Lancaster Central Market

Published September 24, 2024

Our second day of adventures at The Amish Village took us through the farmland and the nearby towns. For our third day in Lancaster, we decided to stay downtown and visit the Lancaster Central Market.

I heard about the Central Market in Lancaster, which was one of my main motivations for visiting the area. They had limited hours (Friday and Saturdays at the time that I went), so we ensured to save time during our trip.

 

Lancaster Central Market

Established in 1730, the Lancaster Central Market is one of the oldest continually operating public markets in the United States.

We followed the herringbone brick walkway to the massive red brick building with its arched windows and doorways. I loved the string lights threaded through this square. Another building on the left, across from the central market was also open and sold flowers and other boutique shops. It was another sweaty summer day and the market was already bustling with people.

Lancaster Central Market Businesses

You can find all of the Lancaster Central Market vendors in this directory. Organized by category, you can see there are florists, specialty grocers, home decor, prepared food vendors, produce, baked goods, and meats/proteins. I was excited to visit a variety of vendors in one location.

Flowers

We entered the Lancaster Central Market through one of the doors on North Market Street. The market was packed with bodies shuffling past display cases and carrying tote bags of purchases. The white noise of industrial fans blew the hot summer air throughout the industrial space with its massive ceilings.

Long aisles of vendors lined the space. We started next to the two flower vendors. Buckets of fresh flowers for build-your-own arrangements created a colorful wall to my right.

On the left, the booth for Central Market Flowers by Perfect Pots displayed miniature crystal arrangements and dried flower arrangements.

We continued down this first aisle, passing farmstands with paper containers of fresh fruits and vegetables. Leafy heads of greens rested in stacks on the wooden platforms.

On the right, a meat case of steaks, sausage, and prepared options offered seasoned and unseasoned options, including prepared meals. I wished we had a cooler or a big fridge to store items, as I would’ve purchased a few proteins to try.

Fresh Produce and Meats

Prepared Foods

Even though Lancaster Market has a directory of categories, the vendors are interspersed throughout the space. Farmstands are next to bakeries, gifts are between distillers, and more.

We turned the corner to the left and came to a small stand selling empanadas. Two older women ran the little booth that offered empanadas and rice-based entrees.

We tried the beef and cheese and the pizza empanada for $3.50 each. A large empanada filled with cheese, the shell was crispy and fried golden. I enjoyed the beef, but it was too much cheese for my dairy-sensitive stomach.

I was surprised to see that Lancaster Central Market didn’t have many tables or areas to sit down at. Three nearly one-person tables sat in the back corner of the room and were taken at most times, so we ate our empanadas in front of another florist stand. This stand had succulents in colorful pots and big buckets of sunflowers. An Amish girl worked behind the counter. I wondered if it was an Amish business.

Tea Bar

My face was red by now and I could feel the space getting hotter. We decided to get a cold drink from the Tea Bar, which was diagonal to the empanada stand.

Baskets of fresh loose-leaf tea were for sale, along with tea accessories.

The line for the Tea Bar grew as we selected a number of teas. A bakery selling blue ribbon-worthy pies sat next to the Tea Bar. I browsed their pastry case as we waited for our order.

I believe we got the blue matcha iced latte and a shaken unsweetened Georgia peach tea.

Cold drink in hand, we continued exploring the rest of the vendors. There were at least 5-6 long aisles of vendors to visit. This included stands of loose herbs, olive oil and vinegars, a skincare booth with lotions and products, and even a candy booth with vintage glass jars of candies.

There were a few farms selling homemade cheese, glass bottles of milk, and butter. I wanted to try the difference between fresh farm products and store bought, but worried about transporting and storing them on our day of adventures. Instead, we bought some souvenirs from Lucky Manufacturing Co., who had a booth in the back left corner of the room.

On the far right-hand side of the building, there is a narrow hallway — that looks like it leads to an exit, which it does, but it contains a loop of vendors that we had missed.

This included another butcher’s counter of beef jerky, cheeses, and pickled/prepared foods. We ordered a few types of the homemade Slim Jim-style meat sticks, including turkey, beef, and venison. I thought the venison had the best texture and flavor of the group.

Grasshopper’s Wicked Pickles was right behind this case and had a massive line of people trying and ordering plastic containers of pickles. We ended up ordering a small container of the garlic pickles which was a generous portion. The pickles were fresh and crisp and not too strong with the garlic flavor.

To the left of the pickle stand was Empanada Gourmet — Uruguayan empanadas, which are baked. We ordered two empanadas to try and compare to the empanadas we had earlier in the day.

I enjoyed the Empanada Gourmet empanadas because they were less cheesy and I felt like the filling had more flavor. Plus, they came with two sides of spicy sauce for dipping, which added extra flavor as well.

Kauffman’s Fruit Farm

As the day went on, it was hotter and hotter in the Central Market. Kauffman’s Fruit Farm sold various types of peaches and sugar plums. What caught my eye was the metal tin of apple cider sitting in ice.

I stopped, considering if we should get the miniature gallon, when I saw they had apple cider slushies! The perfect drink for a blistering day, a line formed to get one of the slushies (that took 10 minutes to churn to chill).

Deli Grassi

As we were nearing the exit back onto North Market Street, I noticed an Italian vendor — I believe it was Deli Grassi — that served cold cut sandwiches, sausage and peppers, and meatballs. We ordered one of their Italian sandwiches from the case and one meatball with sauce.

We ate outside at the benches alongside the building since all the tables inside the market were taken.

As an Italian, I’m always curious to see how others meatballs and sauce compare. Y’all, this meatball was delicious. And the sauce? (Chefs kiss). I enjoyed this meatball even as I burned my mouth, sweating to death in the direct sun. I would love to try it as a meatball sandwich when the weather is colder in Lancaster, as I feel I would’ve appreciated the flavor even more.

The sandwich we shared was premade from their case, which was fine, but I was hoping to see them prepare it like the other sandwiches they had at their station. The bread was chilled from being in the case, but was still fresh. The lettuce and tomatoes were crisp and the layer of prosciutto was tender.

Overall it was a great end to our food adventures around the Lancaster Central Market. Of everything we ate, the meatball was my favorite and the tea from the Tea Bar was the perfect cold drink for a summer’s day.

Stay Tuned for the Next Lancaster Adventure

Have you been to the Lancaster Central Market? Do you have a favorite vendor to visit?

Stay tuned for the next Lancaster adventure, coming soon to the blog. In the meantime, explore my other travel and restaurant recommendations here.