Shady Maple Smorgasbord — Restaurant in East Earl Township

We came here to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday. It's a wish he's had for a while. Shady Maple Smorgasbord helps you celebrate by giving you a free meal if you happen to go on your actual birthdate. All you need to do is show proof by way of your drivers license and you eat for free! In addition you get a booklet of coupons to use in the gift shop downstairs or various other locations. The location is easy enough to get to and parking is plentiful. There are access ramps if needed. When you get inside there is a queue with a roped off area. It seems like you will be stuck on a long line but it moves very quickly and the dining room is so enormous you are seated almost right away. Larger parties get tables and smaller parties get booths. There are several locations where they have drink stations . One is out in the dining room. Everything from coffee, tea, milk, sodas (Pepsi products) juices and slushies. This station has sugar free slushies as well as zero calorie flavored waters but offers only one diet soda. (Diet Pepsi) I asked the attendant if there were other diet soda offerings and he directed me to two stations in the food areas. Here there are offerings of different types of root beers, including diet, sarsaparilla root beer, birch root beer and black cherry soda. Down the far end where there is an additional dining room is a machine that makes thick shakes. The smorgasbord is enormous and offers many stations and the offerings do repeat because the dining room and customer demand is large. The food is quickly and efficiently replenished. They have it down to a science! There are three grill stations with fresh meats to be carved and fish and burgers and pizza. They have a large condiment station and it was well stocked and surprisingly never busy considering the number of dining guests. There is a place behind the grill stations that offers assorted cheeses, cornbread and loaves of apple strudel loaf and raspberry loaf. There were also rolls. There was a large area for salad and fixings and a soup station. Cod, flounder, shrimp, catfish all kinds of potatoes , stuffings , vegetables, Mac and cheese. Roast beef , kielbasa, fried chicken. Jalapeno poppers, corn fritters. Sauteed onions and mushrooms. Rices, vegetable spring rolls, chili. Much more that I'm simply not remembering. The food areas and trays were clean and filled. There were dessert stations with ice cream , various toppings and candied confections. Puddings, jellos, slices of cakes and pies . There is too much to possibly try everything and enough variety that you should find a few things that you do want to try. There is a 12% surcharge and they will tell you it is to ensure their staff gets paid a decent wage . They do not expect you to tip at the end but we chose to add a few extra dollars to the table anyway. There was always someone to clean away the used plates and cups so nothing piles up on your table. The floors were clean .and that is saying something . The bathrooms are also very clean. Take time to walk around the halls and admire the diorama pictures in frames . They are truly a work of art. The grandfather clock is stunning. There would have to be a whole section added just for the gift shop downstairs but I will just say they have EVERYTHING. If you don't see it there it may not exist!! Come here to eat and enjoy...

TLDR: A cornucopia of tasty amish home cooking in a sprawling dining hall. Come for the brisket, fried chicken and dessert!

Vibe: 4/5. Located in the heart of Amish country, Shady Maple Smorgasbord sits atop a large hill overlooking the nearby farmland like a castle of culinary goodness. The building is comprised of several sections that are all connected or adjacent to the main dining hall. There is a convention center dining area to the left of the main area, a huge gift shop on the basement level, a grocery store style Amish market behind the main building and a furniture store next to that. There is ample parking surrounding the main dining hall, which can also accommodate anything from your buses to horse and buggy. Inside the main dining hall, you enter through the main entrance doors and are immediately ushered to 1 of the 6 cashier lines to pay prior to dining. During busy times, the lines can queue all the way outside, so be prepared to wait if you are coming for weekend dinner service. Once you make it through the cashier lines, you then wait to be seated by the host. If you are a party of 6 or less, you are offered the option of booth seating, which typically has less of a wait time. The dining room area is ginormous, made up of several sections and rooms that include both table and booth seating. Shady Maple welcomes large parties, with the ability to seat 20+ person tables if necessary. The dining room is very much utilitarian by design, having minimal decor and maximum space for mobility and ease of large crowds moving from point a to b.

