Joy's Grill & Burger House became a Friday Night Date Night destination during my birthmonth after…read moreI spotted them on social media. I've driven by Joy's a million times and somehow never noticed it before. It's tucked into a busy strip mall and easy to miss if you're not specifically looking for it. Spoiler alert: you should be looking for it. My quest for the evening included both a burger and a chili dog, because they both looked amazing and I wanted the full Joy's experience. My adventure buddy and I arrived around 5pm and I was honestly surprised to see only one other person inside when we walked in. We grabbed a booth by the front door and looked over the menu again to finalize our plan. Since it was our first visit, we decided to order a few things and split them so we could try more. We ordered the loaded chili dog topped with chili, cheese, onions, and mustard ($5.25) and one of the Big Block Burgers -- specifically the Joy's Burger -- which came with grilled onions and mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, LA sauce, Swiss cheese, and fresh cut fries ($12.99). Naturally we added bacon for an extra $0.99 because that felt like the right decision. We also each grabbed a Diet Pepsi (to maintain some illusion of balance) for $2.50 each. Our total came to $25.69 before tip, which felt like a pretty solid deal for a two-person Friday night dinner adventure. The setup at Joy's has a classic old-school diner feel. The grill sits right behind the seating counter so you can watch your food being made, and they mix milkshakes right out front as well. The place is simple and no-frills -- and in my experience, those "keep it simple and do it well" places are often the real heavy hitters. The chili dog came out first, and the first thing I noticed was that this thing was HEAVY. This wasn't your typical skinny hot dog -- it was a full ¼-pound dog absolutely loaded with chili. The flavor reminded me of a Cincinnati-style chili dog and it was really good. The chili was flavorful instead of just decorative, the mustard and onions were balanced perfectly, and the bun did its job without getting in the way. As someone who takes chili dogs very seriously, I have to give Joy's credit for delivering a straightforward, perfectly executed chili dog. Next came the burger and fresh cut fries, and when I say this burger was big, I mean BIG. Two patties tall with all the toppings stacked high. We sliced it in half and immediately dug in. The bacon was perfectly crisp, the mushrooms and Swiss were generous, and the whole thing just tasted like a real, proper burger. Not a chain burger that started life frozen and tastes like it could have been reheated in my microwave at home. This was the kind of burger you picture when you say you're craving a burger. The fries were exactly what you want from fresh-cut fries -- the smaller ones nice and crispy, and the bigger ones crispy on the outside with that soft, fluffy inside. Splitting the chili dog and burger turned out to be the right call. It would have been easy to eat everything solo, but my stomach probably would not have forgiven me later. Our server was super friendly and attentive throughout the visit. While we were there, a few more people came in to eat, but overall it felt relaxed and easy for a Friday evening. Parking is free since Joy's sits in a strip mall, but it can be a little tight because there are several other popular businesses nearby. We were able to find a spot without trouble, but I could see it getting tricky during busier times. If you're looking for solid burgers, legit chili dogs, and an old-school diner vibe, Joy's Grill & Burger House is absolutely worth seeking out -- especially if you're like me and always on the lookout for your next great burger or chili dog adventure.

Sad, tasteless, had the appearance, texture, and, zero flavored patty. Fries were decent, old…read morefashion without all the flour "crap" additive on them. Not bad fore a cheap meal but not filling for wine who's hungry amend definitely not suitable for a "man size" burger. And on the Really sad side about this place is that they have no shame on charging the customers $1.00 for a pickle. Not saying that you're going to get a big pickle, just some pickle slices for the burger, but for an ext4a $1.00. Never going back, will warn others, and generally stay away from businesses that are CHEAP. I mean if they're so broke they need to charge you $1.00 for a few pickle slices then perhaps the actual proteins are cheap and suss. Just saying....

Great vibe, food and hershey's ice cream. Burgers made with…read morefresh ingredients. Friendly, attentive service. Potato wedges are huge and tasty. Will be back again when visiting the area.

