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Smokehouse Tavern turns its focus to food

Restaurant specializes in pit cooking

Bartender Trish Long helps a customer at the Smokehouse Tavern in Reading Township. (EVENING SUN DOUG BAUMAN )

At one time, the Smokehouse Tavern was just a shot and a beer kind of place.

These days, if you want a shot and a beer, they can accommodate, but there is so much more at the restaurant just outside of York Springs on Route 94.

Lloyd Freeburn marked his fourth anniversary as owner last month. He retired from working for the federal government and was looking for something else to do for an additional income.

In high school, he worked as a short-order cook and loved the job. Owning his own restaurant gave him the chance to get back to his roots. He loves nothing more than seeing someone take a bit out of a dish he prepared, he said.

Freeburn is pretty pleased with the work they've done and how far the tavern has come.

He cleaned it up, remodeled the outside and transitioned it into more of a steak and seafood place, he said. The result is the new Smokehouse Tavern, which is a place where everyone is welcome, and made to feel comfortable.

"We're all family here," he said. "It's like 'Cheers.'"

He described the décor as a "country yard sale." It's pleasant and informal, and a place where people can come in and relax. They can come in as strangers, and leave as friends, he said.

Freeburn smokes the pit beef and pit pork behind the restaurant, making it the restaurant's specialties. The ribs are another popular selection, as well as burgers and cheesesteaks, along with entrée items such as steak and seafood.

I tried one of Freeburn's own creations - the pit beef panini.

It's two thin slices of panini bread grilled with pit beef and provolone cheese in between.

It's an interesting and unexpected taste.

The pit beef has a strong, smoky flavor on the crunchy, toasted bread. Both the texture and taste catch you by surprise at first, but it's great. Get it with fries, and it's a tasty, filling lunch.

If you're a fan of pit beef, which I have become, it's a new, delicious and interesting way to present it.

Ticket to Lunch is a weekly column featuring local restaurants' meals available during the lunch hour. Reach Steve Marroni at smarroni@eveningsun.com.