Americas best all-you-can-eat restaurant revealed - and it has a 200ft buffet
An all-you-can-eat Pennsylvania eatery with an abundance of food choices was crowned the best buffet restaurant in the US.
An all-you-can-eat Pennsylvania eatery with an abundance of food choices was crowned the best buffet restaurant in the US.
Shady Maple Smorgasbord in East Earl comes with a 200ft buffet thats open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner Monday through Saturday.
The buffets number one spot was decided by experts and USA Today readers for its annual list earlier this year.
The food is excellent here at Shady Maple... The atmosphere at Shady Maple is wonderful, customer Don Mann told FOX 43 last July.
The Shady Maple Smorgasbord in East Earl, Pennsylvania, was named the best buffet restaurant in the US earlier this year
The Shady Maple Smorgasbord was founded by Marvin and Miriam Weaver in 1985 with the concept of all you can eat for one price.
The then-new restaurant building had over 300 seats, and a one to two-hour wait was not uncommon, according to its website.
Following a building remodel, the buffet had over 500 seats available for customers.
However, after the buffets kitchen became crowded, the restaurants operators decided to build an entirely new building.
Since the Weavers retirement, their sons Phil and Lin Weaver took over as president and CEO of Shady Maple.
According to Shady Maple President Phil Weaver, the business already had the land, and after five years of planning, the 110,000-square-foot building was opened in 2000.
The restaurant was founded by Marvin and Miriam Weaver in 1985 with the concept of all you can eat for one price
Not only is the eatery famous for its long buffet, its also known for its deliciously authentic Pennsylvania Dutch cooking, according to its website.
It is a high-paced restaurant. Its not like your average restaurant. But I always say its the biggest, smallest kitchen in the world, food quality manager Sumer Smith told FOX 43.
Smith discussed some of the food selections with Localish and revealed one of the restaurants most popular dishes is beef brisket.
However, she also gave shoutouts to the restaurants mashed potatoes, potato cakes, fried chicken, and corn fritters.
One of our sayings is that "Every bite matters" - like every single piece of food that goes out of the buffet is important and must be to our standards of excellence, Shady Maple CEO Lin Weaver said.
Its just the kind of food Lancaster County is known for.
The restaurant is famous for its deliciously authentic Pennsylvania Dutch cooking, according to its website
Food quality manager Sumer Smith insisted that Shady Maple Smorgasbord is not like your average restaurant
Customers and food enthusiasts have also praised Shady Maple Smorgasbord for surviving the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID was an absolute nightmare. Obviously we had to shut down the whole building, Lin said.
He added that employees began having horrible nightmares about the situation and whether Shady Maple Smorgasbord would have to shut its doors permanently.
The all-you-can-eat restaurant endured, and its new offerings of to-go orders and touchless meals were successful.
No major remodels have taken place at the restaurant since 2000, but Phil hinted it was close to being too full again
As of now, no major remodels have taken place since 2000, but Phil revealed in a 2023 Shady Maple video that its close to being too full again.
He had no idea back then of how this thing could possibly grow to where its grown to today, Phil said regarding his father.
He believed the customer increase has played a big role in its popularity, but also credited the buffets delectable food.
I would say 50 percent of our food is the same food we had from 38 years ago that we still have today, Phil said in 2023.
The buffet can now seat up to around 2,000 customers, and it served food to more than 1.2 million restaurant guests in 2023.
Saturday continues to be the buffets busiest day of the week, and over 8,000 customers eat at Shady Maple Smorgasbord daily.
Theres a lot of hurting people out in this world that would just like to have a good solid meal, Phil told FOX 43.
He added that September is expected to be a slow business month for the buffet, but their face helps them make sure the eatery will be okay.
We feel its because of His blessing on our lives. Its truly been a blessing over the years, Phil said.
