Lancaster Brewing Company - Harrisburg — Restaurant in Swatara Township

I've been here a few times with friends and family, usually right as it opens or later on when the place is packed. If there's a wait, it's usually just 10 minutes or less, and the waiting area is large with padded benches to sit on near the front door.

Parking: The lot is medium-sized, like can accommodate maybe 30-40 vehicles around the building. There are a few spots for handicapped parking, and the end caps on any of the rows could easily accommodate the loaded/unloading of a person and their mobility device via a ramp deployment. That being said, the lot fills up quite quickly later in the day, so you may not be able to find a spot without circling some.

Interior: Entry into the dining area or bar is quite easy, via doors that swing smoothly and have room to accommodate a wheelchair and group. Inside, the lighting is fine, it is very clean, there are tons of tables and booths, and there's room to accommodate a large party (like 12+), a sitting area for waiting, and the dining entrance has a merch area and several fridges for carry-out beer.

The booth benches and chairs are all comfortable, tables are kept clean and spaced out so there's no bumping into other patrons when you need to get up or sit down, and there's room for minor furniture rearranging with staff assistance/permission.

Food/Drinks: I have personally only had the burger, fish and chips, Reuben egg rolls, and the meatloaf, so if you want opinions on the other dishes then I cannot help you. This is similar for the beers, though as of their menu on 1/8/25, I've tried all of them at least once. The food is quite good, always comes out hot (sometimes even too hot lol), and is well presented. The burger is flavorful, juicy, and fixed well. Definitely a top tier burger. The fish and chips are crispy, come in large portions, and the side sauces and vinegar/lemon are all wonderful to drizzle and add. The meatloaf is served with some good sides, is dense and moist, and has a ton of flavor to it: it's a big meal, so definitely worth the money. The Reuben egg rolls are fantastic, taste very much like their namesake, are super crispy, and the dipping sauce is fantastic. I will say that they do not do as well in travel, as the heat and moisture in the container can soften the wrappers, but they're still good to get delivered if you're feeling like delivery.

Beers are hard to review as taste is quite selective for everyone, but I'll say that every beer has great taste for what it is, has great clarity when it isn't a hazy, and the variety of the offerings is nice, definitely going beyond most places offerings of too many IPAs and pretty much nothing else. I highly recommend the flights for your first time. The flights are about the cost of two draft beers and let's you sample 6 of the drinks that collectively comes out to like 1.5 drafts worth of drink, so it's a great deal.

Service: The front desk is always accurate and straightforward about wait times, handling accommodations, and letting you know if there's anything odd going on like early closings or shortages of anything. The wait staff are all friendly, knowledgeable, attentive, and can recommend food and beer pairings. I've never had a bad experience with wait staff and in fact look forward to dining at LBC because I know the staff will take good care of me and my party. Checks come quickly if you ask and they can split bills without any issue.

Overall: If you're in the area or don't know what to do for lunch/dinner, definitely pop in here and...

Horrible attitude! Stay away. First, I'll start by saying I''m huge fan of the Lancaster location. When in Lancaster, I never miss it. On this day however, I was with my kids and visited the Harrisburg location.

Avoid this place and go to Appalachian Brew Co instead.

We were "greeted" by a very curt bartender who could not have been busy as we were only one of two occupied tables in her section.

She threw down the menus, and asked "Can I get you some drinks?"

I ordered a beer, then asked my kids what they wanted...and evidently 5 seconds to think about their choice was too long because the bartender exhaled a big angry huff, and walked away...literally.

After waiting several minutes for her to return, I asked to complete our order. By this time she was behind the bar waiting on only 2 or three people and says, "Yeah...you'll have to wait a minute."

That was strike 2.

After ordering our food and drinks, my kids (8 and 10) noticed an arcade game nearby. When I say nearby, I mean like 15' away. I then gave them a few dollars and told them to have fun.

Fun evidently is not allowed in LBP's Harrisburg location as the kids were stopped from playing the game just as they were about to drop their first quarter in the machine.

They returned to the table and said the bartender told them they were not allowed to play the game unless I was physically standing there with them.

Again - I was 15' away. I was looking right at them.

I said, "Oh...it's OK...I'll watch them from here. They're good kids. They'll be cool."

Keeping her "Start With No," attitude she said, "You have to stand next to them if they're going to play the game."

Strike 3.

With that, I got up - paid for the drinks, and told her that she was the worst bartender I'd ever encountered and that her "Start With No. Customer is Always Wrong," attitude was not suited for public service.

To make matters worse, I got a 1/2-hearted apology from the Manager.

Good beer. Horrible help and management. We left there and went to Appalachian Brew Co for an...

Lancaster Brewing Company is a restaurant that serves American food as well as their own beers. When we arrived, we had a choice of sitting in the bar or dining room. They didn't give us the option of sitting in the patio. I didn't like how the dining room was very noisy and thus, making it hard to converse with the party.

After being seated and having barely glanced the menu, our server Emily stopped by to get my order. I got the Hard Berry Cider which consisted of local hard cider blended with fruit purée. It was light, fruity, and refreshing like I hoped it to be. For dinner, we ordered a Milk Stout French Onion Soup, Fish Taco, and Crispy Skin Atlantic Salmon. We waited awhile (over an hour) for food and wondered why other tables who were seated after us were all served before us. Somehow I received the Crispy Skin Atlantic Salmon before receiving my Milk Stout French Onion Soup. The server came by ask me how my soup was and I told her I hadn't even received it and she seemed apologetic. Our server was hard to find for most of the night. She didn't even bother to check if we needed water refills.

The Milk Stout French Onion Soup consisted of rich beef milk stout broth, garlic, and crouton topped melted gruyere. I liked how the soup was not as heavy as other French Onion soups I've had. I liked how it wasn't too salty and you could still taste a hint of the ale. I didn't taste the Fish Tacos but the portion size was rather small and not filling. The homemade chips it came with were really stale. The Crispy Skin Atlantic Salmon consisted of a salmon served over asparagus tips, pearl onion, oyster mushrooms, and english peas in a charred tomato vinaigrette. I liked how the salmon skin was crispy, the fish was tender, and the overall taste...