Anybody remember the Dutch Pantry

Does anyone out there a) remember this place b) know if any still exist. The chain originally began as a single restaurant in Selinsgrove, Pa. They eventually branched out and ( I guess ) franchised and got quite widespread. Last I heard they were part of some other holding corporation and were run out of offices in Chicago. There was one operating up to about a year or so ago in Danville, Pa next to I-80, but, the property was sold and the new owner changed the name, but, kept the decor and menu pretty much as it always was.

Any info appreciated,
Dan

Oh, boy, I sure do remember the Dutch Pantry. It was a great place to go if you wanted to get something you didn't order, enjoyed not being able to get a second cup of coffee, hated being given a check so you could leave, and loved not finding anyone manning the cash register. Oh, and I almost forgot, if overflowing commodes and urinals were fun the various Dutch Pantry places I've been in, including the one in Danville, Pa., the one in Cambridge, Ohio, and the one near Mansfield, Ohio, were the places to visit.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

Oh, boy, I sure do remember the Dutch Pantry. It was a great place to go if you wanted to get something you didn't order, enjoyed not being able to get a second cup of coffee, hated being given a check so you could leave, and loved not finding anyone manning the cash register. Oh, and I almost forgot, if overflowing commodes and urinals were fun the various Dutch Pantry places I've been in, including the one in Danville, Pa., the one in Cambridge, Ohio, and the one near Mansfield, Ohio, were the places to visit.

Good Grief,
How could one person have so many BAD experiances at the same place. More to the point, if you found this to be such an AWFUL place, why did you keep going there?

As far as commodes and urinals, I have seen plumbing back up in some very nice places. As far as the service you recieved, maybe, your actions/attitude to the servers showed the same sarcastic tone you used in this reply.

Dan

quote:

Originally posted by pacman

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

Oh, boy, I sure do remember the Dutch Pantry. It was a great place to go if you wanted to get something you didn't order, enjoyed not being able to get a second cup of coffee, hated being given a check so you could leave, and loved not finding anyone manning the cash register. Oh, and I almost forgot, if overflowing commodes and urinals were fun the various Dutch Pantry places I've been in, including the one in Danville, Pa., the one in Cambridge, Ohio, and the one near Mansfield, Ohio, were the places to visit.

Good Grief,
How could one person have so many BAD experiances at the same place. More to the point, if you found this to be such an AWFUL place, why did you keep going there?

As far as commodes and urinals, I have seen plumbing back up in some very nice places. As far as the service you recieved, maybe, your actions/attitude to the servers showed the same sarcastic tone you used in this reply.

Dan

I didn't keep going there. In Danville, the only other places that were open were a Best Western motel restaurant that was almost nice enough to be called vile and the always less than pleasing Day's Inn restaurant. In Cambridge, there was the Dutch Pantry and a Western Pancake House. The Mansfield stop was just a mistake. As to the service I received being related to my actions and/or attitude -- nope. Oh, and I was not being sarcastic. I was merely telling the truth. Apparently, you do not care for the truth. You asked for information. You asked whether anyone remembered the place. When yoou got what you asked for you didn't like it. Too bad!

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

quote:

Originally posted by pacman

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

Oh, boy, I sure do remember the Dutch Pantry. It was a great place to go if you wanted to get something you didn't order, enjoyed not being able to get a second cup of coffee, hated being given a check so you could leave, and loved not finding anyone manning the cash register. Oh, and I almost forgot, if overflowing commodes and urinals were fun the various Dutch Pantry places I've been in, including the one in Danville, Pa., the one in Cambridge, Ohio, and the one near Mansfield, Ohio, were the places to visit.

Good Grief,
How could one person have so many BAD experiances at the same place. More to the point, if you found this to be such an AWFUL place, why did you keep going there?

As far as commodes and urinals, I have seen plumbing back up in some very nice places. As far as the service you recieved, maybe, your actions/attitude to the servers showed the same sarcastic tone you used in this reply.

Dan

I didn't keep going there. In Danville, the only other places that were open were a Best Western motel restaurant that was almost nice enough to be called vile and the always less than pleasing Day's Inn restaurant. In Cambridge, there was the Dutch Pantry and a Western Pancake House. The Mansfield stop was just a mistake. As to the service I received being related to my actions and/or attitude -- nope. Oh, and I was not being sarcastic. I was merely telling the truth. Apparently, you do not care for the truth. You asked for information. You asked whether anyone remembered the place. When yoou got what you asked for you didn't like it. Too bad!

