Heading to the Amish community in Holmes County, and want to have a memorable meal? How about one served by an Amish family?
I picked up this business card last time I was in the community:
I haven’t tried this so can’t personally vouch, but it seems like a nice option if you’d like some good food in Amish surroundings.
A quote from a customer on the Amish Heartland Tours website: “…We thoroughly enjoyed the delicious (and plentiful) meal they prepared for us, their generous hospitality, and most enjoyable company!…”
The card says that they arrange the meal “with an Amish home”, suggesting there is probably more than one family providing this service via Amish Heartland Tours.
Dinner/Lunch Menu
Here’s the dinner/lunch menu, from the site:
- Homemade Bread and Peanut Butter Spread
- Garden Salad
- Broasted Chicken
- Roast Beef
- Mashed Potatoes w/Browned Butter
- Gravy
- Green Beans
- Amish Noodles
- Hot/Cold Beverages
- Assorted Pies
Sounds like a nice spread. I see several personal favorites here.
They also promote simpler “Amish Pizza Meals” available on the company’s “Amish Farm & Home” tours.
Just three items on that menu – Garden Salad, Homemade Pizza which you can customize, and a “Specialty Dessert”.
How to Arrange a Meal in an Amish Home (Holmes County)
Here are the details from the website (some of which is on the card image above; note one small difference – the credit card fee is currently listed as 4% on the site, not 3.5%):
How to Reserve a Meal
1. Contact us with a date and group number.
2. We will confirm the date and number with an Amish home.
3. After confirmation, we will then contact you to schedule the meal and collect payment – via credit card (+4% fee).
4. Amish Heartland Group Tours LLC will send you a receipt and directions to the Meal in an Amish home.
Cost
- $30/per person – $15/per person (10 & under)
- Minimum 5 people (or flat fee of $150)
- No-shows/cancellations are non-refundable
Contact
- groups@amishheartlandtours.com
- (330) 893-3248
Note: the above might change, but is current on the site as of October 2019. Check the website or contact them to confirm details.
Meals in Amish Homes – Other Communities
We’ve seen several other meals-in-Amish-homes businesses in other communities:
- Nolt’s Family Dinner Haus (Allen County, Indiana)
- Samuel & Ruth Lapp’s Farm (Lancaster County, Pennsylvania)
- Cindy Burkholder’s Home Cooking (Chautauqua County, New York)
If you know of others offering this service, feel free to share with us in the comments.
Or if you’ve had an Amish meal from these homes or others offering them, I’d be curious to hear how you found the experience.
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Amish Dinner
This sounds very good. My question is do you get to take home the leftovers? That is a lot of food for one dinner!
Good question! Yes I would definitely try to show up in 100% hungry mode.
Amish dinners
Take home? Probably not. Remember, it’s for a minimum of 5 people, that’s why it’s a lot of food.
Amish meals
I’ve been lucky enough to be invited to join families several times in the past couple of years. One of the perks of driving for them. Pure enjoyment!I usually stay with them,when we travel out of state. I once had a gentleman ask me if I liked fried chicken.I returned to his home later to 25 young chickens, fried up, along with 4 pizzas.
Wow! 25 chickens and 4 pizzas. I’m guessing it was more than just the two of you who sat down to that meal 🙂
Looks like another English business taking advantage and using the
Amish community. I tour pulled by a tractor. Strictly for city English.
Much like many of the bulk food stores, no Amish.
If the Amish meal providers are benefiting by earning money from the business generated by this tour company, I’m not sure exactly how they are being taken advantage of.
Just because an English business is also earning money doesn’t mean the Amish involved are somehow losing.
Many Amish operate this way, with partnerships with non-Amish – the furniture business is another good example, with English retailers often handling online marketing, promotion, and sales, allowing Amish to reach markets which would otherwise be difficult or impossible for them to access.
Eat a meal in a Amish Home
Like Richard said, this looks like a Business taking the Amish Name to promote theirself. I have eaten with the Amish in their homes in western IL, and they eat nothing like that. Very seldom any meat expcenpt for weekends or big family meals. Mainly chicken, potatoes and gravy,and a vegetable. Maybe cookies or fruit for desert. I have often eaten at Aruthur, IL at a hotel and the food the is completely different, more like the story above
I’ve eaten a wide variety of meals in Amish homes, from meatless meals to heavy feasts. I think the type of food can vary on the occasion, family and community. The dishes represented in the meal this company is promoting seem to be more of the Pennsylvania Dutch-style classics and probably some more distinctly Amish items like the peanut butter spread, which I assume is the one commonly served at the after-church meal.
Amish In-Home Meals
The Amish Experience in Lancaster, PA also offer group in-home Amish meals. Pricing varies from $35 to $46. Menus are very similar to the one posted. Group numbers begin at 20 people. I have eaten at all the homes and I must say, you don’t go home hungry!! I often ask the hosts if they sprinkle Amish pixie dust over their meals because, I can make the same meal and it just doesn’t taste the same!! www.amishexperience.com
Also in Arcola, Ill
We had a good dinner on August 10 arranged through the Wood Shop in Arcola, Illinois. Our hosts were a very friendly couple and we talked with them for a while after the other guests left. I asked if this was a typical meal and Elizabeth was appalled at the idea! A normal dinner was far simpler.
I think there were other English businesses that could arrange a meal for you, as well. We just looked at brochures in the visitors centers and campgrounds until we found something that sounded good.