The Spooky Pennsylvania Restaurant Where Diners Eat 43 Feet Underground

There's something unique — and fitting for spooky season — about dining and imbibing at Bube's Brewery in Mount Joy. Bube's is a microbrewery crafting delightful sippers like a blackberry and passion fruit sour ale, a Mexican chocolate cake stout, a hazy IPA, and non-alcoholic ginger beer, and the restaurant menu features charcuterie, soups and salads, steaks, roasted chicken, seafood pasta, and creamy mushroom risotto. But what's so haunting about creative, well-made beer and a refined, elegant take on comforting fare? Well, you'll be enjoying all of it in catacombs 43 feet below ground.

Fear not, the "catacombs" have always served a role in the brewing process rather than being the kind of subterranean cemetery the word usually refers to. The space has been a beer cellar since Bube's opened in 1876, keeping beer safe from the light that skunks it and the heat that oxidizes and spoils it. But its vibe is definitely that of an old castle's dungeon, with beautiful but admittedly eerie stone arches. Bube's patrons can choose to visit the Bottling Works, the brewery's more tavern-like restaurant space, or tour and dine in the catacombs. The latter is a memorable experience, from the breathtaking interior to all of the history it represents. The Bube's team uses this space well, too, setting the mood with twinkling lights and having events like pirate-themed parties and murder mystery dinners.

Bube's is a perfect representation of why we love visiting some of the oldest restaurants across the United States — they all have such fascinating stories to tell, and you can step back in time while indulging in delectable food and drink. Take Bamonte's, Brooklyn's oldest Italian restaurant with its mob ties, or Antoine's in New Orleans, the oldest family-run restaurant in the country. Bube's is no exception, with roots stretching back 150 years. 

Alois Bube came from Germany to the U.S. and landed in Pennsylvania's Lancaster County, where German immigrants who'd come before him had already established a booming beer scene, introducing Americans to crisp lagers when they'd so long been used to English ales. Bube bought his Mount Joy brewery in 1876 and kept expanding on it over the years, even adding a hotel. 

Bube died in 1908 and the brewery closed in 1920, but had been so successful that his family had enough money to keep the building. They reopened it as a museum in 1970, and soon after, added back the hotel and restaurant spaces. In 1982, Sam Allen acquired the building and began fully restoring the brewery back to its original glory — a Pennsylvania law change in 1996 finally allowed him to start brewing and selling beer again. Today, with its beer, food, and unique, historic, and slightly spooky catacombs dining experience, we're adding Bube's Brewery to our list of the best breweries to visit across the U.S.