Surrounded by Amish kitsch, both on the road driving in and in the restaurant building. Â But in the dining room, you find good service and fine food. Â The fried chicken was amazingly juicy - perhaps even too much so; the breast (an inherently drier piece) was better than the somewhat fatty thigh - but that's a quibble. Â This is pressure-fried chicken, so, though the spicing is different, it's strikingly reminiscent of what KFC original recipe chicken was like fifty years ago, when the Colonel was still making it himself. Â To borrow the phrase that KFC isn't entitled to any more, it was finger-licking good!
Sides (I had applesauce, served as a salad course, and corn) also tasted fresh and genuinely home-made.
Gut-buster of a dinner.
If you leave this place and are still hungry, it is not because they didn't give you enough food...it's because you didn't eat it!
Meat & potatoes.
Dinner offerings are pretty much standard fare. Â Pulled pork, turkey, chicken, meatloaf, etc. Â All has been good grub
Filling, but not fancy.
Seeing as this sits in the middle of an Amish community, it fits. Â Squeeze bottles of peanut butter/marshmallow fluff combination make this pretty evident.
Friendly, but not formal.
Ditto.
We should try breakfast sometime...That might get me up to a 4 star.
How do you say "meh" in Dutch?
This seems to be the place to go when you're visiting Shipshewana, but I think it's because there really isn't anywhere else.
My grandmother liked it, but then again, she thinks going to Denny's is a nice night out.
We waited over two hours for a table, and when we got ours, I was upset we waited.
The food is just mediocre all around. Nothing that was served was hot, or flavorful. Our waitress was way too slammed to give us decent service, and if you wait over three hours from beginning to end, you expect great results.
I wish I could recommend somewhere else to go for dinner in this town, but even our waitress said the Subway in the gas station across the street was better.
The Fried Chicken here is excellent. Â However, it really depends on your preferences. Â If you usually choose Popeyes over KFC's original chicken, then I doubt you'll be all that impressed. Â The chicken was an upscale version of the KFC's original, which I actually think has pretty decent flavor. Â Before you scoff at me, there are restaurants the elitists swear by that have fried chicken that is bland and dry...even worse than a chain.
Like others have mentioned, the wait here can be incredibly long. Â This is the "go to" place to eat in Shisphewana. Â If you get a late start to the day, you might be in for some trouble. Â If you're with others who are bothered by waiting or are too lazy to roam around town for a bit, plan ahead.
The actual dining area isn't anything special. Â There's quite a lot of noise, particularly from annoying children. Â In the main dining area, there were also a fair amount of flies. Â Keep that in mind as well.
After waiting so long, we already knew what we wanted. Â I'd recommend checking out the menu ahead of time. Â I began placing the order for all of us and made a side note to my dad that we would be sharing his appetizer. Â That threw off the old lady waitress, and she had to start over again. Â She then blamed it all on me for confusing her and at the end of the order, she said: "Don't ever do that to me again." Â I won't because I'll make sure to not have you as our waitress in the future. Â The rest of the dining experience was pleasant enough. Â The entrees were all pretty decent. Â The waitress came back to check on us once or twice. Â I don't know why we left a 20% tip because she was sort of condescending and unprofessional. Â Don't act like you're an old expert who has been waiting tables for thirty years. Â If that were the case, you wouldn't have become so easily flustered.
This is the place to go for those who are regulars or those who want that "one-time signature spot in Shipshewana" experience. Â I might try the buffet in the future. Â Aside from doing that, I will not go out of my way to dine here. Â The food was good, and the ambiance was quaint. Â The service up front was organized enough, but the service in the dining room leaves more to be desired.
This is what home cookin' is all about. You're greeted with a fresh loaf of bread and 2 condiments - apple butter and an amazing peanut butter/marshmallow/maple spread that's really addictive. (side note: you can buy jars of it in the gift shop, which also has baked goods, cookbooks, candies, jams, etc.). I had a beef and noodle dish that was really good, and my husband had the best fried chicken of his life. The dessert selection is fantastic (to be expected of an Amish restaurant), and the service is friendly. This place is great for families, and the prices are extremely fair. This was definitely worth the hour drive it took for us to get there from my mom's house.
Review Source:Back for the quarterly trip to Yoder's for meat.
This time we got off to a later start, so by the time we rolled-into Shipshewana, it was almost 1:30 (EST) and there were lines for the main floor dining area. Â We had no idea there was a "family style" option in the basement, so we headed down there for immediate seating. Â The husband, with eyes bigger than his stomach, thought that the four meat option was the way to go - for two people - and we ended-up with a TON of food. Â It worked out in the end because he doesn't eat meatloaf and I was not eating ham or roast beef and we just shared the chicken. Â You also get bowls of green beans, noodles, mashed potatoes and stuffing - and their homemade bread is on the table with peanut butter and apple butter.
All this, including a slice of your choice of what seems like an endless listing of pies (and you can take the pie home, but not the hot food) is only about $20 a head.
