Open for less than a month, the pub is earning a lot of positive reviews…
On a gray January afternoon, the kind that makes a warm room feel essential rather than indulgent, The Honesdale Pub announced its arrival with intention. The January 17 grand opening and ribbon cutting was a proper event: well-publicized, well-attended, and designed to make noise. For a town that understands the social weight of a good neighborhood pub, the message was clear. This place wasn’t quietly slipping onto the scene. It was planting a flag.
The address at 1872 Elm Place has long been familiar to locals. Formerly Mountain House Tavern North, the space hasn’t been erased or reimagined beyond recognition. Instead, it’s been reset. The rebrand matters not because it rejects what came before, but because it sharpens it. The Honesdale Pub positions itself as an elevated neighborhood pub, one that keeps the bones of a familiar room while clarifying what it’s meant to do now.
That clarity shows up quickly. The room feels designed for use rather than admiration. Small nods to local history, historic photographs curated in partnership with the Wayne County Historical Society, provide context without demanding attention. This is not a museum disguised as a bar. It’s a working pub that understands where it is and who it serves.
The menu follows the same logic. It’s broad, comfort-forward, and deliberately approachable, built to support repeat visits rather than one-time curiosity. Fried starters anchor the opening pages: pretzel bites with beer cheese, fried pierogies, mozzarella sticks, cheese curds, food meant to land in the center of the table and disappear quickly. Soups and salads round things out without posturing: a properly done French onion, a wedge, a Caesar. The choices are familiar, but they’re executed with enough care to keep them from feeling obligatory.
The real gravity lives in the pub’s core offerings. Wings are a clear priority, offered traditional, boneless, or as cauliflower, with a deep roster of house-made sauces and rubs. Early reviews consistently praise the crispness and balance, with Hunter’s Heat emerging as a frequent favorite. This is a wings program built for loyalty, the kind where regulars develop preferences, argue over rankings, and return to defend them.
The burgers are positioned just as plainly. All are listed on the menu as 100% wagyu, served on brioche or potato buns, and priced firmly within pub expectations. The appeal isn’t novelty, it’s consistency. From a classic build to mushroom and Swiss to the unapologetically oversized Monster Burger, these are burgers designed to deliver richness and heft without complication. Wagyu here isn’t about luxury signaling; it’s about setting a higher baseline for quality and sticking to it.
Jumbo cheesesteaks, served on Amoroso rolls and available half or whole, round out the triumvirate. Several early reviewers have already drawn favorable comparisons to Philadelphia standards, a compliment not handed out lightly, and the praise tends to focus on balance rather than bravado: meat that’s properly seasoned, rolls that hold up, portions that feel generous without tipping into excess.
The menu also leaves room for memory. A section labeled “Local Legends” brings back Old Elm chili dogs and chili hamburgers, explicitly honoring the former Old Elm Inn. It’s a gesture that acknowledges shared history without freezing the menu in place, inviting longtime locals back into the room while still allowing the kitchen to move forward.
Beyond the plate, The Honesdale Pub understands rhythm. It’s open seven days a week. There’s free parking. A kids’ menu that makes family dining viable. Karaoke nights are loud, social, and entirely appropriate to the room. Live music and rotating food features give regulars reasons to return even when they already know what they like.
Early response reflects that usefulness. With a 4.6 Google rating and more than 30 reviews in its first week, praise clusters around food quality, portion size, value, and service. One diner notes wings arriving “audibly crisp.” Another calls out staff who “never disappeared, even on opening night.” Even a lone one-star review citing inattentive service during the grand opening rush was met with a public acknowledgment and an invitation to follow up, an early signal that ownership is paying attention.
Within Honesdale’s dining landscape, where chef-driven rooms, brewery kitchens, and long-standing casual spots already coexist, The Honesdale Pub fills a necessary role. It’s not chasing reinvention. It’s offering reliability, warmth, and food that holds up whether it’s ordered once or weekly.
The Honesdale Pub doesn’t ask to be discovered. It asks to be used, to host weeknight dinners, absorb Friday crowds, welcome families, and give regulars a room that starts to feel like theirs. In a town where the best places are the ones that quietly become routine, that may be the most confident move of all.
