Dutch Pantry

Here's a boring post for you all. A brochure for the now defunct Dutch Pantry restaurant chain.

I don't think I ever ate at one, but for some reason I happen to have the brochure so for the edification of future generations here you go...



Oh wait, I even have a restaurant directory too. It's "Where Food Makes Friends" don't cha know...


From what I've read online the Dutch Pantry was similar to a Cracker Barrel restaurant. The interior pictures on the cover of the brochure sure look a lot like the inside of a Cracker Barrel.

Maybe it's just me and my juvenile sense of humor, but didn't people make fun of the restaurant name? Would jokesters ask the waitress about the dutch oven in the Dutch Pantry? If there were Dutch Pantry restaurants near where I live I know I would probably call them the Dutch Panty among friends.

Since I didn't have any sort of firsthand experience with a Dutch Pantry I looked to see what the internet had to say, and found this entertaining conversation on a message board. Thank you "pacman" and "Michael H." for the lively exchange...


pacman
Anybody remember the Dutch Pantry - Thu, 12/9/04 3:10 PM ( #1 )

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

Michael H.
RE: Anybody remember the Dutch Pantry - Thu, 12/9/04 3:16 PM ( #2 )

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.

pacman
RE: Anybody remember the Dutch Pantry - Thu, 12/9/04 3:26 PM ( #3 )

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.

Michael H.
RE: Anybody remember the Dutch Pantry - Thu, 12/9/04 3:54 PM ( #4 )

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!

pacman
RE: Anybody remember the Dutch Pantry - Thu, 12/9/04 4:15 PM ( #5 )

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.

Michael H.
RE: Anybody remember the Dutch Pantry - Thu, 12/9/04 4:19 PM ( #6 )

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.

And finally, here's a well done and amazingly encyclopedic page that will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the Dutch Pantry but were afraid to ask.