I've heard great things about Dad's Garage, so I decided to check it out on a solo Friday night…read morewhen I was seriously craving a good burger. I was hoping all the hype was true and maybe I'd even find a new spot to add to my breakfast places to try list -- but, spoiler alert, I won't be doing that. Pulled in around 5pm and found parking (miracle, since there are only about 4 or 5 spots). Inside, I was greeted right away and told to seat myself. The specials board out front caught my eye, so I went with the bacon cheeseburger croissant, upgraded my fries to chili cheese fries, and grabbed a Diet Pepsi. I was the only dine-in customer, but there was a steady flow of pickup orders. Still, a 20-minute wait for my food felt long considering it was just me sitting there listening to FM radio straight out of an 80's prom (hello, Mr. Mister's "Broken Wings"...literally). When my food finally arrived, the staff immediately realized they'd forgotten the chili cheese on the fries and whisked them back to fix it -- good save! The chili itself? Fantastic. Like, "I-need-this-on-a-hot-dog" fantastic. The fries, though...yikes. Grease was literally pooling and dripping through the basket like a leaky oil pan. The burger was fine -- solid flavor, but the proportions were off. Giant tomato and onion slices took over the show, and the croissant was way too big for the small patty. Loved the croissant idea, just needs a smaller bun or a bigger burger. Ended up eating the patty and ditching the salad-sized toppings and half the croissant. The check was the real surprise: $12.99 for the burger, $2.49 for the Diet Pepsi, and another $2.99 for the chili cheese fry upgrade -- plus a mysterious "conveenience Fee (2.99%)" for $0.55. Maybe time to run spell check before charging extra, Dad. All in all with tip, $20+ for a burger that didn't quite live up to the hype. It hit the spot for a burger craving, but not enough to make me a regular. Glad I gave it a try -- it's got potential and a great location (even if parking is a tight squeeze). But honestly, it might be time for Dad to roll up his sleeves, give the menu a tune-up, and maybe double-check that receipt printer while he's at it. Bottom line: Cool concept, great chili, and 80s prom tunes -- but for $20+, I expected a little more horsepower under the hood.

First time here and it was pretty good. Similar to 5 Guys. Burger was cooked well and tasted great…read more I didn't get fried because I wanted a shake and it would have been too much. Shake was really good and not frozen solid like some places serve them.

we decided to order milkshakes and fries from here. The milkshakes are very watery but flavor is…read moregood so may have just melted on the way home. The fries have no flavor& suck unless you dip them in sauce. Got here pretty quick though.

Lucky Penny Burger Company had been on my foodie radar for quite some time. Every time I'd see one…read moreof their burgers pop up on social media, I'd think, "One of these days..." Unfortunately, my adventure schedule and Lucky Penny's event schedule never seemed to cooperate. Until one Friday evening, and Friday nights are well-known as Friday Night Date Night so this seemed like serendipity! I saw that AmeriChoice Federal Credit Union was celebrating America's 250th Anniversary by partnering with Lucky Penny Burger Company for a voucher-only community event. Best of all, you didn't even have to be a credit union member to participate. I swung by an AmeriChoice branch, picked up vouchers for my Adventure Buddy and me and suddenly my long-awaited Lucky Penny adventure was officially on the calendar! On a beautiful Friday evening, we headed to the food truck for our weekly Friday Night Date Night. Even though the event was busy, the Lucky Penny crew couldn't have been friendlier. They took our order, answered a couple of questions and had our food ready surprisingly quickly considering the line. For my meal, I ordered the Lucky Penny Burger, swapping cheddar for the standard American cheese. It came topped with bacon, lettuce, crispy fried onions and their signature Lucky Penny sauce. My Adventure Buddy chose the Copperhead Burger, featuring pepper jack cheese, jalapeño popper spread, lettuce and homemade candied jalapeños. For our sides, we split things up. Regular fries for my Adventure Buddy. Garlic Parmesan Fries for me. And let me just say...that upgrade was the correct life decision! The Lucky Penny Burger was fantastic! Everything worked together beautifully, but the real star was the signature Lucky Penny sauce. It tied the entire burger together without overpowering everything else, and I'd happily order that burger again tomorrow. My Adventure Buddy gave equally enthusiastic reviews of the Copperhead Burger, especially the homemade candied jalapeños, which added just the right balance of sweetness and heat. Then there were the Garlic Parmesan Fries. Garlic butter. Garlic aioli. Parmesan cheese. Parsley. What's not to love? They were crispy, flavorful and disappeared much faster than I'd care to admit! Overall, Lucky Penny Burger Company absolutely lived up to the hype I'd built up in my head over the past couple of years. Great food, friendly people and a smooth operation even during a busy community event. I'll also give a shoutout to AmeriChoice Federal Credit Union for putting together such a fun community event! It's always nice to see local organizations partnering with local small businesses, and this was a fantastic excuse to finally experience a food truck that had been on my must-try list for far too long! Now that my adventure schedule has finally crossed paths with Lucky Penny's once...I'll definitely be keeping an eye on their social media so we can make it happen again.

