Restaurants in New Castle

Hookah is all about embracing a slower pace of life. When seated in front of a shisha, one is committed to doing nothing, at least for a little while. The street cafes of Cairo hum with groups of friends exercising this ethos, taking turns inhaling sweet, fragrant smoke and sipping tea. Despite Pittsburgh’s distance from the Sahara, KOAL Hookah Lounge brings a bit of that mentality to Slippery Rock.

After boiling tobacco leaves with one of 21 fruit varietals, the staff at KOAL pack ornate water pipes for parties of three or five. Though most menu flavors reflect long-established tradition, the lounge experiments with unconventional blends such as the Vanilla Sky, a mixture of vanilla and blackberry tobacco. The modern décor further illustrates this embrace of old and new, with track lighting illuminating a bottle-lined wall, and bold reds encapsulating a row of sleek black stools. Guests can dramatically exhale on the outdoor patio, as well, as they savor hot chocolate and fervently detail the interesting dream they had last night.

Providing authentic Middle Eastern eats crafted from the finest, freshest, and most personable of hand-picked ingredients, the menu at Tyma’z serves up a variety of home-style, family-friendly dishes with complimentary aromas and sporks. Guests can begin with a selection of appetizers served with pita bread, such as the hummus ($5) or the laban ($3), a thick, creamy yogurt dish. Post-warm-up, diners can slink into more substantial entrees served a la carte or as a dinner with a side salad and rice pilaf. Experience dishes such as m’loukhieh ($10/$13), a plate of seasoned chicken and greens cooked in spicy juices, or the vegetarian-friendly sleek ($8/$13), a serving of kale telepathically cooked with onions, black-eyed peas, and spices. Bottomless beverages such as soda, lemonade, tea, and coffee are available ($2), or guests are welcome to bring their own libations for a small fee of $2 per person.

Blue Water Tavern resurrects the spirit of the classic neighborhood watering hole with a dinner menu that tastily tiptoes the line between casual and fine dining. Fire up feasting with tapas—small, passable plates that include calamari ($9), hummus ($8), and wings ($9), with the Tavern Trio ($18) collecting your choice of any three tapas. Crop-circle enthusiasts can take a break from extraterrestrial extracurriculars and opt for a veggie pizza topped with artichoke hearts, red peppers, red onions, basil, black olives, and goat cheese ($8), or its pepperoni-topped cousin ($9). Bite into the Pittsburgher burger accompanied by fresh-cut fries ($9), or salute a mermaid mother with the Surf and Turf—a six-ounce filet mignon and a Maine lobster tail ($29). For diurnal diners, Blue Water Tavern offers a lunch menu, while those on a liquid diet can feast upon a few hearty libations from the bar.

Waltz past Woodside Manor's wall of stained glass dating back to 1594, hand-carved oak staircase, and 20-foot pink-sandstone fireplace to take a seat in one of the manor's nine private dining rooms before examining the menu of seafood, sandwiches, pasta, and creative American classics. Woodside's chef Robert Courser turns French fries into elegant pomme frittes, served with thyme, salt, and spicy ketchup ($5), and replaces corndogs' dogs with shrimp and serves the cornshrimps with mustard cream ($12). Bite into a classically prepared Reuben's peppery corned beef and spicy sauerkraut ($9), or invite new flavors to mingle at your tongue's soirée with a chicken diablo sandwich: mushroom, onion, bacon, barbecue sauce, and cheddar cheese ($9). Marsala and piccata are available with veal or chicken ($14–$18), while more seaworthy plates include Chilean sea bass ($30), lake perch ($18), and lobster mac 'n' cheese, crafted with cognac, sherry, a Mornay sauce, Old Bay Seasoning, cheddar, and gruyere ($18).

Celebrated in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review for its more than 600 hoppy brews, Beer Nutz Bottle Shoppe & Grille pours 35 rotating drafts to complement a menu of delicious—and sometimes intimidating—pub fare. Their featured burger, the aptly named Ruination, challenges bold visitors with its jaw-dropping combination of fried eggs, bacon, and a bun that consists of two texas-toast grilled cheese sandwiches. Lobster rolls and hefty one-pound fish sandwiches round out the menu alongside wings triple flavored by Yuengling marinades, spicy rubs, and tangy sauces. Opened on the same day the Pittsburgh Penguins won the 2009 Stanley Cup, the restaurant hosts game-watching nights as well as regular wine tastings, live music performances, and games of pin the tail on the keg.