This is a true speakeasy vibe! Located in downtown area with off street paid parking or garage…read moreparking. You enter through metal gates and go downstairs. We were greeted by a very friendly host. We sat at the bar. The menu was shocking as it has tons of good food options. They had more food listed than drinks. We were surprised that the cocktail menu was more extensive. They have an overly full bar so they can make yoh anything, but thought they would have had more creative cocktails than they did on the menu. Still great though! We only ordered drinks. Tried the Outta Lime which was very tasty. Then got the Merroir which was incredible. It had a pickled marinated watermelon garnish that you could eat on its own. For sure will be back as we want to try more drinks and the food looked absolutely amazing!!!!!

My boyfriend and I visited this restaurant for the first time on Saturday night for date night. I…read morerecently moved to Pennsylvania from Maryland, and we drove 45 minutes to give this place a try. Unfortunately, we left feeling very disappointed. Surprisingly, it wasn't the food that was the issue, but the customer service. The bartender wasn't welcoming or friendly, and another woman working behind the bar barely spoke two words to us. The overall atmosphere just felt unwelcoming, which was disappointing, especially since we were looking forward to enjoying a nice night out. Being new to Pennsylvania, I've been excited to explore different restaurants and hopefully find a few places that we can make our regular date night spots. I was really hoping this would be one of them, but unfortunately, the poor customer service ruined the experience for us. I truly believe that great food is only part of the dining experience. How customers are treated matters just as much. We drove 45 minutes expecting a nice evening, and sadly, we left feeling like our business wasn't appreciated. Unfortunately, we won't be returning, and I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending this establishment to friends or family. (We ordered two lobster rolls and the mushrooms risotto both were good.)

Took a date last night to The Exchange to try and capture some of the magic of sunset in Lancaster…read more Even though the weather wasn't cooperating, it was still one of those surprising meals. I say surprising because my first reaction was disappointment at the small size of the menu. Once we decided to roll with it and take a recommended path of sharing several small plates, it turned into one of those meals that reminds you why you go out to eat in the first place. We ordered several elevated small plates, but the standout was the crispy rice with spicy tuna. It was flawless. The rice base was perfectly golden and crunchy on the outside with just enough tenderness inside. On top, the spicy tuna was fresh, buttery, and beautifully balanced -- not overly mayo-heavy, not overly spicy -- just clean, bright flavor. The drizzle underneath added a subtle creaminess that tied everything together without overpowering the texture. Every bite delivered contrast: warm and crisp against cool and silky, with little pops of sesame and microgreens adding dimension. It felt thoughtful, refined, and executed with real attention to detail. Pair that with the rooftop atmosphere -- polished but relaxed -- and the whole experience felt elevated without being pretentious. If this dish is any indication, The Exchange understands how to take something familiar and make it memorable.

I've been coming here for years and have always loved the food, so this last visit was a little…read moredisappointing. We ordered a pizza, burger, steak, nuggets, and wings. The pizza and burger were both really good, but the steak came out overcooked. I will say that once I mentioned it, they replaced it right away, which I really appreciated. The nuggets were pretty dry, and the wings were way too soft for my liking. They had no crisp to them at all, so I only ate one and left the rest. That being said, the atmosphere is still one of my favorite things about this place. Whether you sit outside and watch the sunset or inside with the beautiful décor, it's a great spot to hang out. The drinks were also excellent. Our server was super attentive and genuinely made sure we were having a good time throughout the meal. One thing I really like is that it's one of the few places in Lancaster that can easily accommodate a group of 10. They don't have their own parking lot, but there's plenty of street parking nearby. I'm hoping this was just an off day because I've had so many great meals here over the years.

