Gateway Travel Plaza

Hey the Gateway Restaurant has surprisingly good food! My omelette platter was basic but nicely done– well stuffed cheesy omelette, crispy bacon, crispy hash browns, basic toast and butter/​jelly. Coffee decent– not fresh ground outstanding, but above truck stop swill too. My wife had a very good chicken-​pecan-​cranberry salad — ordering salad at travel stop usually bad deal but this was good! My sons burger was truly hand formed patty, cooked medium as asked. Prices reasonable. Place clean, service friendly. Really an oasis in the chain and asphalt Hell of Breezewood!

Not good for large groups. My bus stopped here. The women’s bathroom only had 4 stalls and 2 sinks. Not great when you have a time limit! I didn’t have time to grab fast food, I had to settle for the convenience store.

Shopping, rest, & food. You can get it all here. On a recent pit stop, my family really needed to refuel and get some grub. The diner is basic, but the staff went above and beyond to make my family feel welcome. They were patient when answering our questions about the dishes and always there to top off our beverages, give extra napkins, etc.
There is a little arcade place and a small billiards table. Great for the kids to let go of the pent up energy from the road trip. There is also a Dairy Queen and Subway in the place, but we didn’t visit those. There is a wonderful little gift shop/​grocery store.
Definitely would stop back in if I drive though again!

My mom and I had to pick up a pinball machine in this area, and this was pretty much the only place to eat. (There was a McDonalds and a Denny’s, but I tend to avoid them). The plaza is pretty rinky dink. It’s two stories, not much going on.
The restaraunt however was pretty surprising. It’s a stereotypical greasy spoon where truck drivers come. The waitresses are very local and very nice. The food wasn’t bad either. My omelette was huge. My homefries were fried to perfection. The real draw however is the bakery selection. My mom and I got maple syrup sticky buns which were approximately the size of our face, and they were amazing. I’m not kidding. This hoaky rest stop in middle of nowhere PA has killer bakery goods. It may be worth your while to check it out.

I would not recommend eating here. This restaurant used to have decent food, but that’s changed. As a driver, I’m used to eating truck stop swill, I’m not expecting to eat at a restaurant with Gordon Ramsay’s name on it. However, this place has gone downhill from what’s acceptable. There are items, here and there that are good, but sadly, they’re always paired with something that’s going to make you disgusted. The side dishes are the worst, especially the home fries (some are stuck together and raw in between) and mac and cheese (tastes like a whole container of garlic powder goes into one bowl). Most of the beef products are bland, if seasoned at all. The only things that were good (during my couple of days staying here) were the fried eggs and grilled chicken. Even something basic, like their chips and queso, was disgusting. The cheese tasted sour! The only thing I can definitely say with certainty on the plus side is that the staff are extremely polite and professional. That’s the only reason I’m giving this place two stars instead of one. In short, stay away!

Grilled chicken was awesome. Mac n cheese not very good. Cinnamon apples very good. Turkey dinner was good also. Prices are average for a truck stop. Staff was wonderful. Will return but the Mac n cheese won’t be on the order this time.

Composite review –
Stop there every time on the way from Pittsburgh to Baltimore area. Gateway is on the right hand side making it easy to get fuel, get food, and exit onto the road leading toward DC. Staff has been consistent, food adequate for a travel plaza. We used the Travel Plaza restaurant this time (on left as you enter) and service was excellent, coffee plentiful, tables and seats comfortable. We will avoid the fast food places in the Travel Plaza as this restaurant is better in our opinion.
f8 and be there.

food was ok, the service was terrible. our server was Debbie. we waited at a table for 10mins before she even acknowledged we were there. She is slow n getting our food took forever. Waited to get purpose check for 15mins. Then waited another 10mins to come back n run our debit card. If u like to wait. come here

I found this to be good option for a relaxing meal in Breezewood.
The place is clean and comfortable. Staff is nice and efficient. There is a large selection of diner-​type if food. Also their breakfast menu is available all day long.
We had the pot roast with the soup/​salad bar and a Reuben sandwich. Both were tasty and what we expected. The salad items were fresh, although a bit limited (I couldn’t find cucumbers); and I also had the vegetable beef soup which I liked.
I felt it was stronger than what other reviewers had given it, hence 4 stars.

This is a good place to get a stretch, something to eat, and go to the bathroom. They have a little gift shop which is nice but a little on the pricey side for the things I liked. The food service has always been nice and the bathrooms aren’t usually too bad. My husband and I always stop here to stretch and gas up when we are driving to Detroit. We actually like coming here.

