ark. On the way home, we enjoyed stopping for a meal, often at the wonderful Das Dutch Haus Restaurant & Bakery in Columbiana.These days, I'm sad to say, forays that require gasing up the car have become few and far between, as have impromptu stops for shopping or a meal. But now and again, we still get the urge to hit the road, as we did recently when we traveled down State Route 11 all the way to East Liverpool, stopping at Broadway Wharf for photos along the Ohio River and at the Lou Holz Upper Ohio Valley Hall of Fame downtown.
And would you believe that on the way home, our old-but-still good Pontiac Vibe just seemed to nose into the parking lot at the Das Dutch Haus complex? This is, I should note, way more than just a restaurant; you can spend the night at Das Dutch Village Inn, where the 51 rooms and
suites are furnished in a variety of styles such as Shaker, Colonial and Victorian. You can browse unique merchandise like cheese, books and hand-crafted items in the Das Dutch Village Shops as well.But the main attraction here, at least for me, is the restaurant. The main dining area can accomodate 450, and even then the lines can be a bit long during peak dining hours. As soon as you open the door, the smell of fresh-baked bread, pies, cakes and other goodies tantalizes your senses. Then, you see why; to the right, rack after rack of these delights stand ready for take-out. Look left, and you'll see an expansive area filled with items that make wonderful gifts (a great place to explore after your stomach is full).
Since our visits tend to be at off hours - most recently, we got there around 2:30 p.m. - we're usually seated immediately. The decor is decidedly Dutch, with lots of wood, flowers and Old World wall hangings. Large tables can accommodate bigger groups, and dinners can be served family style (all you can eat chuck roast, chicken and all the trimmings including the salad bar for $14.75 per adult).
Specials - including pies of the day - are posted on boards in each section
of the restaurant. Shortly after you're seated, a server asks for your drink order (no alcohol here, by the way) and then brings a basket of fresh-baked bread.The down-home menu is extensive, and dinner entrees range from creamed chicken on a homemade biscuit to smoked sausage to Swiss steak (all $11.25) and a couple of fish dinners priced slightly higher. For lunch, hot sandwiches like beef, pork and turkey are especially tempting, as are old favorites like the Dutch Boy Ham & Swiss Cheese served with horseradish sauce on a homemade bun ($5.25).
On our "official" visit, we both opted for one of the daily specials; Jack ordered a sloppy joe with potato chips and cole slaw and I picked baked chicken, which came with two sides. I knew I wanted mashed potatoes and gravy, but I wasn't sure about the other one. Noticing the baked squash with brown sugar-walnut crumb topping, I asked our server, who told me it's delicious. So, squash it was.
There's not much to say about Jack's sloppy joe and slaw except that both disappeared in very short order, a clear indication that it was tasty (and that he was very hungry). Meanwhile, I took one look at the huge mound of squash and figured I'd be a while.
It was quite tasty, too, made special by that crumb topping (I liken the flavor to mashed sweet potatoes). The mashed potatoes somehow didn't quite taste like the real thing, but if they were fake, they were good. The two pieces of chicken weren't very large, but the meat was fall-off-the-bone tender and the flavor was wonderful. Next time, I told myself, I'll go for the same thing only the dinner-size entree.
Although our stomachs were full after polishing off our main meals, we made sure to leave room for dessert - and I urge you to do the same. The pies here are hard to beat - Jack tried the sugar-free apple - and I usually go for an apple dumpling ($3.45 for each). The dumpling comes warmed, and our server asked if Jack wanted his pie that way (he did). I decided to add vanilla ice cream, too, which costs $1.25 but really makes the dumpling special.
After we finished, we virtually waddled out of the restaurant section to browse the gift shop and bakery. The special-occasion cakes caught my eye - one very large cake was shaped and decorated like a fabulous castle. Other display cases contain the restaurant's homemade soups, potato salad, ham loaf and more as well as those wonderful whole pies,
cakes, breads and doughnuts.This time out, we resisted buying anything to take home (mostly, I suspect, because our stomachs were so full we figured we wouldn't want to eat anything else till at least the next day). That's a decision we'd come to regret once we got back home, though, so for sure next time we go we won't make that mistake again!
If you go: Das Dutch Haus Restaurant & Bakery
14895 South Ave. Extension
Columbiana, Ohio 44408
(330) 482-2236
www.dasdutchvillage.com
Open Monday through Thursday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; closed Sundays.
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