The experience of brand new Greek and Italian flavors at Mandros Imported Foods. The visit to the store taught me about the diversity of Italian pantry staples. The shelves are packed with a huge selection of imported canned goods, pasta, cheeses, and so on. With the authentic ingredients imported directly from Europe, you can taste the origin of foods. Like the Parma prosciutto, the cured meat made under strict regulation in Italy with its mixed salty and sweet flavor. On the shelves, the cheese, tea, pickles are carefully catagorized and varied by type -- definately helpful for customers to find their hometown flavors. The wall decorations, includeing old photos and a map of Pennsylvania cheese, adding a real European vibe to the store.The store is not only a good place to seek for authentic ingredients for your meals, but also a wonderful spot to learn about European culture. read more

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By far the OG of Lancaster imported food retailers in Lancaster. I have been going to Mandros' for over 50 years. When entering the store the air is filled with the sharp aroma of cheeses, olives and spicy salami. The Mandros family has stayed true to the Mediterranean food traditions and here is where you will find those special ingredients. read more

Excellent Assortment of Greek and Italian Ingredients S. Mandro's Imported Foods sells a wide variety of Greek and Italian foods. If you're in Lancaster you must check out their remarkable cheese and deli meat section. The pastas, not to be overshadowed, are incredible as well. This has been a family owned business since 1957, so you know you're getting the best quality ingredients. Having as large of a vendor network as Mandro's has, they are able to sell very unique and superior options. read more

S. Mandros Imported Foods - Back of the store, showing a spice rack as well as a list of cheeses and olives with their prices. - Cheese Shops Near Me - Lancaster, Pennsylvania

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A sweet taste from Greece. Today I tried Papadopoulos Petit-Beurre biscuits, which cost $4.50. These biscuits were two-sided: one side had smooth milk chocolate, and the other side was plain. The flavor wasn't overwhelming, it had the perfect balance of sweetness. The chocolate was smooth, and the biscuits had an authentic, natural taste that reminded me of childhood cookies baked by a grandmother. I had never tried biscuits that you could eat many of without feeling overwhelmed by the chocolate. They were crunchy with a smooth texture, smelled delicious, and came in a bright red package that definitely catches the eye. The image on the front of the package clearly shows the smooth chocolate side of the biscuit inside. Everything felt very authentic, from the packaging to the taste, which was soft and sweet. These biscuits are definitely worth a try if you happen to stop by Mandros Imported Foods. The biscuit is a Greek treat that blends buttery cookies with smooth milk chocolate. I also learned that this biscuit originally came from France, but the Greek brand Papadopoulos made it their own. Greek refugees from Constantinople established the business in Greece, starting by hand-making the biscuits with a family recipe and selling them to a population unfamiliar with them. Today, the company is very popular in Greece. The store also offers a wide range of foods from many different cultures, including more biscuits from Italy. It's interesting to see how food can travel across cultures and become part of new traditions, and how we, as humans, connect with each other even through snacks as simple and as good as these. fandmcollege and @fandm_history on Instagram and TikTok and #FandMEverywhere. read more

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Looks like nothing from the outside, walk in and it just looks a bit messy and dated with over crowded shelves full of food products, canned, boxed, dried. BUT.... keep going....in the back of this tiny store is a refrigerator case full of the most delicious cheeses AND Mr.Mandros. He will talk about each cheese & make recommendations---take them! He imports these beauties and will carve off just the amount that you're looking for. Wander the aisles and make selections of pastas, canned tomatoes and other Italian offerings. There is a freezer case with assorted ingredients. Mr. Mandros will ring up your reasonably priced purchases on your way out. Street parking, typically pretty easy. Don't hesitate to explore this neighborhood gem. read more

A hidden gem! Great cheese and olives. and lots of canned imported delicacies. A great family owned business past down through generations. I've been going to Mardros all my life, and it is absolutely one of my favorite places to shop! read more

Young Mr. Mandros sold us over-ripe Camembert. I don't necessarily blame him for that - it happens - but when we brought it right back (it was $16), he was visibly annoyed. Without verifying its actual condition, he pointed right to the sell-by date, and then proceeded to gaslight us like cretins who have never had cheeses. No, sir: ammonic and runny is NOT normal for Camembert. And sometimes the customer is actually right. read more

