DUNMORE, PENNSYLVANIA

In the suburban Lackawanna County borough of Dunmore just outside Scranton off the Harry O’Neill Highway, LOADING DOCK BAR & GRILL truly keeps beer geeks happy serving 25 local craft draughts alongside a superb seafood-heavy menu (with top-notch pretzel melts, sandwiches, salads and entrees) and cordial cocktails. There’s even a backspace refrig with dozens of to-go cans.

A family-friendly sportsbar for serious beer tossers, Loading Dock’s square block interior includes a granite-topped 15-seat halfmoon bar (with Mosaic-tiled frontage), Prohibition-styled bronze-tiled ceiling and elongated pendant lighting – all providing vintage flare for the otherwise conventional setting. Walled sconces lit up the left side wood tables and chairs.

On a crowded Saturday night, October ’24, my wife and I grab bar seats as several college football games blare from the multi-TV’s. The bacon-wrapped scallops and pound of clams went well with my Rusty Rail Pumpkin Swirl, a popular local autumnal ale reviewed in Beer Index).

Competes favorably with Scranton’s Backyard Ale House and Cooper’s Seafood so get yer ass there.