinner combinations to allow you to try any arrangement of the specials or entrees they have for the night (they are called bigs and smalls). Overall, the ambiance of the place is spot on and the service is great. They play great music and it’s very welcoming as you walk in the door. The waiters always know what they are talking about when it comes to the menu, and can provide an expert opinion to make your final decision. One negative is when it’s a busy night, I can get very loud inside. Apart from the noise level on busy nights, I highly recommend The Garlic Poet if you’re looking for a unique dinner with excellent service.

Went on a date here with high hopes due to the great reviews. The restaurant has a nice appearance with enthused service. The menu was even appealing with its detailed description of its platters but ultimately my experience was disappointing and costly. Our food was flavorless or the flavors were not married well. In the end, we ended up leaving sad from our existing hunger and our expensive bill.

Would give 6 stars if possible. Beer selection is great — they always have new selections rotating in. My wife always orders a cocktail, and I end up stealing half of it.
We’ve been there over a dozen times, and have yet to be disappointed.

Wish I could give more stars– staff is beyond friendly and helpful. Ambience is great — food? Fabulous. An eclectic menu with interesting choices. Come with an open mind and be prepared to be wowed.
We aren’t gourmand but we know food. Some of the veggies on our plates– no clue what they were but they were very tasty… Chef knows his stuff and if you open your mind to new food experience — you will not be disappointed. Best part is — fabulous meal and drinks without breaking the bank. Try the ice cream — our favorite — the espresso one. We will be back.

This is the best place I have been in years. I got the wild boar burger. My wife got the Kobe flank steak. Great choices of beer and wine. The wait staff was awesome (we had Jacob). Great food great service a little pricey but well worth it.

Everyone raves about the Garlic Poet being this elaborate, fine dining, super elegant restaurant. I beg to differ. It is a good meal, but is way over-​hyped.
The Garlic Poet is another one of those farm to table type restaurants that boasts fresh, un-​doctored, local ingredients. Their food is alright, but it is nothing like what I expected given all the promotions I was fed. They have a seasonal menu that is meant to compliment the time of year, but I didn’t get that vibe. I would relate them to the Susquehanna Harvest; a farm to table restaurant that justifies higher prices with local ingredients, but skimps heavily on portions.
A quote from our waiter can best describe our visit here. He said, «before working here, I never realized I liked pork so much.» Nothing against the meat, but there sure was a lot of it. Of course, on recommendation, that is what I had. And while the Pork Cap Steak really was a nice entrée, there is a big risk of you sitting down to dinner only to realize the menu has nothing on it you particularly care for. I perused it several times before asking the waiter to order for me. There just wasn’t anything that stuck out. Of all the things we ordered, the Pork Cap Steak was best (and the biggest). The bisque was rather bland, and the other portions were somewhat minimal –two scallops is an appetizer not a meal.
People also boast of the ambiance here. Really, it is smack dab alongside the hotel lobby and hasn’t much space between tables. Depending on where you sit, you could partake in several conversations simply by turning one direction or the other. If you’re skillful enough, you could even eat off a neighbor’s plate.
Much like Susquehanna Harvest, the Garlic Poet failed to win me over. They have a nice concept down, and you’ll probably feel good about it up until the bill comes and you realize you could have made out better elsewhere. They do offer a 3 course meal type deal which is neat, but for me there’s a strong chance it was a once and done. If you plan to visit just be prepared for a potential reality check. Everything on Unilocal makes it look fabulous, word-​of-​mouth alike, but if you want a truly superior farm to table experience try The Mill in Hershey.
*On a final note, neighboring the Poet is a smaller, lighter-​fared eatery called «Grain and Verse.» I haven’t decided if I am going to try them yet or not.

