Zehnder's of Frankenmuth Reviews

I mean what more can you say. All you can eat chicken! No but really lots of good food

Not bad wasn't the greatest to write home about but it was a take it or leave staff was very friendly

The food was excellent as usual. The service was not up to par. Sorry to say, it was very slow.

Waitress was awesome, food was ok had family style carrots were cold , didn't really care for the chicken, appetizers coleslaw was very good, as was the breads and cranberry relish. Guess I just expected better from all the hype.

the place was jam-packed, but they got me seated within about 30 minutes or so. food ? I had the buffet, and everything was really, really good! I even broke down and got a slice of the roast beef, and it almost made me put the chicken down and go back for more! Everything was just amazing!

The food isn't good... Not worth the super high prices... I've had better chicken at a corner liquor store.. Seriously

Awesome chicken dinners especially if it's your birthday you get a free meal great service

Delicious food. Great atmosphere. Be aware, very busy, pricey. But worth every penny.

This is one of my favorite restaurants! I always get the family style chicken! It might seem expensive to some people but once you realize how much food you get and how delicious it is you realize that is far worth the price you pay! With the family style meal the food is endless but usually we don't need refills since they give you so much food to begin with! It is really delicious! Make sure you come there hungry!

I suggest stopping at the store & bakery as well! I have had many delicious sweets from the bakery and found many unique and delicious things to buy from the store (cherry wine, jams, cheese spread, German candy, etc.)

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.

Awesome place to visit. Food was amazing can't wait to go back

Great place top to bottom. Good food. Friendly staff.

Great family style food or individual order bit pricey but great place to eat

Food was good but disappointed in the chicken. It had a funny taste.

Chicken didnt taste like I remember it. Sources were unrecognizable. Wasnt sure what piece was what. But I'd still go back

What an absolute joke. The food here is basically served in the can it came in. Pretty building though.

Food was good and our server Sam was a great server.

Frankenmuth is another lovely small Michigan town, this one centered around a strong German immigrant heritage. Overall, I think it's definitely worth at least a solid day. We shopped Bronner's Christmas store, ate lunch at Zehnder's, and strolled the shopping district. We brought home some German brauts and some cheeses. Zehnder's is a beautiful building, they can really move a lot of people to tables and service was excellent. Not our favorite fried chicken as the spicing is different than our southern style, but it was perfectly cooked. All the side items except maybe the stollen were delicious.

Outstanding Lunch....food and sevice was top shelf. Ask for Heather, she is the Best !

Love this place. Great food, and service as always. Thanks for the recommendation Wendy R. Sorry I missed you on my trip back to Michigan. Take care.

Love coming here. Most of the time eat in the basement at the cafe. Great choices. Excellent food.

My wife and i visited this restaurant on the evening of 08/30/20 with several other friends and we were very disappointed with the service as well as the quality of food. We were offered complementary chicken noodle soup, which I asked to be replaced with a vegetarian option of soup, since we don't eat chicken. I received two servings of pureed applesauce in return with the announcement that there's no vegetarian soup option.
My beef with this is that why would you not have a vegetarian equivalent choice for your meals? Not all who come to eat here are meat eaters, for religious or medical reasons.
Secondly, if there's no equivalent, why not give us a choice of complementary appetizer? Why plonk down applesauce without even asking my choice? I would have picked fries or mashed potatoes over that applesauce any day.
The main meals which i ordered (shrimps and salmon) was also mediocre in terms of taste as well as quantity. If I'm paying $28.95 for shrimps and $29.95 for salmon, i would atleast expect it to be tastier and also a way bigger serving size atleast for the salmon, even if the shrimps are counted, for crying out loud! Not like some wayside restaurant for $17-18 a plate!
In short-i feel as though this place is ripping people off in the name of Frankenmuth fine dining. Sorry but that's the way it is.

We sat at the bar on Saturday September 2, and the service was great. I had the Bloody Mary and it was so delicious and my husband had a craft beer and he enjoyed it. It was a very nice place to have a drink.

The same style of food that they have served for years. Good but nothing exceptional. You pay mainly for the unique surroundings.

I am a fan of community legacy establishments, but the namesake product... Its Fried Chicken, was absolutely tasteless. I loved the private dining room we sat in, but other than that... I felt a tad let down.

The buffet was pricey, but the staff manning the line were most helpful and courteous.

The day we went, we could smell a backup in the restroom, which on an extremely warm day...is lethal.

I'll I've them a second chance, as one visit doesn't necessarily solidify my opinion.

Scale of 1 - 10
Food 4
Ambience 7.5
Cost worthiness 3
Staff 10

I had the prime rib sandwich and was disappointed, the bread was soggy.

