Shady Maple Gift Shop — Local services in East Earl Township

This is a review for the gift shop inside the shady maple grocery market. My 6 year old purchased a toy with her birthday money that she had eyed up the last time we were there and had been talking about for a month. I let her purchase it against my better judgement. The first red flag should have been that this item was marked $7.99 while all the other ones of the exact same type in the same box were $6.99. I did not realize that until she had already paid. Within 5 minutes of leaving the store and walking around the market, they made an announcement that in 10 minutes, everything in the gift shop would be 20% off. I assumed I could go back and they would honor a discount of a purchase I had just made. I mean, why would they not have just told us that they would be running that promotion in 15 minutes? Went back in to see if they could price adjust and the girl at the counter had the worst attitude of any clerk I’ve ever dealt with. That book I interrupted her from reading must have been good, because she was SASSY before words even came out of my mouth! I asked if I could then just return the item and buy it again at the discount then, and she made me feel like the most worthless trash. I’m not a hateful person, but I’ll admit her demeaning tone and bobbing her head at me like I was an idiot really brought out the worst in me. It wasn’t right for me to give her attitude back, especially over what would have amounted to less than $2, and I regret my behavior, but she really should not be in charge of any kind of customer care. Seriously. And to make matters worse, the toy had a puncture before we ever got home and took the tag off, dangerously shooting water beads all over the car and dumping whatever mystery chemical it was filled with all over the kids. $8 for trash. I would not recommend the gift shop and I will...

Recommended by a coworker. Said the place was great, many selections and the food was home made including the deserts. Said the deserts were of quality. So I decided to try this place out, March 1st 2025. I went with family for the lunch period. Price for four adults, two of four on senior discount and one 6 year old. Total cost $136.00. This was a Saturday so they charge more on the weekend. The place is large. This place draws a very large crowd. The lines getting into this place is equivalent to the size of getting into the state fair. It's is a smorgasbord so you pay first before they find a table for you. We waited 30 minutes just to get to the casher and another 15 minutes after we paid to get seated. Now depending when you arrive you only have so much time before you have to leave. Lunch was from 11AM to 3PM. We got there by 1:15pm. By the time I paid and waiting for a table it was 2PM...because I paid for lunch I had only had one hour to eat before the dinner period starts. I sampled just about everything they had to offer. The steak is cooked while you wait however there was a lot of gristle veins. Several family members complain of gristle in their steak. The quality of food was no more better than Golden Corral. I can tell it was frozen straight to the oven. The ice cream was frozen custard and not real ice cream. The chocolate pie was instant pudding and not cooked. The peach and apple cobbler had filler and not fresh. If this place is owned by the Amish the volume and flow of food is no way logistically capable of cooking this food themselves. It was expensive, the quality of food is no better than Golden Corral. The crowds make it stressful and difficult to move around. I can't give this no...

When you arrive at Shady Maples Buffet, it's like the line at the airport security. When you finally get to the register and pay, you are hungry. The day we arrived, the elevator to the gift shop was not working, and two toilets in the women's bathroom were overflowing. We were finally seated and checked out the food. I went to the drinks first. The ice machine was empty. I found ice in a machine further down the line. I selected medium a well-done steak, which was actually rare. The fried chicken was greasy and tasted weird. The candied yams were good, but I challenge anyone to find the listed walnuts. The corn was flavorful as well as the steak fries and Brussel Sprouts. But the broccoli was just soaking in bland, flavorless water. The crab soup was ok but crawlers. The Saimon and shrimp were either not fully cooked or overcooked, respectively. The mashed potatoes tasted like powdered, and the green beans were flavorless, too. The baked potato was good, and there is every kind of topping available. The brisket was the best and pulled apart with a fork. It is delicious as well. The dipping gravy for it was great. The Perogi were good. We had dessert: the shoe fly pie was bland, the apple crisp was terrible. No one liked the pumpkin pie. The cheese cake was a hit, though. Overall, I think that it is an overpriced and overestimated buffet. I have eaten at better buffets, albeit smaller, but better. Oh, did I mention that I had to clean the steak knife as all of them had residue of Tha last diner on it. The woman who took care of our table...