Have you ever found yourself wanting a sweet fix, but just could not decide what you wanted? Or perhaps what options you had? Luckily, VALLEY has your back.
Downtown State College can arguably fit anyone’s needs. The small district features an eclectic mix of cuisines, retail shops, small businesses and bustling nightlife. It’s also the hub of creameries, cookies and cafés. So, if you’re looking for delicacies either in the dead of night or during a study break, here are some of VALLEY’s recommendations to get you started.
Insomnia Cookies
Let’s begin with a classic go-to. Located on East Beaver Avenue, Insomnia Cookies is a bakery chain harboring more than its warmed trademark treat. Here, in the cozy warm-purple abode, you can also find brownies, ice cream “wiches,” cookie cakes and more. Cold milk is also available for that extra dose of sweetness.
Insomnia’s classic cookies — chocolate chunk, sugar, peanut butter chip, snickerdoodle, etc. — are $2 each. Their deluxe cookies — salted caramel, chocolate peanut butter cup, s’mores, etc. — go for $3.50, as well as their chocolate chip brownie. “Wiches” range between $6.25 to $14. Prices for packed boxes vary depending on volume. Vegan and gluten-free options are also available. You can view Insomnia’s full menu on their website.
Open seven days a week and until 3 a.m. on weekends, Insomnia offers online ordering and delivery via Grubhub or their website.
Mr. Wish
A few doors down from the Student Book Store on East College Avenue is Mr. Wish — a fruit tea franchise originating from Taiwan. Its menu features an assortment of brewed, sparkling, fruit and milk teas, along with smoothies and snacks. Some drinks are offered both cold and hot, but all can be customized by sugar and ice level. Prices range depending on size — roughly a $1 difference between medium and large — and additional toppings if available. Their menu can be viewed here.
Their paw-shaped waffle cakes are priced at $4.25, raised by 50 cents for a custard-filled four-pack. The small store is adorned with neon signs, greenery, order kiosks and a booming speaker echoing music off the walls. Mr. Wish is also in the same building as Hibachi Express and Aone Mart, facilitating a busy ambiance filled with chatter and order numbers.
Open from 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. seven days a week (and give or take a half-hour on the weekend), Mr. Wish also takes orders on Doordash, Grubhub and SnackPass.
Café Wow
This bakery is located underneath the Urban Outfitters on East College Avenue. Most of their menu is comprised of desserts, teas and savory snacks with nothing above the $11 mark. Perhaps amongst their most notable treats are their crepe cakes — a delicacy made of many thin layers of the French pancake sandwiched in pasty cream. Café Wow offers a range of flavors, from matcha, Nutella, tiramisu and vanilla. All crepe cakes cost $9.50.
Café Wow also has New York cheesecake, priced at $4.75. Customers can choose from a multitude of drinks, including fruit, milk and iced black tea, along with brown sugar milk. Prices range from $3.75 to $5.75. The full menu can be viewed here.
Open from 11:30 a.m. – 8:30 p.m. seven days a week, Café Wow has both dine-in and takeout options via Grubhub or SnackPass.
The Corner Room
Walking further down the college district, we come across the famous Corner Room on West College Avenue, right outside of the Allen Street gates. In business for nearly a century, this restaurant’s dessert palette is primarily recognized for its grilled stickies — a combination of a cinnamon roll and sticky bun decorated in butter and sugar, retailed at $3 and an additional $2 if ordered with vanilla ice cream.
However, The Corner Room also houses an array of other desserts. To name a few, the peach & blueberry crisp consists of a toasted cinnamon oat streusel and vanilla ice cream, priced at $6. Vanilla ice cream is featured in the pretzel brownie a la mode too, alongside a salted peanut caramel sauce, also $6. Moreover, the staple hot fudge sundae is made of peanuts, fudge, whipped cream, and, you guessed it, vanilla ice cream for $5. The full dessert menu can be found here.
The Corner Room is closed on Monday and Tuesday, open from 11:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday and from 8 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. throughout the weekend. There are no delivery options, but dine-in and curbside pickup are available.
BRGR
Lastly, we have BRGR just a couple of doors down West College Avenue. This hamburger restaurant is a next-door neighbor to The State Theater and shares the same sophisticated look. One of the newer establishments in downtown State College, BRGR comes alive in the nighttime with its more dimly-lit atmosphere and loud music.
Besides its long list of burgers to choose from, BRGR’s dessert menu features the signature milkshake. Categorized into three options — classic, spiked and floats — flavors include s’mores, salty caramel, peanut butter cup, cookies n cream and ginger beer. Prices range between $6 to $10 depending on the shake ordered. All options can be viewed here.
Open from 4 p.m. – 10 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and noon-11 p.m. on the weekends, BRGR offers dine-in, takeout and delivery via Doordash, Grubhub, Postmates and Uber Eats.
What are your favorite treats of state? Let us know by tweeting us, @VALLEYmag, on Twitter!
