Okay, I see you, Lancaster. If there's one restaurant to allure the Michelin guide to Lancaster, it's Josephine's near the famous Central Market. Joining for dinner on a Thursday evening in July, here's my experience. 1) Food: The chef and pastry chef take their jobs seriously. Every dish was unique, full of flavor, beautiful, and worth every dollar. To start, they bring out homemade bread made fresh every morning with salted butter. I ordered the special- five jumbo shrimp with smoked garlic aioli. (They have cocktail sauce if you want it, but the garlic is phenomenal.) Before the main came out, the chef brought over the gazpacho using vegetables from his garden. The soup was thicker than I'm used to, but it paired perfectly with the vegetables. It was delicious! The scallops for the main were perfectly cooked and worked with the sauce in the middle of the plate and the green sauce on top of each scallop. Another winner! The lemon custard was refreshing for dessert. It's presented so well where you uncover more layers with each bite. 2) Drinks: They have a full cocktail menu with drinks named after famous people, wine, beer, and mocktails. Enjoying more sweet drinks, I ordered the "Marilyn Monroe." It was a fun drink, but a little too sweet for me. If you like berry and sweet drinks, you'll love it! 3) Service: It's excellent from start to finish. My server Tate was friendly, passionate about the menu, and efficient. His timing with everything was impeccable. 4) Space: It's beautiful. Despite on the basement level, it's lit well with photos of famous icons on the walls. It's iconic! read more

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What an exceptional night! From the minute you come down the stairs till you pass the stage where they have a pianist and bass player, you are transplanted to a whole new experience. This was my first time dining at Josephine's. We enjoyed the laid-back not rushing us evening. Our server took our drink orders then came back to ask if we wanted to place any appetizer orders. We ordered the mussels and shrimp appetizer. It was absolutely amazing! They were in a herb butter sauce. We were also given a bread service to which we immediately wiped up the butter sauce! I went with the crabcake, which was the sizes of softball and was full of lump crab. The potatoes and vegetables were delicious. My friend ordered the salmon and she said it was perfectly cooked. She also got the potatoes and vegetables. We each ordered a dessert. I went with the choux Cage which I enjoyed, but didn't like the chocolate that they were sitting on. Once I figured that out, I really enjoed the dessert. My friend ordered the Chocolate Rocher dessert and loved every bite of it. It was definitely a treat to go to Josephine's and I hope I get the opportunity to come back. read more

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20 years with Bird called for a great night out and Josephine's absolutely delivered. From the moment we walked in, Tate and Grant were incredible and made our anniversary dinner feel genuinely special without overdoing it. Great service like that still matters. Bird went with the crab cake and was already planning her next visit halfway through dinner. I started with the shrimp cocktail, followed by the Caesar salad and filet, all outstanding. Everything was paced perfectly and cooked exactly right. And then came dessert...which somehow topped everything else. Incredible way to finish the night. Between the food, atmosphere, and service, it was the perfect spot to celebrate 20 years, plenty of laughs, good memories, and another adventure for the books. Highly recommend. read more

Josephine's - French Near Me - Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Great crab cakes! Nice Happy Hour overall very posh and organized. Good spot for a celebration.

They typically don't do takeout but you can ask for it. Staff is friendly. Dress is business casual but since I wasn't business casual, kind of good I took out. Lemon meringue is great and so were the mussels and shrimp dish. The blood orange was better for me at C'est La Vie than the lemon meringue but they are both good and it's personal preference. read more

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Great find here!!! Sat in bar area and we enjoyed perfectly made martinis with small plates. Ambiance was cool and dining area was much larger than expected. Bartenders were professional and personable. We went during happy hour and enjoyed the feature bar bites. Anything you order will be outstanding! read more

Wonderful experience dining at Josephine's. The scallops and wagyu beef entrees were exceptional. The service outstanding and the ambiance was lovely. It is a little confusing to find as there is a separate restaurant upstairs and Josephine's is downstairs. read more

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This is out place for special occasions. The service, ambiance and food are all 10 out of 10.

