Memorable | One of the Best
Tony’s Lunch
Review by: Roadfood Team
Tony’s Lunch is a coal country legend, open from 7:30pm until about 2am and serving an outrageous burger called The Screamer.
What to eat at Tony’s Lunch
The Screamer is a huge hunk of fresh ground beef topped with a dark chili sauce, preferably “SOS” (sauce on both sides), quick cheese (un-melted) and — are you ready? — Marshmallow Fluff. Devotees contend that the Fluff and chili sauce make a great burger dressing.
This is a not to miss place for a truly original burger.
Directions & Hours
Information
| Price | $ |
| Seasons | All |
| Meals Served | Dinner, Late Night |
| Credit Cards Accepted | No |
| Alcohol Served | No |
| Outdoor Seating | No |
What To Eat
Tony’s Lunch Recipes
Discuss
What do you think of Tony’s Lunch?
3 Responses to “Tony’s Lunch”
patrick
August 16th, 2022
i need 20 screamers 5 with fluff and 5 with pine apple 10 with just screamers please and thank you!
jarred
October 17th, 2014
I’ve been eating at Tony’s for the past 20 years. The same people are cooking the food, serving the food, and the same people are coming for it. I usually go screamer with quick cheese, but try it with sauce and onions. Every burger comes with butter on the bun, steamed. White milk is the drink of choice.
I consider myself a bit of a foodie, having eaten at over 1000 places in the DC metro area and across the US (my job forces travel to major cities across the US) and every time I go home (I grew up in Mount Carmel) I make a point to come to Tony’s. Not because it’s nostalgic, but because it is really that good.
Grab a number as soon as you walk in the door, order up two burgers and a drink and have at it. Fries are not worth it. Take a one dollar bill, decorate it, and hang it up on the wall.
Michael Whyne
August 30th, 2013
For those of you that aren’t Pennsylvania Anthracite coal region kids, I offer you this explanation about Tony’s: It is a legend. It is truly a must visit place if you ever get lost and end up in Girardville at night. They keep strange hours (7:30pm-2ish am) Wednesday-Sunday and if you’ve never been there, you should find someone who has and go with them.
There’s a strange order to this place. You walk in, take a number near the register and either find a place to sit or stand there and wait. Bernie will get around to you when she gets around to you. It’s a shabby little place with the vent from the grill blowing out onto the sidewalk, seemingly beckoning the faithful. There are dollar bills with all manner of writing on the walls and people in every stage of sobriety.
Now you might be asking yourself, why I’m recommending this place? It’s for the screamer, the venerable staple of Tony’s menu. This hamburger is made from a huge hunk of fresh ground beef, lovingly fried on an industrial sized grill and topped with a silly hot “chili” sauce that’s as black as the devil’s soul. Legend says the sauce is added to every day with its original origins sometime in the 1960’s. You can order it “SOS” (sauce on both sides), quick cheese (un-melted cheese) and with, I kid you not, marshmallow fluff on it. Believe it or not, adding the fluff with the silly hot and tasty sauce is very good. But it is very sloppy. Order it with two chocolate milks and you’re good to go. I once made the mistake of getting the French fries with the hot sauce on it. If you hate your digestive system, this is a good choice.
I have to be totally honest… I love Tony’s Lunch. It’s one of those places that generations of local families go to and everyone has a story about it. Try it. If you hate it, don’t go back. But you just might end up loving it, too.