Bavarian Inn Restaurant — Restaurant in City of Frankenmuth

There are meals, and then there are moments that redefine existence. Last night, I discovered the difference.

Dalton, Ashley, Annika, and I, mere mortals that we are, walked humbly through the doors of the Bavarian Inn Restaurant — unaware that destiny had already pulled up a chair and was waiting for us at the table.

The scene was set: the scent of roasted chicken filled the air like a holy hymn, buttered noodles twinkled under the soft lights, and somewhere — I swear — an accordion player serenaded the room with songs so joyful, it felt like my soul itself was dancing (or maybe just quietly sobbing from overwhelming happiness, hard to tell).

Ashley, vegetarian and absolute champion, was presented not with one sad salad, not with two limp vegetable platters, but with a glorious parade of options fit for a queen. She chose the cheese-stuffed tortellini — and honestly, I half expected the restaurant staff to hoist her onto their shoulders in celebration. A triumphant, cheesy, vegetarian victory.

Meanwhile, the rest of us set our sights on the famous chicken dinner. The chicken dinner. I’m convinced the chefs back there are sorcerers. Wizards. Culinary shamans. Each piece was fried to golden perfection — crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, like a love letter written in poultry. I took one bite and seriously considered abandoning all other life pursuits to become a full-time chicken enthusiast.

The sides? Oh, the sides! The buttered noodles were so silky they could’ve negotiated world peace. The mashed potatoes and gravy could have healed ancient wounds. The cranberry relish was so fresh it made me briefly forgive every bad decision I’ve ever made. Dalton, meanwhile, was absolutely slobbering over the coleslaw — and frankly, it was a little inspiring. Passion like that belongs in textbooks.

The atmosphere was pure, wholesome magic. Every few minutes, the room would erupt into a booming chorus of “Happy Birthday” for different guests, sung with such gusto you would’ve thought they were performing at Carnegie Hall. It wasn’t just a meal — it was a celebration of life itself.

Our server, Autumn — awesome, personable, and dressed proudly in full traditional German attire — wasn’t just delivering plates — she was delivering hope. She anticipated our every need like she had been trained by a secret order of hospitality ninjas. And when the meal was drawing to a close, she handed us our bills with a kind smile and encouraged us — no, advised us — not to even look at them until after we finished our ice cream. Because she understood: the magic must not be broken. Not yet.

And then came dessert. Simple. Elegant. Ice cream. But somehow — somehow — it tasted like victory. It tasted like success. It tasted like every 80s movie ending, every perfect sunset, and every underdog story rolled into one glorious scoop.

We didn’t just have a meal at the Bavarian Inn. We were reborn.

If you’ve never been, go immediately. Run, don’t walk. Eat the chicken. Order the noodles. Find your purpose.

Because sometimes, the meaning of life isn’t hidden in the stars — it’s buttered, battered, and served to you with a smile named Autumn, and the sound of an...

My meal at the Bavarian Inn restaurant taught me to not take life so seriously. While our meal had a really rough start, by the end of the experience, we were all hysterically laughing and having the best time. We were starving when we arrived, and we were seated 30 minutes after our scheduled reservation time. We felt horrible for our poor waitress, who told us it was so busy that she couldn’t keep up with her work, she couldn’t hear the customers over the noise, and she apologized profusely throughout the meal for the poor service. We thought our waitress was kind and don’t blame her for any of this, but shame on this restaurant for creating poor conditions for their employees and overworking them.

Also, can we just chat about the accordion for a second? So this restaurant is so loud that even the waitress is telling us that she can’t hear anyone, and they feel the need to blast the accordion.

We didn’t receive napkins or silverware until we were already halfway through our meal. We also didn’t have enough water cups so we were all just sharing water together. At this point we had already been at the table for about 45 minutes and we decided we were just going to go all in. We didn’t want the food to get cold so we just ate with our hands and used their table cloth as our ‘Communal Napkin’. My 18 month old was very hungry and so I just had to feed her noodle soup with my hands— It was slightly humiliating, not going to lie. We were so grateful that we did get our utensils at the same time as the mashed potatoes came out— We would’ve made quite a scene eating mashed potatoes with our hands!

Another funny moment during the meal— My brother-in-law ordered a Moscow Mule and the waitress never brought it out. We decided to let it go because we knew she was stressed. Then she comes out as the final portion of the meal is being served— An hour and a half after we ordered the drink…. And told us that she miraculously found the Moscow Mule! It was sitting at the bar the whole time! Unfortunately, though, the drink was prepared an hour and a half ago, so the ice was completely melted and it was watered down and disgusting. And we were still charged for it, which we also thought was hilarious.

After the meal, our waitress came and apologized profusely to us, and she told us that she wishes she could give us a hug. She was really sweet and we really appreciated the gesture. She did forget the ice cream though so that was kind of sad. However, by the end of the meal, we were all discussing how we would be talking about this experience at Christmas dinners for decades to come…. The time that we ate soup with our hands because we couldn’t get anyone to bring us silverware after asking repeatedly…. The time when we shared a tablecloth as a communal napkin, we shared water glasses, and we even all drink from the same warm Moscow mule. While this was not a fun experience, at least it was memorable! Cheers, Bavarian Inn Restaurant! May your accordion ring loudly through the night for generations to come!

PS: You should try plating the dressing in a way that makes it look less...

We stopped here on the way home specifically for this restaurant because we went only five months ago and it was great! Unfortunately that was SO far from the case this time. We made a reservation so getting seated went smoothly, but we were sat at a table that the top was super wobbly. I mean it went side to side and spun.. We brushed it off because they were so busy and it wasn't unusable, just irritating. The last time we went, an alternative menu for gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan was just brought to us with the others, but it wasn't this time and the server took awhile to come back so I figured I would just pull it up on my phone, again no biggie. After about 15 minutes the server came back and I showed her I was ordering off the GF menu on my phone. She took our order and didn't come back until 20 minutes later, so we were waiting on refills of water and I was waiting on the GF bread that was supposed to come. When she came with the food we mentioned that I never got bread. She didn't seem irritated with us but when she came back with the bread she kind of dropped it on the table? Anyways, the rice pilaf was room temperature, the bread was cold (probably kept in the fridge bc the nature of GF bread, but last time it was warmed up), and the chicken was burnt on some edges and super dry. I couldn't believe this was the same meal I raved about only 5 months ago. Again, I'm irritated but whatever, it was edible. The server checked on other tables a few times but never us until she brought us the bill. When we got the bill we see that my meal that is currently $15.50 on the online menu, is $20.99. I asked her about it and she just said the prices recently went up. I was thinking... $5.50 higher than five months ago?! And again irritated that the online menu wasn't updated, or she didn't tell me prices were raised recently so the online menu she saw me using may have been outdated. I asked her for a paper copy of the menu so that picture is below too for anyone who needs it. I went to Zehnders on a yearly basis growing up and it was always delicious; in 2019 we went and had cold food and awful service, so the next time we returned (five months ago) we decided to try the Bavarian Inn and it was great. Now just a few months later, it was horrible. I'm not sure what's going on but we were very...