Italian in Amish Country?

Florentino’s Italian Restaurant and Bar

1411 Columbia Avenue

Lancaster, PA 17603

My blog is going to take a different angle for the next few posts because last month I had to go to Lancaster, PA for work for the week, so I ate out for every meal from Monday to Thursday. I will always review restaurants and bars I go to, even if they are not near my hometown. I hope all you loyal readers still find it helpful and entertaining!

Lancaster was cool from what little bit I got to see; (we were working 8 am to 8 pm, so there was not much time to see things other than the restaurants we are at each night. There were some really good places that we went to, and I will try to keep the entries short and sweet. I know most of you will probably not go to Lancaster any time soon, but just in case you have to be out there for something or are driving through and looking for something to eat, you can check out a few of my entries for some good meals.

The first day we hit Florentino’s in downtown Lancaster for lunch. The food was very good, and the service was very attentive. There were not a lot of people eating lunch at the time that we went, so it was nice to pretty much have the back dining room to ourselves.

I ordered a chicken and pesto panini for my meal, and I also decided to order the soup de jour because it was pasta e fagiole and I had never had it before. The pasta e fagioli came out first. It was a very good soup. The broth was full of tomato flavor and the vegetables, beans, and pasta were tender and cooked to perfection. I cannot wait to try pasta e fagioli at other places now that I have tried Florentino’s, which has set the bar very high. It is definitely one of the better soups that I have tried in my life.

The chicken pesto pannini was a perfect sandwich as well. It was on Italian flatbread with grilled chicken breast, provolone cheese, lettuce, onions, and it was covered in a basil pesto. The bread was super crunchy, as a great pannini should be, and the chicken was cooked to perfection. The cheese added the perfect touch of saltiness and texture to the sandwich, but the pesto was the real kicker. It rounded out the flavor of the sandwich perfectly. Pesto is quickly becoming a must have sauce for me when I go to restaurants. It adds a depth of flavor that I do not usually get from marinara or alfredo sauces.

Give Florentino’s a try if you are ever passing through the area because it is good food at a fair price. I would definitely recommend it to people looking for a spot to eat in the Lancaster area. Cheers!