A decent truck stop. There’s a Dairy Queen, a Subway, a pizza joint, and a full sit down restaurant. Also, a rather large convenience store/​gift shop. The sit down restaurant had super friendly women working there, and I loved the fresh salad bar. It’s hard to find food on the road that isn’t just greasy or fried, so it was a nice change.
For being just a truck stop on the side of the highway, it’s not exactly a destination you seek out. But if you gotta pull over, this is a good place to do it.

It was a truck stop. A little less than average on my «omg this is a place I would want to come to again» scale, but hey… They have junk to buy that’s kinda pretty/​shiny, stuff to make sure you mr belly is full, and other things to give them all your money on. The motel was 90s style if you like being retro, and it was overall a clean smelling, bug free, sleeping paradise.

Server Lynn is really quick and cheerful — has to put up with all us grouchy drivers all day so his keeping a smile like that is quite a feat! Tip him heavily!!! :D
My Sirloin was cooked perfectly and came out quickly. Side veggies — mixed tomato, squash and zucchini — ok I cant spelll that — perfectly steamed. Healthy sides make up for a hunk of med rare beef, right? Sort of like a diet drink and a candy bar? But I digress…
Havent had a chance to check out the free Mother’s Day meal for female CDL holders. It wasnt ready yet at this location, so they subbd something else.
I DO hope they have a special offer for dads on Fathers Day. its only fair. I know its all about profits, as it is a business. Many female drivers I know (myself included) prefer to cook on the truck so this gets us in the door — where we will shop all the other goodies as well and maybe bring someone with us.
ANYWHO — ASK FOR LYNN! :D

Buses. With highschool kids everywhere. Including the truckers areas.

This review is for the sit down restaurant.
You know I have been coming here for years so I am sad to have to write this, but this place has been steadily going down hill. It used to be a good place to get classic American diner food, but now I would stay away.
It’s hard to think how anyone could screw up eggs and hash, but this place managed to do it. Hash was both burned and cold, eggs were runny and English mufins were untoasted.
One star for the friendly, eager service, but please, get a new cook!

This chain-​restaurant buffet and purveyor of tchotchkes looks like it popped off a conveyor belt last year, but was clearly staffed by the Devil himself in ages before humans came to beautiful rural PA.
After waiting in line 30 minutes (there were 2 people in front of me) in the line for a Subway sandwich, Charlena finally welcomed me to the first station with «Is it my time to quit yet!?» I said that I didn’t know when her shift ended but that I’d appreciate it if she or someone else would serve me. She then stared at her hands for 5 minutes (hungry as I was, I was so amazed by her complete lack of professionalism/​service/​intelligence that I wanted to see how long she would wait before attempting to do her job). When she asked (after 5 minutes) what I wanted and I replied «a 6-​inch wheat…» she literally cackled, revealing her two or three teeth (in a row, like a deep-​sea fish-​demon), then walked back to the bread cabinet where she had a two-​minute conversation with a young woman named Alison before returning with my bread.
Eventually, Charlena got done putting meat and cheese on the bread and, after waiting a few more minutes (this was lunch and Gateway was crowded with hundreds of travelers — it would have been their busiest time if they knew how to serve more than 1 person an hour), Alison showed up to put on the veggies. Which she did like someone without a tongue (but from the time she spent talking to Charlena and the other employees, it was clear she had one). When this hour-​long Subway line ordeal was over, I payed and stared into the eyes of bafflingly stupid cashier for two minutes after she had handed me the receipt before she realized that she was supposed to hand me some food in exchange. At least this third demon apologized for her incompetence.
Although I tried to limit my experience here, I had the full hour (remember — 2 people in front of me and 3 people serving) to observe similar devilry occurring in the food lines for the other restaurants.
Looks like a great place to do meth in the bathroom and stock up on Kewpie dolls, though. Avoid this place like the plague if you value your soul or have anger management issues.

