Dine in this gracious atmosphere filled with rural charm
By Joanne Lehman
Gloria Yoder is the “Mrs. Yoder” of Mrs. Yoder’s Kitchen. She grew up in Mt. Hope, the town where she is now the proprietor of one of the area’s outstanding local restaurants. As a child, for the first few years of her life, she was a minority- an “English” child in a school where Amish students outnumbered her. Today, at the tables in her “kitchen”, Amish and English feast side by side. Both neighbors from down the road and travelers from far away know where to come when they crave a good, home-cooked meal.
“We have Amish-style cooking here,” said Yoder, “but we like to offer other things, too.” Local people enjoy the variety Yoder offers on her menu but she said she tends to stick to the standard fare when visitors are expected. She’s learned people expect to eat country cooking when they visit. The summer and fall menus offer all the standard items - roast beef, broasted chicken, wedding steak, ham loaf and mashed potatoes, dressing, and noodles- everything is served with a good ladle of gravy. Homemade bread with apple butter or peanut butter spread is always on the table at Mrs. Yoder’s Kitchen. Homemade pies, right from the restaurant kitchen, vary as seasonal produce is available. Pie choices may include fresh strawberry, rhubarb, or “wonderful good” Concord grape pie. A special dessert customers drive for miles to get is a date nut pudding similar to a dessert served at Amish weddings. The restaurant also offers mini angel food cakes with fruit topping and old-fashioned cracker pudding.
One unique seasonal dish is the dandelion gravy- a favorite of many families in the neighborhood. “We have a whole list of people we call when we have that,” said Yoder. “When I was at home we ate it every day in the spring toward the end of March.”
Mrs. Yoder’s Kitchen is located in the small village of Mt. Hope, across from the Mt. Hope Livestock Auction. Yoder also manages the food stand inside the auction barn, where large and small animals are sold to the highest bidder each Wednesday. “Oh, I have my following,” she said modestly. Either place, the result is the same: good country food that is hot, tasty, and ready to eat. Visitors to the area will have fun seeing the livestock auction and browsing in the flea market that surrounds the barn. Afterward, a stop at Mrs. Yoder’s Kitchen tops off a day of sightseeing.
The restaurant is also a favorite stop for locals, who come in to cool off or warm up on auction days, depending on the season. Years ago, Amish families didn’t dine in restaurants often but Yoder said, “We like to think we’re changing that. We make everyone feel welcome.” Area families frequently push a few tables together and enjoy fellowship with family members as they celebrate birthdays and anniversaries. The restaurant has accordion-style moveable walls and can accommodate groups of up to 100 who may reserve the space for meetings or parties. Mrs. Yoder’s Kitchen also offers a catering service. Family-style dinners feature up to three meats and are available for banquets or smaller groups.
Yoder said it’s sometimes challenging to offer the variety her clientele enjoy. Out-of-town guests expect the traditional Amish dinner with all the trimmings, while local people want to taste something new and different. She, along with her partner and manager, son-in-law Robert Burkholder, like to add variety to the menu each season. In the winter months, when the majority of the customers are local people, they offer interesting buffets, such as their popular seafood buffet featuring frog legs. Other times the fare switches to Mexican or German foods. Friday night specials include fish or their own recipe of mouthwatering barbecued ribs. The super salad bar is a seasonal favorite of everyone, from March through June.
One way they’ve found to add interesting menu items is to occasionally hold a recipe contest. Winners of the contest receive a free dinner at Mrs. Yoder’s Kitchen. Prize-winning soup, Jell-O salads and dessert recipes keep the menu filled with interesting choices. One recent contest yielded new recipes for mincemeat- a nearly forgotten food in some places. Contest entries prove that isn’t the case at Mt. Hope.
To find Mrs. Yoder’s Kitchen, travel north from Millersburg on State Route 241 (or go south from Massillon on 241) until you arrive in Mt. Hope, Ohio. Reservations are requested for bus tours. Call Mrs. Yoder’s Kitchen at 330-674-0922.
