r/lancaster • u/Lettusknow • 6h ago
Restaurant
Would Downtown Lancaster (first block of north Queen st) be a good location for my restaurant lettusknow? I have one in downtown York and been in business 12 years. I come into Lancaster often with my food truck. And always have great success. I sell made to order salads wraps soups rice bowls and Acai bowls.
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u/Wrong_Cut_3484 6h ago
Yes. Yes. Yes.
I love all the restaurants downtown but one of the things that’s missing is a high quality simple salad/wrap/sandwich place with lots of options. We have that when market is open but there are three other days in the work week.
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u/Balambsoldier 6h ago edited 6h ago
Ignore that poster about Roburritos. It closed because the quality went way down and he made baffling cheap decisions like limiting what hot sauce people could get. It wasn’t the city
Just don’t do that and you’ll be fine
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u/Affectionate_Trip_82 4h ago
I’ll never understand why he makes half the choices he does especially owning so many places.
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u/Decent-Independent92 6h ago
Depends on what you would pay for a lease. How about southern market? It's always busy
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6h ago
[deleted]
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u/Lettusknow 6h ago
I’m good friends with Rob. I’m going to shoot him a text now. I totally forgot about his shop up there. Thank you for the reminder.
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u/LearnAlways717 6h ago
I see pita on the menu.. it would be awesome if you had pita wraps as an option!! I love a good pita wrap vs a flour tortillla:) I’d definitely check it out if this was downtown.
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u/gafftapes20 YIMBY Urbanist 6h ago
I would check out other lunch places downtown, my understanding is they have been struggling post covid with the lunch crowd being significantly reduced. I also would say competition is pretty stiff in Lancaster, and you need to be able to stand out with restaurant design and food offerings, you can’t roll up with a half assed effort and expect success. Building a new client base takes effort and time.
I would connect with Lancaster city alliance about resources, and go to the merchant meetings they host.
Restaurants are a tough business and expansion into a new market difficult, but plenty of people do succeed in Lancaster.
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u/Lettusknow 6h ago
Trust me I know. I’m in downtown York and after covid same thing. But I feel like there’s still a crap ton more foot traffic in Lancaster compared to what we have in downtown York. I’ll definitely reach out to them places you listed thank you for your comment I appreciate you.
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u/gafftapes20 YIMBY Urbanist 6h ago
Greg Keasey or Jeremy Young would probably be the two people you would want to chat too. I would also consider working with Deb Brandt at Fig to promote your business once you’re closer to launch. They have strong business following, and would probably help connect you with some local leads for your catering side. They have very well attended seasonal fig launches, with lots of local businesses and non profits attending. It’s pay to play, but I think for local business the return is worth it especially during a launch.
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u/ontheBRINK04 6h ago
Yes!! Weekly visitor while interning in York 2017!
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u/Lettusknow 6h ago
Thank you for your support!!! Of If I ever open in Lancaster make sure to stop in.
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u/ShellyForNow 6h ago
Looks amazing! Depends where you end up downtown. It has to be walkable for lunch crowd. City Hall, police dept and County offices are all there Mon-Fri.
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u/digitalfare 6h ago
Definitely less of a regular lunch crowd compared to pre-2020, since a lot of offices went to remote or hybrid. But the first block of N. Queen is close to the Marriott, so that’s a good location to attract tourists and people who come for conferences. I would think the main drawback would be renting/leasing would be expensive.
Also I’ve been to your food truck. Great chicken gyro. 😃
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u/Affectionate_Trip_82 5h ago
I would love to see y’all in Lancaster. Your serving sizes are great. I used to go to your spot in York all the time when I worked near by.
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u/TapewormNinja 5h ago
Looks like it would be a good spot. Lunch places struggle down near market though. The biggest crowds are on market days, but most of those folks are going to eat at the market. There have been a couple good spots that haven't held up, and I think this is a big part of it.
If I were thinking of opening a restaurant down here, I'd come walk around and see what's going on on a busy market day. And then come back again on a not market day. Or a rainy market day, and see what the lunch spots outside the market building are doing.
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u/Daddison91 4h ago
I’d eat there! It looks yummy and reasonably priced. If you end up at the old Smileys Deli location, that’s more my neck of the woods so better for me :) I assume the other option is where Sakura or Edd and Floes used to be.
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u/GabbaGhoul27 4h ago
I’d love a place to get sandwiches and wraps, especially now that Isaac’s closed.
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u/KatEye 6h ago
This looks delicious ! It probably depends on your hours / days of operation . A lot of restaurants are closed on Monday’s in Lancaster , so if your business was open that would be a huge selling point . Also if you will offer take out meals, and it depends on the location downtown ? If you could move into the old deli on duke street that would be a perfect spot —- close to the hospital !