John J Jeffries Restaurant — Restaurant in Lancaster

I visited john j. jeffries this weekend, took a trip there to sample the cuisine. As you might know it is located in the Lancaster Arts Hotel. Upon arriving I found it difficult to know where to go, where to park – it was very cold and blustery, but after some walking about we did figure out how to get inside.

Before I get too critical, I want to say overall JJJ was really very good, outstanding. But I do have a couple of criticisms however. It is obvious to you almost immediately that the service is absolutely well trained and impeccably professional. There were many occasions where I noticed servers bring food and drinks to tables, who were not the waiters, and positively knew where everything went without asking, it is a sign of a truly choreographed well-oiled machine. The waiter knew everything about the menu, where everything was sourced and what to expect. Drinks came quickly, repeatedly and were delicious. Extremely attentive without being a nuisance.

We started with the surf and turf, which was delicious. I had a few of the barrel aged negronis which were sublime! My date had the highlands salmon – which I sampled a good bit of, was really fantastic, the flavor just doesn’t rival domestic salmon we get here. I had the Barnegat Light scallops, which I have had many times before – they did not disappoint. Both dishes came with the exact same accompaniment, a black bean sauce with lemon and saffron risotto. The black bean sauce seemed to get lost with the risotto – and If I would have blind tasted the risotto I swear I would not have known there was lemon it there – there was a heavy aroma and flavor of saffron however, which I felt was perhaps a tad bit heavy handed. We ate everything with gusto nevertheless. We finished with the recommended flourless chocolate cake – which was also quite delicious, albeit a very very small portion, really hardly large enough to share.

After dinner someone, I’m assuming a manager of some sort came to the table as to inquire about how we enjoyed our dinner. She kind of gave us an odd look and inquired as to if we both ordered the same thing? – which felt odd and almost seemed like a judgement, and I felt like I had to explain that there are a few dishes on the menu that shared the risotto accompaniment, felt a little odd to have to explain that we indeed did not order the same thing – I don’t know, felt weird to me.

My biggest criticism is with with the décor. It is obvious to anyone who dines out a lot that there is immense great care being given to the food and the service here, but somehow the décor goes a bit ignored. The seating is all plastic patio chairs, they are nicer ones, not the totally cheap flimsy kind, but they feel oddly out of place. There is hardly anything on the walls, just bare brick. There is a beautiful old beam that runs through the middle of the ceiling. The bar and hotel side are beautiful and eclectic, they should extend some of that feel, flow and lighting into the restaurant area. Overall I felt the dining area felt like an afterthought. When you are paying upwards of a hundred dollars per person to dine out, the criticisms get a little more detailed as you notice things.

Overall JJJ has a lot going for it – there is so much on the menu that I like and can’t wait to try, and I want to come back – as I am somewhat new to the Lancaster area, I think we will probably return, but I would like to also try some other places first, the ambiance is very important to me, and JJJ fell a little...

This review is solely for the hostess. We were very pleased by the food and service by our waitress. We understand fine dining places may not necessarily be kid friendly. We were 4 adults and a toddler. It was not the toddler’s first fine dining experience. She’s been to plenty of countries and eaten at various types of restaurants. We looked at their website before making a reservation where there was no mention of no kids allowed. When we got there, they provided us a high chair and on a table in another section, a father and a little girl were dining. All the tables in our section were completely empty. After her meal, my daughter wanted to walk around us by our table. The hostess first came to us and said for safety reasons she can’t be walking around. Even though there was no one else there we understood and took her to the area closer to the lobby where the hostess herself suggested. While my husband and I took turns keeping her entertained and out of the dining area, the hostess returned and stated “she can’t be squealing here” verbatim. She had a problem with my daughter giggling…? Again didnt think much of it and tried to stay by the lobby where the hostess chased us down and again berated us. She had no problems with a white kid dinning near us so we couldn’t help but see her treatment was due to the color of our skin. My friend confronted the hostess, who just brushed her off. We came here with high expectations after hearing wonderful reviews from my colleagues and local friends. As much as we enjoyed the food and drinks, the attitude of the staff was appalling. Why have a high chair if you’re not kid friendly? Or why seat us down when we walked in with a toddler? Why wait to constantly berate us after we were close to closing our tabs? She basically chased us out and we wont be returning to an establishment that...

Hands down, John J Jeffries, is the best restaurant in Central Pennsylvania. It's been our favorite for over a decade now, even though it's an hour drive from our home. First of all, the food is absolutely phenomenal. We've never had a bite of anything we didn't like here. It's all knock your socks off delicious.

My absolute favorite thing on the menu is their steak tartare. It's actually found twice on the menu, both as a small appetizer portion and as a larger entree sized portion called, "The Truth". The truth about "The Truth" is that it's simply the best steak tartare around, certainly in Central PA, but likely in the whole Mid-Atlantic, and definitely a contender for anywhere in the world. The crostini they serve with it is also leagues and bounds better than the generic, dry, flavorless crostini that is often served with tartare at other restaurants, almost as an afterthought. Here the crostini is so good you could literally just eat piles of the stuff on its own.

Their carpaccio with dry aged scallops is also amazing. We also love the delicious foccacia, mini zucchini muffins, and bisque that are often served as appetizers.

Their desserts are to die for, especially the chocolate ones!

We also love that everything served here is healthy, raised locally according to organic or similar practices and is priced reasonably for the quality.

Do yourself a favor...