It once might have been hard to imagine that a new food hall built around the culture of diversity would pop up in downtown Red Lion, but since November, Franklin Street Social has been mixing up cuisines while also marrying nostalgia with modernity in what is proving to be the perfect setting to build a healthy community.
Photography By Karlo Gesner
Red Lion was already a walkable town with green spaces and play areas as well as revitalized buildings featuring coffee shops, breweries, a wellness studio, an art market, guitar stores, a youth center and a rail trail dubbed the Red Lion Mile. When Franklin Street Social opened, it brought with it not just another great reason to walk this town, but an economic engine featuring 13 restaurant stalls and gathering spaces for friends, family and community events.
It’s not what most would expect in a typical food hall. With an internationally recognized Thai stand, and stand owners who include a firefighter, a former vegetarian/DJ/bartender known as Veg running a barbecue stand, and a 23-year-old former dishwasher turned owner of a taqueria, Franklin Street Social brings in a diversified portfolio of owners and concepts.
The measure of a community’s health looks at a variety of factors, including economic opportunity, social and cultural opportunity, and access to healthy food. The Federal Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion has designed a Healthy People 2030 program with five goals, including this one relating to social determinants of health: “Create social, physical, and economic environments that promote attaining the full potential for health and well-being for all.”
1 of 2
THAI STREET | Photography By Karlo Gesner
2 of 2
Thai Street | Photography By Karlo Gesner
Check, check and check at Franklin Street Social.
New Red Lion borough manager Michelle Poole first notes the physical health benefits of Franklin Street Social with a walkable location along the Red Lion Mile. Then, she points to the economic benefits of a spot that is drawing people from all over, particularly areas west and north of Red Lion—a statistics company tracked a minimum of 16,000 visits (via cell phone tracking) within the first two weeks the food hall was open. She also highlights the value for seniors whose living communities now have a destination that caters to a variety of tastes and budgets while being able to accommodate large groups who arrive en masse.
“It allows people to come in there and socialize and meet with each other in a location that allows everyone to meet their needs as far as health and food are concerned,” Poole says, adding, “I’m excited. As things are getting developed one by one—and there’s interest in other buildings in the community as well— I’m happy to see how it all develops.”
KID'S PLAY SPACE | Photography By Karlo Gesner
Something for everyone
A stylish young mother wearing a wide-brimmed hat with a baby on her hip and two towheaded toddlers following behind walked in the door at 11 on the dot one Wednesday and didn’t walk back out until four hours later. She and other mothers enjoyed coffee and snacks at tables while the kids jumped and ran in a unique play space tucked into a corner. Children playing and happy mothers—that’s a healthy environment.
Groups of friends sat at tables on both levels of the food emporium, enjoying steaks, shawarma and many other specialized food choices. One group of women came from York, Shrewsbury and Red Lion to meet for birria tacos. Of that group, only one was a first-timer. One was there for her fifth time, less than three weeks after it opened.
Retro-style graphics catch the eye throughout the New York subway-themed renovated former furniture factory. In particular, a poster introduces Franklin Street Social’s character mascot Frankie—or Francesca Franklin León, the full name given to her by co-owner Ethan Greer, who says she is racially ambiguous and “just a busybody who has to get to happy hour, almost like a Carmen Sandiego.” From Harlem to the Hamptons, she is imagined as an everywoman with a love of new things.
This is the vision of Greer and his co-owner Jordan Ilyes in a nutshell. “Frankie gives us this unique element for branding,” Greer says, noting that their decisions are based around “What would Frankie want to eat? What would Frankie want to drink? Are you being hosted in this space in the way that Frankie would host you in the Hamptons?”
Ilyes, whose background is in construction and development, and Greer, a chef who worked in Baltimore, Miami and in the Caribbean before opening restaurants in Dover and Hanover, agree that they sought to create a melting pot at Franklin Street Social and chose Red Lion be - cause they wanted a neighborhood where they could create diversity in food and togetherness.
The former Ebert Furniture building was repurposed into Franklin Street Social, which also includes 88 apartments. Meanwhile, across the street, the Red Lion Table Company was also recently redeveloped by Ilyes and his develop - ment company and turned into a 98-unit luxury apartment building featuring a two-story coffee shop called Grounding as well as a two-story brewery, Black Cap Brewing Company.
A century ago, a cigar and furniture making economy fueled Red Lion. Although both industries petered out around the same time in 2011, Red Lion has been able to reinvent itself as a convenient service stop that offers more than gas for travelers not far off the major thorough - fares of routes 83 and 30.
The demographics of the community are slowly changing as well. The 2010 census found a town that was 95% white, but by 2020, that number had changed to 87%.
GREER'S BURGER GARAGE | Photography By Karlo Gesner
Embrace the change
Ilyes said the pair is “trying to impact the community with creativity for the better.”
The partners—who both graduated from Spring Grove High School, though seven years apart—were introduced by friends and quickly discovered a shared creativity. Their partnership started in Hanover where Ilyes had renovated several buildings. “I had a building, and it needed a restaurant.” Enter Greer and Greer’s Burger Garage.
Greer said the partners wanted to create a food hall that was approachable for their town and community with bold and vibrant offerings, but also one they knew would be well received. They were conscious in selecting restaurants that appeal to underserved communities in York County such as the Latino and Muslim com - munities. “We really had to filter through what made the most sense for Red Lion,” he says. “We want people to come here and feel welcome.”
That means that along with ethnic fare, diners can also find their American classics like hot dogs, burgers, cinnamon rolls, barbecue and mac ’n cheese.
Urban Steer | Photography By Karlo Gesner
The eclectic group of restaurateurs within Franklin Social Hall include three startups, seven from other markets, and three with other locations. Startups include Sweet Tooth Waffles and Munchies, Urban Steer and Mac Factory. Those in other markets include four from Southern Market in Lancaster—Layali El Sham, Akhi Sushi, 4 E’s Latin Cuisine and Noodle King; two from Central Market in York—Hefty Lefty’s and Slow and Low BBQ; and one from Broadway Market in Fells Point, Baltimore—Thai Street. Taqueria El Camino has another location in Dover, Greer’s Burger Garage operates in Dover and Hanover, and The Wild Batch Bakery has a shop in Wrights - ville. Greer owns all Greer’s Burger Garages and recently sold Taqueria El Camino to 23-year-old Wendy Stone, his former employee.
1 of 2
Wild Batch Bakery | Photography By Karlo Gesner
2 of 2
Wild Batch Bakery | Photography By Karlo Gesner
Downstairs, the building’s history is preserved via a rail from the railroad track that was left inside the factory and now serves as the foot rail at The Rail Bar, owned by Ilyes and Greer. Inspired by the Ma and Pa Railroad (Mary - land and Pennsylvania Railroad) that used to run beside the building, the bar features pre-batched cocktails made weekly from fresh ingredients and Pennsylvania spirits by a startup handcrafted cocktail business called A Casual Beverage. Ilyes built tables from the former Spring Grove High School basketball court.
Each vendor brings a unique story and helps to create a destination dining experience that Greer calls “Instagrammable.” With an adult slide, a kids’ play space, real cloth towels in the uniquely designed bathrooms and loads of comfy couches and tables, Franklin Street Social is meeting Greer’s and Ilyes’ goal to “offer something for everybody.”
In doing so, they are also helping to build a new, more walkable and healthier version of Red Lion, which is no longer just a convenient offthe-highway stop, but a destination.
Franklin Street Social | 214 N. Franklin St, Red Lion | 717-912-6101 | franklinstsocial.com
