Do Amish people eat fast food?

The short answer: yes, Amish people do eat fast food. McDonald’s, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and Wendy’s too (and not just those).

McDonald’s

Here are a couple of visual Amish fast food examples from Amish communities. First, this sign showing buggy parking at a McDonald’s in Sugarcreek, Ohio, a heavily-Amish area:

McDonald's sign showing parking for a variety of vehicles
Amish parking sign at McDonald’s in Sugarcreek, Ohio

I took that photo sometime in the mid-2000s. Like other businesses in Amish areas, this McDonald’s recognizes that it has a lot of Amish customers, and likewise makes accommodations for them.

Pizza Hut

Here’s another photo, showing buggies parked outside a Pizza Hut in LaGrange, Indiana (another large Amish community). I took this photo, I believe, on a Friday or Saturday evening.

Amish buggies lined up at a hitching rail in a parking lot
Amish buggies lined up outside a Pizza Hut in northern Indiana

Amish people also like to go to restaurants on the weekend (especially in the more progressive communities). It’s common for businesses like this one to have hitching rails so Amish patrons can tie up their horses.

Amish diets have changed

The bulk of the Amish diet still consists of home-prepared meals.

Amish farmers have traditionally eaten a diet based around dairy products and home-raised foods. And most Amish families today – regardless of occupation – have a sizable garden at home. Amish housewives still do a lot of canning.

An Amish girl pauses while working in a large garden
Amish people still do a lot of gardening and canning. Photo: Cindy Seigle

But with occupational changes, Amish diets have changed somewhat. For example:

  • Amish construction workers or market stand owners are often on the road. This can mean eating foods prepared at food stands or at fast food establishments.
  • Members of an Amish carpentry crew might grab a breakfast sandwich at a gas station while the driver fills up for the day’s journey to the job site.
  • Amish families may visit fast food restaurants as an occasional treat as well. For example, an Amishman in Ohio takes his children roughly ten miles by buggy to the Burger King in a local town. The children enjoy the trip, and the ice cream.

Higher incomes (due to non-farming jobs) also means Amish have the financial means to eat outside the home more often.

Amish people eating Fast Food: Other examples

In 2021, I made a video on this topic (see below). And a number of viewers shared their observations on the Amish and fast food.

A viewer named Nancy wrote: “I am close to an Amish community and take them places. They love to get fast food when they go out. They also love Wendy’s frosties.”

A driver for the Amish named Gerald wrote:

When hauling Amish, we will often stop at fast food for a quick lunch. Many like Subway. Pizza is so big in my area that there are several pizza ovens that they use for events. Many make their own pizza and it is very good. They are also good customers of our several pizza shops. When traveling, they usually want to look for a good buffet but not a pricey one. Many will just pack lunches for day trips or eat wherever we go.

Suggesting how things have changed over time, viewer Ohio Prepper added: “When I was a kid you never saw Amish at Mcd’s or grocery stores, now they go anywhere we do.”

Amish people don’t always fit “our” expectations

One more interesting comment, by Sweet Peach: “I think most people would be disappointed to see what the Amish actually eat.”

I thought this was a good point. Not that the Amish are eating particularly strange things or something.

But I think many people expect the Amish to stick to a strict traditional Pennsylvania Dutch diet, with lots of fresh garden foods and canned goods.

And of course, many Amish people eat those things. As I suggest in the video, this shouldn’t be taken to think that Amish are not eating their traditional foods.

Amish family at a rolled ice cream stand at a fall festival
Amish people as customers at an Amish-run “rolled ice cream” stand. Middlebury, Indiana. Photo: Jim Halverson

But some stick to this “classic diet” more than others. With the differences across Amish groups (and especially with the ongoing change in Amish occupations) the diet is more varied than it was in generations past.

And of course, people are people, Amish or non-Amish. Or, like another viewer put it: “everybody likes a quick burger now and then.”

For more, see:

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5 Comments

  1. Katie Troyer

    30-40 years ago very few Amish youth were over-weigh in Holmes County but now that has changed. Part is due to getting off the farm which means less exercise.

  2. They not only eat at McDonalds, but become engrossed in the televisions that are blaring at McDonalds. Personally, I can’t stand those televisions and have walked out of McDs where they are especially obnoxious, and either go hungry or find a quieter place to eat. I don’t watch television at home, either. So I probably watch less television than some Amish people do (except perhaps during the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, when I watch with my wife).

  3. That is so fascinating! When I hear the Amish name I would never think of them eating at a fast food restaurants and I LOVE that McDonalds sign!!

  4. I’ve never seen a similar sign on fast food places elsewhere. McDonald’s is ahead of the curve on this one 😉

  5. Katie it’s funny that there have been new stories about Amish keeping weight off lately (due to genetics I believe?) but you make a good point that the trend against farming must be working in the opposite direction, at least a bit. Although most Amish trades are still manual ones.

    Spokesrider, hear hear 🙂