Stopped by this weekend because we were looking for an outdoor venue for food and drinks, close to home. On a Saturday night, around 9pm, their deck was already closed. Not only disappointing, but surprising because it was a beautiful night! Yet we persevered and went inside for a round of drinks and appetizers. Food and drinks were, again, nothing to write home about.
Review Source:We've been the Brasserie many times before and had decent food, so we stopped on our way home from a family trip last Saturday. The food is still decent, albeit with some odd twists, but the service and the atmosphere need professional help. When we walked in, there was no one at the hostess station for several minutes. A guy walked by after a few minutes and said someone would be right with us. When she finally arrived, our teenage hostess asked if we would like Fine Dining or Bistro (ie in the bar area). When asked what the difference was, she replied "we have a new fine dining menu. There's 2 different menus and you can only order from one." Oh. That's right, I'd forgotten this was the place that apparently has an invisible barrier that prevents some food from crossing specific door frames. Try ordering the famous tomato bisque outside sometime. So bizarre. Anyway, we decided on Fine Dining since the high top bar tables weren't going to cut it with our three year old and I'm a fine dining kind of girl and it was my birthday, so why not? I thought perhaps we'd see some upgrades in the decor to go with the "new fine dining" menu, but as the hostess led us back to the very small table in the farthest back corner next to the emergency exit, I sadly realized no, those are the same chairs and lamps and tablecloths that have been here since the 80's. My husband's first comment after we were seated was " wow, Gordon Ramsey would have a field day with this place. Our very young but very nice server appeared 5 minutes later to take our drink order, which took 15 minutes to fill. A draft beer, an iced tea, and milk. Difficult stuff, I know. She then timidly asked if we were ready to order. I noticed an entry for Risotto di Jiourno on the bottom of the menu and asked what the risotto of the day was. Her response: " it's a small white flat rice shaped pasta." Seriously. Clearly the serving staff was about as fine dining as the decor. After I resisted the urge to educate the poor girl about arborio rice and politely said, thank you, I know what risotto is, and pointed out the menu item, her next response was " oh, I don't know. We just got this menu a few days ago so I don't really know it." Really. Shocking. Â " But I could go back to the kitchen and check?" Hmm. Considering the previous long time to fill the drink order, it was already after 8pm, and my husband was about to start gnawing on his own arm, I refrained and ordered the "classical bouillabaisse."'He ordered the steak oscar, with the lobster sauce on the side. We ordered the grilled cheese and fries for the kiddo. Individual bread plates arrived first, classy rectangular app plates with potential, until you realize it's a dinner roll with a scoop of green and red tapenade likely made from cocktail olives on the side. Not so much. Next up are the salads, a nice little mesclun mix with finely grated carrot, which could have been picked through a bit more but sure, I'll pick out the brown lettuce pieces myself, no problem. My real problem with the salad was the really strange pile of cubed and shredded pepper jack cheese on the corner of my plate. What is that and why is it on my salad? Pepper jack is not fine dining, my friends. I'm still baffled by that. Husbands response: " Gordon won't be happy about that mess." Apparently they're friends now. I waited with trepidation for our entrees to arrive. First up, grilled cheese. It looked amazing, albeit so huge that a half sandwich was bigger than my child's head. We cut it into smaller pieces and she was in fried food heaven. Next was the steak, which also smelled fantastic, and the bouillabaisse. The plates were huge and we had to rearrange everything to fit on the small table. The steak was plated on top of green beans. Hmm, no asparagus? Interesting substitution with no comments from the wait staff. The bouillabaisse was delicious. The mussels were bountiful and tasty in the broth, although pretty sure it was missing fennel. I had 3 shrimp, 5 tiny clams and a lot of fish hunks, including salmon, another interesting addition. It might have been nice to have a bowl for all of the empty shells. Instead, I had to heap the empties along the side of my bowl, which became really fun when I had to empty my shell and broth filled bowl into leftover containers myself. The grilled steak seemed to be cooked medium as requested, but we're still wondering what cut of meat it was as it curled up on both ends. The crab was tasty but the "lobster" sauce was overly salted and clearly made from commercial base so glad it on the side. We kept our sense of humor, thankfully, because after we declined dessert, and stood to put on our coats, our old friend the hostess came back and turned the lights off." Oops." Icing on the cake.
The food is decent, but before you try to call yourselves "fine dining" make sure you can provide the correct ingredients, quality of service and atmosphere to back it up. We won't be back.