I have to say that the meatloaf (sweet sauce on top - needs more) and chicken were tasty and the ham was (allegedly) less dry, but the roast beef looked gross. Â The sides were a miss for me - the noodles seemed soggy, the chicken stuffing was just weird and the mashed potatoes and green beans are just plain (naturally). Â
If we come back here, I would wait and sit upstairs.
For a buffet this place is ok. Everything was fresh and the servers kept the line stocked. The selection wasn't huge, but what they did have was good. They had piles of toast, which I love with jam. But there wasn't any out. You had to ask for it because everything should be slathered in gravey or that tub of melted cheddar. Not for me. I had to ask for ketchup for the hash browns and it was like I was holding them up. My plates were stacking up, I had three before someone noticed. I wouldn't come back even though everything was clean and orderly. I don't like tourist traps and I just think that you shouldn't have to ask for condiments. They should just be out.
Review Source:Just took family member for a 65th birthday dinner. Would have to say I was disappointed in the food except the desert  Potato chip appetizer were soggy with grease, very small portion.  "Chopped steak"-a over done Quarter Pounder, very dry and tasteless.  Fried Chicken seemed to be good.  Corn side I would not eat-old and tired.  Beef open plate sandwich, beef was good but was swimming in gravy.  Chicken and noodle were fair.  Chicken diced in little squares, would have thought with type of place the chicken would have been picked and small pieces.  Pies for deserts were great.  Sorry would not return for the food
Review Source:We stopped by here because we heard great things. We had breakfast. My wife had the Apple bread french toast with a side of cornbread mush. Very tasty.
I had the scrambled eggs with bacon. I can't believe how good it was.
If we get back to Shipshewana, we definitely try to go for dinner and dessert.
This is hands down the best ever. Everything is wonderful. It is where you eat when going to Shipshewana. No exceptions. The homemade bread is wonderful, the country style cooking is delicious. Never unsatisfied with the Blue Gate. You must go there. Also, you can buy most of the things you eat in the bakery. Always take home lots of food.
Review Source:After looking at the menu, your mouth will water thinking about some country cooking...and this place seems to serve it up in spades. Once seated we started with a side salad that was no more than your average out of the bag green salad spiced up with a couple croutons, a tomato wedge and some cucumber. Next the bread. I would have to say this was my favorite part of the meal. With the apple and peanut butter on the table I made myself a PB&J and enjoyed. Shortly after our meals came out and without tasting anything I could tell things were amiss. Visually I could tell the vegetables were out of the "can" and the "real mashed potatoes" weren't real at all...or at least they weren't homemade...because I guess you can call powered potatoes real, right? The sides tasted just as bad as they looked with a gravy that could have just as easily come out of the can as well. The only highlight was the meat. The beef was tender and had tons of flavor but was overly salty. The fact that I wanted to eat it with my potatoes ruined what should have been a great meal. I also tried the fried chicken which again was overly salty but the skin was golden and crispy and the. Meat was nice and moist.
What bothers me the most is that I was told by our waitress that the beef is slow cooked for 24 hours and it's obvious they put a lot of time and effort into their meat...but WHY are you using canned sides??? Also spend some time making a side salad and again not pulling something we can all but from a bag at the market. Some homemade potatoes with FRESH vegetables would have made this a meal I would be coming back for. Instead they seem content to be one of the few tricks in town and because of this they van get away with the cutting some big corners.
The pies were good and if I ever came back I would get a slice along with some bread so I could make another PB&J.
I went with a group of 8 people, and our server recommended the family style meal. Â It was around 18 a person for adults, and children is a dollar per year, but all you can eat everything so it evened out! Â And the food was all great! Â It came with all you can eat fried chicken (they even let us be picky about what pieces we wanted more of), mashed potatoes with 2 gravies, green beans, stuffing, chicken and noodles. Â You can also add in other meats for I believe a dollar more a person--we did the beef which melted in your mouth, and ham which was surprisingly shredded and got good reviews from those who had it. Â The meal came with a drink, bread, and dessert, which our server so nicely let us take to go (the rest of the meal cannot be). Â Everything was delicious! Â I'm not going to try to decipher what was homemade and what was standard restaurant food, but I'm sure it's a little of both. Â Either way, it was a great experience to add into the whole Shipshewana 'feel', and I would highly recommend giving Blue Gate a try :) Â Oh, and if you like cinnamon choose the cinnamon ice cream for dessert--so good!!
Review Source:Taste: 1
Value: 1
Service: 3
I think the best part of my meal was the homemade bread. It came out as an entire loaf, and I had to cut individual pieces out. However, even that was just mediocre.
1. Amish Country Sampler, $13
The rest of my meal was pretty bad. I ordered the Amish country sampler, which came with fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, pulled pork, pulled ham, corn, and some weird chicken stuff.
Should have listened to Honey, as my experience was almost identical. Even Old Country Buffet is better than this.
