![]() ![]() If the money we fork over in the buffets helps to maintain this lifestyle (with perhaps a few buggy upgrades) I say more power to them. Yet there’s no evidence the Amish intend to abandon their beliefs and their lifestyle in the face of modernity and prosperity. But what’s actually wrong with that? We want them to stay in their buggies and remain quaint for our enjoyment as we tool down their byways and chuckle about the bargains we’re getting on fresh produce. We don’t have similar fits of outrage when we dine at Vegas buffets, do we? It rankles us that the devout Amish would make money by catering to the baser desires of the “English” and do it in such an ostentatious and frankly commercial way. I think the bad rap for Amish buffets is in fact our own prudishness. (Ideally the two days will include a Friday, so I can make a return visit to Green Dragon market and hopefully find some decent Shoo Fly Pie.) Yes, I am planning to eat there! In fact, I am already scheming around a two-day itinerary in which I eat at Shady Maple one day, Good and Plenty the next. Especially if I plan my visit around my birthday, where the meal is free as long as I am with a companion paying full price. In retrospect, though, I find myself asking what is wrong with all this? Do I not pride myself in trying to beat the house at Vegas buffets by eating more than the cost of the food? Shady Maple tops out at a little over $20 for dinner (some days are less) so this shouldn’t be hard. ![]() (Wait times stretch to 45 minutes at busy hours.) We snickered and high-tailed it out of there. Then we turned a corner and spied a line snaking across the lobby: patrons waiting for their turn to enter the room. Before long we could look through big windows and observe the diners at long tables as far as the eye could see. They’re expansive and opulent without being particularly distinctive-ornamental carpets, large overstuffed chairs used as accent pieces, and generic artwork of Amish country scenes (some in 3-D). The interior public spaces continued this feeling of déjà vu. We parked and entered under a wide portico that reminded me of nothing so much as a Las Vegas casino. This includes an immense supermarket, a gargantuan furniture store, an colossal gift shop, and the Shady Maple Smorgasbord-the mother lode of Amish buffets. However, before dining there we did a little detour to the Shady Maple complex a couple of miles away. Stuffed Pig Stomach with sides at Town Hall That same Chowhounder recommended Town Hall in Blue Ball-“where buffet employees go when they themselves want to eat out”-and Fisher’s Amish Restaurant near Intercourse. But I scrapped this plan in favor of buffet alternatives, regular restaurants that specialize in Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. No place beats Shady Maple Smorgasbord in East Pearl. I had a tentative plan to eat at Good and Plenty, an Amish buffet that Yelpers gripe about because they are forced to share the table with strangers. What are the best buffets in Pennsylvania If you’re looking for more excellent buffets in Pennsylvania, you have loads of options. Until my recent visit to Amish country I was of a similar mindset. Nothing is more frightening to me than to see obese people with walkers and oxygen bottles getting up for one more plate of fried chicken.” “It’s just that the food around them has. “The buffets haven’t changed in decades,” he complained. In the same plaza are some other stores/market and a gift shop.Diners waiting to be admitted to Shady Maple SmorgasbordĪre Pennsylvania Amish buffets-where diners pay a hefty sum for all-you-can-eat carbohydrate payloads-hypocritical, grotesque, or even evil? You’d think so if you pay attention to critics like the Chowhounder who recently moved back to Lancaster and wants to promote the area’s fine dining. Plenty of parking and the service is friendly. I'm guessing the various rooms held 5-700 people, but our wait was only a few minutes, even though it was mostly full at the time. ![]() This is run by the Amish and the products are apparently all local, much of it organic. I even had duck! Salad, bread and desserts were just as varied. they had several varieties of beef (the night we went, they also cooked steak or Hamburg to order, and sliced roast beef), chicken and seafood (good seafood too - I had cod and breaded shrimp). If I listed what was on the menu I'd sound a bit like Bubba Blue from Forrest Gump, so I won't try. More to the point, the spread is as good as you get for the price ($20-26 for dinner depending on the night). The building itself is huge - the biggest such buffet I've seen. ![]() The ride there Is relaxing and scenic - remember, this is Amish country. We recently visited Cousins near Lancaster Pa who raved about it so we just had to go. ![]()
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