Amanita Café’s focus on farm-to-table fare, a casual, relaxed atmosphere and friendly staff are key ingredients behind the Lancaster restaurant’s growing success. 

Amanita Café originally opened on the 400 block of West Walnut Street in 2022. Having outgrown the space, the café moved a few blocks away to its current location at 223 West Walnut Street last July. “The original space was pretty tiny; it seated about 40. We wanted to strike a blend between coffee and food and imagined it as a ‘grab-and-go’ space. But our food became popular, and we were frequently at capacity. It’s a great problem to have, but we didn’t want our guests to feel rushed by a wait for seating, so we began searching for another space,” explains Ella Usdin, who co-owns the business with her spouse, Ben Lavan. 

Amanita’s new location had been home to the vegan restaurant Root since 2015, when its owner announced the restaurant would be closing in December 2024. The space provided a perfect step-up for Amanita, as it offered both street traffic thanks to surrounding businesses and the closeness of being part of a neighborhood. “A number of our regular customers from the original location followed us here when we re-opened,” Ella reports. The space is also part of Lancaster’s history, as it once housed the original Wacker Brewing Co.  

Before reopening, renovations were made that included installing a live-edge wood bar top, re-upholstering chairs and banquettes, and adding hanging planters and moss installations. A mural was also completed. Ella describes it as depicting a full day in the forest, and credits Ben, Bernadette Goetz, Shauna Yorty and Schon Wanner as being part of the collaborative effort. The mural features a variety of plants and animals, including the amanita mushroom that gives the café its name.

As for their backgrounds, Ella explains that “Ben is a farmer and forager, and I’ve been in the hospitality industry for a number of years. We love entertaining, so opening a restaurant committed to local, sustainably sourced ingredients is the perfect fit for us. The name Amanita Café just fits what we do, and the mushrooms in the mural are the variety of amanita mushrooms that can be found in our area.” Ella also notes that foraged ingredients are incorporated into the restaurant’s menu offerings. 

Amanita Café seats about 90 in two dining spaces. During warm-weather months, the large glass roll-up door in the rear dining area opens into an outdoor-dining space.  

Amanita Café serves American and Mediterranean cuisine. It also offers a full-service coffee and espresso bar. The food menu includes breakfast, lunch and brunch items, as well as vegan options. While ingredients change seasonally, menu items are relatively stable. For example, a frittata is on the menu, but its ingredients change depending on what’s fresh and in season. “We create a high-quality product that comes from the bounty of the earth. It yields a better product when you’re incorporating seasonal ingredients. Items such as our greens change seasonally, and the whipped butter that’s served with our waffles also incorporates seasonal ingredients,” Ella explains.

Popular items include burgers, which are made using grass-feed beef sourced from Apple Valley Creamery; and shakshuka, a Middle Eastern dish featuring two free-range poached eggs cooked in a spiced tomato sauce with zucchini, bell peppers and feta, and served with sourdough toast sourced from Front Porch Baking Co. Other customer favorites include hummus and mushroom toast and Amanita’s signature mushroom grilled cheese.  

In addition to Apple Valley Creamery (East Berlin, York County) and Front Porch Baking Co. (which recently relocated from Millersville to the city), Amanita Café also sources ingredients from Eagle Road Farm, Quarryville; Elsewhere Bakery, Forager’s Formula and Lancaster Farmacy, all in Lancaster; Local Bound PA, Philadelphia; and Joyce Farms, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Coffee beans are sourced from Passenger Coffee Roasters and Gerhart Roasters, both located in Lancaster. “It’s important to us that we use coffee that’s sustainably grown and that growers receive a fair wage,” Ella says. Amanita Café also creates its own brews including a Nitro Cold Brew that’s a blend of Gerhart and Passenger beans. Other beverages include tea, smoothies, sparkling beverages and kombucha. 

The café also offers catering with party trays and platters available for pick-up or delivery.

Amanita Café is located at 223 West Walnut Street, Lancaster. Hours are 9 a.m.-2 p.m. daily. (Kitchen closes 15 minutes prior to restaurant closing.) Online ordering available. For more information, call 223-569-6109 or visit, amanitacafe.com, Facebook and Instagram.