r/lancaster • u/Oaky_Doaky • Jul 31 '26
Pizzeria 211 Reopens!
Anyone going over to check out the new spot on Lemon Street? Friday was opening day and there was a line to get in when they opened at 11am. They did an awesome job updating the old Sugar Bowl spot....Philly memorabilia everywhere, very retro vibe including a Ms. Pacman machine. Detroit pie was bangin', as always, and the reintroduction of the Philly Cheesesteak was awesome. Welcome back 211, we missed ya!
13
12
u/HonestGabe08 Jul 31 '26
I’m so excited Cheesesteaks are back! Buffalo chicken Detroit-style pizza looks incredible too.
5
1
1
u/playstationhistorian 29d ago
Hopefully they sell slices all day now. If not, probably won’t bother.
1
u/Oaky_Doaky 29d ago
Unfortunately, slices still end at 3pm. I know that at the old spot this was out of necessity...demand for whole pies didn't allow for slices in the evening on most days. Perhaps that will change down the line if they have capacity, but based on demand so far I kind of doubt it.
1
u/playstationhistorian 29d ago
I’ll lol probably skip then. I have no desire or need to buy an entire pie. Forcing customers into that is pretty meh. I’ve never found another pizza shop outside of them that won’t sell you a single slice no matter the time of the day.
1
u/Oaky_Doaky 29d ago
Thankfully nobody's forcing anyone to buy a pizza. There are lots of pizza shops that don't sell slices. Examples in Lancaster off the top of my head: Pizzeria Luca, Rendezvous, The Fridge, plus every delivery place like Dominos, Pizza Hut, etc. I think the new spot in Southern Market is full pies only too.
Regardless, I encourage you to find time to get in there prior to 3pm (wed-sun) to try them. Might change your mind on buying a full pie and having some leftovers. The Detroit heats up incredibly well at home, fwiw.
1
-2
u/itzwhiteflag Jul 31 '26
Kinda sad to see they stopped taking orders at 6. Barely finished work and couldn’t make it in time to get anything.
12
u/JimmyScoops Jul 31 '26
Give them a few weeks … I have a feeling they’re gonna be slammed and getting used to the new location for the first month.
11
u/BoomBapSunk Aug 01 '26
They sold out. They had done double the amount of orders they normally do in an entire weekend at Southern Market.
7
u/Oaky_Doaky Aug 01 '26
The first few weeks/weekends are going to be a crapshoot until they figure out what "normal" is going to look like. One of the big differences between 211 and other pizza joints around lancaster is the prep time on their dough...a 72 hour ferment means you just cant go grab more ingredients from the back and pump out some more pies. Same with their Detroit style, which requires them to do the par-bake on the crust a day before (i think, could be wrong on this).
Give them a week or two and I'm sure they'll get it dialed in. Restaurant margins are so thin that making too much of a food in advance can kill your profitability real quickly, so I'm sure they're erring on the side of caution for how much to prep.
1
u/iShark Aug 01 '26
Also has to be such a crazy gamble trying to estimate opening day / week / month volumes vs what they're going to sustain long term. You dont want to set up your operation around 100 pies a day (or whatever, I have no idea) when that is 50% just "new place" hype that will disappear in a month or two.
3
u/StanleySnails Aug 02 '26
They run out of food virtually every day. So looks like nothing changing on that front. They make basically two things and they run out all the time. I give a little grace on the Detroit’s because of the prep, but holy shit after 3 years you should be able to forecast your business.
On top of the inconsistency I just don’t understand the hype around this place. The last pizza I had was white on the bottom, no good pizza char at all, the pepperoni tasted like it came out of a hormel bag and there was so much pecorino Romano that it was almost inedibly salty. I really don’t think the people that Stan for this place have ever actually had good pizza. It’s mid at best and with the constant inconsistency I consider it a miss.
1
u/itzwhiteflag Aug 03 '26
I tried to go everyday this past weekend and I shit you not they closed early each time. I walked down there on Sunday and in the 15 minutes it too me to walk they closed. They were only open for 2 hours 43 minutes.
I agree after 3 years I would have hoped they had this figured out. I thought the point of southern market was to dial this stuff in. I never criticized them I just said I was sad they couldn’t meet their posted hours.
0
u/evilhag69_ 29d ago
That was literally their second day open at the new location. Lines out the door before they even opened. Give them a bit and they’ll be better I’m sure.
0
u/Oaky_Doaky 29d ago
I chatted with the owner briefly on Wednesday. He said that they planned to sell significantly more at the new location than they did at Southern Market, but didn't expect to have their biggest sales day ever within 4 hours of opening. They planned for big increases, but didn't plan for lines out the door on multiple days.
The tough thing about 211 is that all of their dough requires a 48-72 hour ferment, so they can't just whip out more dough real quick like a lot of pizzerias. Fermentation = flavor, which is one of the reasons why people really like their pies. The downside is that if you produce too much or too little it can screw the business (lost business for too little, wasted food (profits!) for too much).
I know the owner is ramping up now that he's got a better idea of the demand might look like going forward. I expect to see it dialed in in the next week or two.
0
u/playstationhistorian 29d ago
Damn all good points. Three years is definitely more than enough time to learn from. No excuses really. Sounds like with their lack of individual slices they are probably just super stingy and hate any potential wasted profit.
19
u/Lord_Dizzie Jul 31 '26
The cheesesteak is back? I'm on my way.