It’s been more than a decade since I graduated from Kutztown University. While I was there, I visited quite a few of the restaurants along Main Street – many are gone but many are still there, some exactly as they were and others under new management.
If you’ve followed my blog, you know I’m not a drinker so one place I didn’t spend a lot of time during college was at the bar. So I never had a reason to check out the Kutztown Pub – or just “The Pub” to students.
Things are different now – not with me (I still don’t drink) but with the pub. It’s not just a dive bar anymore, it’s also a place to get some really good barbecue.
The Pub rebranded in 2014 – renamed K’Town Pub Taphouse & BBQ to better reflect the new focus on both beer and food. A year later the space got a necessary makeover and is still looking pretty good to this day.
My first visit came in late 2023. I was by myself, stopping in at the Pub after a day working from the Ktown Hall coworking space. I went in by myself around 5 p.m. It was a light crowd, still early, and I grabbed a table for myself along the wall opposite the bar.
The menu is small as there isn’t much of a kitchen to speak of. Beyond barbecue, there are burgers, tacos, nachos and mac and cheese. But I was there for ‘cue so I ordered my go-to: pulled pork.
K’town Pub’s pulled pork comes topped with apple slaw, pickled red onion and your choice of sauce.
The sandwich was very enjoyable. Savory meat mixed with the sweet sauce – I chose the apple butter bbq sauce – and the slight sour notes of the pickled onions made for a great sandwich.
As mentioned earlier, the menu is limited. There’s no fryer so fries aren’t an option. Instead, every sandwich is served with a basic handful of chips and a pickle, not bad, but nothing exciting.
My meal was good enough that a few months later, I returned, this time with Julie. Like me, Julie had never visited the Pub during her time in Kutztown, not that it was anything like back then anyway.
Julie ordered the beef brisket, which like my pulled pork sandwich came topped with the same slaw and onions, and she liked it just as much. Normally, I’m a pulled pork guy but I think I liked the brisket just a little bit more than the pork.
I also really liked the smoked meatloaf sandwich that I ordered on this visit.
This was not your typical meatloaf. Instead, the patty was ground beef mixed with pulled pork, bacon, caramelized onions and peppers. (When I ordered it, I actually thought a few of these would be toppings instead of mix-ins).
It was very good, but also very rich. The pulled pork gave a very different texture. I really liked the caramelized onions which were strewn throughout for a nice little subtle sweet hit.
I skipped the American cheese and ate it with just barbecue sauce on top, but it was delicious like that. The only issue is that it fell apart easily – likely a result of the inclusion of the pulled pork.
All in all, we both enjoyed our meals – Julie’s first and my second at the Pub.
And likely we’ll enjoy a meal there again.
BCE Rating
Food: Good
Service: Good
Ambiance: Fair
Price: $$
K’Town Pub
257 W Main Street
Kutztown, PA 19530