Old school Greek Corner grocery store. The cheeses and olives are the best! A unique experience! read more

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For as many years as I can remember, my dad has gotten the best sliced meats and cheese to create his outrageous delicious subs with Mandros' fine selections. read more

I love this spot. Best local selection of imported foods I've found. The cheese and cured meat selection is also the best. You'll find plenty of European (and some Asian) imports, from pastas, to canned and jarred goods. Including the authentic versions of items you may find in grocery stores but with Americanized recipes/versions. All that being said, the best part is the friendly and very knowledgeable family that runs it! In addition to eating well, you're also supporting a deserving local business. read more

Hands down, my inspiration for Great Cooking! I become hooked when I asked Mr. Mandros about different cheeses. He smiled, answered my questions, and gave me a world class fromage education on the spot. (with samples!!) I was 18 then. At nearly 50 with culinary school, Penn State and thirty years of food service in my "rearview mirror," Mandros was, still, and always will be my Culinary Mecca (with all respect intended). Bill....Thank you. You will never know just how much you touched my soul. You are my Diamond in the Dutchy rough of York/Lancaster. Your class, knowledge and service has NEVER let me down...even when you were out of stock. God Bless read more

Love this market! This is the place to go for the best cheese, proscuitto, and olives. Unusual ingredients you can't find in the grocery store...you will find it here. Great selection for gourmet gift baskets too. read more

Every time I walk into Mandros I am carried to New Orleans as the store is redolent of the same smells that define the Central Grocery in the French Quarter. Bill & Dino are both knowledgeable and personable and are unequivocally committed to quality and customer service. As a Chef Instructor of over thirty years, Mandros was my go to whenever I taught classes on cheese ID. I had only to call Bill and tell him when and how many students and he would put together a comprehensive tasting that covered all of the families of cheese and wrote on the butcher paper of each, the name, the country of origin and kind of milk, as well as anything that made the cheese special. The Mandros Brothers knowledge is extensive and happily shared. When I visit I often have a plan as to what to buy but I always ask Bill, "what new cheese do I need to I need to try". Happily I will be asking it in a few hours. TREAT YOURSELF!!!!! read more

Mandros is an unassuming, family-run store with a well-deserved cult following. I owe a great deal of my more eccentric food tastes to foraging these shelves and asking for recommendations from the owner. I love it. read more

Love Mandros Grocery and its owner...cheese whisperer Bill Mandros! Best hard salami and best cheese selection around--and we New Jerseyans know our salami ;) I like that you can tell him what you like and he knows what to give you to try. Try to go when it's not super busy so you have more time to ask about different cheeses. It gets pretty busy in there. And don't forget the olives...ahhh the olives. I still have to learn about the feta too--there are a bunch of different kinds....another cheese adventure to come. read more

i've been meaning to come to this place for several months now and finally got around to it this weekend and boy am i glad that i did! mandros is a good mish mash of old time corner store mixed with unique imported goods...everything from pastas, sauces, oils, vinegars, asian and indian spices, chutneys, salami, soppressetas, crackers and the cheese. my god the cheese! they have a decent selection of imported cheeses like stilton, cotswald with chives, foreign and domestic goat cheese, cheddars, etc. i'm not an olive lover but they have a lot of them too. their feta cheese is amazing. if you get one thing here, that should be it! prices for some items were high...for example bonne maman jelly that you can get at giant for about $4 was $6 here....but for the truly hard to find items that you can't get at the grocery store i think it's generally worth the price (or at least cheaper than driving to baltimore or philly to find it). read more

Great selection and knowledge of quality imported foods. The olives are the best in town and Bill's expertise on cheese is superb.

