Dutch-Way Family Restaurant, Myerstown, PA Once More

I want to start right off saying that this article is about the Dutch-Way Family Restaurant in Myerstown, PA which is NOT the Dutch-Way Family Restaurant in Gap, PA which I have written so complimentary about many times now. Myerstown is not in Lancaster County. It is north of Lancaster County nearer to I-78. We are in this area once a year and for the past three years we have gone to this location of Dutch-Way. There are three Dutch-Way restaurants in Pennsylvania but only Myerstown and Gap have buffets. Now, one would think that with the same owners, basically the same recipes, but different locations and staffs things would not be that different but this is just not the case.

We had not planned on going to this restaurant on this particular trip. I was going to the Hollywood Casino near Hershey, PA to try the buffet there. I was willing to pay almost three times the price of Dutch-Way to try this casino buffet. On the way there, we had some problems and we could not go - reasons unnecessary, but we made most of the way there and we still had to eat and Dutch-Way could be gotten to in enough time to have dinner - and there really was no other buffet to head for. So we went. It was a Friday evening. So we turned around and headed to Myerstown. I was hopeful. We were not very happy the first time there. Last year was better - I had some nice things to say about it. So we got there - walked in and surprisingly had a five minute wait to get seated.

As I think about that meal, I come up with negative thoughts. I checked with my wife who was there with me and she agreed. Let's talk about what was served - there was one nice surprise on the buffet that I never had before. I have talked ofen about the Pennsylvania Dutch dish, Chicken Bot Bie, well on this night at Myerstown Dutch-Way they had Beef Bot Bie. Instead of chunks of chicken there were chunks of beef in a brown thick broth with flat dumplings, carrots, and celery. This was very good and the best thing of the night. On Friday and Saturday nights, just like at Gap they have carved Prime Rib and carved ham but on this night there was no ham - it was roast loin of pork. I had a slice of the Prime Rib and it was very dry - even with au jus poured on top. My wife had the roast loin of pork and said it was good. They had a dish that they called Cheesesteak Casserole - sounds promising, but it was overly doughy, more like bread filling than a casserole, lacked a taste of cheese and not very good. There was potato filling - stuffing made from potatoes - that was too loose. Not good. (This was a big surprise as the potato filling in Gap is wonderful.) There was a tray of sausage - made like Italian sausage and peppers but the sausage was nondescript in taste. It was not Italian sausage, nor Country sausage, nor breakfast sausage. It was just OK - but marginally that. There was Pork and Kraut that was very good. This followed the same recipe that I have had at Gap and this was decent. There was Noodles in Browned Butter but there was too much butter - the noodles were drowning in it but at the same time the noodles were hard and dry. There was good kernel corn. There was Meatloaf that was cooked in a tomato sauce that was a cross between tomato sauce and catchup. This was pretty good.

Now, as I have said before about this location - the salad bar is half what it is in Gap. The dessert bar is a quarter - if that - of what it is in Gap. The bread section is one eighth what it is in Gap and there was nothing on it but packaged white bread. There were no rolls though there was a sign for rolls. We were about to ask for rolls when someone else did and only then did rolls appear in the server. The people working had passed that roll tray many times and let it sit empty. While some hot food trays were replaced, some were not. I don't expect that from any buffet in Pennsylvania. This became very evident with dessert. Almost all of the desserts were gone when we went up and there were still people coming in to eat. None were replaced. A few puddings were in a cup - it appeared that these were what was left of these puddings and the cup was rather large. So instead of three people having the last of the cracker pudding had the that amount been split into three cups, no one had it but me - and I really did not want that much. Had I been able to take it from a tray I would have taken much, much less. As it was, it was take this cup or nothing. There were no more cakes or pies or other puddings. There were a few half donuts out on a serving plate - all were hard as a rock.

The service started out good. This was a young woman who was clearing plates away fairly regularly - and then her boyfriend came in for dinner and sat at the table behind us. She then spent the rest of the evening talking to him - paying attention to him - and pretty much forgetting what she was supposed to be doing. She came to the table once and asked my wife if she would like a refill of her soda. She brought that and never asked me if I wanted a refill - and then she was gone - back and forth with her boyfriend. The first time we were there at Myerstown, we had poor service also.

The best thing of the night was the Beef Bot Bie and I say often that Dutch-Way (and I am usually speaking in regard to Gap) always seems to have something different that I have not had before that is good. This was it for this dinner. These dishes seem to also be random. One may not see this Beef Bot Bie here for months - if ever again- or maybe it will show up again in a couple of weeks.

So what is wrong at Myerstown?  For one thing, the people working in the buffet are too young. This includes those responsible for maintaining the buffet and I suspect those cooking as well. I cannot speak about the buffet manager except to say it was not evident if there was one. A strong manager who stays on top of employees to do what needs to be done and provide the customers their money's worth is essential to every buffet. That manager has to be visible to both the customers and employees. Perhaps there was a manager there - and perhaps it was one of the other kids working that night.


Was this an off night? I don't think so. I cannot recommend this buffet to you. There is nothing else close by other than a Golden Corral in Lebanon, PA (and I have not been to that one in years) but I cannot tell you in good conscience to try this buffet - and I did last year. It was better last year. Unfortunately, it is way too far to go from here to Gap. I have said in the past that it was not fair to compare this location to the Gap location, but just in comparison to many other buffets, skip this one. I wish that I could say differently.

Just so that you know where this all took place - The Dutch Way Family Restaurant in Myerstown, PA is located at 649 East Lincoln Avenue, Route 422 East in Myerstown, PA 17067. The phone number is 717-866-5758. There is a website for the three locations (only two are buffets) at the side of this page.My GPS put this address past its location so watch for the supermarket as you drive down Route 422 and once in the parking lot the restaurant is on the right side of the same building as you face it from the road in the same parking lot.