Restaurants in York

Built in 1764, The Franklin House has surrounds guests with time-tested elegance complementing a menu of classic American comfort and upscale seasonal dishes. As the building has seen the ages pass, its customers continue to take advantage of its spoils as they eat in the dining room or out on the balcony. These days, guests may be found savoring blackened mahi-mahi salad while dining companions try to fit the provolone- and bacon-layered Franklin club sandwich into their own cheeks. A half-pound of Black Angus comprises the unique foot-long Frankie dog, which chefs heap with chili and cheese, and mussel and steamer dishes top tongues with fresh nautical morsels.

During his seven years in the Air Force, Shawn Moyer’s travels around the globe introduced him to numerous regional cuisines. He drew on his knowledge of different cultures while training at the York Career Institute, where he worked with many European- and French-trained chefs before being hired as Nikos’ executive chef. He’s been there ever since, concocting seasonal menus of modern American cuisine such as certified Angus beef burgers and his winter specialty snowflake au jus.

Along with his culinary crew, Executive Chef Shawn makes nearly every dish from scratch, using local ingredients such as poultry from neighboring Mennonite and Amish farms. His dishes are served in a sumptuous dining room with exposed brick walls, hardwood floors, and opulent flower arrangements. After dinner, visitors can light up a stogie on the patio of the Silver Star Cigar Lounge or watch flat-screen TVs at the bar.

Although Prudhomme’s Lost Cajun Kitchen occupies a nearly 200-year-old brick hotel and former speakeasy replete with underground tunnels and a reputation for hauntings, the restaurant nevertheless exudes a warm, lively vibe. For 24 years, aromas of fried shrimp and blackened catfish have drifted through the dining room, whose dark wood walls display a jumble of American antiques and artifacts as owners David and Sharon Prudhomme rove around greeting guests.

At MoMo's BBQ and Grill, sauces aren't just a messy byproduct of eating barbecue. Rather, they are spotlight-snatching costars, having pulled in 13 awards of excellence from the National Barbecue Association, highlighted by mango habanero's 2011 distinction as tops in the citrus class. Long before MoMo's gourmet sauces receive a call to action, though, their meaty counterparts are busy getting slow-smoked, in-house, with a combination of applewood and hickory. Seven days per week, finished creations arrive on the tables of diners in the form of Texas beef brisket and "high on the hog" racks of ribs. A selection of more than 100 bottled beers washes over satisfied taste buds, and every Friday, live blues bands infuse meals with passionate riffs and lyrics about the heartbreak of finishing a pulled-pork sandwich.