Yoder's Restaurant & Buffet — Restaurant in New Holland

About 30 some years ago my wife and I were recommended by a friend that Lancaster County was a nice place to go for the day since it was only a little more than an hour drive from South jersey. Since the New Jersey beaches were not a place that we cared to go to we decided to head the other way and try Lancaster County. We fell in love with the area which at the time did not have all the outlet stores but just a few nice shops with "country" type merchandise and a lot of good food. We had always wanted to try out some of the Smorgasbord restaurants but not knowing where to go we checked out a couple but were not impressed with first the quality of the food and then there was one where we sat at a table with 6 strangers most of who were a bunch of city folk that had escaped the cement jungle for the day. After a lot of trial and error we finally found one that was our "go to" place whenever we were in Lancaster even to the point of spending some nights in their inn. After a while though we tired of that location and tried one that had been very popular amongst many of our friends who had also grown tired of the former spot. We kept going there until just before I lost my wife and decided I needed to find a place closer to home so I tried out a few more till I am now happy with one that is closer to home than any of the others. A few weeks ago though I was driving through Lancaster County on a Sunday and of course knowing that most of the places I liked to eat were closed I knew that Yoders was open so I figured I should give them a fair shot just in case I was missing something. Once again because I was alone I was seated in an area far far away from everyone else including my waiter but it wasn't too far from the serving tables. Since it was a Sunday and they had a brunch menu I really wanted some bacon and a good omelet. Good news, the omelet was good as they used fresh eggs but the bacon was way overcooked and stuck together in clumps that if you tried to separate it, it would just crumble. Oh well the catfish though not as good as others was okay and I even went and got seconds. If only I hadn't run out of coffee midway through my first plate of food and had a glass of water I forgot to ask for upon arrival it might not have been as much of a problem but as they say,"Live and Learn". As I went to get that second helping of catfish I did notice some fresh bacon that looked just about right but not wanting too much as I had already grabbed a lot on my first trip I decided to let it go. If I do come back again I will have to see if they can sit me elsewhere where I won't be ignored and also have a little more patience in waiting till there is better quality of the food out there and not...

Party of four... my parents, my husband and I made up the table. Three of us ordered the broasted chicken... dark meat. Very good....moist! I can't do mashed potatoes unless the person making them does so without milk or cream. Butter only. I got buttered noodles and a salad. The noodles were served with brown butter... very nice. Hubby had a salad as well and applesauce. All good. Mom had mashed potatoes and a salad. Possible salad dressings include bleu cheese, thousand island and ranch. Can't be sure which others were offered. Only one cook, said the waitress. The place was full and the wait between order and arrival of food was not long. I wonder what kind of marvel that cook must be to manage all the orders. Yes, of course the buffet probably gets a lot of business but that has to be restocked, too. Dad ordered ham balls, filling (with gravy) and stewed tomatoes. All enjoyed all the dishes. The salads were fresh and had no wilted items. Drinks: two iced teas, a Coke and a water. Later, one decaf coffee. Three had dessert: mint chocolate chip milkshake, chocolate/ vanilla twistee soft ice cream, lemon meringue pie. The bill was $80 not including tip. Brenda, our server, was EXCELLENT. She had a lot of customers, yet she perfectly timed deliveries and inquiries about the meal. Next time I will try to arrive at an off- peak hour. COVID numbers are rising again. I hope we eluded it this visit. The hostess kindly seated us in a corner at my request to cut down the amount of contact with other diners. Not until halfway through did we get company at the next table. I'll likely try the buffet but it struck me as pricey at $20.99/ person. Still, we ended up spending about that amount anyway. Sorry I forgot photos. To be 100% honest, the chicken tasted better than it looked. Everything else both looked and tasted good. Note: closes at 7 at this time (summer 2022). Also, menu may not be precisely what is posted online....some limitations are in place due to reduced kitchen staff, according to...

I want to start by saying that 1: The hostess who greeted and sat us at a booth and our waitress were extremely kind and professional. The restaurant is clean and pretty quiet considering how big it is. 2: I ordered coffee and it came in a lovely insulated carafe (see picture) which held an additional 2 cups of piping hot Java. Only $1.99 for all that coffee and it was a nice tasting brew. Those are the 2 reasons that I gave 2 stars. However, the only way I would ever eat at this restaurant again is if they........never mind. There is nothing that they could offer me that would ever get me to come back to this place. My hubby got the buffet. He said, “this food is not that good “. I ordered a bowl of beef with veggies and noodles soup. Don’t waste your time with the soup. The cooks idea of vegetables in the soup was a 1/2 chunk of potato. A can of Campbells is better than this bland, brown, water noodle bath. I ordered green beans. They were obviously canned. For the 2nd time only in my life I spat out restaurant food into my napkin. The 1st time I did that was when I tried jellyfish. Today it was due to the rancid, watery, funky bright yellow colored potato salad I was served. I should have listened to that little voice in my head that was pleading with me not to try it, but I was willing to give it a go. It was in my mouth for approximately 1.5 seconds before I spat every piece of it into my napkin. When I asked the waitress to take it off the table she asked me if I didn’t like the style of potato salad or if there was “something off with it”. I’m pretty sure when she looked at the potato salad she could tell by the color and consistency that the answer was “off”. She did take the potato salad off of the bill, which I did not have to request. I wish I could take the staff (except the cook) from Yoder’s and give them jobs in a better restaurant. Their talents are...