The Dutch Kitchen in Arcola serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. They are well-known for their homemade pies and bread with Amish-made apple butter.

There’s a reason The Dutch Kitchen in Arcola has been thriving for nearly 40 years. Actually, there are several – starting with homemade bread topped with Amish apple butter, chicken and noodles, Italian beef sandwiches, country fried chicken, peanut butter pie … we could go on and on.

“We use a lot of recipes my Amish mother had, and I’ve got a lot of relatives who are Amish,” says Allen Yoder, who co-owns The Dutch Kitchen with his wife, Ruth Ann. “We sell a lot of plate lunches served with mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, vegetables and homemade bread. Our salad bar is another option, and it’s not just lettuce. We make our own salads, like corn relish, pineapple salad and pea salad.”

Plate lunches might feature locally produced beef, pork, chicken, turkey, sausage or fish.

“Most everything is homemade,” Yoder says. “Our chicken and noodles is special, and so are our salmon patties. And we make our own pies – coconut, peanut butter cream, Dutch apple, cherry crumb and shoofly pie.”

Shoofly pie?

“It’s an old-fashioned pie that’s flavored with sorghum, which is kind of like maple syrup,” Yoder explains.

Local products for sale in the Dutch Kitchen. The Dutch Kitchen in Arcola serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. They are well-known for their homemade pies and bread with Amish-made apple butter.

The atmosphere of the downtown Arcola restaurant is homey, with historic photos of Arcola’s broomcorn industry lining the walls alongside Raggedy Ann memorabilia.

The Dutch Kitchen is open Tuesday through Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The restaurant is closed on Mondays.

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