Iron Hill Lancaster

October 8, 2008
I was fortunate enough to get invited to the opening night Taste Testing by Miver... Food is excellent, I would highly recommend the sweet potato fries, thick fresh cut, with 3 dipping sauces, bouron vanilla cream, smoked paprika aioli, and habanero-lime.... Beer selection is the best in lancaster with a nice frequent change of new brews... As said before though, it can get very busy, you would def need to call for reservations on the busier nights... I have received great service in the dining area even at the busiest times... Highly recommend stopping in...

September 8, 2008
Like most brewpubs, this place loses on the beer. The beer here just doesn’t cut it. I even think that the beer here is considerably worse than in the Newark location, and why, I don’t know. It’s also *much* harder to get a table here for dinner. Most nights? Forget about it. This place is packed a lot of the time and there’s often a wait. The only time I’ve found that is good to go is sunday night. In terms of everything else? Nice beer sampler trays. Nice outdoor seating. Great location, very walkable from F&M college and surrounding neighborhoods. Perhaps a bit on the expensive side, especially given the mediocre nature of the beers. Service was very good thoughon the nights when you can actually get seated.

August 19, 2008
Located in a new building right next to a college. Very nice inside, although the atmosphere seems somewhat uptight and corporate. Most of the beer I sampled was pretty unimpressive. Just because you brew it on premise doesn’t give you the right to serve weak style interpretations at inflated prices. The food was good, the beer was forgettable.

August 19, 2008
Visited last weekend. Front area is open with lots of tables. The bar area is in the middle, and there are more tables in back. Food was the same as other IHs, which is to say very good. The beer sampler was 12 strong, ranging from good to great. Service was excellent.

August 19, 2008
visited on beer tour, 08/17/08. Bill Moore from Lancaster directed us to this location (we didn’t know it existed!), and we stopped by shortly after leaving Lancaster Brewing Co. I ordered a sampler, my choice 6 beers, and the ones which stood out were the Ironbound Ale, Pigtown Porter and Vienna Red, all of which were well done and flavorful. I liked the porter best (I generally do like dark beers better). I ordered lobster bisque, which was above average, my wife ordered french onion soup, which she liked quite a bit. In addition to the food and beer, we had requested a tour of the facility, and the manager PJ gave us a quick tour. He seemed knowlegable about beer and his opinions concerning various breweries and styles matched mine, so he must have been very informed! He took a lot more time than he originally suggested he had available, so I would have to think he was very interested in beer and the art of brewing. I was especially interested in the draft system in the facility, which was very sophisticated, and an example for many brewpubs and bars to follow. It was a very informative tour, a decent lunch and a pleasant afternoon spent drinking a pretty fair selection of beers.

July 22, 2008
Well located on one of the main roads into/out of Lancaster and directly across from Franklin & Marshall College. There is also a minor league ballpark right around the corner. Exterior is business park-like, but the attractive interior is warm, woody and inviting. Sat at the bar where the service was great. Food was good as well, although we did not stray far from the lunchtime standards. Beer selection and quality was very good, with maybe 9-10 on tap, plus a nitro and cask conditioned offering. Styles ranged from pilsners to Belgians. Definitely plan on returning when in the area again.

June 1, 2008
Nice place, great to have another brewery in the area. Service was prompt and pleasant and the food was good but a little pricey. Beer was all there stuff, fresh and most of it was tasty. Good variety. Liked the seating and the atmosphere only thing I don’t get is the logo. What does it have to do with Iron and or hills?! But whatever good stuff.

May 13, 2008
This was my first visit to an Iron Hill, and it’s pretty clear that they spare no expense on the place. Cavernous interior, high ceilings, huge oak bar, brass, and all the upscale bells and whistles. Despite this, it’s a bit ostentation and sterile-feeling. A large bar area and a semi-separated restaurant area as well. Our service was pretty crappy though, waited about 10 minutes after being seated before we even saw another server. After she brought our food and beer, I didn’t see her again for another 45 minutes. The place wasn’t busy at all when we were in, so there was very little excuse for the neglect. The beers however, were incredible. High quality from virtually every style I sampled. The sampler is a great deal too, at 7 bucks for a taste of everything they’ve got. Definitely worth going to.

May 12, 2008
This is an excellent location for an Iron Hill: plenty of parking, nice area, and very accessible. Iron Hills tend to be pretty expensive, but, being across the street from a rich-kid college, I don’t necessarily agree that it’s expensive of the area. In any case, the ambiance was pretty typical of an Iron Hill. The service was excellent. The manager, PJ, treated us to a private tour of the brew house (which is a bit different than other brew houses I’ve seen). The selection at the moment is VERY good: Barleywine, Bier de Garde, Triple, Vienna Red, Belgian Pale Ale, and Bourbon Barrel Indulgence (a chocolate stout). The food was excellent as usual. I’ll be back when the casked Krypotnite is tapped.

April 28, 2008 [ Updated June 3, 2008 ]
I’ve been here twice and the food and service is great. The prices are a little high for the area, but if you are looking for a nice night out then check out Iron Hill. As far as beer is concerned they have a decent selection, and to ge the biggest bang for your buck, get the sampler. With the samplers you get at least 8, 4 oz beers, for around $7 and pints are $4-5 depending on the beer. What I’ve noticed with the samplers though is they will give you every beer on tap so we’ve already gotten 12, 4 oz beers for $7, not a bad deal! I will also add here that they will give you small samples of the beers before you order a pint, if you are undecided.