We were greeted right away and the whole place smelled freshly cleaned. Food came quickly and my…read morekids ate every bite.

Big Ray's Burgers & Dogs is a true local gem! You can tell how beloved this place is -- everyone in…read moretown seems to know about their food. It has such a warm, family-oriented vibe, with kids' drawings covering the walls that give it a cozy, homey feel. The staff are friendly and polite, and the whole spot has a great smoky burger-joint smell. The burgers are a really good size -- big, hearty patties cooked just right. I also tried the hot dogs, which were great too. If you're in the mood for quick, no-fuss local burgers, this is the place to go. Highly recommend!

My grandma has been asking me to go to Big Ray's for like two years…read more We had plans to go to the diner, but I had to take her to urgent care. Not to be dramatic, but on the way back, we were passing the Big Ray's--so hey, fate brought us on Big Ray's path, and thus we did proceed. So I gotta say: this is not a corporate burger joint. This is not your Shake Yak. This is not McDonald's. This is not Five Guys. And no disrespect to any of those establishments. They hold their piece of the market. But this is pre-smash-burger goodness. This is au naturel. Fresh-cut fries. No touchpad ordering POS BS. Pictures of personified milkshakes, sodas, and fries with eyes. Old-fashioned sesame-seed buns. This place looks like it's straight out of the '50s, and I understand why my grandmother loves it. She also loves it because she only eats burgers. But this was a 10 out of 10 experience. 10 out of 10 flavor. 10 out of 10 soul. The service was 10 out of 10. Actually, screw it This was 100 out of 10. A 100 out of 10. Go to Big Ray's. And don't wait two years like I did. 100/10 Stars

I had the pleasure of visiting this fine establishment& let me say i definitely will be back! The…read moreambience is very friendly& chill! Definitely was nice to just sit and enjoy the nice atmosphere! The staff was so friendly and so welcoming! Due to it being my first time there, I had many questions, but was met with great answers! With the twin tacos we ordered I also got a Danger Dog! The meat on the tacos was very tender & flavorful! Combined with the Verde Vibes sauce was a wonderful pairing!! The danger dog was cooked perfectly & every bite was building in heat! I definitely will be back to try out more sauces& maybe try that wing challenge! I ended up picking up the Revolutionary sauce featured in hot ones to take home and try!! I will need to try the in house brews! But more of a reason to come back!

Such a hidden gem in downtown Mechanicsburg! Parking is easy lot right across the street! This was…read morea YELP event but I am so happy it brought me in! The owner was alone at first however he was still tentative to the people that were there juggling cooking and getting drink orders! Me and my husband ordered chicken taco, HOT SLICE Pepperoni, mozzarella, marinara, featuring Hot Slice hot sauce, and 4 cheese mac and cheese! The taco was good I didnt get to pick a hot sauce for my taco but that was okay! My husband enjoyed the flatbread I thought it was pretty good as well id get again or try another flatbread next time! The mac and cheese was okay, I am not sure if id get again! All in all it was a great experience with a super nice owner! He holds events there as well that we want to check out there is also beer on tap that he brews and a bar! Id highly recommend checking it out!!

I am so glad that I decided to dine at a brewery than a sit down restaurant because the fries at…read moreBack Porch just might be the best fries I've ever enjoyed. They have plenty of beers on tap today cover a variety of styles that I'm comfortable saying offers something for every taste. Hooray for peanut butter porter, their Liquid Lust Peanut Butter porter is above average as compared to other porters I've tasted. If you can't decide on a beer get a flight, you get four 4oz pours. $12 I enjoyed the fried goat cheese burger $16.95 with a side of fries. I initially asked for house made chips but on the bar keeps recommendation I went fries and glad I did as their fries are AMAZING. If you can't find street parking there is plenty of parking behind Back Porch which is free after 5. I will most definitely return next time travels being me to central PA.

Beer was good, tried a flight - all drinkable. Burger was great, fries were cold. Service was…read morefast, bar was dirty. A very local spot, probably does well because of the college nearby. Could do with a deep cleaning and more attention to food temps. If you go, go for the beer!