I guess we seem to have a misunderstanding. It is not that I object to hearing a bad opinion of a place. We can't all like the exact same things in life. However, I am rather amazed that you were in 3 Dutch Pantry's and they were all shi**y. I live in Northumberland, PA which is about 10 miles from the Danville location. Over the years I have eaten there several times and never had any of the experiances you mention. There was also one in Sunbury, PA and Selinsgrove, PA these were closest to me and I ate in them all. They were all fine, but, not by any means perfect (matter of fact, no place is perfect). There were also locations in Williamsport, Lock Haven and State College, PA that were close to me when I was growing up. Having eaten in them all, I found them to be generaly clean, friendly places to eat. I am sorry if you had poor experiances and wish you could have eaten there when they were still in their "hay-day".

Anyway, if you know of any that are still open, I am curious to know about them or any other info people have on the place.

I don't know of any that are still open. And I just remembered that the Country Kitchen in Danville was crowded with a long line of folks waiting for seats, and that's why we ended up at the Dutch Pantry there. I always liked that Country Kitchen. I suppose one of the reasons I liked it was because they didn't spell it Kountry Kitchen.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman... I suppose one of the reasons I liked it was because they didn't spell it Kountry Kitchen.

I have to agree on this one.....I HATE Country spelled with a K !!!!

There was a Dutch Pantry at the I-65 exit for Gnaw Bone (tenderloins), Bloomington and Columbus for many years.
When we returned to Indiana in 2000 it was gone. It used to be a pretty decent place for a coffee stop on the run between Louisville and Indy. The Apple Fritters were good and The plumbing seemed adequate too.

Are they a "Waffle House" type place?

quote:

Originally posted by Lone Star

Are they a "Waffle House" type place?

Oh, no. They were more like a smaller, Pennsylvania Dutch version of Cracker Barrel, except you didn't have to walk through so much junk for sale to get to a booth or counter.

Michael - I tried to email you but it was returned to me, so I will just ask you here....Do you know anything about solar powered deer feeders?

I remember Dutch Pantry. When I was 8 years old, my older sister married and moved to the midwest. That first summer after she moved, my parents, myself and my 2 brothers took a road trip from Massachusetts to visit her. Dutch Pantry restaurants dotted the highway beginning in Pennsylvania, all through Ohio and Indiana, and there were even a few in Illinois. We finally stopped at one. I thought it was great - but at 8 I was probably more impressed by the decor and the atmosphere than the food.

quote:

Originally posted by Lone Star

Michael - I tried to email you but it was returned to me, so I will just ask you here....Do you know anything about solar powered deer feeders?

I have a friend who uses two of them on his property in Ohio, and I've seen them in use at a couple of places in Alabama. They seem to work pretty well. If I'm not mistaken -- and boy I sure could be -- the YO Ranch uses them.

By the way, my e-mail is mihoffman@columbus.rr.com

quote:

Originally posted by Lone Star

Michael - I tried to email you but it was returned to me, so I will just ask you here....Do you know anything about solar powered deer feeders?

Aren't they called "plants, and bushes, and trees?"

I ate at the Dutch Pantry in Danville a few times during the '90s, when my Dad lived in Pittsburgh. I remember it as neither of the experiences mentioned here; it was not remarkable for its quality and it was not remarkable for its squalor. It was a feed stop on a strech of highway without many good ones.



Tom

There is a "Dutch Pantry Family Restaurant" in Charlottesville, VA at the interesection of Rt.29 and Rt. 250 bypass. It's been there for at least 35 years. I ate there once when I was a student at UVa. in the '60's. Pretty unremarkable at the time. But IT'S STILL THERE, according to a Google search. Does that say something? (Not sure if this is the same chain that you're talking about, 'tho.)

Frank

Dutch Pantry was our family celebration restaurant for years back in the 70's. I always liked it because they served chili and spaghetti, which was to me the mark of a class establishment at age 10 or so. The last time I remember eating in one was memorable for two reasons. We were on the way back from a family vacation to St. Louis and stopped at one that was just off the highway in Illinois or Indiana. There was a huge party (15 or so people) at the back of the place and I remember that they left the waitress a $.25 tip. I also remember this because my Grandpa ordered a "Ham Quickie" and my Dad almost needed the paddles from laughing. (Grandpa meant a "Ham Quiche", but he'd never seen or heard of a quiche before.) The one nearest us was in Florence, KY. It's a cell phone store or something of the such these days.

Michael,
Your description of Dutch Pantry as a scaled-down Cracker Barrel is right on target. Without the yard-sale foyer, not quite as well-lit and about 1/2 the size and you have a pretty good comparison.

