The best part of PA food IMO — particularly SE PA — is the snack/chip aisle in grocery stores. Whereas the aisle is almost entirely Lays brands in other regions, PA has a flourishing small-snack ecosystem and only a few have escaped to other regions or been eaten up by FritoLayCo (like Herrs, Snyders, and Utz).

Best parts include potato chips cooked in lard (many brands including Goods and Gibbles and Martins and more) and really good pretzels (Hammonds).

Also TastyKake, which have since been bought by Bimbo and are now sold across the country.

I moved from PA to Colorado and my mom sent me a box of tasty kakes, all melted and pretty much destroyed and then I told her I can go to my local store and buy some. Her mind was blown, same thing with Amarosa rolls.

I grew up in Michigan, but my dad's family was from PA. Every family vacation out there we'd bring TastyKakes home with us. Butterscotch krumpets haven't been the same since they tweaked the recipe to stop the frosting from sticking to the wrapper, though.

Agreed, and the KandiKakes have had less peanut butter filling every since the acquisition by Bimbo.

Unique Pretzels are my favorite. We grew up on these - https://www.uniquepretzels.com/

I grew up in Lancaster (just south of Lebanon county) and still visit family there often. There are all sorts of country stores and meat shops in the small towns. Each small town also has its own local chocolate company with Hershey being the most famous of course. In my humble opinion the best chocolate in the world is Wilbur buds: https://www.wilburbuds.com/

Anyway, check it out and don't forget to purchase sweet Lebanon bologna meat sticks for your trip home.

Similar local PA vein: scrapple. They're both vehicles for less desired parts of various unspecified animals. Scrapple has some strong, distinctive spices, and it's usually sliced and fried as a breakfast protein.

Is it similar to scrapple in taste? I get the sense that the answer is no, but would like to confirm before looking for this. I don't much care for scrapple, but would be willing to give the bologna a try if the taste were more like a standard lunch meat.

Scrapple is very different from Lebanon bologna, which is a lot more similar to standard lunch meat.

Lebanon bologna is closer to a summer sausage or salami, except it's all beef. It has that tangy, fermented flavor.

Scrapple is made from off-cuts and offal and cornmeal, and it isn't fermented. Both the taste and texture are very different from Lebanon bologna. I think most people would find the texture to be more off-putting than the flavor; it's more like a porky hash than like a lunch meat.

scrapple is saltier. lebanon bologna is more like a sweet smokey ham. I don't think the two really relate flavor wise.

If you like scrapple try some livermush from North Carolina. It is very similar to scrapple. Besides being served fried for breakfast it is often eaten on a sandwich with mustard and/or grape jelly.

From PA, can confirm. Also, it's pronounced Leb-nin.

Leb-nin, Excellent! Exactly right : )

Agreed, it'll do, but I'm more of a chip chop fan myself.