This is one of our favorite restaurants to go to when we’re visiting my Wife’s 101 year old dad who lives nearby in an assisted living facility. Being from Sonoma County California Wine Country, we’re accustomed to top rate food and beverages. We find that level of dining hard to find in Cumberland County. The quality of the dining experience Garlic Poet is a great find!
We love their seasonal, locally sourced, items cooked from scratch in their kitchen. Their service has always been perfect as well, never any problems in the half dozen or so times we’ve visited over 3 years (ya, I’m was overdue to write a review for them!).
Since we’re beer lovers too, we found their list to be quite extensive. It caters to lovers of many different beer styles so we’ve yet to go with someone who couldn’t find a great match to their tastes and menu choices.
Since their menu changes based on the season and availability of ingredients. We always choose the Chef’s Seafood or Local Farm Entrees. Since these change frequently I can only point you to the option. We’ve never been disappointed. We’ve also had their Seasonal Vegetables and found them to be delightfully fresh, cooked to perfection and tasty.
Some of their frequent menu options that we’d recommend include the Smoked Duck, Pork and House-​Made Kimchi Tacos, and the Quinoa Salad Bowl. I dare say we’ve not had anything that we’d steer you away from, there’s just a lot we haven’t tried yet!
Next time we’re back in the area, we’re definately stopping in!

Excellent! The menu is varied and inventive with good choices for the carnivore as well as vegetarians and vegans.
The service was superb. Our server was knowledgeable about the menu and helpful with suggestions. There is a huge list of beers that he was also helpful with, as well as being attentive without hovering.
Our vegetarians loved their plates and found them to be well prepared, delicious, and unique.
I had the fish of the day, Black Salmon, which was perfectly cooked and seasoned. Others had the Duck, Pork and Kimchi Tacos, Beef, Pasta, and more. We were all delighted with our food.
The only glitch was the beef was cooked a little more than desired. Another was promptly fired and served in minutes.

Well, red flag already in the name. The Garlic Poet, obviously humility is not a strong characteristic here. I’m assuming this is a Chef/​Owner. Maybe the appellation is legitimate, he may be a mad genius, furiously crafting away in his kitchen, creating taste sensations that would leave even Anothony Bourdaine speechless. Probably not.
In order of appearance:
Beer — Craft beer served in shaker pints, another warning sign. Shaker pints unfortunately became the default serving vessel for micro-​brews in the 90’s. They were selected for their durability and availability, as design goes they’re probably the worst possible shape to appreciate fine craft beer. Fortunately most places that serve excellent local brews have begun to phase out these glasses. The Garlic Poet hasn’t caught on or doesn’t care. The beer was tasteless new-​to-​homebrewing-​quality pale ale. It sat on the bar undrunk, I was never offered a replacement or to have it taken off the tab.
Double Down — Pork belly and Foie Gras on deep fried mac n’ cheese buns. This sounded like such a bad idea I had to order it just to see how he pulled it off. Oh, I see, he didn’t. Greasy, salty, served in a martini glass? How am I supposed to eat this? I wouldn’t serve a substantial, structurally sound sandwich that you can actually pick up in a martini glass. This thing crumbles when you touch it, yet it contains an incongruously tough piece of rubbery smoked pork belly jerky which rules out digging in with a fork. Would a garlic poet really plop greasy deep fried grocery store macaroni salad on cold foie gras with a piece of incredibly salty pork jerky, drop it in a martini glass, and tell the customer, «Eh, you figure it out.»
Pork Ribeye — Okay, I’m sure there’s someone out there who can grill lettuce and have it turn out beautiful, he’s not working in the kitchen at The Garlic Poet. The blackened edges are incredibly bitter and probably carcinogenic, the texture is somehow both tough fibrous and watery slimy. The guanciale, potato/​pumpkin purée, wine mushrooms, and apple pork purée just didn’t go together. The small piece of cooked pork seemed to be of high quality but it had no seasoning or melanoidin, and it wasn’t cooked to temp correctly (med. rare, per chef recommendations). And the name ribeye was heavily misleading.
Pork and Kimchi Tacos — This actually sounded really good. Properly braised pork and kimchi together can form an umami bomb masterpiece. I’ve had it before in similar application in Florida. But by this point, after the painful Double Down, I’d surrendered my naïve hope for this place. I cut my losses and told them to stop cooking, just cancel the rest of my order.
From the name, to the confusing obfuscated menu, to the carelessly designed dishes, this restaurant reeks of smug conceit. The customers come last here. If you aren’t able to reconfigure your preconceptions to fit the vaunted Garlic Poet chef’s ideals, well, I guess that’s your own fault isn’t it?