What a lovely dinner. Tucked away in in a cozy basement thrives a truly luxurious vintage dining experience. The service? Top notch. Attentive with phenomenal recommendations (I love not having to think about my wine pairings) They have the right amount of let you be to enjoy the ambiance and your food and the attention to make sure you have a stellar dining experience. The food? Oh my GOODNESS. We got the antelope, it was divine. Rich, succulent, and balanced. Think steak but better. The oysters? Clean, juicy, bright. (And I have an oyster tattoo, I am a passionate oyster consumer) The duck was beautiful cooked and had the most delectable mushrooms. We splurged for the wagyu steak. What. A. Treat. Nothing will literally ever compare. Still thinking about it 24 hours later. Overall, Josephine's is a must try. read more

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This place was great. The food is a step above anything else in the county. The quality of ingredients and preparations are something above and beyond other local choices. It is Very much French cooking, without being "over done". The Old Fashion's we started off with were wonderful. My Antelope appetizer was very very good, and the Caesar dressing on my wife's salad was the real deal and so hard to find these days. The Bucatini with Lobster was full of fresh cold-water lobster meat, and delicious. My Bison Rib Eye steak was one of the very best pieces of red meat I've ever had. Perfectly medium-rare and so tender it hardly needed a knife. The Lemon Meringue was split between us, and a suprise, delectable preparation. Th coffee was a real "French-roast" style that woke me up for the drive home! Can't wait to go back. read more

Easy 5 stars OMG. The food was incredible. I got the tuna with a beet puree and it was incredible. So fresh. The drinks were FANTASTIC. Great French martini and the special martini! Everyone we were with also enjoyed their food. From the octopus to the shrimp cocktail and the filet. Absolutely incredible. read more

Josephine's - French Near Me - Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Great staff, they catered the private event I attended and they were proactive and very attentive. The quality of the food was great and fresh. Best steak I have had in a long time. The ambiance feels formal, the theme takes you back in time to the 50s/60s with great photos from that time all around. read more

Josephine's - French Near Me - Lancaster, Pennsylvania

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Relaxing and intimate ambiance. We were seated in a quiet section of the restaurant. The decor kept my interest with photos of celebrities from several generations ago. Our server was very attentive and helpful. We ended up having the shrimp and mussel appetizer which was tasty. My fiancé and I shared the duck, crab cake and Wagyu. It was all well executed and made for an enjoyable mean and night. Overall, I highly recommend and would return if back in the area. read more

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Amazing food and wonderful service. The crabcake, creme brulee and Betty White cocktail are my favorites.

Velvet chairs, black and white photos of iconic movie stars and musicians, and impeccable service - what a great dining experience. We had Kyle the bartender who was helping out on the floor. So glad we had his guidance. The food was amazing. The bacon, oysters, lamb special, and crème brûlée. Everything was perfectly executed. Thank you Josephine's for an amazing culinary experience. read more

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I went to Josephine's last spring while visiting Lancaster for the first time. Not only was the service excellent, but the food was spectacular as well. I still think fondly of this date night as it was a romantic and classy space with live music and the meal wasn't rushed at all. I would highly recommend this spot for a special dining experience with loved ones. read more

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We had a reservation and was able to be seated 15mins early. Everyone was nice and the service was great! It's a great date night or special occasion location. The food was delicious and we will definitely be back. read more

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Food 5 stars Service 5 stars Ambiance 4.5 stars Value 4 stars Great overall experience, good for a date night or business meeting. Would definitely recommend. Convenient parking garage about a block away. read more

This is one of the most gorgeous restaurants ever with absolutely delicious food. We ordered the butternut squash soup, salad, scallops, and crab cake. The crab cake was literally the best I have ever had in my entire life; it had no filler like most do. The crab was flakey and perfect cooked and I cannot recommend this dish enough. The service was excellent and if we are ever back in Lancaster, we are coming here. This is a perfect spot for a date or special occasion. read more

I debated a 3 or 4 for this spot for a while. It was good but for the price and rating it against similar restaurants I went with a 3 Decor/service: service was friendly and quick. Staff worked we together. It's a gorgeous space but can be on the loud side as we could easily hear every conversation at tables around us 4/5 Food- They were out of the antelope when we went which was a bummer as that was one of the things I was most excited to try. Complementary bread: delicious as most bread is 5/5 House made bacon: a lot of bold flavors but maybe 1 or 2 too many in my book. Would of liked to see the bacon shine a little more but with so many different bold flavors it was lost a little 3/5 House salad: had a pretty strong cracked pepper flavor which I personally enjoyed but others may not. Was over dressed. 3/5 Bison ribeye: overall a pretty good cut of meat. Cooked slightly under to my preference but wasn't too far off. The sweet potato hash was delicious. The Apple chutney didn't mix well for me with the bison. I found the both to be individually good but didn't care for the mix 4/5 Salmon Oscar: well cooked. Flavors were good but wasn't blown away by anything either. 3/5 Peanut butter and jelly: quite tasty overall. Could of used a little more of the jelly flavor to help lighten up the denser peanut butter. Platted beautifully. 4/5 read more