When I visit Lancaster I usually make a quick stop at Mandros. They have the best calamata olives I've ever had (and I've been eating them around the world for decades) stored in a 55 gallon barrel in the back--they won't tell me from where in Greece they import them:(:(. I buy several pounds, which holds me for up to 6 months, depending on how many times I make tapenade. I also love their cheeses, particularly their cheddar, which they cut directly from the wheel. They'd do well, in my opinion, to offer in addition to the vast variety of dry pasta, fresh, handmade pasta, which I use, instead of dry. They offer lots of pasta sauces (I make my own) and even jarred curry sauces. Do not expect fresh meats, vegetables or fruits, they seem to focus on non-perishables. Fantastic place to buy great gourmet foods. read more

Went there for the first time this past Friday. We had no idea what we wanted or how much meat and cheese we needed for a cocktail/ Hanukkah party. Told him what we liked and what we were serving and left the selections to him. Everything was awesome. One of Lancaster's hidden gems. read more

Slowly walk down the narrow isles of this city shop and a world of food and ingredients will be open up to you. Taste of Europe tucked into a cozy space with Bill in the back and mom t the register. Looking for hard to find pastas, olives, cheese and oils? This just may be your place to look. read more

I went there, and got some mild feta cheese. It was not mild at all. In fact it was the sharpest cheese that I ever had. However, in the past I did get some nice frozen spanakopita ( spinach pie ). I'll probably go back for their spanakopita, but I'll never get feta there again. read more

Much more than a "cheese shop". Wide variety of smoked meats, imported and domestic canned specialties ranging from Trappist preserves to Bulgarian pickles. And, Bill Mandros is a good cook, always ready to help with suggestions. read more

This is by far ,one of my guilty pleasures,shopping in downtown. This tiny little store( located in a house,converted to a store front) has just about the best selection of Mediterranean foods and specialty items. Down the first isle on your right is everything from marinara sauces to a vast selection of olive oil and balsamic vinegar( including flavored varieties)on your left are the freezer,where you can find frozen pitas,gyro meat and,frozen grape leaves.,.In the back of the store,is where i get shakey and excited. CHEESE!!!!! A huge display case of cheese!!!! This store is also where alot of local chefs come to get their artisan cheeses for there restaurant. So many choices,so many brands to name. Pastas,canned peppers,olives,( they also have fresh olive back with the cheese),condiments, such as middle eastern chutneys,to Chinese Kim Chi and a variety of hot sauces and salsas and spices.Im telling ya ...they a lil bit of everything jam packed into this super tiny store. Near the register,along the wall,are where the desserts and snacks are. At the check out,usually Ya-Ya is working. (She is the owners mother i believe,a tiny Greek woman who is a year older than God) She will happily ring you up and box your items.( one time i took my own cloth bags to carry my groceries in,so as she was ringing me out i was placing the items in my bag...she stopped in mid ring to stop me...she shook her finger at me,and started pulling everything out of the bag.In a thick Greek accent she said, "you no do right.....i do for you...you watch") Hysterical!!! Its sooo hard ,i know for me it is ,not to spend a hundred dollars in there at a time.What a great store!! Cant say enough good things about this place...Go check it out if you haven't already read more

I was recently craving 3 hard to find foods (clotted cream, holloumi, halva) and was thinking I'd never find them, when I decided to walk into this shop on a whim. Not only did I immediately find all 3, but I spent nearly a half hour slowly making my way down the jam-packed aisles. This place is a hidden gem in Lancaster. If you've been craving a food you once sampled on an international adventure, chances are you will find it there! read more

Every time I go to Mandros, I find something special! The charcuterie selection is bar none the best in the area! Fabulous cheeses, pates and delicacies from Europe that I never thought I'd find in these parts. I love the white anchovies! The baguettes remind me of a little town in Les Vosges. A family run business that makes you feel like you are a distant cousin with the great service! read more

Mandros has a truly wonderful selection of cheeses and European specialty foods, and the owners have always been kind and helpful. I lived in Lancaster from 1981 to 1992, and still visit on average about once per year. Family and friends shop here very regularly and I try to pop in whenever I'm in town. Another reviewer called it a "hidden gem," and that's true! Take the time to check it out and ask for good cheese recommendations, pick up some delicious biscuits, pasta, olives, marmite, feta... and enjoy shopping in a long-standing, family-owned local business. read more