10+ social media-famous food joints in PA

Word of mouth helps a lot of restaurants make it—and sometimes that word of mouth is almost entirely digital. These Pennsylvania food joints have been celebrated on social media for delicious eats, creative food offerings, and unique dining experiences. From restaurants serving up viral food trends like fruit-shaped mousse cakes and specialty ramen to treehouse dining and the largest buffet in the country, here are some Pennsylvania spots loved by folks on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Bakeries with viral fruit pastries—Multiple locations

After a French pastry chef began creating hyper-realistic fruit pastries designed to look like real berries, citrus, and mangoes, the desserts became popular in bakeries around the world, including in Pennsylvania.

In addition to its famed macarons, Pittsburgh French bakery Gaby et Jules is crafting stunning pastries in the shape of cherries (cherry mousse with chocolate cream and cherry sponge cake), raspberries (raspberry mousse and pistachio sponge cake), and lemons (lemon cream with sponge cake and lemon mousse).

Meanwhile, Philadelphia Asian patisserie Maison Sweet has trended on social media with realistic pastries in the shapes of yuzu (yuzu mousse with pudding and vanilla sponge cake), mango (mango mousse with mango jam and sponge cake), and—OK, this isn’t a fruit but forgive us—an adorable polar bear (with vanilla mousse, chocolate pudding, and hazelnut chocolate cake).

In Easton, Fox Bakery serves European desserts, including trompe-l’œil (that’s French for “trick the eye”) fruit pastries in the shape of raspberries, apples, mangoes, blueberries, oranges, and more. Harrisburg’s Chocolena has banana, berry, and coconut mousse cakes, among others. And Paris Bakery and Cafe in Union County’s Lewisburg serves a bevy of intricately crafted French pastries, including the fan favorite mango.

Apteka—Pittsburgh

Apteka, an all-vegan Eastern European restaurant beloved in Pittsburgh, has earned national acclaim, including James Beard Award nominations and a spot on The New York Times’ 2022 list of the 50 best restaurants in the United States. These accolades—along with mouthwatering photos circulating on social media—have helped fuel the restaurant’s famously long pre-opening lines, as guests queue up for pierogi and other hearty, seasonal dishes.

TreeTops Restaurant—Acme (Westmoreland County)

TreeTops Restaurant has made waves first and foremost for its beautiful location and unique dining concept—guests eat within the woods of the Laurel Highlands, either in the main restaurant or in treehouse-like pods. And the upscale restaurant’s delicious, chef-curated menu doesn’t hurt either!

TreeTops is part of Polymath Park, home to two houses designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and two designed by Wright apprentice Peter Berndtson.

Sizzling Bites—Multiple locations

Sizzling Bites is a halal restaurant that has garnered internet attention for some of the best halal food in the Commonwealth. The fast-casual joint, which is open late into the night, serves up its own delicious takes on falafel, gyros, smash burgers, salads, and fries. You can currently find the restaurant in Bethlehem, Easton, Reading, and Scranton, with a new location opening soon in State College.

Bro Man’s Sammiches—Erie

From food truck to gas station restaurant to brick-and-mortar institution, Bro Man’s Sammiches has grown thanks to fans eager to try and recommend its signature birria tacos, as well as its popular smash burgers and “sammiches” like a birria torta and a vegan cheesesteak. Since the food truck began crawling the Erie streets in 2021, Bro Man’s has been named the best restaurant in Erie twice. No wonder it was included in Mashed’s list of the “best burger joints in Pennsylvania.”

You can find Bro Man’s in downtown Erie, as well as Millcreek Township.

Chick’nCone—Philadelphia

Nostalgic and a little quirky, Chick’nCone is exactly the kind of concept you’d expect to go viral. Its signature food is a play on chicken and waffles, with crispy chicken served in a waffle cone. While the restaurant has expanded to dozens of locations across the country, it was born as a food truck in the Lehigh Valley’s Bangor. Today, you can find it on North Broad Street in Philadelphia.

Tallow—Wyncote (Montgomery County)

Tallow opened in early 2025 in a grocery store in Southwest Philadelphia, but the chicken restaurant didn’t become successful until its owner posted a lament to social media about the business’ struggles. That post went viral with millions of views and thousands of comments—including some detractors suspicious of cooking chicken in tallow rather than seed oils. Despite the controversy, donations—as well as customers—began to flow into the restaurant, and Tallow was saved from closing.

In fact, Tallow just moved to a new location—the Fresh Grocer grocery store in Montgomery County’s Wyncote.

Kyuramen—Multiple locations

Kyuramen is a national restaurant chain that originally opened in 2019 with the aim of making excellent ramen accessible to the masses. Ramen, of course, is the center of the menu, with more than a dozen options of the warming noodle soup from which to choose. But it also has other specialty offerings, like omurice (an omelet on top of fried rice) and burgers served on sesame rice patty buns.

So far, the restaurant—with its signature honeycomb booths—has opened more than 50 locations across the United States, to great buzz. You can find four Kyuramen locations in Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh, Cranberry Township, Lancaster, and Philadelphia.

Sheetz MTO menu—Multiple locations

Yes, Sheetz is a gas station, but the Sheetz made-to-order menu is a favorite all across social media—and of course, Pennsylvania. People love the MTO menu because it is extremely customizable, available 24/7, pretty affordable, and full of comforting classics (fried appetizer samplers) as well as creative combos (burgers topped with mozzarella sticks and jalapeno poppers). The menu is also accessible: You need not travel to Philly for social media-famous food in Pennsylvania—you can just head to your nearest Sheetz and start tapping the digital MTO screen inside the gas station.

Shady Maple Smorgasbord—East Earl (Lancaster County)

People head to Shady Maple Smorgasbord in Lancaster County not only for hearty breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but also to experience the largest buffet in the United States, and one of the biggest in the world. All across social media, visitors have documented the restaurant’s 200-foot-long buffet of Pennsylvania Dutch comfort food, like the region’s unique pot pie and shoofly pie, as well as Shady Maple’s spacious capacity (it can seat up to 2,000 people).

Potato Coop—Harrisburg (Dauphin County)

Harrisburg restaurant Potato Coop specializes in, you guessed it, potatoes—and it offers numerous ways to enjoy the humble spud. From loaded baked potatoes and cheesesteak curly fries to smashburger pierogies and poutine, the restaurant has gone viral for its unique treatment of everyone’s favorite starchy tuberous vegetable. While you can also order burgers and cheesesteaks on their own, you should at least get a side of fries with your meal so you don’t miss out on the namesake potatoes!