Restaurants in Mountain Top

Though the county creek bubbling behind Zacharia’s Creek Side Café inspired the eatery’s name, it is the creativity of owners Andrew and Nancy Gallo and a team of trained chefs who keep diners enthused about each seasonal menu of Mediterranean- and New American-inspired fare. The casual BYOB restaurant—which has garnered praise from Zagat and LifeStyle Magazine—is outfitted with a 50-seat outdoor patio and on-location bakery and serves up lunch, dinner, and prix fixe menus amid Mediterranean-inspired interior decor. Housemade pastas are decorated with wild-boar ragu, goat cheese, and pork-belly confit, while the jumbo lump crab cakes come with an entourage of roasted potatoes and asparagus. An in-house pastry chef helps patrons cap off meals with fine cookies, seasonal cappuccinos, and over-the-top specialty cakes that are exact replicas of the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee.

From the outside, Springfield Inn is an anachronism. Its colonial-inspired structure—flaunting three tiered stories crowned with a swirling filigree—stands against its contemporary storefront neighbors as a symbol of an opulent past decade. Though its interior space regularly bustles with modern, DJ-fueled merrymaking, a menu of classic gourmet dishes still exudes the restaurant's timeless tenor. In the morning, chefs sizzle up a breakfast spread of waffles, omelets, and golden hot cakes to rouse incisors from their slumber, and evening selections range from honey-dipped fried chicken to filet mignon slathered in peppercorn demi-glace. Later hours bring strobe-light-splashed entertainment on select nights, rumbling the historic rafters with everything from live bands and DJs to rousing games of Red Rover.

Ingredient sculptors at Lee Gribben's on Main sear up succulent seafood and steak while an in-house pastry chef dotes over decadent epilogues. Meat and seafood dishes share equal billing on the dinner menu, where they share a bunk in the surf 'n' turf plate. At lunch, chefs stuff chicken, roast beef, and veggies inside slices of bread or nearby UPS packages for quick delivery to the mouth. The deft pastry chefs at Lee Gribben's on Main handcraft an array of sinful desserts, including boston cream cake, cheesecake, and crème brûlée torched. Guests can dine inside, where vibrant, modern artwork pops against marbled green walls, or outside on the patio. Trivia and karaoke nights encourage guests to stick around and head to the full bar for after-dinner drinks.

Born and raised in northern Greece, Piazza Presto founder Chronis Sapalidis carries on a longstanding family tradition of restaurateuring in his open-kitchen bistro. Pizza, pasta, and sandwiches populate the lunch and dinner menus—and on Chronis’ specialties menu he betrays his Mediterranean origins and Philadelphian affinities. During the day the restaurant serves as a café and bakery, and patio welcome guests with open awnings whenever weather allows and no pteranodons darken the sky. A BYOB establishment, Piazza Presto secrets a wine cellar in a rich wooden cabinet, and will keep diners’ wines chilled for their next visit if requested.

At Valley Forge Ristorante & Pizzeria, the scents of traditional Italian cooking drift from a theater-style kitchen into the dining room, where guests can witness the chefs whip up a menu of pasta, pizza, and calzones. Of the many offerings, the pizza takes top honors, especially after being named number one of Philadelphia's best pizzerias by Citysearch. Each red- or white-sauce pizza is crafted with more than 20 topping options and optional whole-wheat crust. Pasta dishes rival the heartiness of the pizza pies, with options ranging from the portabello-stuffed ravioli with rosa cream sauce to spaghetti with veal parmigiana.

During off hours, when the restaurant isn’t bustling with lunch and dinner diners, the space transforms into a coffee bar with gourmet blends. Sip a cup inside, or take to the fresh air on the onsite all-season patio, replete with fireplaces and overhead space heaters.

With a menu of scratch-made meat and veggie dishes accented by colorful sauces and collar-heating Cajun spices, the culinary artists at Nora Lee’s French Quarter Bistro transport taste buds to the lively streets of New Orleans. Hunks of daily-baked bread soak up creamy crayfish bisque or chicken-sausage gumbo, and bacon-wrapped meatloaf made with ground fillet and andouille sausage tempts forks and knives.