The Whisk Café specializes in classic American breakfast and lunch favorites with a culinary twist. Open since November 2019, the restaurant is the perfect spot to get breakfast or take-out to be enjoyed during a train commute (it’s located in the vicinity of Elizabethtown’s Amtrak station), or to indulge in a leisurely brunch or lunch in a building that embodies adaptive reuse. 

Breakfast lovers … there’s no need to rush; breakfast is served until 2 p.m. at Whisk! Take a seat outdoors and savor specialties such as Belgian waffles or Benedicts.

Colette McNitt acquired the café from its original owner, Amy Kreamer, in May 2023. Colette brings more than 25 years of experience in the restaurant business to Whisk, having worked as a chef at a Hershey-area restaurant, where she also was involved with catering. “The opportunity to own The Whisk Café came up, and my husband encouraged me to do this for myself. I live close by, so my commute to work is much easier,” she explains.

When she acquired the café, Colette refreshed the décor, painted and revamped the furnishings. High ceilings and crisp white walls pair with windows that bathe the space in natural light. A garage-type door can be rolled up in warm weather to create an indoor/outdoor dining experience. The café offers seating for about 70 at tables and two counter areas. An outdoor patio can accommodate an equal number of guests.

Colette also made some changes to the kitchen in order to improve the workflow and increase efficiency. “We have fun as we work,” she says of the staff, many of whom had worked for the previous owner. “Everybody, whether they work in the front or the back of the house, is a cog in the wheel. Our goal is to give good customer service and provide a good experience for customers,” she says, “I tell every staff member to treat our customers as if they were someone they were having as a guest for dinner in their home.”

The menu’s focus is fresh and local. For example, Whisk partners with Masonic Village Farm Market for in-season ingredients. Coffee is provided by Gerhart Coffee in Lancaster. Bread products are sourced from Michael’s Breads in Strasburg. Gluten-free and vegan products are courtesy of Free From Kitchen in Elizabethtown. Christiana White, the kitchen’s manager, assists with planning menu items and featured specials. “Sometimes we’re really craving something, so we put it on as a special. If a special is popular, it may be incorporated into our regular menu,” Colette notes.

The café serves breakfast, brunch and lunch. Breakfast is available all day, with lunch starting at 11 a.m. There’s also a latte menu with hot chocolate and coffee beverages, as well as freshly made bakery items including desserts.

The breakfast menu features pancakes, Belgian waffles, baked oatmeal, chia berry bowl, smoked salmon bagel and Monte Cristo sandwich. Popular breakfast items include omelets; Benedicts (classic, Florentine and Norwegian); monkey bread French toast: and Birria breakfast burrito (slow-roasted birria-seasoned beef, egg, cheddar, pickled onions with avocado and sour cream on the side). Colette also reports that avocado toast is one of the café’s top sellers.

Lunch offerings include the Masonic burger, cheesesteak flatbread, poppyseed chicken salad, wraps, bowls, paninis, Cobb salad and Whisk’s signature chicken Waldorf salad. The Rueben Sandwich, which features garlic rye, dill-garlic sauerkraut, thin-sliced corned beef, Swiss cheese and house-made Thousand Island dressing, is also one of the café’s top sellers.

For lunch, the menu features bowls (pictured), sandwiches and salads. Of course, anytime is coffee time (or maybe a mocktail/cocktail).

In addition to coffee and tea, Whisk offers cocktails such as Strawberry Rhubarb Spritz, Tipsy Arnold and Blueberry Muffin. The beverage menu also features mocktails (with names like Tropical Sky and Bloody Shame), and mimosas (by the glass or a flight with a choice of four flavors).

With the arrival of fall just around the corner, Colette promises flavors such as pumpkin and spice will be incorporated into the menu.

Ah, but there’s more to enjoy at Whisk. Through a partnership with Palmyra Greenhouse, its flower truck has visited the café on the first Sunday of the summer months for a pop-up event (September 7 will see the event come to an end for the year).

Colette McNitt (center) has owned Whisk since 2023; she is pictured with members of her staff.

The café also offers a Supper Club prix-fixe menu on the second Thursday of every month (5-8 p.m.). Reservations are required, and the cost is $55 per person. A vegetarian-focused Indian Dinner will be offered September 11, featuring cauliflower masala and jackfruit korma. The October 9 Supper Club menu will celebrate Oktoberfest and feature pork schnitzel, spaetzle and German red cabbage. Full menus for the three-course dinners (starter, main and sweet) are posted in a timely manner on Whisk’s website. Colette and Christiana collaborate on the Supper Club menu. “It gives us an opportunity to let people know we can do more than eggs and pancakes,” Colette explains.

Whisk Café also hosts special events such as Breakfast with Santa during a weekend in December (and the café is festively decorated for the holidays) and a Mother’s Day tea. The cafe’s space is available to rent for private parties after 4 p.m. Items from the catering menu are also available for pickup.

Whisk Café is located at 98 Masonic Drive, Suite 102 (Sycamore Square Marketplace), Elizabethtown. Hours are 8 a.m.-2 p.m. daily. For more information, call 717-287-6381, or visit thewhiskcafe.com and Whisk Café on Facebook and Instagram.