Lancaster County Top Ten Restaurants...and counting!

We like great food.  We like to eat great food.  A lot.  Yep, that said, we also have kids (who know how to act in a restaurant, thank you very much) so we also really like great restaurants that not only have great food, but also have nice little touches to offer parents of great kids.  Word of the day "great".

In review of the year (plus) that we have now lived in Lancaster County, I've compiled a list of all the restaurants we've discovered, and compiled the oh so familiar "Top Ten".  Based the list on food, ambience, service, and if it wasn't a date night, kid-friendliness.  Let me add that we have enjoyed many fine meals over the years at other restaurants not listed, but to be fair to current owners, I am only including those that we've haunted since our move here. 

Top Ten...in no particular order, with a few good reasons why you

should frequent these fine establishments:

The Horse Inn/Lancaster: known for a Lancaster County favorite "Tenderloin tri-tips" as well as scrumptious crab bisque.  A Lancaster secret, it's discreetly hidden down an alley and up the steepest set of stairs possible.  If features authentic ambience due to the fact it was built in the 1800's and rumor has it that it was part of the Underground Railroad.  Yes, that means a little old and rickety, but nice servers who have been around forever.  Generally not a young and hip crowd, but worth a visit all the same!  Great food...could improve the wine list.  And bless those seniors who always stop to say hi to our children.   Kids are welcome but seem to be a novelty there.

Isaacs Deli & Restaurant/Lititz/Lancaster:  Their "Bird of Paradise" sandwich makes a grown man cry. I've witnessed it.  Isaacs is a staple of Lancaster County and multiple surrounding counties.  Insanely good sandwiches.  Worth repeating.  "Insanely good sandwiches."  Cutesy atmosphere, friendly servers, food named after birds.  We've been going there for years and have never, ever had poor service.   This place is so good, it's my go-to place when I need a gift certificate for friends, teachers, coaches, anybody. Everybody loves Isaacs.  Oh; and they have really cool rainbow bread that comes with their pbj with marshmallows.  Can you be more kid-friendly than that? 

Tomato Pie Cafe/Lititz:  See former blog about my feelings on their food as I may weep if I re-write it.  Gourmet, fresh, original for this small town and sensational.  Not mentioned previously, but their grilled cheese has Brie on it! Yes, rich, creamy brie. Slow service, but is a must-have on the Top Ten list.  (Sidenote: I am still trying to replicate that darned tomato pie and it's still not there.) Grrr.

Blue Orchid/Lancaster:  Only on the list as it's the best sushi we've discovered thus far.  I am positive there will be better, but since sushi is a staple in our diet, had to include the one place we've been seen playing with their chopsticks.  It is always fresh and if you eat at the sushi bar, there's a waiter named Eric who is wonderful.  However...that said...there is a serious lack of creativity in their sushi and often a language barrier when I try to explain rolls I've had in the past.   It's a relatively new complex, so one must wonder who the heck thought of the tacky, outdated blue & purple decor. It's truly as bad as it sounds.  If you know of better sushi in LanCo, please, please, please email me!

Gibraltars/Lancaster:  Love, love, love this place.  Our first visit was right after moving here.  The manager Chris (apparently now at Penn Square Grille) and the chef welcomed us with carpaccio that was like butter.  My husband was moved to tears by the delectable lamb chops and I was seriously blown away with both my ahi meal and  the outstanding service. These are fine dining servers who still have a great sense of humor shining through.  It's a date night restaurant as you want to slowly savor every morsel of your meal and hey, they don't serve crayons with their white linens.  That statement might not be be true, but I've never seen crayons.  Excellent wine list and on both visits (the second with a larger party) we've had sensational service and sensational meals.
 

Penn Square Grille/Lancaster:  Great lunch place. Read about it in a local mag

and didn't realize it was actually the Marriott's restaurant.  My husband had the mushroom burger and said it was the best burger he's ever had.  He's lived a lot of places and eaten a lot of burgers, so that's saying something.  Kid-friendly and also catered to vegetarians, a nice change. 

Ciro's Italian Bistro/Lancaster: Same complex on Fruitville Pike as Blue Orchid.  Wonderful, wide mix of Italian food, hip/trendy atmosphere, fast and friendly service, great w/kids, some unusual yet good full-bodied wines, and it's own gelato bar to choose from!  Heavenly.  However...we've ordered takeout twice and they've messed up both orders.  Moral: Eat there and you'll be pleasantly surprised.  Oh; and get a reservation or you'll wait - always packed. 

Belvedere Inn/Lancaster:  Met some friends at the Belvedere for a wonderful dining experience.  Their menu is small, yet somehow covers a little bit of everything.   We dined on the second floor terrace - cozy, shaded and graced with lovely flowers, all absolutely perfect for a midsummer's night.  Our waiter was well-versed and happy to work with the chef to adhere to our friend's gluten allergies.  Overall, elegant, intimate, historical ambience, yet we'd definitely feel comfortable taking the kids for a nice evening.  Not a stuffy crowd at all.  Entertaining bars upstairs and downstairs if you just want to hang for music and chatting as well.