My fiancee and I took his grandfather here for a nice dinner and to see if we wanted to have our rehearsal dinner here. Due to the rather polarizing reviews on yelp I was skeptical about the food but I was pleasantly surprised. We all ordered the shrimp and crab chowder and it was delicious. The soup was creamy, smooth, and had just the right amount of spice. Gramps ordered the crab cakes and everybody really enjoyed them. There wasn't too much breading and they were large enough to be an entree. My fiancee ordered the steak and it was good but I wished it has a little more seasoning. I ordered the chicken neopolitan and it was amazing. The portions were huge so make sure to go hungry. The resturaunt was decorated with lights and greenery for Christmas which was nice. The server was new which meant she was a little skittish but she was pleasant, quick, and attentive. Since everything was so nice we decided to use The Brasserie as our venue for the rehearsal dinner.
The packages at the Brasserie for banquet meals range from $24-$32 dollars a head and include a lot of food. I think it will be an enjoyable place for our rehearsal dinner.
Had our annual neighbor's Christmas get-together here on Saturday, 12/15/2012. Â Requested and received separate checks--with absolutely NO problems. Â The drinks were perfectly poured. Â The soup (a few had the tomato bisque--a few the french onion) was excellent. Â Meal presentation was superb and the meal tasted excellent!
A great night. Â Even though it was a Saturday night--near the holidays--we were not rushed.
Very enjoyable evening.
We went here on Saturday night after reading the reviews on Yelp. First off it is a very nice place, and after we arrived we saw that the dining area was a little stuffy and not quite kid friendly. So we suggested to the hostess that we move to the bar area that was a little louder. Great decision except for one problem. The waiter we had was the worst waiter I have ever experienced. I think he was really trying not to get a tip. He acted like he didn't care and would come over and take the order and go back to his cell phone. He forgot to put an order in for my wife's soup. I will give him credit as he didn't lie about forgetting, he just said my bad I forgot. This kid shouldn't be in this business and if it was my restaurant he would have been fired on the spot. That being said the food was okay. The wings were cooked well but the sauce left something to be desired. My Father had a burger and it was good. My Wife and Mother had the Tomato, Mozz and Avocado Sandwich and was okay. I had the steak sandwich and it was a little better then average. I would not go here again unless I sat at the bar for drinks. Bartender seemed real friendly.
Review Source:This is my favorite restaurant in Lancaster. Â Not only do they have Dogfish head IPA on tap but they also serve a delicious meal and offer friendly service. Â
For lunch I had a burger topped with an over easy egg. Â I had skipped breakfast that day and figured I'd kill two birds with one stone. Â I think it may have been the best burger I've ever had in my entire life.
The restrooms weren't up to par but the place is old so I'll give them that.
I love the Brasserie. I always get fantastic service, the atmosphere is great (they normally don't play typical bar music), they have good draft beer, and their food is FANTASTIC for the low prices. Most meals stay below $12 (bar/lunch menu), and it tastes great. The restaurant side is classy with a fantastic menu and amazing atmosphere.
Review Source:Delicious food. My steak baguette was perfectly cooked medium rare and it was very tender. The caramelized onions were sweet as sugar. My daughter's buffalo chicken wrap was the best she's ever had. Good selection of beers too!!
Nice looking place. Â It used to be someone's huge home. Â One of the few places to eat that's open late in the area.
This was the second time in 2 months that I went. The first, my father and I both got the Snapper and really enjoyed it. The dinner salad was also excellent. This past weekend, however, was a very different story. Friday night at 7pm and no wait? Probably a sign but it went unheeded.
We ordered beers (blue moon on tap) & the French Bread Bruschetta. Enjoyed both- the brushetta had a bit of olive tapende with the mixture and it was quite good. I had the famed Tomato bisque- great. My husband ordered the French Onion soup- bad choice. It tasted like they just mixed hot water with the Lipton flavor packet; onions were still crispy. Panera makes a better soup(!). Dinner salads great again. Dinner- disapointing! Dad got catfish, which he said was pasty and bland. I ordered the shrimp & scallop quinoa. it was smothered (an understatement) with what was to be lemon butter sauce. it seemed like bad hollandaise you'd get at a cheap diner. Seafood was fine but nothing to sing about. Husband got chicken ceasar salad and was disapointed with the dressing (rest of salad was fine). Service was fine. The bill was $90- not a fun payment when the food is utterly lackluster. next time we will suffer through the wait at a better restaurant.
