Lancaster’s Southern Market
A major facelift to a vintage structure brings multi-cultural offerings to the heart of Lancaster County
When I first heard there would be another market in downtown Lancaster, I worried that it would be gone before I could experience it. Central Market, the hub of the city and the oldest continuously running public farmer’s market in the US, has a strong presence in Lancaster, and Southern Market, just a few blocks away, would be facing an uphill battle. That is, if they tried to compete for the same produce-and-lite-fare offerings.
However, the new Southern Market, a trendy upgrade to the original 1888 building, is a different concept entirely. Envisioned as a “food hall and community hub,” this stylish, open space has prepared food options from nearly a dozen different vendors, set up around the perimeter of the welcoming dining area. At the center is a large and lively bar which serves up specialty cocktails as well as made-to-order mixed drinks, several wines, and an assortment of bottle and draft beers.
I’ve been there twice now, once with my wife and another time with the family, so I wanted to give two different perspectives on the same place (plus I wanted an excuse to try things I didn’t have room for the first time!).
Date Night Drinks
When my wife and I arrived at Southern Market for the first time, we were instantly struck by how solid yet airy the building felt. The exterior is brick and glass, with sturdy doors and new sidewalks all around. Inside, the concrete floor and steel trusses frame the well-lit interior.
But the main thing that drew our eye was the freakin’ moss wall.
Seriously, how do you not love a place with an eight-by-twenty-foot wall of living moss? We instantly knew we were in the coolest spot downtown that particular Friday night.
We did a circuit to see the vendors, making mental notes of places we’d like to eat in the future (we had dinner reservations in a hour at Flora’s). With options ranging from pho to soul food, Moroccan to Latin, we knew we had to come back to sample two or three (or five or eight…).
Since we were short on time, we pulled up a couple stools at the bar, where we were quickly greeted by one of the three tattooed bartenders. Feeling fancy, we each ordered one of the specialty cocktails and sipped away as we took in the room.
For my first drink, I tried the PA Maple Mai Tai, a mix of rums with almond, maple, and curacao flavors — quite tasty. My wife chose The High Mind Highball, a refreshing gin and tonic with citrus and herb notes.
Making short work of those, we decided to get two more drinks (which ended up being a mistake for two lightweights with empty stomachs). I ordered the Mott and Mulberry, a whiskey-infused apple cider, while my wife went with The Armored Car, another botanical blend mixed with brandy, amaro, and curacao. It was a heavy-hitter, and I ended up finishing so I didn’t have to carry the Mrs. to dinner.
As we glided off to our second stop of the night, we vowed to return to sample the food. We kept our word…
Around the World in One Big Room
A few weeks later, we returned to Southern Market with our girls for an early Saturday dinner. We weren’t sure how they’d feel about the bustling space and plethora of choices, but we figured they’d find something they liked, and it was loud enough inside that any complaining would be drowned out by the crowd.
Fortunately, everyone found things they wanted and there was no complaining (strike that: minimal complaining). If anything, we all had too many choices in mind, and the struggle was narrowing down our options. My youngest wanted pizza, mac and cheese, and rice and beans. She settled on mac and cheese with a heaping side of cornbread from “X Marks the Spot,” plus some blue(?) soda from “Savoy Truffle Cakes.”
After some back and forth between egg rolls and empanadas, my older daughter settled on Tikka Masala from “Flavors of Morocco.” Since my wife wanted Chicken Tagine from there, I got their shawarma (even though I was eyeing up the Syrian version at “Layali Al Sham”).
All our food was ready quickly and served hot. The three Moroccan dishes came on a bed of rice pilaf, with a side of roasted eggplant, carrots, and beets. They were all delicious (yes, I ate some of each), with the shawarma being my favorite and the tikka winning over my wife and daughter. The tagine was perfectly fine, just not exactly what my wife was envisioning (we’ve only had beef tagine before, and it was boneless). Everything was deeply flavorful without being overly spicy.
On the plus side, we all ate our fill and left before the place got too busy.
The downside was that we’ll have to go back to try all the other places we didn’t get to order from this time! (I’m lookin’ at you, pho…)
