On our recent trip to Frankenmuth, we pretty much ate our way through the weekend.  Our first taste of Bavaria took place at downtown’s Zehnder’s, famous for its all-inclusive chicken dinners.  Honestly, we were torn between Zehnder’s and its sister restaurant at the Bavarian Inn, but the neon sign outside of Zehnder’s won us over in the end.

Zehnder’s serves lunch and dinner and is open from 11:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily.  Patrons can choose which of several dining rooms they prefer to be seated in.  Most of the ones we peeked in looked substantially similar, with white table cloths, a mellow color scheme, and seasonal floral arrangements.  I cannot ever imagine needing reservations at this massive restaurant, ever, as the assorted dining rooms can fit a total of 1,500 guests! 

Here’s a shot the restaurant’s charming exterior, with aforementioned sign.  The other photo shows our dining room of choice.  I can’t remember what it was called (they all had names), but I know it was to the left after we entered.  We were seated in the center of the room, directly behind the pictured table. 

Zehnder’s offers both a traditional menu and a more famous family style option.  We breezed right past the schnitzels and fish dishes to order the All-You-Can-Eat chicken dinner for $18.95 per person, adding mixed Bavarian sausages for $2.00 more.  Don’t worry, we did have more traditional German food a couple of days later at the Bavarian Inn which offers an almost identical menu.  I have to say I liked the chicken dinner better, and Zehnder’s also won out for atmosphere and service.

Our meal kicked off with this rather unusual selection of appetizers.  As you can see, we received a light noodle soup, crunch garlic toast, and fresh bread in two different varieties.  To accent the breads we were given various spreads, the best of which was the slightly spicy cheese served with the garlic toast.  The coleslaw-looking stuff to the middle left never got touched.

After spending some quality time with our breads and spreads, we dug in to the main course.  This included fried chicken, dressing, mashed potatoes with gravy, buttered noodles, and green beans.  Most of this menu is standard, with the vegetable option I believe changing seasonally.  The buttered noodles (homemade) came coated in cracker crumbs and were the best I’ve ever had.  Other standouts included the juicy fried chicken and the fluffy mashed potatoes.  There was really nothing I didn’t like, with the possible exception of the dressing.  This is an all-you-can eat meal, but there was so much food I think we only had seconds of the noodles and possibly the potatoes.

Finally, our meals ended with two small dishes of homemade ice cream.  I was expecting hand-packed but soft serve was a nice surprise.  The hubby ordered plain vanilla (boring!) and I, as you can see, opted for chocolate and vanilla swirl.  This small dessert was a perfectly sweet ending to a perfectly delicious and enjoyable meal!

I love Indiana’s Amish country, and fall is just about the best time to visit.  We make a visit to Nappanee’s Amish Acres just about every year, sometimes to stay the night and sometimes just to eat and shop.  Most recently we stopped in to see Pirates of Penzance at the Round Barn Theater (HILARIOUS!) and to enjoy a gut-busting family-style Thresher’s Dinner.  As always, it was a wonderful day.

Here’s an exterior shot of the main barn which contains shopping, two films, and the entrance to the Round Barn Theater for plays.  Show tickets cost around $26.00.  Plain and Fancy plays all year, every year, with other shows rotating by the seasons.  Admission to the films is included with the Amish Acres admission fee which also includes a historic farm tour, hayride, and several other attractions.

This is the entrance to the restaurant barn where the serious eating takes place.  As you can see, there was all sorts of fun fall stuff going on during our visit including a pumpkin patch and a scarecrow competition. 

There were lots of beautiful and funny scarecrows, but I liked how this one looked like she had some spunk.  Actually, she kind of reminded me of my grandmother.

Pumpkins abounded during our visit.  We didn’t do the pumpkin patch tour this time, but we have once before.  The tractor-drawn wagon ride is fun and visitors can select their own pumpkins out of many in a designated field.  This is a great fall activity for anyone, particularly families with small children.

The Thresher’s Dinner takes place in a barn, but it’s a nice one.  There are white tablecloths, after all!  Meals are generally served family-style, although some the menu was recently updated to include a la carte offerings as well.  We always get the famous Thresher’s Dinner with fried chicken and beef for just under $20.00 per person.

The meal starts off with ham and bean soup and fresh bred with butter.  I like the soup better than the bread, but I’m not a big bean person.  On our recent visit, we also had the option to visit a “salad bar” which basically looked like a big bowl of lettuce and some dressings.  We opted out of the salad to avoid filling our bellies with roughage before getting to the good stuff. 

Here’s the main event – fried chicken, roast beef, buttered noodles, mashed potatoes, dressing, and corn.  Sometimes the corn is replaced with green beans or another seasonal vegetable.  Everything is pretty darn good.  I like the tender, carefully seasoned beef the best, while the hubby prefers the lightly coated fried chicken.  We always end up getting seconds of the mashed potatoes.  My only complaint from our recent visit is that the noodles were just a little too soggy, probably because they are prepared in large portions and then sit for a while.

Finally, every meal at Amish Acres ends with a choice of pie.  There are usually lots of different types available, but we arrived very close to closing time on this particular visit and as you can see lemon meringue ruled the day by the time we got to dessert.  I did manage to nab a piece of dutch apple and the hubby got some type of multiple berry pie.  These pies were good, but not as flaky and delicious as the cherry pie I usually select so I recommend dining early for maximum selection.

Those wishing to take home some Amish noodles, jellies, or a pie can stop and shop in the gift store right outside the restaurant barn’s entrance.  We usually take home some raspberry jam.  For the truly ambitious, Amish cook books are also available so you can recreate your Thresher’s dinner at home.