To the owner - If at all possible add partition style seating/tables. It may help with the noise…read moretraveling in the room. Music isn't the issue, it's other loud tables that drown out conversation. We love the music and atmosphere but it's a bit uncomfortable. For visitors - it's a theme/gimmick bar, a lot of fun. However, the food & drink is the real surprise here! It's absolutely phenomenal. Best smash burger I've ever had. Best fries. Best veggie sandwich. It's simple, yet top quality. The drinks - the shots - locked in my memory forever! Plus the music selection has always been on point for the theme. Best in the county. Overall - so why not 5 stars? This bar is a must. I want to spend more time there drinking and hanging out. It's just missing some comfort features that prevents that. It's a small space so business wise it makes sense. I'm a little selfish wanting to spend more time there, but with more personal seating options. Owner(s) Help make this a 5 star and hear me out! Far from a 3.8 rating. I would offer some type of help/investment if needed.

If you're looking for a bar with personality, this place definitely delivers. The goth and punk…read moreaesthetic is carried throughout the entire space, from the music to the eclectic decor, with plenty of quirky details that make it fun to look around while you sip your drink I was pleasantly surprised by the food menu, too. It's much more extensive than I expected for a bar. While the food isn't necessarily the star of the show, it's solid and pairs well with the drinks. We ordered the kimchi fries, which made for a great snack to share The cocktail menu is the real highlight. There are plenty of creative drinks with clever goth-inspired names, including the signature Death Mix. Whether you like something sweet, strong, or adventurous, there's a good chance you'll find something that catches your eye. It's the kind of menu that makes you want to come back and work your way through the rest Service was fantastic from start to finish. Everyone was warm, attentive, and genuinely friendly, creating a welcoming atmosphere that matched the fun energy of the bar If you're in the area, this spot is absolutely worth checking out. Between the unique theme, creative cocktails, and great hospitality, it's a memorable experience that's a refreshing change from the usual neighborhood bar!

Great place to visit. Located in the city so parking could be a challenge. There are some spots…read morealong the street and also a garage nearby. Check the on street parking kiosk for prices/hours. There is a huge staircase to get up to the speakeasy once you find the red door. The website says there is an elevator if needed. Once inside, you will immediately get the speakeasy vibe with the moody and dark decor, as well as the period appropriate lighting and seating options. There's some small intimate areas, as well as a main bar, a side seating bar area, and a back area with tables and chairs. I would recommend reservations. You can pick the bar or lounge when making reservations on their website. From the moment you enter, you will get terrific service. The host was great and we were early for our reservation, but we were seated at the bar as requested. As soon as we sat down, the bartender greeted us with waters and a sample of a bourbon punch. The entire visit was filled with very attentive staff who were always friendly and knowledgeable about the offerings on the menu. The drinks are well thought out and very good. The quality of the ingredients, as well as the flavor profiles work well. It is very difficult to pick from their crafty menu. We tried a total of 4 drinks and all were delicious. Highly recommend the Papucho - such an excellent mix of flavors that are well balanced and a very unique flavor. Honestly, not sure you will find one drink on this menu that isn't delicious. They do offer a menu of various foods. We ordered the octopus and the roasted monk fish. Both were fantastic. The servings are not big so be prepared to order dental dishes or just come with the intention of not getting a massive meal. They are good portions for a small dinner or think tapas. Overall, they have a fabulous experience with some super delicious drinks. Well done!

Returned either a group of friends, for their first time! So glad this place continues to impress…read moregoing forward. Our server was amazing (I wish I remembered his name!), the food was delicious, and the drinks never fail to impress. The only issue we have every time we go is that they unfortunately always run out of a few dishes on the menu (and always seems to be the ones we want)! In addition, calling the restaurant has been difficult, it has often gone straight to voicemail for me. For that reason make sure to make reservations ONLINE (that has never failed). Come EARLY if you want to ensure you'll get a menu item (we often get there around 8 pm or later, some menu items always run out for us). Regardless, this doesn't stop us from coming!

Fabulous brunch at Passerine. From the moment you enter this charming restaurant, you'll feel…read morewelcome. Be sure to begin your brunch with a cup of their robust coffee or your favorite brunch cocktail. We stuck with coffee but the cocktails looked divine. Small but interesting brunch menu. Really appreciate Passerine's commitment to local producers.

