Bube's Brewery — Restaurant in Mount Joy

We stopped by Sat May 31st for lunch. We waited at least 15 mins for someone to even approach the table, eventually the waitress came over to get our drink order. She didn’t return with our sodas for another 15 mins but during that time, brought drinks out for the table that just arrived about 10 mins after we did, same waitress. 30 mins in and we finally got our soda. Expecting to place our appetizer order, she sat the sodas down and was gone! I was like, great…who knows how long we will have to wait now. So by now our sodas are about gone as we waited another 15 or so minutes, she returned to take our food order. By this time we were not even interested in the appetizers and decided we should probably just order our food or leave! Time invested, we decided to stay! My wife and I both got the Mt Joy Burger and we each got a cup of soup. We asked that the soup be brought out before the food order and they did do that much! I got the house chili and my wife got the tomatoe soup. My chili was absolutely hands down the worst chili I ever had. It has a spice I’m not even sure what it was, maybe oregano??? What ever it was it was like they poured it in! It was disgusting! My wife said her tomatoe soup had a similar spice in it and it appeared to be the same spice as the chili, can’t say for sure. She said it was “just OK”. The burger was OK, kind of hard to mess up a burger, nothing to rave about but it’s not like we ordered a steak…it’s a burger! Still…we both ordered it medium well and it was rare. I’m sorry but if you can’t even get that right…why are your doors even open! Fire your chef or cook…whatever you have because that’s fundamental basic cooking skills! Neither one of use could finish the burgers so we waited for our check…she passed us no less than 8 times without asking how things were or if we were ready for the check. In total, we waited approximately 20 mins for her to approach us. She gave us the electronic device to scan your card and said “thanks”….that was it! Never asked how everything was, didn’t care! Oh…I almost forgot!!! It gets better! When we got our burgers and fries, a different person from the kitchen brought them out and quickly whisked away before I could even mouth the words for condiments 🤣 So, like I said, our waitress never came back over and when she passed us several times I tried to get her attention. I ended up walking over to an area that they store napkins, salt/pepper and condiments to grab what we needed. Other people had to do the same thing! Our bill??? $70 with tip! And yes we still gave a 20% tip although I did not want too! Don’t waste your time and...

I was looking for different and out of the ordinary, and as I searched Maps, I found it! One of my best friends and I were out for a birthday road trip, we celebrate just 6 days apart, so the general direction was south towards Lancaster. We had both been to the Renaissance Fair on separate occasions so I was sure I could find other points of interest in the area! After enjoying the countryside and exploring a bit of our state that we don't usually see, we headed down rt 72 to Mt Joy where Bube's is located. I had made reservations the night before by phone just in case they were extremely busy, I didn't want to be left out for dining in the Catacombs! We ended up about 15min late but it wasn't a problem since it was just opening. The general area is pretty unassuming, peaceful. What a nicely finished and upkept building! We love old architecture and the history behind it all. There is a nice little tour of the place before you are seated, very interesting. True to their roots, there isn't much lighting downstairs except candles and a few string lights(replace those few that are out lol), and you feel special just being there, knowing so many years have passed since the place was built, and so many others have worked, lived, or dined here. Just the brickwork of the floor is fascinating... the service was fantastic, and we felt lucky that we were practically the first ones there, we were able to take a few pictures before a wedding rehearsal arrived. (And it was Renaissance themed, we loved the outfits. One of the employees chatted with us during pauses in the performance, he was very knowledgeable and nice!) I sampled one of their beers, bright and cheery flavor, and also tried a mixed drink, as did she. Unfortunately we ate a bit too much at our previous stop, so we stuck with lighter fare, appetizers! I tried the French onion soup and loved it. Nice flavor and it wasn't over browned or burned on top, solid good! Lots of cheese. We also ordered the bruschetta with chicken and the deviled egg stuffed mushrooms. The toasts were topped with a chicken salad-like mixture which we weren't used to, but they were pretty good. I liked the egg filling in the mushrooms but neither one of us expected them to be uncooked, so they weren't a total hit for us. They were topped with pretty microgreens but the colors didn't pop until I turned on the light on my phone! Overall it was a great experience, we'd like to come back and sit in another area for a drink, more food, and check out the patio that we missed! I'm surprised they don't sell t shirts, I definitely would have...

My review regards the murder mystery dinner, food, & late night ghost hunt.

The property has the historic Central Hotel with a large restaurant attached to it. Property is charming, cozy & kept up well. The atmosphere is that of Victorian throughout. I felt like I was in an old Victorian mansion. Incredible!

Murder mystery dinner was outstanding. Guests are seated at long tables located in 5 different rooms on the first floor of the hotel. Table setting was elegant & refined.The actors & costumes were top notch. The storyline was easy to follow. As actors come into your dining room, guests are allowed to ask questions regarding the mystery. Guests are served soup, salad, entree, dessert, & coffee/tea. Soda & booze are not free. I enjoyed every course of the dinner, everything was delicious. It was truly fun and delightful. I had a wonderful time. The experience is well worth the money. It was organized and well put together. I will definitely rave about it to others and definitely return for another different murder mystery dinner.

Late night ghost hunt was hosted by Jott-Nyx paranormal team of about 15 to 20 members. I found everyone on the team to be organized, knowledgeable, and professional. There were about 30 guests participating in the ghost hunt. The 30 guests were broken up into 3 groups and were set up to rotate around 3 areas of the hotel/brewery. It was all done easily and not in a chaotic manner, which I appreciate greatly. There are breaks between each rotation for restroom use and such. Ghost hunt ended at about 230 am. Guests were fully able to participate and take as many photos & videos as they want. Guests were taken into the ballroom of the hotel, the first floor and bar area of the hotel, and the catacombs where huge vats of beer were once stored. We were in each room for about an hour with the lights turned out with 2 or 3 team members. Equipment used was K2, rem pods, motion detecting light-up balls, voice recorders, ovilus, tarot cards, runes, pendulums, motion detecting music box, etc. Lots of guests participated in the Estes method. Unfortunately my group didn't witness any paranormal activity, but it was still a fun, spooky night in old...