Prince Street Cafe; Lancaster, PA

Prince Street Café. A place for coffee, conversation, and people watching. In one word, Prince St. is class. It exudes a captivatedly classy atmosphere that attracts people of all ages. You always have a few select tables filled with older men, rumbling about the usual old men things, baseball, grandchildren, golf, Viagra. Scattered throughout the tables of old men you have the lone stars. They sit, alone, some with their laptop others with books, soaking up the chic ambiance. Beside them are the teens. Hipsters. Thousands of them, well since the seating capacity is roughly around seventy people this is a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the picture. Teen and young adults such as myself flock to Prince Street Café. It gives us something to do in the rural town of Lancaster, other than cow tipping and thought provokingly biting on pieces of straw.

On occasion, or for me almost every night, people trade their thought provoking biting of straw for a Prince St. beverage. From cappuccino, to chai to irresistible Strawberry Lemonade, Prince St. offers your typical café beverages, ranging from $1 to $5. If a drink simply is not enough to satisfy the missing piece of straw in your mouth, then lucky for you Prince St. also not only offers dinner, such as mozzarella salad, turkey sandwiches with homemade chips, and my personal suggestion of quesadillas, but a great abundance of desserts as well. Muffins, pies, cakes of all kinds and a Lancaster County favorite, whoopee pies are also for your picking. After placing your order at the counter, you, your guests and your Prince St. number can sit and wait for your drinks.

The art of picking a table is a tricky one. You can immerse yourself among the old men, listening to old tales of war, among the loners, listening to the faint sound of Jazz music sneaking out of their ear buds, or next to the hipsters, listening to talk of unknown bands, skinny jeans, and novelty shops. #hipsterproblems. My personal suggestion is to if possible sit at a high table. The high tables are located along the ceiling to floor glass windows of the front wall of the café. These tables allow for not only people watching among the café, but along the street as well. With the Fulton Theater right across the street, you can easily watch the people post-show flooding out on to the streets. This is perfect when you find yourself on an awkward first date. Prince St. is an amazing date spot, but we all have had those dates that feel as though there is a better chance of God himself coming down and ordering a shot of espresso than you coming up with something to say. When the awkwardness begins so must the people watching.

From the coffee brown walls, red accents, and orange hued lighting, Prince Street Café is a place with little to no comparison. No café transcends the appeal of multiple generations quite like Prince St. does. So get that piece of straw out of your mouth, and get a Prince Street Café coffee instead.