Headed to good ol' Shipshewana a few weekends ago with my lovely nephews and had a lovely little dinner at Blue Gate! Â They both ordered the meatloaf and bless his dear little heart my 11-year-old one claimed the meatloaf was the best he ever had in a restaurant and it was almost as good as NeeNee's... I'm NeeNee. Â He's my new favorite. Â
I had the Amish sampler platter and it was really great! Â Definitely recommend trying that if you can't decide which way to go. Â We didn't really save room for dessert but, Â we had some anyway. Â I had the huge lemon meringue pie and 14-year-old had the gigantic carrot cake which he devoured. Â
We liked dinner so much we came back from breakfast! Â We went with the buffet and they liked it a lot, I thought it was just so-so, but they were happy, so that works for me. Â They're still talking about the peanut butter spread and apple butter! Â We bought two jars after dinner, should have bought more!
We found this place to be quite a bit better than dinner at the Dutchman Essenhaus so if you only have time for one meal in Shipshewana, I'd definitely head to Blue Gate.
We went to Shipshewana to go shopping at Yoders Meat and Cheese Company and decided to try the Blue Gate.
I ordered the Chicken and Noodles (half order) -" homemade noodles and chunks of chicken generously ladled over creamy real mashed potatoes" with a side of green beans. I was transported back to my great-grandmother's kitchen eating this delicious dish. It was just the right dish to order on a cold, winter day when I'm fighting off a cold.
My husband ordered the Amish Country Sampler, which consisted of fried chicken, roast beef, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing and corn. The fried chicken was juicy and the ham was delicious, according to him.
To top lunch off, we had to finish with pie. I ordered the old fashioned cream, which tasted like the homemade pudding I grew up eating. My husband ordered the Dutch Apple, which was also delicious and had a crumbly, cinnamon-y crunchy topping.
We'll definitely go back again.
In full disclosure, back in college I spent a summer working at the Riegsecker marketplace, at the Craft Barn, which is across the street from the Blue Gate.
The funny thing is, I still like Essenhaus (down the road in Middlebury) better.
But, the Blue Gate is pretty tasty. And Shipshewana is a cool little tourist trap of a town. (Note: Go to Wana Cup. Have some homemade root beer.)
The food is nearly all homemade, full of real butter and lard and meat drippings. The pie is outstanding. The bread is delicious. You will not leave hungry. And now you can see a show, too. I don't really recommend the buggy rides, it's sort of ridiculous. Just take a leisurely drive around the back roads of LaGrange and Elkhart counties.
Note to Wendy B et al: Amish people are *not* going to eat a meal out here. They are going to eat at home, where they have the exact same food. Or at Wana Cup, 'cause they want a cheeseburger and tater tots.
P.S. That Amish peanut butter stuff everyone raves about? Yes, it's tasty. It's also just peanut butter, corn syrup and marshmallow fluff. There's nothing particularly Amish about it. Go for the apple butter instead.
I kept jokingly calling this place "Am-land" but it's true: seated next to a window, I counted just as many passing black buggies as motorized vehicles. There weren't any Amish patrons but I spotted Amish bonnets on a few of the employees. Those who were not Amish were not in Amish garb, so it didn't seem to be a gimmick, despite the advertised buggy rides for $7 per person out back.
But what really matters is the chow, right? This place did not disappoint. I got the Amish sampler: a piece of buttermilk fried chicken, some beef pot roast, and some ham, served with mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing and a vegetable (mine was corn), and came with a side salad. The mashed potatoes were real, but nothing to write home about, but the proteins were all top notch and amazing. Also, it should be noted that the stuffing/dressing was the finest I've ever tasted in my life, and it was LOADED with giant chunks of chicken too. Â The French dressing for the salad was made in-house and was also the best I've ever tasted. On the table, there were pots of what we thought were crazy versions of mustard and ketchup, but while waiting for pie, we dabbled and realized they were homemade apple butter and the most delicious version of peanut butter. I was bummed that I was so full, because it would have been amazing on their whole-grain bread served pre-meal. My dining companions had similarly generous helpings and reported that they were impressed and amazed by the quality of the cooking. Now the downside: the pie wasn't all that, and in fact, I had planned on buying a pie to take home until I tried the pie crust: lardy and heavy. Meh. The filling in my banana cream was clearly homemade custard, but it was topped with Cool Whip, or something Amish that is indistinguishable from Cool Whip. So close and yet, so far. However, I did score some of that amazing peanut butter and French dressing to take home instead and their Snickerdoodles were pretty amazing. I understand that I'm somewhat of a pie snob, though, and they earned 5 stars from me before they even brought out the dessert menu.
Totally worth the side-trip, and while it's nowhere near an exit off of Hwy 80, you can get there by driving parallel to it, so if you're passing through, you won't regret taking a few extra miles to visit the folks at The Blue Gate.
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,607 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,970 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,306 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,905 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,983 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
