Will's Guide to Liquid Adventures in Lancaster

This is a high art. (Or some would say a low and disreputable art practiced at the highest level ......take your pick). It is the culinary and social phenomenon of the highly skilled barkeep, or mixologist, creating, right in front of you, an alcoholic confection, a properly balanced trio of spirit, bitter, and sweet, individualized to your specific tastes from quality spirits and fresh adjunct ingredients made in-house and sourced from around the world, and beautifully presented to you, while you sit or stand at the rail and chat with your buddies and with strangers from different walks of life you would not otherwise have met. (I just met the Vice President of the Lancaster Beekeepers Society!!) This was a uniquely American art form that arose in the 19th century and was stamped out by prohibition. It did not come back with repeal. This lost piece of our heratage was only rediscovered, reclaimed and resurrected in the last 15 years or so, and it is going strong in Lancaster in these 3 places:

These are my picks for Lancaster bars with great service, quality drinks, impressive decor, and a good vibe.

Smoke-filled neighborhood bar with really cheap beers and shots; good music on the juke box; occasionally rowdy but mostly mellow inviting vibe where you can actually meet and talk to people you don’t know yet; darts; billiards. This is a vanishing sub-species in American bar culture. In 2014 there were only four or five left in Lancaster. Now its just these three:

2 good neighborhood bars, less than 7 min. walk from home.