If you are a frequent traveler who crosses the state often, as I am, no doubt you’re familiar with the questionable charms of Breezewood, PA. Doug and I come through here alot on our way home from points east, and it always seems to be right around dinner time. Route 70 and the Penna Turnpike intersect in this town, and truckstops and fast food places proliferate here. Our past choices for dinner have been Quiznos and Perkins, which I thought were the best we could do, but we opted for the buffet at the Gateway truckstop last night, and were pleasantly surprised. Now, lest you think I’ve gone soft in the head giving thumbs up to a truckstop, let me say that my expectations here are a bit lower than usual in this town of McDonald’s and KFC. I’m not looking for a transcendant dining experience, just decent food.
We chose the buffet over ordering off the menu, as we had given it a once over on our way in and it looked pretty good. The cold salad bar has a nice choice of greens, including the now ubiquitous spring lettuce mix that you can get at most grocery stores, fresh veggies and prepared salads. I made myself a green salad with veggies and their balsamic viniagrette and thought it very good. I also had a cup of the ham and bean soup, which also passed muster. We had to wait for the fried chicken to come out of the kitchen, as the pile of it that we spied on our walk to the table had disappeared by the time we were ready for it. It was good, well spiced and obviously fried up by someone who knows what they’re doing. I also tried the red skinned potatoes, which were good, and the vegetable of the day, which was a mix of carrots, corn, peas and lima beans that had obviously come from a can. Desserts are homemade, and I splurged on a slice of lemon cream pie. Our waitress was friendly and very attentive. They did seem to need a bit more help keeping the buffet stocked, as there was only one woman handling the hot, cold and dessert stations and she had trouble keeping up. Other than that it was a postive dining experience, and we plan on going back.

I think that the past reviews of this place that are one-​two stars, are for the most part spot-​ON.
Couldn’t decide what to order. Thought, hmm, soup and salad bar only 7.99, not a bad deal. Come to find out, no croutons, no eggs (actually, the only eggs I saw were with the beets, whole and beet colored — must be a Pennsylvania thing, or some new found culinary technique), no cottagge cheese. But, thank goodness plenty of mixed greens.
Wow, three varieties of soup, chicken corn (HMMM — right?), vegetable beef (sounds good too), and chili. Strangely enough these were recreations of soups served as broths. We opened the pot to find nothing but delicious steaming broth, all different colors according to their soup title. Needless to say, don’t get the soup and salad buffett.
Contemplated getting the hot buffett, but it was 11.99 and half of it was empty and the other half looked like if you ate it, you would spend copius amounts of time in the bathroom.
Go somewhere else if you do not have a gun to your head saying «go to the Gateway restaurant.» Otherwise, I’ll pray for you.

After the horrid Roy Rogers, this was a happy site. And then came the food:
Hot roast beef sandwich with fries
Buffalo chicken tenders with apple sauce and baked beans
Pepsi
I can only think that had I eaten here prior to Roy Rogers, I might have given it a lower rating; but it was not worse than Roy, and Roy got a 1-​star. I couldn’t eat the apple sauce, baked beans, or french fries. The apple sauce had an off flavor. The baked beans didn’t taste good. The french fries were re-​fried; if they are freezer fries, then they shouldn’t be sitting around to require a refry — come on.
The sandwich was bland at best and tasted of the luncheon meats that I dislike so much (I miss Boar’s Head’s luncheon meats). At least the chicken tenders were okay; but the buffalo sauce was all heat and no flavor.
Oh well, at least I wasn’t hungry any more.

Probably more like 2.5 stars, but I’ve been here every trip through Breezewood — so it must have some redeeming features and I’m in a generous mood today.
STORE /​GIFT SHOP
Great to pick up provisions for the next leg of a trip or the odd gift or so (some of the better quality gift options in Breezewood are here). I like dropping in here to pick up regional sodas like Black Bear Birch and Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer.
RADIO SHACK
Smaller than most stand alone stores and even those you would find in the mall, but they do carry a number of essential to take care of needs on the road.
GATEWAY RESTAURANT
I actually vetoed this place the last visit because we’d eaten here the last 2 visits, but its ok. Its a truck stop. The food is plentiful, hearty, and pretty cheap.
A big draw is the buffet. There is a breakfast one and a lunch/​dinner one. I’ve had both and prefer the lunch/​dinner multiples over the breakfast as the items you get in it fare better to sitting in the warmer for a longer time. The buffet vats are just that and do not get refreshed very often so things like eggs get overheated, pancakes/​french toast dry out, and meats get greasy when they sit too long. Breakfast is good — I would just opt to order off the menu. Salad bar and lunch buffet are excellent however.
My friends and I have sat here for hours catching up, and we’ve never felt like we were being shoo’d away by the staff, who happily dropped by now and then to refresh drinks and see if we needed anything.
There is also a laundry, game room, Domino’s pizza, Dairy Queen and Subway on the site as well so if you’ve had a long day of traveling, you can pretty much hit this place and take care of whatever you need.