Dutch Kitchen — Restaurant in Dalton

Obviously "amish" by design, as its in the heart of amish country, right outside of Kidron on US30.

I arrived, and found the restaurant behind the gift shop and bakery. I arrived to see 1 or 2 four top tables with customers, and a large table of 8 or so who where already served and chatting. This was all being taken care of by a staff of 2 waitresses. This 'load' should not have been overwhelming.

Just a "hello, be right with you" would have helped, but I had to wait some, not a lot, but some time to have by drink order taken. The coffee finally came, but it was obviously on the warming plate for a while. It took some time for the waitress to take my order. Enough of a delay was there that I researched the "outage" which impacted travel, and banking this morning.

Then I had to wait to place my order. The waitress hurried by "I'll be with you in a few minutes" --- at least she was honest about it. I'm not sure what she was doing, but I did get my order in, and the food arrived in the expected time.

The name of the day is waiting --- service was slow, letting the mortal sin in restaurants happen --- the empty coffee cup. Empty long enough that I finished my meal and waited a few more minutes while I checked the news.

While all this is happening, the staff were in the wait-station busying themselves and discussing some one in an unfaithful relationship. But gossip is always ugly.

While this was happening, the large table left, leaving only 3 tables with people, and another party of two walking in also looking somewhat lost.

I don't expect instant service, but when you've got time to chat with your coworker, it is imparative that the cups are filled and the customers are served.

As for the meal itself, the menu was full of simple breakfast items. Eggs, pancakes, omelets. Nothing a short order cook of any skill level should have any problem with. And, as it was the food was OK. But just OK nothing special, nor really, would I expect it to be.

I ordered the "dutch boy" which is 2 eggs, ham, and a pancake. I added a 3rd egg. The slice of ham was as thin, and very small, perhaps 1/3 or 1/4 slice. By thin, it was less than 1/4 of an inch thick. The eggs were...eggs, these were cooked to my liking. The pancake was also fine., though a little rubbery. I had to pay $2 for the 3rd egg.

When I think "amish" I like to think of real butter and real maple syrup, or honey. What I received was "Schmuckers Breakfast Syrup" loaded with high fructose corn syrup, and no butter initially, though this oversight was quickly addressed. What I got was not butter but "Fresh buttery taste spread".

All of it in peel top plastic containers. At least Cracker Barrel serves maple syrup in a little bottle.

Lastly, the staff. I know "duch kitchen" is marketing, I honestly don't expect non-english to work in a place like this. But fake is the word. The whole place just drips of fake. From visible tatoo's on the staff, to the discussion sexual impropriety in the wait station. Then the fake syrup, and butter.

Walking out, I snickered when I walked through the gift shop and saw the cheap wall hanging that is common in 'farmhouse' decoration, many with religious tones, and the books teaching religious values.

How do you circle that square? Simple....$15 please.

I finally got my coffee.

Very...

The place absolutely sucked! This place has to get one star from me in order to do a review. If I had my choice of it, they would get 5 negative stars.

They had a bunch of food on a buffet. Chicken, meatloaf, some disgusting looking meatballs and some crappy looking pizza. The best looking thing on the buffet was the chocolate pudding, of which I didn't have any.

I had a salad and then went and got some meatloaf, mashed potatoes with gravy and corn.

Now, I love meatloaf. So when I saw the meatloaf I was like, "excellent"! Well...it was not excellent!

My wife tried to warn me because she got the meatloaf also. She took one bite and spit hers out because it was cold and she said it was overly salty.

The meatloaf was extremely cold. I took one bite of it and spit it right out. I will not eat cold meatloaf. Especially when it's supposed to be hot sitting on a buffet table. I didn't eat anything other than my mashed potatoes with gravy and corn. I was not about to go up for anything else.

So I put my coat on and stood by my chair waiting for our server to give us our bill.

Our server finally asked how our meal was and I told him straight up that it sucked. And I told him that the meatloaf was cold and I was not about to come back here ever again. He said "oh I'm sorry" and went to get a manager.

The manager came back and ask what was going on and I told him. He said "oh well we're just in the middle of switch over". He was extremely dismissive and didn't care. So again, I let it be known that I will never go back there again. And then we were given a bill for $45.

We went up to the register and was asked how things were and again, I told him straight up how it was. They said oh I'm sorry and proceeded to ring me out for $45. Fortunately, the only saving grace for them was some lady came up and told them not to charge us for it.

I'm still never going there again.

If I had to put a sign on the building it would be either "closed " or "enter at...

That's right, if you're thinking about coming here, and you're on the fence about whether you should come eat at this restaurant, I'm going to say 'woah!' and stop you right there. Dutch Kitchen is amazing. Period. Full stop. Back out east, I'm used to the quintessential Chinese Buffet, we have them all over, and generally you don't get great food. Enter this quaint restaurant at the back of a cute gift shop, sitting in the shadow of Amish country in Ohio, at the foothills of the mountain that is Lehman's, and such surroundings.

Do you feel like all-you-can-eat salad? Got you covered with all the fixings, including a home made creamy Italian dressing. They also have these delicious baby gherkin style pickle chips? A delight. Do you feel like a traditional meal? They offer that in a style not unlike specials of the day in large chain restaurants, but with a more down home feel. How about a sandwich? Try the sizzler! With beef, onion, and swiss, you can't go wrong. Finally though, we come back to the buffet. They have a full entree buffet which I didn't get to take part in, but I got to observe. It looked fantastic!

Our service was given with a smile, staff were friendly and approachable, and to accompany our meal we were offered fresh, warm bread. It was so good! They have signature apple butter and a peanut butter spread they sell at the store in the front, too, along with those pickles.

In conclusion, if you're coming up on the intersection of "what's for dinner?" and "I don't know." my recommendation is to put on the brakes at the "woah" sign, and park yourself at Dutch Kitchen. If I were in the area longer, I'd totally...