He says: Â We decided to have lunch here after a recent news article reminded us that it existed. Â She says: Â I looked forward to the fireplace, and was pleasantly surprised at the horse-country decor. Â He says: Â I wanted to go for the tomato bisque and see how it looked post-remodelling. Â She says: Â We were seated immediately. Â He says: Â We began to peruse the interestingly qwirky combinations on the menu. Â She says: Â We ordered the fried martini olives, which seemed lacking in prosciutto, but were tasty nonetheless. Â I could have had 10 more! Â He says: Â According to the menu description, it sounded like an interesting antipasto, but what we got were 8 fried olives filled with flavored cream cheese for $8. Â They tasted like fried olives with cream cheese. Â She says: Â he let me help myself to the Bon' Appetite-famed tomato bisque, and it was superb! Â We discussed taking some to-go. Â He says: Â I liked the soup/ Â it was very good. Â For the main course, we got sandwiches. Â While intrigued by the Pittsburgh sandwich, it seemed a bit too much; Â overkill in a combination of favorites that should be left separate. Â This truth was to play out later in my sandwich choice. Â She says: Â I wouldn't let him get the Pitts sand b/c, among other things, it had french fries and fried egg on it! Â I got a ham and brie sandwich on raisin bread!- and totally digged it! Â He says: Â (-sigh-) Â I got the California sandwich, with turkey, smoked gouda, sautee'd onions and honey mustard on a white roll. Â It had a solid, rich flavor of blandness; Â it wasn't bad, but it wasn't good (or satisfying). Â It was slimy, difficult to eat, and rich, without being cultured. Â In short, a disappointment. Â We chose waffle fries and their house-mad potato chips. Â They should replace the chips with a store brand. Â She says: Â He talks too much. Â Our server was lone, and adequate. Â He says: Â Our server was fine.
OVERALL: Â He says: Â all in all, it was a mediocre lunch. Â She says: Â I enjoyed the experience and want to go back b/c my new favorite thing is to take pictures of the wallpaper everywhere I go.
Wow, just loved this place. Atmosphere is great, since it was new years Day was not too crowded. Service was excellent. Wait staff was friendly and nice, and even offered help with the Tv. Yes there are TV's in the booth. So got to see PSU play in our booth, while wtaching orther games on the bigger screens above the bar. Food was excellent, the nachos as an appetizer would have been enough for a meal for the two of us. I also had the fish and fries, and the bowl was heaping with fries, so much so the huge pieces of catfish looked like they were a top a mountain. A more than fair price for the amount of food, and the deliciousness of it all. I ordered a diet soda, and ebing very thirsty, kept the glass always near empty. Still the waitress, never wavered, and was always there to refill before the vessel was dry. Would gladly go back to this fine establishment again and again.
Review Source:Went on a slow weekday evening.  Server was pleasant but service was abominably  slow despite the almost-empty building.  I got the  tomato bisque a lot of folks raved about on reviews,  and it was good.  My partner got the onion soup which was flat tasting and also lukewarm.  We returned that and I recommended he get the tomato bisque also since mine was flavorful and...not lukewarm.   .  I am a vegetarian just so you know there are not many choices unless you like pasta.  A review mentioned a veggie burger, but it was not offered on the menu, and the server said "well most of what we serve here has meat in it".  She recommended something on the menu, but we had to correct her that it did have meat in it...We had  salads which were "grilled".  I am not a great fan of wilted lettuce so it was not as interesting as I thought it would be, not to mention the meaty flavor of the grill which totally turned me off.  Bleu cheese salad dressing was forgettable and I asked for vinegar with my salad which was forgotten.  There were other customers who our server apologized to for forgetting something or another, so I felt like we were not alone.  My partner got the ribs which were advertised dry with sauce on the side.  It was not on the side and it was too spicy.  We returned that as well, and shared the bruschetta appetizer.  The server told us she would "try to remove the ribs from your bill" which was appalling to say the least.  I fully expected to have a talk with the manager, but she gave us a few items free and a "discount" to make up for what we did not eat.  I guess if you have a couple of beers or drinks it's a decent place to eat but I would not recommend it to anyone.
Review Source:Went there for my Wedding Rehearsal dinner 2 weeks ago, and really enjoyed it. Â We had about 16 people so we did a pre-fix menu, and everyone enjoyed it, not one complaint. Â We ate in a private room by ourselves so we didn't get to check out the deck everyone raves about, which ironically is one of the reasons my Mother picked the place.
We had a Soup course (everyone went insane for the Baked Tomato Bisque), my French Onion was also very tasty. Â The Cesar salad was ok, nothing special, just a presentable Cesar salad as most are. Â I also liked that the courses didn't come out one right on top of the other, they weren't rushed at all.