Always a great place to stop when in town. World famous chicken dinners. Staff was great.

I had an amazing place here with my family in the mashed potatoes are very good I like the fruit bread also there's very good service and I had a great time watching my grandpa open up his presence he had a birthday it was good birthday you turn 70 I really enjoyed Frankenmuth and afterward we went to Bronner's Christmas place and that place is like huge you should all go there and have a good time

It was okay had better seems they cut back ok on what they serve @ $23.95 a plate for chicken not worth it

The food was not even close to the quality that we expected for the price. Food is well OVERPRICED. Our server did not have good table manners at all and was rushed. She hardly spoke to us the entire time. I would not recommend this place at all. We ve never been more disappointed in a place as we have this place. Save your money. Im thinking this place is ONLY famous because its an historic site. I would advice just going in and taking pictures of neat architecture

Chicken dinner... Better yet, call ahead and reserve the Cow Path room. Noodle soup is like being at Oma's. Thanks for keeping the tradition.

Been coming here since I was a child and will never stop. An awesome experience every time. Food is so good and so plentiful I eat until I am miserable every time. Never learn. Love this place. Seriously..

Stuffed!! Just like the chicken. Try the family meal and mix it up. Also eat every flavor of icecream. Yes, it's worth it

Went there for my birthday dinner food was fantastic and waitress was super

Wow this place keeps getting worse every time I come we got here early for a birthday dinner with family went to use the bathrooms what a disgusting stinking dirty mess all the while listening to people talk in the bathroom about how bad their meal was thinking about all the problems that we had for the last two months trying to arrange for the birthday Club we decided it's time for a change so we want to cross the street had an excellent meal excellent service bathrooms were spotless and clean Sanders I think you're in need of some new management Board of Health would have went in them bathrooms they probably would have closed you down I guess our tradition of zehnders is moving across the street

I love Frankenmuth we are in Zehnder's downstairs shopping and buying all kinds of goods so we thought we would take a break, and go get a soda from the fountain machine go up to pay I was stunned when the cashier told me it was $4 for a fountain pop I know things are going to be hi there it is a tourist area, but for god sakes $4 for a soda I believe Zehnder's is making a ton of money, that they could be a little bit more generous to their guests and show some appreciation. What does it cost for a soda out of a soda machine $0.50 at the most talking about gouging the customer probably the last time I go to Zehnder's there's other places I could spend my money at, I'm not trying to get nothing for free just don't expect to be gouged every time you turn around.

Zender's food and atmosphere are the BEST! I love visiting in all seasons, but the floral displays that we just saw in August were amazing.

Very busy got us in as fast as possible good job great staff excellent food

I miss home! Best chicken family style dinner, amazing lake perch as well. Their gift shop and bakery are the shizz.

With the virus it was a little different but they had a great system. And as usual...great food.

A very nice place Zehnder's . You will Love the food there

A chicken dinner like Thanksgiving! And a buffet that has great food from every category. Breaded shrimp, rolls, chicken, etc.

Food and services were excellent
Liked Kim thought she was cute.

Fun experience if graced with the right server. The chicken dinner is fun.

Great food and more than enough to satisfy a hungry appetite. The waitress was very friendly, very knowledgeable and very attentive. I eat there every time I am in Frankenmuth Michigan.

Great food and great service. A little pricey, but their family style all you can eat dinner is worth it!!!!!

Wow! They feed you and the resort is perfect for family.

Huge waste of money! We paid $71 (with tip) for what amounted to 2, four piece chicken dinners. The potatoes were from a box, the chicken was just ok. My meal came with ribs. She brought them out and they were cold! It took about 10 minutes to find her and have here bring some warm ribs. This place is like a huge expensive cafeteria! Don't go!

All you care to eat pilgrimage to Zehnder's in Frankenmuth is complete for this year.

Family chicken dinner done well, in a unique atmosphere.

Staff was great! But it was overpriced for food that was on par with old country buffet. If you're into waiting 40 minutes to spend $23 (per plate) at an old country buffet, this is the place for you.

Very nice place for a family meal. Service was fast.

Zehnder's should be a staple of any Midwestern family's life. Some of the BEST food you can get in all of Michigan, and with an amazing German town surrounding it!

Good experience overall. It was awesome to feel as if I was in a warm climate due to the temperature of the water park. However, it is very expensive to get a room for a night. I really wish discounts were offered (e.g. veterans, college students, seniors).

Heather was an outstanding server, she we t above and beyond to make our visit so enjoyable.

Great experience wish they had more vegetarian options lots of extras would recommend

Really enjoyed the family style chicken dinner with my children tonight and it is a memory we will all cherish for years to come. Incredible service and an amazing meal from start to finish. Looking forward to returning.