Tough to be move than average when we never got to the meal…read more Made a reservation and seated promptly. Nice and comfortable inside. More lively than busy. Ordered drinks while looking at the menu. As we ordered our top 2-3 choices were sold out. Guess that's a good thing if you were there before us! Limited menu with some eclectic pairings. There wasn't a single menu item that I felt was a slam dunk for my palette. I think the eclectic menu pushes people to few things and they run out. Would go back but frustrating to get to the point of ordering to find many items unavailable.

Lexi was the best. Very attentive. G r eat natural smile. We had a great conversation. Anyway I…read moream a wedge salad connoisseur. I thought C'est le Vie. Was the best. The added bacon bits sets them apart. My friend got the flat bread pizza. Too thick but tasty. We sat outside it was a beautiful night. We are people watchers, and we sat outside and got to see the visitors and residents of Lancaster. Shot and Bottle .. we'll Be Back

Located in downtown area. Parking is off street or in nearby garage. This place has outdoor tables,…read moreinside tables, and a bar inside. It's on a busy corner where lots of people are walking around. We stopped in for a drink. No crowd but was busy. Very friendly employees who were very attentive and friendly. Ordered the dirty martini which was great! Not your typical one! Get this. The second drink was a type of Negroni that was on the menu. Wasn't that great. Couldn't even finish it. They do have great selection and seemed as if they make lots of in house mixers and syrups. Would come back again to try more drinks!

Okay, I see you, Lancaster. If there's one restaurant to allure the Michelin guide to Lancaster,…read moreit'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!

What an exceptional night! From the minute you come down the stairs till you pass the stage where…read morethey 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.

Amazing bartenders! Xander made me my first espresso martini ever and yum! Watched them serve a…read morefew Chai Cider Martini's so I HAD to try one...it completely screamed the season for me. Yum!! Greet buffalo fries, not a perfect pairing but had to keep the designated driver happy! Great atmosphere, highly recommend!

Adventure Buddy received a gift card to Thistle Finch for Christmas last year, and somehow we'd…read moremade it all the way to OCTOBER without using it. Apparently we hadn't spent nearly enough time adventuring in Lancaster this year! But when a beautiful mid-October Saturday evening found us wrapping up a full day of Lancaster adventures, we decided it was FINALLY time to put that gift card to work. I'd checked out the menu beforehand and noticed it was fairly small, but there were several things I would've been happy to try. We found a parking lot directly across the street with plenty of available spaces, then walked over to the modestly marked building and entered through an open garage door. Inside, a sign welcomed us and instructed guests to order food and drinks at the bar. There were about ten people at the bar and nobody at the handful of surrounding tables, so we claimed a high-top toward the back where we could take everything in. Adventure Buddy ordered his usual Old Fashioned ($14), while I decided to step outside my comfort zone with a Grape Transfusion Vodka Seltzer ($7). I'm not usually a vodka seltzer girl, but CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. And I'm glad I did because it was REALLY good! Adventure Buddy was equally pleased with his Old Fashioned, especially because it was made with rye instead of bourbon. We were off to a fantastic start! For dinner, we decided to split two dishes: Dutch Fritters ($14), made with hot sausage, ground beef, sauerkraut and onions, breaded and fried with mustard and tzatziki, and the Blackened Shrimp Salad ($18), featuring mixed greens, vegetables, goat cheese, blackened shrimp and house pineapple vinaigrette. While we waited, I discovered one of my favorite things about Thistle Finch. THE OPEN KITCHEN. We could see the cook preparing our food from our table, and I was genuinely impressed by the attention and care he put into everything. Watching him carefully plate each dish with precision and pride was such a refreshing experience. It wasn't just food being thrown onto plates and sent out the door. He was clearly putting his heart into the presentation, and I loved getting to witness that. When our food arrived, it looked BEAUTIFUL! The Dutch Fritters were larger than I expected and absolutely delicious. The hot sausage and sauerkraut were the stars of the show, and although the tzatziki was a little more cucumber-forward than I personally prefer, everything worked together nicely. Then there was the Blackened Shrimp Salad. OH. LAWD! There were approximately six to eight LARGE blackened shrimp perched on top of a beautiful bed of greens. I meant to count them, but apparently my appetite had other priorities. And that house pineapple vinaigrette?! HELLO! It started with a wonderful burst of pineapple flavor before finishing with a surprisingly strong vinegar kick. Sweet up front, tangy in the back, and somehow exactly what the salad needed. I loved it! Between the cocktails, fritters and salad, our total came to around $60. Thanks to Adventure Buddy's Christmas gift card, most of that was already covered, making our Saturday evening dinner an especially affordable little adventure. What stood out to me most about Thistle Finch was the combination of a relaxed, unpretentious atmosphere, genuinely good food and the care that went into preparing it. The menu may not be enormous, but everything we ordered was thoughtfully prepared and beautifully presented. PRO TIP: If you're visiting for the first time, remember that you order at the bar rather than waiting for someone to come to your table. And if the kitchen is open while you're there, grab a seat where you can watch the magic happen! Would I return? Absolutely! If we find ourselves back in Lancaster looking for an easy, enjoyable dinner and a good cocktail, Thistle Finch will definitely be in the running. And apparently the secret to finally using a Christmas gift card is simply waiting until you've almost made it to NEXT Christmas. Better late than never!

