Pasquale’s Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria — Restaurant in East Lampeter Township

What a fantastic find in the Heart of Lancaster, Pennsylvania!!!

This is a quick post that I will rewrite after we return to our hotel room.

We enjoyed Immensely an appetizer of Ranch Fries and a 16" Large Upside Pizza!!!

Food was very delicious and would put to shame some of the New Jersey Pizza Joints that I have had pizza at...

Now for the full review!!!

The Ranch Fries, this appetizer was a very large portion of Perfectly Salted Potato Strips fried to perfection with a crispy shell and fluffy interior. They were covered with Ranch Dressing, delicious crumbled fresh crispy bacon and delicious cheese....

The Pizza was a Large 16 Inch Large Pie constructed like my Favorite Trenton Tomato Pie, Cheese being placed on top of the dough. The Cheese was a blend of Mozzarella and Provolone usually pre baked to allow it to adhere to the crust with the Sauce, which was sweet and tangy heated perfectly...

In most restaurants, your usually seated by a wait staff person, but here as you enter, the signs posted at the lobby, instructs the customer to find a table and sit down, you the peruse the menu, decide what you wanted and then go to the register counter to place the order.

You pay for the meal, they give you a Large round plastic tray big enough for a large pizza, glass ceramic plates, waxed paper Pepsi Soda cups , silverware if you need it and one of those round hockey puck restaurant pagers that light up and vibrate.

They give you 2 locations where you can fill and refill your beverages and your dining experience can begin.

The pager alerts me, in less that 5-10 minutes and I return to the counter and was presented with that very large fresh, hot appetizer...

Return to the table, while enjoying the deliciousness of my new found French Fries, the Pager alerts in another 10 minutes and I return to retrieve the pizza...

It's cut in 12 unevenly sized slices, which is a usual way it's done in this area and other spots throughout Pennsylvania!!!

The Pizza had a delicious, crispy and soft fluffy crust with no flop on the wider slices and very little on the thinner slices after the first delicious bite.

Some of my friend's who have moved to Pennsylvania have not found a sufficiently tasting slice that would remind them of what they grew up with in the New Jersey or New York spots they have enjoyed...

I have found some of those depressing slices, but can tell you, if you keep looking you can and will find that Holy Grail!!.

Reviewer Disclaimer: No Matter What, the tastes and likes of any individual is different and some my disagree with mine or other's...

We went there because of the reviews and "awards". It was a Saturday night around 6p.m. We did not have to wait. There were plenty of folks there, but tables were available. There are several little alcoves where there were tables providing a more intimate setting...very nice. We had to wait a while to place our order. Our server was either slow or over loaded. Very friendly and chatty. When we finally placed our order we got onion rings and seafood chowder appetizers. After 20 minutes, someone other than our server brought the onion rings...when we saw our server, at 24 minutes after we ordered, we asked about the soup and she responded "oh, you want that now? Sure" Seconds later the wrong soup arrived. When the correct soup arrived it was not very good. Red flags went up when she arrived with the soup a few seconds later. That told me that they probably have a seafood soup in a steam table. The soup arrived very hot. The shrimp, of course, had been severely overcooked. They had completely denatured and turned to mush. There was also evidence of some sort of mild white fish in the soup. If I were to guess, they used a prefab, mix, or cream soup base recipe for clam chowder and added shrimp and fish. We did not finish the bowl. Onion rings were excellent as was the dipping sauce. But, having finally received our appetizers, the entrees arrived seconds later. The pizza (plain cheese) must have been under a heat lamp since the whole thing was limp and the cheese was set up. Pizza was "brick oven" which is essentially meaningless since there is no wood fire, just ovens surrounded by brick. (My suspicions were confirmed when I asked our server about the oven). This brick oven pizza was disappointing. The pizza sauce was almost not present and the crust was nothing special. They have a steak sandwich deal where you build what ever you want ingredient at a time. We, being from Philadelphia, are well aware of what a cheese steak should be. They had the right roll! (which is critical) but the meat was a but less beefy tasting than typical slivered rib roast. Overall the cheese steak was a 7 out of 10. Finally, we got a boli boli stromboli. This was the best thing we had at this meal. It was very tasty and exactly as described on the menu. This restaurant is across town from me but I pass it with some frequency, however, I was not impressed enough to...

The 1st time we visited this adorable little Italian Restaurant was in beginning of last December, on Recommendation of someone at the Train Museum as we had a Family Day Out for my Wife's B-Day. WHAT A NICE SURPRISE! The FOOD WAS EXCELENT, STAFF EXTREMELY NICE AND ACCOMADATING, SPARKLING CLEAN AND UPKEPT and DECOR AND SEATING HAD A NICE MIX OF TABLES, BOOTHS...AND...PRIVATE BOOTHS WITH 3 WALLS AROUND! (Also, was VERY WARM AND COZY which is SOMETHING as a lot of Restaurants...even the bigger chain ones are way too cold in the Winter, nowadays) We went back there for a 2nd time last night for an Impromptu B-Day Dinner for me as our other plans fell through and we had an errand to run in Lancaster Area. Yep! Same thing as above! Now I have to advise...just so there are no surprises that the only thing a little different is...that even though there are a lot of staff members there...they DO NOT TAKE ORDERS AT / NOR BRING FOOD TO YOUR TABLES! BUT..."It's as easy as 1, 2, 3" 1st...You go in and Find/Sit at the Table you want. 2nd...Pick what you want from the Menu. 3rd...Go up to the Order/Cashier Counter (Big Room) and ORDER/PAY. You will then get a Buzzer that will Buzz when your Food is Ready! (TRUST ME IT WORKS!) I'll also mention that this place is a BYOB Friendly place so you could bring your own favorite bottle of Wine, etc...and they also can supply glasses, and have plenty of other Non-Alcoholic Beverages! Frank (the Owner) did mention he doesn't understand why some people will order from here and later get upset if this MADE TO ORDER Food isn't ready in 10 to 15 mins! OMG! People...Sit and Relax! Strike up a Conversation with a stranger! (We did and we wound up talking to ONE OF THE ORIGINAL FOUNDERS OF DUNKIN' DONUTS, CLARENCE WILLIAMS, WHO TOOK PART IN THEIR EARLY COMMERCIALS) Enjoy the Warmth and the Aromas! (If you want FAST FOOD, Cold/Salty Fries, Limited/Expensive Options...Go to McD's or Domino's...LoL) KUDOS, Frank! (AND STAFF) KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!! There is a card on all the tables explaining the "1,2,3" process that sums it up on the bottom by saying (if correctly remembered?) "WHERE GREAT FOOD AND GREAT PEOPLE COME...