Came here for lunch to meet family in town. It wasn't busy and the waitress was very polite. Since…read morewe were visiting family we look a while to enjoy their company, and the waitress was very understanding of us chatting and enjoying our drinks. I got an espresso martini and the coconut lavender cocktail. I normally don't get 2 drinks but I couldn't resist either one and had to try them both. I am happy I did because they both were delicious! My husband and I spilt the burger, which was okay. There was something on it, maybe the sauce I wasn't a huge fan of (100% personal taste). Over all great experience.

First time here. Food was good. We got nachos. The nachos were freshly made. They were good…read more The soups of the day a tomato one and a chicken one were good. Burgers looked good. Service was good. Live music was good. Parking lot gets really crowded. The prices seemed fine. The beer selection was good. They have PA based liquors. Bathrooms were clean. The entrance staff were nice. I would go back.

It's always a treat to eat at one of the most popular restaurants in the Harrisburg area…read more It's midweek, and there was a twenty-minute wait for dinner, but we chose al fresco dining for quicker, no-wait seating. A great fall evening to eat outside: not hot, humid, and no bugs. Paige provided excellent, attentive service with the right amount of check-ins. My fave is the Black N Bleu Salmon salad with a large portion of blackened salmon.

It's been ages since I've been here but they were hosting a dine-to-donate event for Domestic…read moreViolence Awareness to benefit Domestic Violence Services of Cumberland and Perry Counties so off we went wearing our purple. Jenni and I got the blackened chicken alfredo. Our server, Tammy, was friendly and attentive and our food arrived at the table pretty quickly. Jenni liked her food more than I did but she likes her food warm not hot. My entree was not at all hot and I thought much too salty. We were also asked if we wanted salads. The salads were okay but we were surprised that they were $7 each. I would rate our meal a 3 or 3.5 and Jenni a 4.5 so I'll give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

A nice casual spot with se real options for seating depending on weather…read more We usually Come for the to go beer, but the restaraunt is excellent as well. We typically get the nachos and sandwiches, the brisket one is my personal favorite. Most of the the beers on top are great, but even if you can't find a good one, their cocktails are top notch.

I want to preface this with saying that this place used to be great. They had a seasonal menu…read more(still do) but almost anything you could order was really flavorful and yummy. We used to take the kids here, there was something for everybody and a fun atmosphere. Fast forward a few years and this place has really gone downhill. Three staff was all very young and seemed to be in a rush. OK - we can deal with that, although it wasn't even as crowded as usual on a Sunday night. We ordered the Nashville hot chicken sandwich (which was listed under handhelds), with the "chilli mango coleslaw" option. We also had a pork belly sandwich and smash burger for our toddler. We weren't given an option to get that medium and wete told "it just comes one way" "because it's smashed". Other restaurants always ask you how you want your burgers even if it's listed as a smash but ok - I can also live with this. The last thing we ordered we a Buffalo chicken wedge salad to share. It ended up being our undoing for the evening and the straw that broke the camels back. The "Nashville" chicken sandwich was a greasy, thin slice of completely unseasoned chicken. It wasn't spicy like it said, it was pretty soft and soggy instead of crunchy, and was totally unsalted. It was worse than when I was doing no salt from a high bp diet post partum. :( the bread fell apart and was sopping wet... I guess from some pickles and lettuce on the bottom of the sandwich? It was anything but handheld and so I ended up just scraping what chicken off I could and leaving the rest. My "chili mango" coleslaw had no mango, no spice, and was just regular plain, unsalted cole slaw. I recieved 2 teaspoons of this in a plastic cup on the side and regretted not ordering the fries instead, which looked to be a good portion size on my husbands entreé. My food order was terrible overall. 0/10 My husband said he liked his sandwich. The fries were a 6/10 because they were crunchy but they were cold. Our kids menu smash burger was all grease, and came well done. Our kid ate a few fries and they were less greasy. 3/10 The worst part of the meal was the salad... The Buffalo chicken was tasty, but the whole salad was onions and sopping in dressing. We then found a black molded rotten tomato and honestly we were sick to our stomachs after that. Like I was insisting the salad at that point and ended up finding that but what else did we already eat that was just totally rotten ?? 2/10 only for the chicken salvaging the flavor for this dish. When we told the waitress that this was distressing, like we came out to get our of the house with our baby and this was the meal (so disappointing) she did not automatically offer to take the rotten salad off the bill. We asked her to please remove it, and to her credit she did so after putting us in an awkward position to have to ask at all. We liked that this place supports local artists. For that, 2 stars For these reasons though above we will not be back here for dinner. Sorry Evergrain, we will miss you!