For the main course we had Jack Daniels Strip Steak, The Crab Tower (a mountain of a crab cake dish that is apparently what the restaurant is known for), and Penne Pasta with Chicken. Â No one chose the Pasta, and almost everyone went for the Crab Tower including me. Â The Crab tower was PHENOMENAL. Â Seriously awesome. Â It was gigantic though, even I couldn't finish it off. Â It's 8oz of crab cake on top of a bed of rice and fresh spinach. Â It could easily feed two if one is a woman who doesn't eat much to begin with. Â Big beautiful pieces of lump crab are strewn throughout, its not much filler, which makes it even more impressive. Â People who got the Steak also had good things to say.
For desserts we chose the Cheesecake and Creme Brulee...My Creme Brulee was excellent, I did find room to finish every last drop of it.
Overall I would highly recommend The Brasserie for a bigger party, and I would love to go have another Crab Tower on their beloved deck sometime.
Ate there for the first time recently. The food was very good and the portions were large.  We were there early on a Sunday afternoon, and were the only people in the place.  The tomato bisque is the best I've ever had, and the grilled Mediterranean salad  was excellent and large enough for two of us to share.  The service was pleasant and efficient except for one thing.  I ordered the Vegelicious Burger, which is made in-house and there was an ingredient I could taste but not place.  I asked our server exactly what was in the burger and her response was "I don't have any idea."  Then she walked away.  This is absolutely my pet peeve at a restaurant.  A server should know the ingredients in the dishes she's serving.  If she doesn't, she should offer to find out.  Other than that one complaint, we really enjoyed the meal and would definetely go back.
Review Source:I've been to the Brasserie for many different occassions, so I'll try to break it down:
SIT-DOWN DINNER: The atmosphere is unique, and the food is great. Â There's not a wide selection from the menu, but definitely enough to please everybody. Â I had a steak that was cooked pefectly (I ordered medium rare). Â They don't have an extensive wine list, although that may have changed... The menu prices were normal, about $19-$35, typical for a good bite in Lancaster. Â It's not too fancy, but you could dress up if you wanted to. Â I also heard from others that had their rehearsal dinners there, that it was great. Â
OUTSIDE DINING: Â The deck is awesome. Â Great for groups of friends in a relaxed atmosphere on a nice-weather night. Â They have a very good menu for the deck that is very reasonable. Â Highly recommend.
LATE-NIGHT BAR RUN: They recently renovated the entire bar area (ok, it was like 3 years ago), and now it's one of the nicest places around. Â The bar menu is great, and they have a lot of good specials like taco tuesday. Â One warning, and my only complaint about this place - Try to avoid going there on a late Saturday night. Â For some reason, they have these guys playing and singing guitar in the middle of the bar area, and you can barely hear yourself think, let alone talk to somebody that's sitting next to you. Â I don't mind loud places, like a nightclub or something, but this it's really annoying more than anything. Â Just my opinion. Â Some people may love these guys, but still, you can't hear anything besides them. Â Ok, got that out. Â
Overall, it's a fantastic place for any occasion besides Saturday night.
I've been to the Brasserie a few times when I'm visiting my family in Lancaster County, and I'm always pleased.  My two grandmothers and I generally meet here for lunch, and while most of the food isn't anything fantastic, it's all pretty good and reasonably priced.  The signatures tomato bisque soup is seriously TO DIE FOR.  We always order a cup  to go with our entree, and most times I wonder why I didn't just get a bowl and call it a day!
Anyway, this restaurant is set in a huge home that has been converted into a restaurant. Â The story goes that it was originally the home for a wealthy Mennonite family in the area, and if you know anything about some of Mennonite families in Lancaster County, you won't be surprised at how big this place is! Â Many of the rooms have been converted into dining rooms, which gives the whole place a cozy, lived in feel. Â It also means that even when the restaurant is busy, you can still be tucked away in a private little corner. Â
They also have an AMAZING deck outside that they open in the warmer months. Â I haven't gotten a chance to eat out there yet, but definitely will this summer! Â The bar is in the front of the "house" Â and is super spacious with a ridiculous number of wide screen TV's plastered across the walls. Â Seriously, I think there must be at least 8. Â I'd imagine that in the evenings, they are all showing various sporting events. Â
Although I've never been there in the evening, the bar seems like it would be a pretty cool place to have a drink. Â They have nightly specials, a solid bar menu (sandwiches, salads, soups in addition to regular pub fare). Â
Finally, the staff that works here is always great. Â The bartenders and the waiters do a fantastic job and make everyone feel welcome and relaxed.
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