Love this place! The service & staff are top notch. Fun celebrity named cocktails. Their food is fabulous by Chef Rafe. The decor is so much Hollywood fun with photos. read more

Stopped in for appetizers and drinks for glamour hour - Brandon took exceptional care of us (4 family members). Our drinks (fantastic!) and food was incredible - he described each dish in detail (and TBH we wanted everything he described!), and what we got was at least as good as he described. We are very much looking forward to our next visit- soon! Brandon told us how our drinks were made so we can attempt each at home (challenge time!). read more

I love this place. Beautiful ambiance, service was terrific, and everything we had was absolutely delicious. I love the pacing of the meal, especially for a pricy establishment. Well worth every penny. This just might be the best restaurant in the city. read more

In my opinion, I've been to many fine dining establishments, this was not it. Service was mediocre (waiter barely had time to go over specials), ambiance was not great as the wallpaper is peeling off and table leaf was lopsided, the food was good but not for the price. Go to Kyma, lombardos, Gibraltars, 401 prime, capital grille, Devon's, Eddie V.... read more

Restaurant ambiance is nice setting for a great dining experience! Food was great. I am gluten free and their menu had GF crab cakes! What a treat! Our waiter, Tate, was very knowledgeable and service was excellent! Definitely recommend for a great dining experience! read more

Josephine's - Oysters starter - French Near Me - Lancaster, Pennsylvania

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WOW! As a foodie, this place has been on my list for quite some time. My husband made reservations for a Friday evening. There's a couple of parking lots nearby as well as some street parking. Josephine's sits underneath one of their sister restaurants, which also looked super cute! Upon arriving we were greeted by the hosts who told us that we were downstairs. The hosts were super nice. Having your guests come downstairs to such a grand environment was welcoming and made me excited to eat here. The ambiance was spot on. Our server was AMAZING! He was so kind and made excellent recommendations considering we had never been here before. The drinks were SO good. They were made perfectly and very eclectic. The food was delicious and we shared many things. From the lobster bisque to the mussels to the salad and our main meals .. all fabulous! I highly recommend this place. I know we can't wait to go back. read more

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Finally back at Josephine's and couldn't be happier! They were closed a long time during COVID. The whole experience was fantastic. The place is gorgeous, the service was superb and the food was just out of this world. We HIGHLY recommend this if you want just a perfect dining adventure. And don't skip dessert! I'm not a big dessert person but they have an in-house pastry chef and the desserts are just divine! The standouts for us were the mussel and shrimp beurre monte, scallop entree and lemon meringue. Though EVERYTHING we had was fabulous. read more

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Top tier dining experience. Lancaster is lucky to have Josephines, normally we'd have to go to Philly or NYC for this level of dining. Our server, Hunter, was a gem and he definitely made the experience that much better. Every course was perfect and we will definitely be returning. read more

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This place was beyond excellent! I'm new to Lancaster, from New York City, and a lot of the restaurants I've been to around here haven't been that great. This place though...amazing. I was supremely happy with the end result. We didn't call ahead and it was packed so we sat at the bar. (Wise decision) The bartender was great. He gave us wonderful recommendations that were on point. I was stuck between the margarita pizza (basil with pepperoni and other stuff) and the burger. The bartender didn't hesitate when recommending the burger and he was so right on with that. (I saw someone else get the pizza and it didn't look horrible but it seemed too doughy for me.) My burger was perfectly medium with provolone. I asked for mayo and he gave me a little airplane style mayonnaise jar which was a great perk. We started with baked Brie with roasted cranberry on top of toasted bread w crackers. Shiz was gobbled up in no time, (I took pictures) It was a good atmosphere too. Good people. A lot of college kids from the university. They weren't loud, rambunctious, or overly drunk. Just good people having a nice time at a quality place. Entrees came out and my burger with tater tots was on point. My mother (who was visiting from New York for Mother's Day) got scallops in some kind of gravy with those little baby round potatoes and green beans. I tried it and it was really good. (I'll probably order that next time). This is a French restaurant so I was kind of disappointed they they didn't offer frog legs for an appetizer. (Yeah, I said frog legs. Ribbit Ribbit ) They're offered in a lot of French restaurants and are pretty good. And it's cool to expand your horizons, right? "When in Rome" and like that. I feel like the typical clientele would be open minded enough to expand their horizons and try something new. I mean, damn, if you're a French restaurant, why NOT have them? Maybe they did but no one bought them? I don't know but we would have got them today. My daughter who's 14 actually likes them because I've taught her not to be afraid to try new things. Anyway, enough about frog legs. Maybe the owner will see this and go frog hunting. When we got the bill I was amazed. It was so cheap! (I should be saying "inexpensive" because it definitely wasn't cheap. It was good quality food with top notch service at a very reasonable price.) This place might just become my goto place. read more

