Zehnder's. It can be hard just rating them, becaus...

Zehnder's. It can be hard just rating them, because it depends on what you order. This place is a family tradition. I end up going 2-3 times every year for the last 30 years. That's mainly because we like Christmas shopping in Frankenmuth during the Christmas season, and because we have several birthdays in our family around that time of year. If you are registered with them, you get a free chicken dinner during your birth month.

So I'll make this easy for you. Order anything off the menu except the one thing that they are over horrendously over-hyped for, the "World Famous Family Style Chicken Dinner". I have eaten at Zehnder's probably 50 times over the years, so this is NOT based on a one-time good or bad experience.

First is the cost. Unless you are getting the birthday deal, c'mon, $20 for fricken CHICKEN? The only way is it worth it is because they give you a boatload of food. The main clientele are old folks who on their off-days spend most of their restaurant dollars at Old Country Buffet (which has better chicken) and Golden Corral (which has better chicken), and stuff them selves silly because they can't get over their Great Depression mentality of having to get everything possible for their dollar. The kind of people whose idea of cereal is milk on white bread.

The chicken is always, ALWAYS, dry, bland, and tasteless. Honestly, KFC is much better. That being said, here is how I would rate the sides, which are much better than the chicken.:

Chicken noodle soup - meh, sometimes REALLY bland - 2 stars
Mashed potatoes - reconstituted dry potatoes. A little better than the usual brand, but still not fresh potatoes - 3 stars
Gravy - bland. Tastes like canned with a giblet or two thrown in to make it look homemade. - 2 stars
Stuffing - tastes good, funky texture - 3 stars
Cranberry sauce - hey, it's cranberry sauce - 5 stars
Buttered noodles with Saltine-crumb topping - 4 stars
Hubbard squash - good but not as good as if they had chosen butternut - 3 stars
Cole slaw (cabbage salad) - really good, but so is KFC's - 5 stars
White bread - does anyone's white bread have any flavor at all unless it's fresh from the oven, which this is not? - 1 star
Stolen bread - 2 stars
Melba toast - 4 stars
Liver pate - 2 stars (only because my Dad's is like 6 stars!)
Cheese spread - 3 stars
Vegetable of the day: today was peas with pearl onions - either canned or cooked to mush - 0 star
Deep-fried giblets (extra) - ultra-bland and overcooked, the same breading that is used for the chicken, and the giblets have all had all their flavor cooked out of them. I suspect they boil them for the giblet gravy, then fish them out, bread them and deep fry them. 0 star

So order something else. The Sicilian sub is fantastic, as is the schnitzel (though not authentic).

But for those who have blasted this restaurant on other site because they are in Little Bavaria and the food was not German enough. What did you expect? You didn't order German food! This is an American Thanksgiving dinner. You want German? Order German.