Lancaster PA

I don't get out much so I don't know what's hot, but the Bulls Head in Lititz is my favorite bar. Good tap list and food with a great vibe.

Mad Chef in East Petersburg does lagers well and I love their food.

I keep meaning to get to South County in Lancaster but it hasn't happened yet. Their beers are great.

The beer and beverage shoppe on Roseville road is my go to bottle shop.

Hope you enjoy your visit!

 

At the end of last year in the Southeastern PA thread there was a longer discussion on exactly this topic... here's what I contributed:

Breweries: Unfortunately, there's nothing spectacular in the area... but of them all, I'd say Pour Man's, Our Town, and Mad Chef are a notch above the rest

Nothing but good things to say about Bull's Head, in Lititz, and The Fridge (great tap list, pizza, bottle shop)

 

It's been about four years but when I visited Lancaster my favorite stop of the few I made was Mad Chef. Really good beers, food and environment. When happened to stop in just as they were starting Bingo which was a good time.

I didn't get around to checking them out but also had Raney Cellars on my list. South County Brewing also opened a spot in Lancaster last year and according to Untappd has the highest overall rated beers within a 20-mile radius of Lancaster.

 

Enjoyed Our Town and Mad Chef. South County is very good but I haven’t been to the Lancaster location. If you like German styles Bierhall is supposed to be pretty good. Little further out but I was very impressed with Bespoke.

 

Bulls Head definitely for food and a small but very well curated taplist and always 1 quality beer served on cask. Been to South County in York and they do make great beers. Pour Man’s also makes great beers. Can’t go wrong when multiple people give same recommendations.

Oh and Shady Maple Smorgasborg is the largest in the world or something like that. Worth a visit…food is solid for a buffet kind of place but it’s more fun for just witnessing the operation and the experience. The gift shop is crazy big in the downstairs as well.

 

Hey friends….piggybacking this thread and was just wondering if there were any good beer distributors or stores in Lancaster proper and also if there were any shops along the way on 276/76 from Ambler (planning a F&M stop) to Lancaster, with King of Prussia maybe on the way. Won’t be there long but will try to get to that Mad Chef place if we can. Also, the F&M online can shop looks kinda bare so I’m definitely hoping these shops you (hopefully) rec have some of their cans. Thanks in advance

 

I was at the F&M Brewery location last week and the selection of cans that were in the to-go cooler was better than what was listed online.

 

Not too familiar with the roads up there but check out The Beer & Beverage Shoppe and/or Friendly Greek Bottle Shop if it's on your route. Both are fairly active on FB and IG posting pics of drops they get. Beer & Beverage is also a Verified Venue on Untappd and they seem to keep their entire menu offering current but you can look there, sort & filter menu by "Date (newest-oldest)" to also see what most recent deliveries they have gotten in.
- Friendly Greek (IG, FB)
- Beer & Beverage Shoppe (IG, FB, Untappd Verified Venue Menu)

 

Thanks much, that’s good to know. Hope alls well, by the way

Found this shop yesterday and being it was a slow day at work I spent a few hours looking at their inventory. Their list is quite staggering. We are actually staying in Manheim but something tells me I’ll find the time to stop in. Going back to Sandbridge this summer and we can’t wait!

 

To Helles and Back…this was damn good. Sticky malt, heavy on the tongue.

chai-inspired brown ale. I don’t remember the name of the beer but it was damn good also.

Mad Chef…happened to be the closest place to our hotel and it was great. Fish tacos were amazing and her ribs and Mac and cheese were fantastic too. Got my daughter a birthday cake “blizzard” from Son’s across the street too right before they closed. What luck!

 

Nice! Never had a bad experience at Mad Chef.

 

Will be in Lancaster in a couple weeks. I’d heard Cartel was the place to go, but it seems like there’s much love for them here?

 

Thought I’d report back on this. Like, nothing in their on-line shop and a staggering variety of cans in-person. Then, was going to buy a bottle of their imperial stout for someone because it was on-line only to find out it was sold out. A bit odd, but very satisfied with my mixed case, so thanks for the intel.

 

I've been there twice, the draft beers I've drank have been good. The couple of barrel aged bottles I picked up were just okay given the price. They have a beer engine, so any place with cask beer gets a thumbs up from me.

 

I have not been to this Appalachian Brewery location, but both the Harrisburg and Gettysburg locations are decent. Nothing spectacular, but probably worth a visit.
It’s right in Litiz.
https://www.abcbrew.com/lititz

 

If I was up in the Lititz area, I wouldn’t hesitate to go back to this place, a small town brewery.
Rural City Beer Company.
It has 3 BA reviews, you can see here.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/62993/
It’s 12 miles/20 minutes from Lititz.