I did check it out, and Checkers was different. The restaurant seemed to be run through the ground floors of several former townhouses. Each dining space was appointed in a different style, from wallpaper to stucco, and the whole contraption was given a glass entrance and wood-trimmed bar. It was odd.
The food, though, was simple and delicious. You could taste the tuna in the tuna po’ boy, the beets in the beet salad. When I mentioned it was my birthday, a small complimentary cake appeared with congratulations written in chocolate syrup.
A year ago Lancaster heard Checkers would be moving into a renovated warehouse space on Harrisburg Pike. They would double their seating and adopt an existing kitchen. In a town where you can leave your neighborhood by walking down the block, I wondered if they would keep their clientele.
To be honest, the jury is still out for me. The new space is beautiful—simple, dark furniture; theatrical lighting; photos and equipment from the Champion Blower and Forge Company that manufactured fans, drill presses and other tools there until the 1960s.
But the menu, ostensibly a “unique blend of French, Asian and American cuisines,” just reads like glorified bar food to me. The dinner menu lists steak frites, tuna frites and sweet potato frites, as well as pomme frites, potato gratin and housemade “smashed” potatoes. And fish & chips.
My beef Bolognese was forgettable.
I will be going back—to sit at the angled cement-like bar and try something from their handsome wine cellar—but this time I will not brace myself for “different.”
http://checkersbistro.com/