Annie Bailey's Irish Pub/Lancaster:  If I had to choose a #1, this would be it.  Oops, guess I just chose.  What a fabulous first experience we had there.   Can't wait to go back.  Claire was our server and she was amazing.  Amazing.  Welcomed us, gave us a thorough and mouthwatering tour of the menu; backed by astounding support for their chef (apparently used to be the chef at Log Cabin before it closed, which was one of our "old" favs and is newly re-opened and on our list of to do's).  Again, a menu so well-written it was difficult to choose.  However...who can say no to Lobster Mac & Cheese?  Not us!  And it was worth of every single little calorie enhaled.  And there were lots of calories. My mouth is salivating as I recall my ahi tuna. Yum.  Sigh.  I digress.  Claire not only outshined most servers we've ever experienced, she also went and got playoff scores for my husband every time she headed out of our area.  Claire got a handwritten thank you note. She was that good.  Ambience includes two original bars shipped over from Ireland, at least that's the rumor.  We dined downstairs but apparently the upstairs is gorgeous, so we'll ask for that when we go back.  And we will be back.  Asking for Claire. 

Brunch at the Eden's Resort/Lancaster:  A champagne brunch that should be outlawed.  Should you decide to take on this challenge, prepare with a week's fast.  Everything imaginable is available and cooked or baked to perfection.  The only other place on earth I'd rather eat breakfast at is Peg's Ham & Eggs in Reno, NV.  That's a whole other blog.  Back to the Eden - it is a once a year special occasion brunch.  Divine, simply divine.  Not for those weak on self control, such as myself.

Out of Lancaster County Delightful Honorable Mentions:

Devon Seafood Grill (Hershey / Dauphin County)

Blue Moon Cafe (York / York County)

The Jigger Shop Ice Cream Parlor (Mt. Gretna/Lebanon County)

On the list to try in the near future:

Fenz

Rosa Rosa

The Log Cabin

The Stockyard

Reflections

And the complete list of restaurants we've tried and (usually)

 enjoyed that didn't quite make the Top Ten:

Cork & Cap

Lancaster Brewing Company

Lancaster Dispensing Company

Lombardo's/Lancaster

Bent Creek Country Club/Lititz

Rachel's Creperie/Lancaster

Sushi One/Lancaster

Mojo's/Lititz

Airport Diner/Lancaster

Lititz Family Cupboard Restaurant

Brickerville House Family Restaurant/Brickerville

Bombergers Cafe

Cafe' Chocolate of Lititz

Fiorentino's/Lititz

Capriccio's Pizza/Lititz

General Sutter/Lititz

The Olde Lincoln House/Ephrata

Lily's on Main/Ephrata

White Swan/Rothsville

Lititz Junction Tavern *now closed

Roma's/Lititz

A&M Pizza/Manheim

2 Cousins/Manheim  

JoBoy's /Manheim

The Cat's Meow/Manheim

Folklore Coffee & Company/E-town

Dosie Dough/Lititz

Spill the Beans/Lititz

Brickhouse/Manheim

Ironhill Brewery/Lancaster

Loxley's/Lancaster

Experiencing the taste and culture of our new environment has truly been one of the greatest joys of moving to Lancaster County. 

Same as my sushi request, the search goes on for any breakfast that can rival Peg's Glorified Ham & Eggs in Reno, NV...and for any pizza that even has a ghost of a chance at being half as good as that of Flying Pie Pizzaria in Boise, ID.  

Help me out people - give a shout out for your favs!

Produce...fresh produce!

I (along with at least 4,000 other Lancaster County neighbors and tourists) ventured out on this gorgeous 70 degree morning to meander the aisles of abundance at Roots, one of our local Farmer's Markets.   Roots has been a single-family owned market since 1925 and as they claim, there truly is something there for everyone. 

There are 5 connecting buildings which house a host of produce stands, baked goods, homemade jams and jellies, coffees & teas, plants, flowers, leather goods, clothing, furniture, tools and much, much more. 

Hodecker's houses the county's best celery hearts; Donegals always has the freshest spinach and the Donegal ladies are always so warm and welcoming as they bag my items and, of course, I cannot go without a stop to see Miriam, a wonderful Amish baker who creates the most luscious lemon poppy-seed bread imaginable.  (And yes, I've tried to replicate it several times and it's never quite up to par with Miriams.) 

Incredibly low prices at a variety of fresh produce stands is the big draw for me.  Some of the attached pictures share the great bargains, while others simply reflect the beauty of nature's abundance just waiting to be sifted through, chosen and taken home. 

Tuesdays are the only days that Roots is open; year-round.  It's best to get there early if, like me, you don't enjoy a mosh-pit while shopping; however, rumor has it that the farmers don't want to pack up remaining produce and at the end of day, the bargains get even better.  For more info: http://www.rootsmarket.com/

Don't these radishes just scream "Pick me, Pick me!"

3 for $1 - can your store do that?!

Homemade Root Beer is a favorite of the Amish stands

This week's choice: Horseradish pickles!  And this nice lady didn't think

I was strange for taking pictures of her pickles! 

At least she didn't show it.

And for that, she gets a nice plug: Peter Piper's Pickles are outrageous!

Try the garlic or the jalapeno styles as well!

From Donegals of course

And my homage to Miriam's Pies...

She also bakes other forms of perfection besides Lemon PoppySeed Bread

Multiple flavors of whoopie pies

Okay, who can say no to this?

Mocha! Seriously?

And while trying to leave at the same time as the other 4,000 attendees,

I noticed this beautiful cornfield.

Then the blasting horn behind me woke me out of my revery

and it was back to this reality.

Moral: GO EARLY!!