Farmer's Inn Restaurant

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  The bridge at Clear Creek State Park was washed out during a spring storm and has not been repaired yet.  This is probably affecting visitors in general to this area.

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  Posted on 10.02.13 M M.

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  Ok, the restaurant was nice! Kind of Cracker Barrel-ish  but with decent food ;) The buffet looked great, but I just wanted a salad. The grilled chicken salad was really good!!
  We went to the petting zoo after and I immediately fell in love with a 1 week old goat! I was shocked to see so many "exotic" animals! Then sheep and the deer would come up and eat out of your hands. THEN, we saw the porcupine cage! There were big leg bones tossed in the cages?!?! The black bears also had bones? The last fence had 2 Bernese Mountain Dogs in it! Not like pet dogs who were just out there enjoying the day to be taken home later. They LIVED out there!! They were matted and sooo HOT, they had a dog house at the back. This broke my heart. I offered one a treat, he reluctantly got up and walked over to me..sniffed the treat, turned up his nose and walked away :( It was extremely  disturbing and I can't stop thinking about those dogs! There must be a rescue group..I will do some research

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  Posted on 05.21.13 Andrea B.

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  Farmer's Inn is a Jefferson County classic spot for getting your local yokel on.
  - Petting zoo for the kids
  - Mini golf
  - Driving range
  - Ice cream
  - Gift shop
  - Amish furniture
  
  And of course, there's the large restaurant serving all those comfort foods your body doesn't need, but craves on a cool, Fall day. We stopped here for dinner and although the smell of animal manure attacked my nostrils during the walk in, I remained hungry regardless. Hey, they don't call it Farmer's Inn for nothing.
  
  Avoiding the buffet, I ordered the three-piece Broasted Chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. My eyes were obviously bigger than my stomach because when the waitress brought out my plate all I could think was, Wow! Although I like two large breasts as much as the next guy, there was no possible way I was finishing both of them plus an additional wing after eating a garden salad. However, the chicken was perfectly crispy on the outside and juicy and tender on the inside. Delicious!
  
  Not having an ounce of room in my stomach for dessert, I paid our bill at the gift shop and we headed back out into the fresh, night air...wait...nope, it still smelled like...

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  Posted on 10.03.12 Benjamin M.

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  I grew up making a yearly pilgrimage to Cook Forest, and have continued the tradition with my husband. As much as I adore the area sometimes burgers, fries, and hand dipped ice cream gets old.  
  
  THIS PLACE IS WHERE IT'S AT!!!!!!!
  
  I've eaten at pretty much every place that serves food from Clarion to Leeper and back, and even though all these places have good food, it's always a niche.  Pizza, wings, etc. I may love camping and I can certainly rough it with the best, but I do not consider a salad to be iceburg lettuce with 14 pounds of ranch dressing. That's what you usually get in the area.  
  
  I can really only balance cooking gear and food while on vacation in a hatchback with two dogs to a point.........eventually you gotta eat out, and eventually you want REAL FOOD.
  
  We discovered this place last year when someone mentioned to us that the Farmer's Inn has a cool petting zoo and gift shop.
  
  What they failed to mention is the have a buffet of home cooked food!!!!
  
  Recently my husband decided to go camping on the spur of the moment and we ended up back at Farmer's Inn.  We had a GLORIOUS stuffed pork chop with a baked potato and salad bar!  The pork chop came covered in gravy and my husband and I looked at each other like "Oh no!".I like country eats, but to me that much gravy is like a sign of salty crappy food. Well I stand corrected! My husband and I immediately started the bargaining process of who would unpack the car when we got home in exchange for the other persons portion of the pork chop! Haha. No deal could be made, and the plates were left practically licked clean.
  
  Geez, even the baked potato was just noticeably AWESOME! They always have fresh fruit and real apple butter! Yum! Yum! Yum! The staff is always super nice, the place is very clean, and the grounds have lots to do. I could not even begin to comment on the golf, Amish furniture, ice cram, gift shop, petting zoo, etc. Wow! Wow! Wow!
  
  The salad bar is split into two groups a general salad bar with the usual fair and some desserts, and another with main entrees. They have a nice selection of real food, and they don't just go with the cliché camping country eats. There may be some fried chicken and chicken pot pie on the buffet but they round it out with some nice grilled chicken or steamed veggies too!
  
  You can get the special of the day with the salad bar, or you can just get the whole buffet! Either way you will NOT be disappointed.
  
  The shop has raw foods and whole spices.  They have Amish foods, steel cut oats, REAL BUTTER (made from first cream), and all sorts of random deliciousness that I often have a hard time finding in Erie, let alone in the middle of a state park! In fact we often stock up on stuff before we go home from their store.
  
  Considering that I'm used to paying $4 for a hot dog in the middle of no where this place is state park eating heaven!  It falls squarely in that holy grail eating middle ground of mom and pop diner and big impersonal franchise. They have obviously worked extra hard to make it a very nice place to be, lots of great artwork up mixed in with local old time photos and facts, but they aren't out to take advantage of starving tourists either. This is obviously a place where the locals love to eat too and it sure shows!
  
  It's Monday....I'm still thinking about that stuffed pork chop I ate on Saturday....and if I thought I could convince my husband to drive the 80 miles to get one tonight, I would! He said we're going back after the 4th of July rush!

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  Posted on 06.25.12 Erica A.

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