We stopped in here on a Thursday night, there was karaoke…read more The Espresso Martini was one of the best I've ever had. The Old Fashioned was served over regular ice (which waters down the drink) instead of a large cube. But the drink prices were very reasonable. The atmosphere is fun. I would definitely return.

Visited Southern Market on a Friday night, a food hall located a few blocks from downtown…read moreLancaster. 1888 Bar is situated in the center of the market and there are a bunch of televisions. We grabbed food from one of the vendors (note that most of the food stalls close around 9:00 PM) and then settled in at the bar to watch a game. The bar stayed open until after 11:00 PM, allowing us to enjoy the entire game. The bar offers a cocktail menu as well as a curated selection of Pennsylvania craft beers. I tried the Stable 12 Fresh Picked Strawberry Lime sour beer ($7.50 for a 13 oz. pour). It was flavorful, slightly sweet, and a nice change from the usual beer options. The bartenders were attentive, friendly, and helpful throughout the evening. The space itself is very large, clean, open, and modern, with what appears to be a beautifully renovated warehouse-style design. The black-and-white color palette, exposed metal elements, and high ceilings create a contemporary industrial atmosphere that feels both inviting and spacious. Whether you're stopping by for drinks, catching a game, or pairing your beverage with food from one of the market vendors, 1888 Bar is a great addition to Southern Market.

We were staying at the hotel, and I was apprehensive at first, and passed on this restaurant (went…read moreto Shot and Bottle--SUCKED) Tonight we decided to go (on a Sunday evening) and a manager greeted us and advised they were short staffed, but was very helpful The young bartender/waitress/ etc who did her best, was a sweetheart, professional and genuine ( a rarity in big city centers) Our food was phenomenal (chicken schnitzel, charcuterie board, this Aji, tuna salad, and my basil, Hayden old-fashioneds) exceeded our last minute decision impressions Even the cappuccinos and ice cream after were great Great atmosphere, darker and classy They are farm to table, give them a try, exceeded our expectations. All to be commended Only negative I would give would be there was no music If there was, we could not hear it

Cute place right near the Central Market in Lancaster, PA. Interior is spacious and well…read moreappointed, servers were friendly and efficient, food was good and beer / drink selections were also good. I simply went with a cheesesteak with pomme frites (thin French fries). Cheese steak was tasty, was well cheesed and had caramelized onions. Slightly smaller than I've seen elsewhere but portion was sufficient to leave me full and satisfied. Others in the party had a burger and bowls, all of which were well executed, presented, and tasted good. Solid choice, can't go wrong with this place.