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If you're looking for an amazing fine dining experience with stellar service and to-die-for food, Josephine's is the place to go! Our waiter was so kind and constantly followed up on our food and drinks. We have visited other fine dining restaurants before where the portions are usually small, so we were blown away with how much we were given for each course. And if you're a seafood fan, we highly recommend the seared sea scallops. They were absolutely perfect!! Will definitely be going back next time we are in the area! read more

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The ambiance was absolutely remarkable. Our experience was fantastic. There aren't many choices for vegetarians, so I would recommend calling to ask about the menu prior. Our service was super fast and our waiter was extremely kind. read more

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Walked downstairs through the piano bar area for our 8:30 reservation. We were a wee bit early but the managed to seat us with very little wait despite the very full restaurant. Die to some dietary concerns we didn't order our typical dishes but enjoyed 2 dirty martinis with blue cheese olives, made well. The oysters special was unique and delicious. Their starters eat like mini entrees, and the bass with wild rice and pineapple as well as the antelope with mushrooms did not disappoint. I enjoyed the filet with one of the most unique preparations we've ever had, which also was one of the best. Apparently people choose to have it plain but I urge you to stick with the chef's preparation because you won't find one like it and it was really lovely. My husband had the duck which was very good. We went with the pBJ panna cotta and the After Eight mint desserts and we got a chance to try their take on a carrot cake. We aren't dessert eaters but I would recommend trying any of these. We will make the drive again for a meal like this. read more

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Great French restaurant tucked in the basement right next to the central market Very nice ambiance , feels like you're in the 50's Food was tasty with great service Bit pricey, just be prepared read more

Gorgeous interior - blue velvet lining the walls and chairs, a sexy vibe, a piano. Sub par service - took ~20-30min for our waitress each time between an order, leaving little opportunity to ask questions about the menu or order additional drinks. Good apps, but incredibly salty and heavy main courses (scallops with risotto for example). We frequent NYC often for restaurants and we live in Philly, so we were looking forward to a high end restaurant in Lancaster, but sadly we left with little reason to return other than perhaps cocktails and dessert at the bar. Side note - the dessert was outstanding thus 3 stars. I imagine a pastry chef does the dessert menu because it stood out in terms of presentation and taste, whereas the food did not. read more

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We went here for dinner on New Years Eve. I loved sitting by the piano and listening to live music during dinner. It added to the already beautiful ambiance and was a nice touch for the occasion. I loved this restaurant when it was Carr's and I enjoy the owners other restaurants. The chef is very well-known and not surprisingly, our meal was delightful. Plated beautifully, simple flavors and letting the ingredients speak for themselves. The tuna tasted like it was caught that morning, soft and buttery, and the added pomegranate added another layer of flavor. The mussels - you won't be disappointed. The filet mignon was cooked exactly how I asked - medium rare. Buttery and melt in your mouth. Love! read more

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Absolutely fantastic I literally have no words to describe this place. You have to come and try it. I had the duck. Holy smokes. I had the mussels and I feel ruined for all other mussel dishes read more

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Excellent. The food, staff, and atmosphere are top notch. We will definitely return. Excellent. The food, staff, and atmosphere are top notch. We will definitely return. read more

The food was great. Pleasant and professional wait staff. The atmosphere of the dining room made for an enjoyable meal. Will return.

Calling all Maryland Crab cake snobs!!! I was in Lancaster on a Saturday night and decided to go to Josephine's which I've been before and absolutely loved it!! But this time the owner convinced me to try his crab cake recipe. Of course I was very skeptical since I grew up in Baltimore and getting a good crab cake outside of there is sometimes impossible. But wow! It's different from a regular Maryland crab cake but one of the best I've ever had. It's worth the drive from Maryland and New Jersey to stay here for the weekend and go to this restaurant. All Of the food and drinks are outstanding and so is the cool speak easy vibe. Shout out to Zach, Daniel one of the owners, and the very kind hostess and entire and wait staff that made my night so enjoyable. Put this restaurant on your list now!! read more

Loved everything about this place. Food, service and cocktails were amazing. Decor and ambiance were fresh and oh so glam Hollywood. It's a true gem and must visit if you enjoy fine cuisine with attention to detail. We had a wonderful dining ex read more

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