This Orwigsburg eatery deserves way more attention than it gets…
Some restaurants tell you what they are before you even sit down. The Brickhouse, tucked into a modest plaza on West Market Street in Orwigsburg, waits until the food arrives. It doesn’t posture, doesn’t oversell. It simply cooks well, often exceptionally well, and lets word of mouth handle the rest. If we’re starting a new series on hidden gems across the 570, this is the right place to begin: a restaurant that succeeds not through flash, but through steady, confident cooking.
Opened in 2006, The Brickhouse has spent close to two decades shaping a version of upscale comfort food that feels entirely its own. House-made pastas, dry-aged beef, thoughtfully executed seafood dishes, and a cocktail program far more ambitious than its rural setting would suggest, it’s the kind of menu you’d expect to find in a much larger market. And yet here it is, surrounded by farmland, drawing diners from Schuylkill County and well beyond.
A small town with a big pantry…
Plenty of restaurants talk about sourcing locally. The Brickhouse names the farms that define its menu: Honey Brook Farm, Harding’s Farm Market, Stein’s Farm, Hope Hill Lavender Farm, Koch’s Turkey Farm. These aren’t decorative citations; they’re ingredients with real presence. Koch’s turkey shows up in a bright, smoky turkey tinga tostada and a substantial Cobb salad. Honey Brook beef powers the Tumbleweed Burger. Produce from Harding’s and Stein’s runs through the salads, small plates, and seasonal sides that change with the region’s growing calendar.
It’s farm-to-table without sermonizing, just a kitchen taking advantage of the growers around it.
A menu with range and intent…
You get a sense of the kitchen’s priorities by looking at the small plates. Tuna poke with pistachios and crisp wontons. A turkey tinga tostada that balances heat and acidity. General Tso’s cauliflower suggests that someone in the back asked how to make vegetables genuinely fun. Even the poutine, a dish that can easily lose its structure, arrives with house-cut fries, caramelized onions, and a carefully reduced demi-glace.
The mains go further. House-made pappardelle paired with Duroc pork cheek bourguignon is a signal of ambition, not a special-of-the-week filler. The spicy venison bolognese highlights how well game meat works when treated with care. And the cast-iron chicken proves that a half-bird, roasted simply and well, can anchor a menu.
Then there’s the Black & Bleu, the dish most often mentioned by diners trying to convert friends into first-time visitors. Built on house-made rigatoni, it typically includes beef tips, shrimp, bourbon cream, gorgonzola, and mushrooms. It sounds unlikely. It works beautifully.
The burger section reads like a second menu of its own. The 28-day dry-aged burger showcases the kitchen’s sourcing and technique. The Tumbleweed Burger, meanwhile, has earned consistent praise from reviewers who describe it as one of the best burgers they’ve had in the county, high marks in a place that takes its beef seriously.
A community anchor with a comeback story…
When a kitchen fire forced The Brickhouse to close in August 2024, the impact was felt countywide. For a restaurant that doubles as a local gathering place and one of the area’s few chef-driven kitchens, the shutdown could have been a long-term setback. Instead, the reopening brought a refreshed space, a tighter menu, and a surge of community support. Regulars describe the owner greeting tables, checking in on guests, and offering small bites as a thank-you.
The dining room today is warm and contemporary. The patio reinforces the restaurant’s balance of casual setting and serious cooking. The bar is softly lit and cocktail-forward, with drinks ranging from a sharp jalapeño margarita to lavender-forward creations using local herbs.
Why you make the drive…
Because small towns deserve restaurants with ambition. Because some of the 570’s best meals happen outside its city centers. Because it’s rare to find a kitchen equally confident with poutine and pork cheek bourguignon.
Because the skillet cookie, warm, fragrant with white chocolate, cranberry, and orange, topped with vanilla ice cream, is the kind of dessert that lingers in memory.
And because The Brickhouse doesn’t cook like a restaurant trying to impress you, it cooks like a restaurant trying to reward you for showing up.
If this Hidden Gems series is meant to spotlight destination dining across the 570, The Brickhouse sets the benchmark, proof that great cooking doesn’t require a skyline, just a team willing to do things the hard way, every day.
The Brickhouse
705 West Market Street
Orwigsburg, PA 17961
(570) 366-5220
