Central Market on Penn Square is the single most important sight in Lancaster, both as architecture and as a working part of the city. The big red-brick hall is open Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday mornings, when about 60 stalls fill the space with farmers, butchers, bakers, and prepared-food vendors.
Pennsylvania Dutch specialties dominate: scrapple, sweet bologna, shoo-fly pie, chow-chow, apple butter, and a stunning range of pickled vegetables. Newer stalls offer Vietnamese spring rolls, Middle Eastern dips, and ground-to-order coffee. Plan to arrive hungry and try a half-dozen things from different stalls.