After a big day in Amish Country/Lancaster County Pennsylvania, we decided to try one of the big popular restaurants that also serves some typical Pennsylvania Dutch and/or country cooking…
This photo is of the partial exterior of the Lititz Family Cupboard Restaurant & Buffet in Lititz Pennsylvania. When we arrived, the restaurant was very busy. Nevertheless, it’s a big place and we were seated right away…
There are a number of dining rooms at the Lititz Family Cupboard. All of the dining rooms are sized and designed to make the patrons feel at home…wallpaper, curtains and all…
While we’d arrived for dinner, this restaurant does serve breakfast, starting at 6 am. I suspect that most patrons partake of the breakfast buffet ($7.95 Adults and $6.95 for Seniors) It was interesting to note that children, 11 or younger, are charged for any of the buffet offerings based on their age… The cost is 69 cents per year of age.
The breakfast buffet consists of: scrambled eggs, home fries, bacon, sausage, corned beef hash, pancakes, dried beef, gravy, sausage gravy, French toast, oatmeal, biscuits, pastries, corn meal mush, egg casserole, pan pudding, scrapple, grits and more. The buffet also includes a fruit and pastry bar.
We could have chosen from the menu, but like many of the restaurant’s customers, we decided on the weekend dinner buffet ($12.75 Adults/$10.95 Seniors) Laurie went straight for the salad bar and I picked up a cup of New England Clam Chowder. The chowder was the way I like it…so thick that my spoon would stand up in it! There were lots of clams in the chowder and it was quite good…
Of course, after the chowder I focused on the entrees…and I’m a meat and potato guy. Beef chunks in gravy with mashed potatoes, a little chicken and some corn. This looked like a good start for my trips to the key portion of the buffet line. All of the food was good…not spectacular…but good. For our tastes, it was fairly bland but I suspect that much of the Pennsylvania Dutch cooking is relatively simple.
Those who chose the menu vs. the buffet faced a daunting task! What to order!? They had to choose from the Soup and Salad Bar; Combos and Wraps; Soups; Entrée Salads; Chicken, Beef, Pork and Seafood entrees; Cupboard Classics; Sandwiches (hot, melts, cold, club and burgers); Daily Special Entrees and; no less than 26 sides!
Laurie kept it simple on her trip to the buffet…a little ham, small piece of chicken, turkey with dressing and gravy and a roll. She agreed with me…the food was OK…but too bland for our tastes.
From the menu, the entrees included: ½ Rotisserie Chicken w/2 sides ($9.55); Chicken Croquettes w/2 sides ($9.95); Liver and Onions w/2 sides ($8.95) and; Salmon w/2 sides ($10.95)
This is one of the buffet tables. There were 2 hot tables full of food items to choose from.
Back to the menu for a moment… The Lititz Family Cupboard Restaurant offers Daily Dinner Specials Monday through Friday nights. How about all you can eat chicken pot pie on Mondays with one side for only $8.85! Thursday brought a ‘squeal’ to my throat with Pig Stomach (Dutch Goose Style) and 2 sides ($8.85) Friday’s offer was that new ‘old’ classic, chicken and waffles w/2 sides ($8.50)
The dessert bar offered puddings, cakes, fruit, custard, etc. It too was OK, but we’ve experienced better dessert bars down here in East Tennessee.
One special in particular may interest some travelers…those who want to feel better about their diet but who also feel a need for some sweets. The Soup and Salad and Dessert Bar costs $8.35 for Adults…and just $7.45 for Seniors.
OK…in summary. The Lititz Family Cupboard is clean, friendly and gives off that down home feeling. The staff is a mix of well scrubbed outlanders (most of us) and Menonites. Everyone is polite and service was efficient enough… The price of the food is very reasonable and there is lots of it! The only downside for us was the fact that the cooking was just too bland…and we’re not talking ‘heat’, we’re talking the use of spices to add flavor. We would eat here again…but only after we’d sampled a couple other local restaurants so we could draw a comparison.
The Lititz Family Cupboard Restaurant and Buffet, as well as it’s retail and wholesale bakery, is located at 12 West Newport Road on the north side of Lititz Pennsylvania. Phone: 717-626-9102. Website: www.lititzfamilycupboard.com.
Just click on any photo that you’d like to expand…
Thanks for stopping by and spending some time looking at my blog!
Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
It;s a shame it tasted bland because it all looks delicious
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