Needed food desperately that wasn’t in the «fast» variety, so we stopped here after a fall foliage trip.
While the prices were a bit high, the food was was very good.
I had the cheese and meats plate, an appetizer, as my main, while my companion had a duck sandwich on flatbread.
The atmosphere was warm and welcoming, and no wait on a Saturday evening, which is a huge plus, especially as we had many miles to go.
The cheese plate was served with two cheese and two sausages. I was mildly disappointed that both of the cheeses were goat/​cow blend, but the flavors were very good. Portion sizes were a little small (the sandwich had only a very thin shaving of duck on it, which was tasty but rather skimpy in size.
This is a fantastic place and I would definitely come back whenever in the area.

This was a tricky review to write because my feelings were strong both for and against this restaurant.
The name should be «the veal poet» because a sizable portion of the menu items and all of the specials on the day we went were either cruel or environmentally dubious meats. This is a personal, political issue, but I was expecting a garlic-​heavy menu. The meal I had was definitely vampire-​friendly.
The salad was disappointing. It was a plate of different vegetables in separate piles. The taste was acceptable, yet it was anything but satiating. But, the Emerson sandwich was one of the better vegetarian sandwiches I’ve ever had. The freshly made butter was divine and the cocktails (I had the Mr. Darcy and the Green Light) were interesting, utilizing some of my favorite under-​appreciated liqueurs.
The décor and literary theme were charming, and the staff was very helpful. I only gave it three stars because I won’t go here again, unless I’m with friends who eat red meat.

Easily one of my favorite places in the Harrisburg area, totally worth the drive across the river. All the apps are super solid and they make one of the best pub burgers I’ve ever had in any city. But, the true gem of the Garlic Poet is the bar. Not only is their tap list always unique and interesting, but their cocktail selection is on par with drinks I’ve had in Philadelphia and New York City. AJ is easily the best bartender in Harrisburg and he created their entire drink menu. Have him make you an Eden Garden – it’s flawless.

The Garlic Poet has an ambitious menu with a ton of variety, and they pull it off with aplomb. We can’t wait to go back and explore more of the menu!
We ordered 7 unique and flavorful dishes.
— Charcuterie Board. Very creative sharing plate, all made from scratch in-​house, included a housemade terrine, lamb/​truffle oil rillettes, and accompaniments like house-​made IPA-​infused mustard (delicious).
— Calamari. Breaded with cornmeal and served with a couple different sauces.
— Pear & Mozzarella Salad. Tasted like fresh from the garden. The mozzarella is hand-​pulled.
— Quinoa Salad. A really well composed salad! It was served slightly below room temperature with a variety of ingredients like roasted beets, apricot purée, cucumber slices, and chili toasted pumpkin seeds.
— Crab Grilled Cheese. Basically a gourmet crab cake sandwich with a couple different gourmet cheeses and a tasty brioche Texas toast.
— Build a Burger. The house smoked bacon might be the best bacon I ever had. The fries too!
— Chef’s Seafood du Jour. It was a halibut with roasted kale, cauliflower and some root veggies.
Also got a Buffalo Trace bourbon cocktail, The Monster, which was perfectly balanced. Neither sweet nor dry.

After requesting suggestions for a special wedding anniversary dinner location, many of our friends suggested the Garlic Poet. The Garlic Poet blew us away.
This is really a foodie-​type restaurant. They focus on fresh, locally sourced and house made dishes. Some of the dishes may require further explanation, because this is more than just your burger and steak type place. Some of the ingredients are exotic, but the serving staff is knowledgeable and will help. Do not be afraid to ask.
The staff were made aware of our dietary restrictions and did an amazing job to make sure everything was just right. My husband had an Arctic Char dish. The fish was done perfectly, tender, not dry, with a crispy skin that was outstanding. I had a pork tenderloin… the memory makes my mouth water just thinking about it. We shared some tomato bisque that was so flavorful, creamy but not too thick. They paired house made rolls with the current compound butter flavor which had leeks and I think dill… I asked for some butter to go at the end, it was that good.
I can not have alcoholic beverages, but wanted a celebratory drink. The bartender custom made a fruity ginger ale drink that was wonderful.
The entire experience, from start to finish, was perfect. We could not have asked for a better celebratory location.
The bill for two people, including two entrees, appetizers, 1 salad, 1 soup, his iced tea and my soda (they just charged me for the ginger ale, not the mixers to make it a fruity drink). The final bill was $ 90 including tip.

