Also: Harmony gets elevated popcorn shop, President Biden visits local Sheetz and McDonald's debuts spicy chicken sandwich
Scott TadyBeaver County Times
(What's Cooking is a twice-a-month look at what's new in the Beaver Valley dining & drinks scene.)
Folks are starting to dash to Hash N Smash, the new breakfast, burgers and shakes diner in downtown Beaver.
Launched last week with a soft opening ahead of an April 22 grand opening, Hash N Smash exudes a fun, retro and laidback vibe; a place where families or lunch-break workers can feast on smash burgers and fries, elevated hash dishes or eggs, sausage and pancakes dishes.
The diner's philosophy is simple.
"A good quality meal for not a lot of money," executive chef Rich Montini said. "Good vibes and an old-school diner feel. A different place, I think, than anywhere we have in town."
Wall decorations include shiny vintage hubcaps, classic license plates, the trunk of a green Volkswagen with a Bicentennial Pennsylvania license plate, an old sign for the former Beaver 5 & 10, and a framed poster of the Beaver-Bridgewater filmed Michael Keaton film "Gung Ho."
Flat-screen TVs offer a glimpse of the here-and-now.
Menu-wise, one of Hash N Smash's namesake specialties is smash burgers.
"We have a few different smash burger options with a couple different proteins and toppings," Montini said. "We're doing an Elvis Smash Burger with peanut butter, bacon and banana, which is amazing."
Smash burgers, made with the beef pressed flat on a hot grill by a spatula, have caught on quickly in the Beaver Valley and elsewhere.
"We're trying to capitalize on something that's trendy and hip," Montini said.
Smash N Hash's hash is a more unique offering.
"We're doing our hash a little different," Montini said. "Normally hash is just a boiled potato chopped up and mixed with a protein like corned beef. We're doing tater tots that are fried then smash them down as well, just like our burgers, then chop up gyro meat, corned beef, chorizo − a bunch of things we can mix in with the hash."
The menu also includes items like omelets − in mushroom, Greek, ham & cheese, meat lover and Western varieties − served with hash browns and toast or pita for $10-$13, and two biscuits with sausage gravy, two eggs and choice of meat for $12. Breakfast sandwiches, burritos and bagels are options, too.
Hash N Smash milkshakes have become instant favorites, available in chocolate, vanilla or cookies + cream flavors.
Montini owned the former Heirloom restaurant in Beaver, and worked seven years as an executive chef with Aramark at PNC Park, launching his chef career as sous chef at Lock 6 Landing in Industry,
He's assisted at Hash N Smash by Scott Davis, former head chef at Thursday's restaurant in Bridgewater, who was also a chef for Aramark.
The servers and kitchen staff at Wednesday's soft opening were a jovial and cohesive team, wearing T-shirts that say "Smash Crew."
Hash N Smash is located in a former Fox's Pizza Den, which with the fresh renovations you might not recognize.
"It's a perfect location. With the main street of Beaver you've got a lot of foot traffic, and the courthouse right down the road," Montini said. "You've got the hospital up on the hill. There's a lot of opportunities for good meals for people and their little ones."
The Hash N Smash ownership-management team includes successful business partners from the Grumpy Beaver restaurant in Bridgewater and Valley Vintage Motorworks in Monaca. That's a Valley Vintage moped decorating Hash N Smash's front window.
Hash N Smash will be open seven days a week.
Hours are 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; and 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
More: Rock star to sing; play 'Sonic The Hedgehog' at Hopewell arcade
Beaver Brewing expands shipping
Beaver Brewing Co., the county's original craft brewery, announced it's now shipping its canned beers to 11 states.
These include a series of beers themed after the early 1990s TV show "Twin Peaks," Agent Cooper Coffee Stout, Log Lady Lager, Windom Earle IPA and Wrapped in Plastic IPA,
Also available in cans for shipping are some old Beaver Brewing fan favorites like I.Pepper.A, Lech's Lager, Torgo and Roggenbier.
Beaver Brewing, at 1820 Seventh Ave., Beaver Falls, celebrates its 14th anniversary May 17 with a party featuring two new barrel-aged beers, two other new beers and a Los Amigos taco food truck.
Magical popcorn
Hop into historic Harmony to try the valley's new popcorn place.
Popkins Magical Popcorn has opened at 550 Main St., stocked with butter and caramel popcorn, cinnamon sugar pecans and almonds.
Popkins' specialty: Popcorn with chocolate sauce and your choice of toppings including mini-M&Ms, Reese's Pieces, waffle cone pieces, crushed Oreos, peanuts, pretzels, animal cookies, Teddy Grahams, gummy bears, marshmallows, dried strawberries. or Neff Haus Buckeye pieces. Customers also can choose from milk chocolate, white or dark chocolate.
Neff Haus is the next-door-neighbor ice cream shop with the same ownership. Hours are the same for both: 4-9 p.m. weekdays, noon-9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Spicy chicken
On April 22, McDonald's debuted the Bacon Cajun Ranch McCrispy sandwich at participating restaurants across the tri-state area.
The bold new sammyisinspired bysoul food flavors of the South, withacreamyand spicy Cajun ranch sauce, applewood smokedbacon and crisp crinkle cut pickles, allserved on a warm toasted potato roll.
Prez visits Sheetz
President Joe Biden made a surprise visit last Wednesday afternoon to the Sheetz along University Boulevard in Moon Township. His team placed a large online order including sandwiches, fruit and other ready-to-eat items from the store.
Sheetz HQ knew a marketing opportunity when it saw one, commenting hours afterward, "Everyone loves a good Sheetz Run, even the President of the United States.”
The comment added, "Sheetz invites anyone to order on the app, just like the President’s team did. Customers can fully customize their order and then pick it up in just minutes at a store closest to them."
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Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com.