I know this is an old post... just happened to come across it today. As info, there is still a Dutch Pantry on I-77 at the Williamstown WV exit( first exit southbound after you cross the Ohio River from Marietta Ohio). It is the same exit you would take to go to Fenton glass. I have never eaten in one myself. Just thought I'd put in my two cents worth.

quote:

Originally posted by bluegrasser031

I know this is an old post... just happened to come across it today. As info, there is still a Dutch Pantry on I-77 at the Williamstown WV exit( first exit southbound after you cross the Ohio River from Marietta Ohio). It is the same exit you would take to go to Fenton glass. I have never eaten in one myself. Just thought I'd put in my two cents worth.

I just came across this topic myself. I'm glad to hear that the Dutch Pantry you describe is still there! I grew up in Marietta, and there was a time in the 70's when it seems to me my family went there every Sunday. I would always get a kid's meal of fried chicken with mashed potatoes. I liked the place.

Yeah...the one in Florence, KY was fairly decent...I don't remember a bad experience there. After Dutch Pantry closed, it became a Perkins for a while, then an Izzy's and then the cell phone store. Reading all this stuff about the Dutch Pantry makes me feel so old.

i work at the dutch pantry in dubois pa... there are only 3 stores open anymore ours (of cousre) 1 in clearfield pa and 1 in williamstown wv.the our restaurant is right off the fallscreek exit of interstate 80.if u are ever driving by stop in and enjoy......tell them jameson sent you....

quote:

Originally posted by Lone Star

Are they a "Waffle House" type place?

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Mr. Hoffman admits to eating at two chains!!!! SAY IT AIN'T SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am new to this site and was pleased to see references, good and bad, about Dutch Pantry, which had a humble beginning in the mid 1940s as an expansion of a vegetable/salad business in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, by Lottie Kemberling and her son Jess. As the business expanded to many more locations, the food became more commercialized. I’ll never forget the original, though, with the pickled cabbage and apple butter on each table and the homemade bread. I have especially fond memories since Lottie was my grandmother and Jess my uncle. The chain was sold in 1969 to Best Foods and eventually grew to about 90+ locations. Leona Helmsley was actually in the chain of ownership at one time. I have mixed feelings about its demise because it had become so different from what it once was.

Our family used to eat at the Dutch Pantry at the Erie,PA airport. We could eat and watch the planes. On the table were two glass bowls with hinged metal lids. They were filled with delicious pickles and cole slaw.

We used to stop at the one in Breezewood near the Turnpike interchange. I have fond memories of the yummy food, the homey atmosphere, oh--and the gift and candy shop on the way out!

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

Oh, boy, I sure do remember the Dutch Pantry. It was a great place to go if you wanted to get something you didn't order, enjoyed not being able to get a second cup of coffee, hated being given a check so you could leave, and loved not finding anyone manning the cash register. Oh, and I almost forgot, if overflowing commodes and urinals were fun the various Dutch Pantry places I've been in, including the one in Danville, Pa., the one in Cambridge, Ohio, and the one near Mansfield, Ohio, were the places to visit.

Were we there the same night? No, but then again they went out of business...couldn't have been the service.

There was a Dutch Pantry in Bartlesville, OK in the 1980's. It used to be called the Panekouken (sp?) House and I don't seem to remember the menu changing when the name change. The signature dish was panekoukens (sp?) which were a souffle-like bread product that you poured syrup on and ate like a pancake or a waffle. My favorite had bacon mixed in the batter. The waitresses would dress like Dutch girls and would have to run through the restaurant to get the dish to your table before it sank all the way down.

It sounds like I'm describing a totally different place. The building had a big windmill. That restaurant is now a Chinese place, but the windmill still stands!

I just did a search for Dutch Pantry and found this site. I am looking for a copycat recipe for their <b>potato chowder</b> which I thought was simply outstanding. I'm so glad there was a half hour wait for a table at the Cracker Barrel so I went down the road (I-77) to stop at the one at Williamstown WV. But since it seems there's only 3 restaurants left, they might just have independent cooks and no longer franchise recipes. Wish I didn't live so far away up here in Michigan. I was on my way home from VA. I'd go back and ask for the recipe. If anyone can get this recipe <b>PLEASE</b> email me at DRaitz@aol.com.

Thanks,
Debi

If I am not mistaken there was a Dutch Pantry on Main Street in Uniontown, PA, probably 35+ years ago. All of the descriptions are accurate. It was a good place for a decent meal when you were a college student.
Dale