My foodie-​family and I made our first trip to The Garlic Poet on ³⁄₁₅. There were some definite highlights of our evening that I think a lot of you will find valuable! First, we accidentally entered their new restaurant Grain + Verse since this was our first trip to the area. It was a little confusing at first; but after scanning the menu, we quickly realized that we were not in the right place. You have to enter through the Clarion Hotel to get to The Garlic Poet.
Food: We ordered the following: Crab Cakes (dinner), Veal Chop (farm-​special), Veal Burger (Burger special)
Crab Cakes: The best way to describe these is by telling you that they were extremely fresh! They had excellent crab-​flavor, and they did not skimp on the crab — in the least bit. They were seasoned appropriately and had a real-​delicate flavor to them. They might have been a little bland, but paired with the assortment of dipping sauces really elevated them to the next level. Lastly, the size of them were substantial (I only finished 1). This was paired with a potato fritter, of sorts — stuffed with potato and haddock. These were amazing. Extremely unique, seasoned perfectly, and (most of all) delicious! These stood on their own as not ‘just a side’. (⁴⁄₅)
Veal Chop: Cooked perfectly. Seasoned perfectly. My mother ordered this, but I wish I had. It was topped with a reduction of sorts (dark glaze) that added just enough complexity to the dish to really ‘wow’ me. The accompaniment was supposed to be risotto; but I am not so certain it was. The texture was completely atypical of risotto that I have had in the past, and the entire flavor of it was not very good. It was unique, it just was a ‘miss’. (⁴⁄₅)
Veal Burger: I did not try this, as I was getting full from everything else very fast; but my sister said that it was one of the best burgers she had ever had. There were no condiments on it. No fancy sauces, no aiolis, nothing. Despite that, the veal patty, the gruyère, the caramelized onions and the arugala all stood-​on-​their-​own and required no additional sauces or seasonings. That is the sign of a perfect burger. ⁵⁄₅
Bread w/​Middle Eastern BBQ Butter: The butter of the night was Middle Eastern BBQ. It strongly resembled 1000 Island, but with an added level of complexity. Delicious.
Brownie Cheesecake: A total miss for us. It was creamy, but had a funky flavor to it. Maybe they used goat cheese? Either way, it did not impress. ²⁄₅
Overall Food: ⁴⁄₅
Service: This is tough. The host was excellent. He really exhibited genuine care about where we were seated, our reservation, and was pleasant to carry-​on a conversation with. ⁵⁄₅. Our server was bland, inattentive, and didn’t seem like he wanted to be there. Also, he asked if we had been there before, and we answered ‘no’. It would have been nice if he explained the menu a little bit. I thought I was getting the Cram Cake Half-​portion, but instead received the full portion for $ 27. I could only eat half of my meal, so it was a bummer for me.
Service: ³⁄₅ (⁵⁄₅ from host, ²⁄₅ from server)
Atmosphere: This is wear The Garlic Poet shines. Incredibly unique! If I could bottle this atmosphere-​up and sprinkle it everywhere I went, my life would be significantly better. It was intimate, yet homey, yet sophisticated (but not overly pompous), and was super-​chill. I could sit there all night sipping on the Seasonal Sangria that I had, and conversing with good friends and family.
Atmosphere: ⁶⁄₅ (one bonus point for exceptional uniqueness, and for emitting a feeling I’ve never felt anywhere else)
Price: For what I got, I feel as if I got what I paid for — which was excellent quality, fresh, good food. I would not pay anymore for this though.
Price: ³⁄₅
Final Thoughts: I do not have the bank-​roll to come here on a regular basis, but I can totally see myself making an effort to get to The Garlic Poet once per month — if not for the atmosphere, for the constantly changing menu that offers a unique variety of fresh and seasonally-​inspired offerings. I wish our server had been better, as that really makes, breaks, or elevates a dining experience to the next level. Despite that though, this place is a definite keeper, and a must-​visit for anyone in the area.