Roosevelt Beer Garden

Basic Information:

Location: 548 Chestnut St, Dunmore, PA, 18512
Phone Number: (570) 961-2494
Normal Wing Price: $8.25 for 10
Wing Night: Tuesday
Wing Night Price: 50 cents a wing
Wing Flavors:

Mild, Hot, Fire in the Hole, Mild or Hot Ranch, Mild or Hot BBQ, Garlic Parm, Honey Mustard, Hot or Mild Honey, Mango Habanero, Bourbon, Hot Honey Garlic, Sweet Red Chili, Teriyaki, Jamaican Jerk

Links: Facebook
  • Roosevelt Beer Garden - 03/03/20

    Overall Rating: 62

    Lynch Serniak

    Lynch's Rating: 26 out of 50

    Environment: 6

    The Roosevelt Beer Garden, also known as the Roosey to people familiar with the place, is located in the winding back streets of Dunmore. I say that because I feel like whenever I travel up that way, I can never find an easy way out. I’m sure to the Dunmoreans it’s the easiest thing in the word, but I always get lost. When I hear the term Beer Garden, I think of a wide open bar with long tables and an outdoor area to drink craft beers. While the Roosey does offer some craft beer options, it is not at all what I had in mind for a beer garden. It’s a very typical town bar with a shuffle board table, big square bar in the middle, and a number of bar-height tables for eating. They do allow smoking, so that can be a positive or a negative depending who you are. Also, it is worth mentioning that they are cash only, so be prepared with some extra moolah for your food and beer. Overall, even though it took a bit for us to get the menus, the service was pretty fast and the wings didn’t take a long at all.


    Wing Size: 4

    The Roosey wing night starts at 5:00 PM on Tuesday where they sell wings for 50 cents a piece. They do allow orders of 5, which is nice if you like variety since they have a good selection. The wings are pretty small though, so you may want to order more than you usually do. Normally, I order twenty and end up taking down about 16. Not only did I finish the 20 wings I ordered, but I also took down some extra fries that a friend had leftover.


    Wing Flavors: 6

    I was pleasantly surprised by the number of wing options that The Roosey offers. There’s a good variety and a decent selection. They have a good mix of your classic flavors like Hot, BBQ, and Honey in addition to more interesting options like Teriyaki, Jamaican Jerk, and Mango Habanero.


    Wing Taste (x2): 5

    The traditional Hot from the Roosey is exactly what you’d expect from a hot buffalo sauce. It had a good amount spice for being a Hot. The Hot Ranch was the same hot sauce base with a touch of Ranch. In fact, I feel like the Hot mostly came through. I could have done with a little more ranch in the sauce. The Teriyaki brought that traditional Teriyaki sauce taste with a slight salt and some sweetness. I wish this wing had a bit more sauce on it as I think it was lacking. I actually wish all the wings had a bit more sauce on them. I like my wings swimming in the sauce. The final wing I had was the Garlic Parm. Once again, this had the hot sauce base with a bit of garlic and parmesan cheese. It was a bit on the sweeter as opposed to the spiciness of the regular Hot.

    Serniak's Rating: 36 out of 50

    Environment: 8

    The Roosevelt Beer Garden, which is affectionately called The Roosey, is a corner bar located up in the hills of Dunmore. Be careful when trying to find or leave the place. You can get lost very easily in the labyrinth that is the Dunmore streets.

    I’ve been coming to The Roosey for a few years but this visit was about business not pleasure. As of right now, it’s my favorite day-drinking spot. I think I like it so much because it’s just a straight-up bar. There isn’t anything fancy about it. If you’re looking for a bottle of suds and some good food with the chance of catching a sporting event on TV, there aren’t much better, to me.

    I also think I enjoy the fact that The Roosey has a quality of grit that isn’t seen as much as it once was. On any given day, you will find no less than 200 of the toughest elders you’ll ever find. These are men who can fix anything who are looking for some time away from their wives. The epitome of salt of the Earth. There were some older fellas yelling at the PSU game. A player banked a shot in and no word of lie, three tough old dudes who can easily kick my ass hollered “did he call bank?” Classic stuff. I really enjoyed that. There was also another guy who watched me, politely, open the restroom door essentially with my wrist because I didn’t want to get sauce on the doorknob. He thanked me for being so courteous and then he made light of the fact that he too is a Dolphin’s fan. See, that’s bravery.

    The Roosey isn’t a large place and I don’t think there’s an actual beer garden. Maybe there was once upon a time. Like Diskins, another smaller joint, The Roosey allows smoking so get ready for that. I’m not a smoker but I enjoy the fact that The Roosey allows. Makes them a little more BA. There are around 6 tables that surround the bar in the front and a few more in the back. The bar is in the middle of the two sides and you can see from one side to the other. When we were there, it was really dark and the lights on the table were non-operational. I would have enjoyed a bit more light, but I get it. It’s a bar.

    If you’re one of those Steeler’s fans, The Roosey will cater to your Yancey Thigpen and Bam Morris needs. If you’re a shuffleboard aficionado, you’re in luck, The Roosey is equipped with that sport.

    Our server, who was also our bartender did a solid job with getting our drinks and food to us.


    Wing Size: 7

    Decent sized wings are what you’ll find at The Roosey. And at 50 cents a wing, it’s a damn good deal. There’s bigger out there for the same price. But, if you’re into smaller wings compared to some of the ginormous ones that are out there, you won’t be disappointed.


    Wing Flavors: 7

    At The Roosey, 17 flavors are what can be had. They do a very good job of completely nailing the basics such as your mild, hot, honey mustard, bourbon, while also including teriyaki and the ability to mix mild and hot with ranch. There is also a Jamaican Jerk win, which we’ll get into a minute. A few more flavors and I would have given them an 8. It be sweet if they added a porketta, some flavors with sriracha and anything with Cajun. Being content with what they have is cool, but I’d personally like to have more. I’m selfish and I don’t operate a bar, however.


    Wing Taste (x2): 7

    It was a solid showing of wings from The Roosey. I got my standard 20. It was tough to figure out which was what based on look due to the lightning, but we figured it out. The first I had were the hot. These were more than just Franks Red Hot. They were cut a good amount of butter while also being hot. Next was the mango habanero. Both flavors were represented well. The heat of the habanero was chillaxed ever so slightly by the sweetness of the mango. Well done. Now seems like a decent time to inform you that they were decently crispy. Moving on, we had the sweet red chili. These were tasty and had a firm coating of red pepper flakes. This was sort of like an Asian sauce with its consistency. It had heat from the chilis but like the mango, had a sweetness that gelled well. Well done. Finally, and I eluded to it a few minutes ago, was the Jamaican Jerk. Let me tell you these wings were Jamaicing me crazy. You like that? Of course, you do. I don’t get this flavor often, but I was down for it this evening. There’s so much going on with Jamaican jerk sauce. There’s garlic, brown sugar, peppers all mashed into each other and when they do come together, it’s great for you. There’s a twang with this saice that sneaks up on you.