Service: 4/5. The staff at Shady Maple have always been both friendly and punctual at service provided. Because this is a buffet, the interactions with your server are minimal, mostly limited to table bussing and bringing silverware/napkins to the table. We have always had our dirty plates and leftovers taken relatively quickly from our table when finished. The staff managing the grills are also very friendly and generous with their portion sizes. Overall, nothing to complain about here!

Food: 4/5. Shady Maple is home to a 120+ foot buffet comprised of 50+ items at any given time. With such a large assortment, you are going to have some winners and some losers when it comes to food. Having visited Shady Maple 4 times on various days for both lunch and dinner, I have come to conclude what these winners and losers are. Winners, brisket, fried chicken and the desserts take the cake for must haves when visiting. The brisket, located at one of the grill stations, is slow roasted to a tender perfection needing nothing more than a dollar of horseradish sauce for the perfect bite. Their Amish fried chicken is broasted to a golden perfection offering a juicy yet crunchy experience no matter what piece is chosen. And finally, you must make sure to save room for the handmade deserts ranging from apple dumplings, to shoofly pie to eclair pudding. On to some of the losers, the New York strips and sirloins that the grill produces leave a lot to be desired in the tenderness department. In addition, some of the side items such as buttered noodles, roasted corn and seafood fritters we're bland and just a waste of stomach space. However, overall, we love the experience of coming to Shady Maple and highly recommend making the trip to dine at this family owned...

The Shady Maple is a destination within Lancaster County and the smorgasbord is its centerpiece. It's the largest buffet in the US and gets lots of business, especially from tourists. So does it hold up to that reputation? Absolutely! They know they are a big draw for the area and are well-prepared. There's always a line to get into the smorgasbord proper and frequently will run outside the building, but they keep the lines moving nicely so you're not waiting too long to get in. Plus there's plenty of parking around so you won't be hurting for a parking spot. One note I will put here is that if you can come during the week, I recommend doing so as they are closer to $20 per person instead of roughly $30 per person on the weekend (this includes the service charge they add, so keep that in mind when checking their website). Once in, there's plenty of seating and definitely don't feel rushed as there isn't a time limit. That's good because unless you're a competitive eater, you will want to pace yourself with the variety of food they have. The tables are nice and clean and their servers make frequent rounds so you're not waiting too long for a plate to be removed or tables to be ready for quests. Now let's get to the bread and butter of why everyone's here - the food. Being the largest smorgasbord in the US, they have several buffet islands plus several grilling stations and beverage stations that serve food. From the two visits I made, the salad is very good - the greens are nice and fresh and they have a great variety of toppings and of course, warm bacon dressing. Their fare also rotates, so keep that in mind - the selections on one trip might be different the next time you come. The grilling stations have some very good selections. On the weekend? Steak, beef brisket, some sort of seafood, a burger bar and pizza. I definitely recommend the beef brisket (I'm ashamed to admit I ask the carver for a second piece it's that tasty)...and cover it in some beef gravy (which also goes excellent with their roast beef). Speaking of which, their hot dishes are very tasty with some awesome mashed potatoes, mac 'n' cheese, veggies, fried chicken and so on. Only one of the sides I've tried was a miss, but that's also a side I don't frequently have most of the time anyway. Don't forget the desserts! They have many desserts that are very delicious with the baked goods being made on premise. And yes, this includes whoopie pies, but also pies in general, cakes, cobblers and puddings. They also have ice cream, slushes and milkshakes and the toppings to go with it. They have some very good fresh rolls (my favorite being the potato rolls) and plenty of soft drinks to choose from as well. And yes, if it's your birthday, you can eat for free! Just have your ID with proof of your birthdate available. Overall the atmosphere is very nice, but of course noisy due to all the hungry folks who come here plus sometimes a the odd station might be a little messy due to a messy patron. Also up front are some dioramas made by a local artist that depict scenes related to the Pennsylvania Dutch which are worth checking out on your way out. Definitely come here with an appetite and some time to spare and you will likely enjoy...