Photography by Donovan Roberts Witmer
What do you get when you cross comfort food with a healthy imagination and add craft cocktails? In York, you get Otto’s. Opened in September 2015, this downtown spot offers traditional fare, kicked up a few notches, at moderate prices. While the American-style entrees might sound familiar, they’re combined with unexpected touches and offer deep, authentic flavor.
Take the meatloaf. A humble dish, but served with ricotta gnocchi and smoked tomato sauce. Their take on chicken and waffles? Hand-breaded fried chicken in a maple-mustard glaze with a shot of Old Grumpy Mark’s hot sauce. Steak and Eggs involves coffee-rubbed hanger steak, hollandaise sauce and sweet potato latkes.
Likewise, soups (often gluten-free) include Tomato & Smoked Ham, which one customer came back for twice in the same day. And it’s all made from scratch, right in the open kitchen. The sauces, the desserts, everything.
“Comfort food is classic,” says Chef Zac Bentzel. “It makes people feel good. In this area, I think people want something recognizable, something nostalgic, and they want that to be great and different.”
A one-two-three punch
Otto’s draws, besides fresher, modern comfort food, are threefold. One: A limited late-night menu, served from 10 p.m. till midnight. Two: A brunch option that is anything but your typical buffet, with surprises like Falafel Benedict and Smoked Trout Hash, extending until 4 p.m. both weekend afternoons. And three: The busy bar.
“For our signature cocktails, we started with a Carl Sagan theme, for names,” explains bartender Rachel Gibson, “which nod to the astronomer." Thus the Solar Flare: Four Roses bourbon, prickly pear puree, lemon juice and saffron syrup. Suspended in a Sunbeam combines sparkling wine and a raspberry syrup sink with a Fernet float. The outer space Travellers’ Tale combines El Jimador tequila, Del Maguey mescal, muddled red pepper, pineapple juice, lemon and Campari.
Mocktails like the 4th Dimension and Sage Advice are worth investigating. There’s also a short wine menu that includes a white wine from Hungary and a sparkling moscato from Italy. The craft cocktails are the main course on the bar side. House made syrups and bitters, fresh squeezed juices, unusual spirits and inventive combinations translate into less sugary drinks with complex, layered flavors.
Freshen up your drink
“People are really grasping hold of the fact that everything is very fresh and beautiful,” says Gibson. One invention, the Madam’s Apple, was created for Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, a fundraiser featuring men wobbling their way down York’s streets in stilettos. It was such a hit they kept it on the menu. Beverages can be paired with the dish you order; just ask any server. Happy hour plates from $2-6 offer another option.
“We try to get people excited about cocktails,” says manager Phil Smith. Craft beers are on tap as well, including Yards’ Brawler from Philly (always $2).
#iloveyorkcity
The chef, manager and operators hail from York County. Robert Faucette and Robert McGrath, of local chain Roburrito's fame, worked with landlords Royal Square Development & Construction. McGrath says, “It’s fun to bring new options back to our hometown” from travels and ideas across the country. Among other possibilities, they saw there was room for a new cocktail bar here.
Located in the heart of the downtown district, Otto’s is just off the Square and a half-block from the Strand, so the late menu accommodates the show-going crowd. McNulty says people also find it easy to stop in for a quick meal and cocktail after Saturday’s trip to the market. Quick, friendly service makes another reason to use the town’s popular hashtag #iloveyorkcity or #ILYC for short.
The décor pays tribute to the area, with wood from Hanover barns and classic signs from earlier iterations of the venue. In the mid-20th century it housed Ramona’s Restaurant, and decades earlier the Crystal Shoe Shine Parlor. More recently it was Bistro 19. McGrath says transforming one of the oldest buildings in York was a major renovation. The bar reveals the original tile from Ramona’s, but the beautiful mixed-stain plank floor in the dining room is all new. Kind of like how the cuisine comes together: the best of the past melded with current techniques that unite in retro-fresh cuisine.