Alley Cat
Delicious pizza and cheap too. Plus low-to medium price range for drinks $3-4.50 for a mixed drink and a good amount of seating for those less interested in sitting at the bar. Young to middle-aged crowd most nights.
Annie Bailey's Irish Pub
Your typical Irish Pub. Good atmoshphere for the older folks. Very large deck recently built to handle the smoking crowd and the addition of an "Irish Tiki Bar". Solid middle price range $3.50-5 for a mixed drink and good food. Young professional crowd over lunch, college students on Friday and Saturday nights.
Chauncey's Pub
Lucky Dog Cafe
Good for both younger and older crowds. Fun bar atmosphere. Must try the wings and on Thursday's try the $.25 great tasting shrimp.
Lizard Lounge
Best place to go to hang out with the "hip" crowd. Bottom floor of The Chameleon Club. Open Tu-Su. Usually a drink special $1 beers, $2 wells on weeknights. DJ's on Tuesdays, sometimes Wednesdays. Karaoke on Thursdays. Biggest party in town on First Friday.
Brendee's Cafe
The pit stop for those who live on the West End of Lancaster. Good food, good prices, good staff. Smoking is permitted inside. Low to medium price range $3.50-5 for a mixed drink. Usually a neighborhood crowd, some young locals mixed in. Limited seating in the back. Excellent jukebox. The Dutchland Rollers the local roller derby team sometimes calls this bar home.
Shamrock Cafe
The downtown "blue collar" bar. Low prices for drinks. Smoking friendly. Pool table. The bartenders here are the old school sort: if you tip well, and they get to know your name, you will be taken care of. Limited take out options. Has an undeserved reputation for being a "rough" joint, but pay no mind. Give it a shot and make some new friends.
Rock Hill Tavern
Tavern that has a great atmosphere and tasty food.
Hildys
Local watering hole. Drinks only, no food, therefore: you can smoke inside, it can get thick at times. Older local crowd before 8PM, Franklin and Marshall students and younger crowd after that. Mostly bar seating, some tables. Low to medium in terms of drink prices $3-5 for a mixed drink.
Up until Prohibition, Lancaster had several fine breweries which earned it the reputation as Munich on the Conestoga. With the resurgence of microbrewing in the last decade or so, a few new breweries have cropped up. If you want to get your favorite mass-produced, lowest common denominator, lite beer, there are more than enough bars and restaurants to patronize. But these three establishments are worth checking out, particularly if you're a beer connoisseur.
Note regarding alcohol sales: - Under Pennsylvania law, beer purchased at various beverage outlets can only be sold in quantities no less than 1 case. Smaller quantities can be purchased, but only at bars that offer carry-out service.
Stoudt's Brewing Company
(http://www.stoudtsbeer.com/). has the distinction of being the first micro brewery in pennsylvania and has won several awards for its brews.
Tally-Ho Tavern
A very nice, gay-friendly bar in the downtown area. Medium to upper price range $5-7 dollars a mixed drink but well worth it. Bartenders are very friendly and make a stiff cocktail. Smoking friendly. Small dance floor. This place is relatively quiet before 11PM, but packed by 2AM.