Yoders Restaurant, New Holland, Pennsylvania

Two years ago, Yoders Restaurant in New Holland, PA was one of our Top Buffets. It was not in 2013 because of a visit in that year in which the buffet was a bit inconsistent with past great visits.  On a recent visit to Yoders for dinner, I experienced another inconsistency at Yoders. I have to say that all of the food is still great. The overall service is great. This time it was the grill that disappointed.

We went to Yoders on a Thursday night. Some nights at Yoders seem to follow themes. This night there was really no identifiable theme but smoked brisket on the grill and pulled pork barbecue on the buffet suggested that this night may have been a barbecue theme - that is just a guess. Anyway, at the grill there is a large TV monitor at the ceiling with the grill features and at the top of the list was smoked brisket. After a good bowl of vegetable beef soup and a salad of greens and dressing and some very good Amish style prepared salads, I went up to the grill for a slice of brisket. A friendly young man behind the counter greeted me and I asked for a slice of smoked brisket. His answer was that they had just run out. This was before 7 o'clock and the buffet is open until 8.I asked if more was coming out. He hemmed some and then said no. I asked if something was coming out to replace it. He hemmed some more and then said that some barbecue pork was supposed to be coming out but he had no idea when. I never did come out. He continued behind the grill serving liver and onions which was also a grill feature that night. As there was already pulled pork barbecue out on the buffet table, this could not have been what he meant - or was it - and if it was, it was there before and certainly not a substitute for a featured grill item this early. This is not the type of thing that has happened at Yoders in the past and it was very disappointing. Not that I was craving smoked brisket -it would have been nice to have - but if a grill feature runs out, something should come out to substitute for it. I expect what happened to happen in some chain buffets - but not at Yoders.

There were other main dishes to eat out on the buffet. There were ham balls, Salisbury steak, ham, broasted chicken, broiled chicken, baked cod, and stewed beef chunks made to be served over rice. There were plenty of Yoders wonderful side dishes - and one - perhaps an entree/side dish in one - chicken corn noodle casserole. This was a thick cream sauce with large pieces of chicken meat, corn, and broad noodles all baked together in a casserole. It was tasty - more heavy on noodles than chicken. There were whole baby potatoes in browned butter - anything in browned butter is good. Browned butter is burned butter and has a sweet/salt nut like taste. There were also noodles in browned butter. Then there are hot baked oatmeal dishes located off on a side hot counter where the soups and breads are. These are good and the plain baked oatmeal is one of my wife's favorites. I actually felt that the entree selection was weak and perhaps would not have been had the brisket been at the grill. 

Of course, there are always a lot of desserts including pies, cakes, puddings, prepared desserts, and hot shoo fly cake and hot cobbler. Having had more carbs in this meal than I was planning to have, I went with the egg custard - which is a favorite dessert of mine anyway. It was good as always.

Again, all of the food was excellent. The disappointment was in the selection and what was missing.

Of course, I will go back again, and that may be soon. I will let you all know what happens then.

Yoders menu noted that the Friday night feature is now Seafood Night and no longer the Sea and Land feature that used to be the standard for Friday and Saturday nights. Friday night now costs $18.99 which is the highest price night at Yoders. The usual weeknight dinners are $13.99. Saturday's feature is now Dutch Night. That used to mean an assortment of Pennsylvania Dutch foods. Until I am there on a Saturday night to see for myself, I will not guess at what it might be.

The restaurant is located at Yoder's Country Market, Route 23, New Holland, Pennsylvania. The phone number is (717) 354-4748. There is a website and that is linked at the side of this page. There is also a Facebook page that you can "Like" and get updates on specials.This is another of Lancaster County's buffet restaurants connected to supermarket buildings and when you pull into the parking lot what you will see is a supermarket. Enter at the entrance at the far right or middle and you will enter nearest the restaurant. This is not a fancy restaurant and looks like much less when you enter than it actually is. The food is good. The buffet is good. You are not coming here for the atmosphere. You are coming for the buffet. One may order buffet and other members of your party at the table may order from the menu. Order the buffet for the best deal unless you are a light eater. Often if you order from the menu they are taking it from the buffet and putting it on your plate and serving it to you if it is an item on the buffet.  Unlimited soft drinks are at an extra charge.