CHAD UMBLE | Staff WriterAfter being closed for two years, Lancaster Downtown Deli reopened Friday, June 7, in a new spot in the first block of North Prince Street.
The new Lancaster city home for the deli serving sandwiches, soups and salads is at 52 N. Prince St. where it has seating for nearly 50. From November 2019 until June 2022, owner Tom Allen operated Lancaster Downtown Deli from a spot at 45 N. Market St., inside the Shops at Reilly Bros. & Raub.
Allen said he had been hoping to reopen the deli that he closed due to strains during the pandemic as well as rising costs and lack of available employees. In the new, more prominent spot in Lancaster city, Allen says he is offering many of his former menu items.
Before he opened the first version of Lancaster Downtown Deli, Allen had worked in restaurant businesses in seven states, including a stint at a restaurant in Arizona right before moving to Lancaster with his wife, Terese, who is a Lancaster native.
Lancaster Downtown Deli is in a building that is the former home of Pfenninger Electric, an electric and lighting supply company that was founded in 1913 by John H. Pfenninger and then moved in 1928 to 52 N. Prince St. The business, which eventually became Rutherford Electric, closed in 1996. The store’s original name, Pfenninger, remains part of the stonework above the entrance.
The spot was most recently occupied by HomeGoodies & Coffee, a coffee shop that still has a location in Columbia.
