America's Largest Buffet Is In An Underrated Pennsylvania Town Full Of Rich History

Imagine a buffet with hundreds of choices like prime rib, fried shrimp, smoked brisket, and 46 options at the salad baralone. Add more dessert than even a wide-eyed eight-year-old could possibly scarf down, including a sundae bar, and you've got America's largest buffet. That's what you'll find at Shady Maple, which can seat 1,200 people at a time and serves 1.5 million people every year. The kicker that it's cheap, with prices ranging from $14 to $30 for adults depending on the meal, with discounts for kids, seniors, and military. Plus, people celebrating their birthdays eat for free. Oh, and tipping isn't allowed, but there's a 12% service fee.

Where is this hungry person's nirvana? East Earl, Pennsylvania. This tiny town with a population of just 1,144 is 90 minutes west of Philadelphia, four hours east of Pittsburgh, 1 hour 40 minutes south of the underrated Switzerland-esque town of Jim Thorpe, an hour east of Hershey Park, and 40 minutes northeast of Lancaster. It's in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country. Note that "For more than 50 years, Shady Maple has been a company based on faith in God," according to its website, and as such, it's closed on Sundays and has a dress code that requests no "revealing clothing."

Many of the options in Shady Maple's buffet reflect local simple preferences — think barely-spiced meat and potatoes, not ethnic food or haute cuisine. Some of the more regionally reflective dishes are scrapple, mush, whoopie pie, shoo-fly pie, and long johns. For doughnut lovers: Shady Maple makes 53 varieties and sells 3 million donuts a year. Before you approach the smorgasbord, you'll want to take a read about buffet etiquette.

Walk off your meal on Shady Maple's 11 acres that include a 40,000-square-foot gift shop. The Amish people are known for making high-quality, handcrafted furniture, like rocking chairs, which are sold here. Quilts are another regionally-known specialty item to consider purchasing. They're handmade by Amish and Mennonite locals in a range of styles and colors that reflect their traditions.

You will find shelves full of candles ad other items for the home and garden like wreaths, lamps, wind chimes, and garden stakes. This is also an ideal place to shop for holiday décor, especially Christmas decorations like nativity scenes and ornaments. This much floor space means there's also room for clothing, jewelry, a huge range of mugs, and so much more.

If you're local or are traveling with a (hopefully large) cooler, take a walk through Shady Maple's 130,000-square-foot Farm Market, the largest grocery store in Lancaster County. Here you'll find farm-fresh eggs and milk, 300 kinds of fruit and vegetables including 40 varieties of apples, and all sorts of meat. Bargain hunters will want to take advantage of meat bundles like 11 pounds of a variety of meats for $59.

Beyond food, Lancaster County has a lot of history and culture to explore as well as a range of family-friendly activities. The biggest draw is learning about the Amish, and there are numerous opportunities to visit an Amish farm, one-room schoolhouse, and even ride in a buggy. Sight and Sound stages Bible-based professional theater productions, the American Music Theatre is a venue for musicals and concerts, and you can attend a magic show at Magic and Wonder. 

Shady Maple is 20 minutes from the self-professed "America's Antiques Town:" Adamstown. You can learn about wolves at the Wolf Sanctuary of PA and take a Strasburg Scooter Tour through covered bridges or ride a Strasburg Rail Road steam train, on the list of Pennsylvania's five best train rides. Kids love the Dutch Wonderland Family Amusement Park and the Turkey Hill Experience where you can create your own ice cream flavor. Lancaster has rich history: It was America's capital for one day, you can tour the home of Lancaster-born president James Buchanan, and the Woolworth and Hershey empires started here.

Stay in Lancaster at The Inn at Leola Village, which earns its AAA four-diamond rating with whirlpool suites, spa, sauna, pool, fitness center, and billiards room. In Ephrata, the Historic Smithton Inn has some rooms with a Jacuzzi and fireplace as well as amenities like a wine bar and fire pit. The Artist's Inn & Gallery, in the farmland of Terre Hill, is a historic B&B with Jacuzzi rooms and a daily four-course breakfast. Train aficionados will want to reserve one of the 38 cabooses at The Red Caboose Motel at Paradise Station in Ronks, which is also home to one of America's best corn mazes.