Zehnder's is a large restaurant in

Frankenmuth, Michigan Frankenmuth is a city in Saginaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,944 at the 2010 census. The city is surrounded by Frankenmuth Township. Bronner's Christmas Wonderland, which bills itself as "the World's Largest Chris ...

. It has seating for 1,500 people and features all-you-can-eat family-style chicken dinners, seafood, steaks, fresh baked goods and European desserts. Every year Zehnder's serves almost a million people. In the 1980s, it was one of the ten largest restaurants in the United States.

History

Zehnder's was originally built as the Exchange Hotel by Henry Reichle in 1856. Reichle ran the hotel for twenty years, after which it was sold and operated by several different people. In 1927, William Zehnder Sr. purchased the hotel remodeling the building, including redesigning its facade to resemble

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the business grew rapidly. In March 1947, the business was turned over to Zehnder's children. The business became a

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...

, and in the 1950s the Zehnders bought Fischer's Hotel located across the street, renaming it the Bavarian Inn in 1959. In 1955, William Zehnder Jr. (manager of the Bavarian Inn) and Edwin Zehnder (manager of Zehnder's Restaurant) purchased the interests of Zehnder's, Inc. from their brothers and sister. They re-decorated the restaurant in a Bavarian theme after visiting

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

on vacation, and the annual Frankenmuth Bavarian Festival began during their week-long grand re-opening celebration. In 1984, Zehnder's and the Bavarian Inn became separate corporations with friendly competition between relatives. John Zehnder, the executive chef and food and beverage manager at Zehnder's, received the 2011 Hermann G. Rusch Chef's Achievement Award from the American Culinary Federation.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 43, 19, 37, N, 83, 44, 27, W, display=title Restaurants in Michigan Hotels established in 1856 Restaurants established in 1856 1856 establishments in Michigan Buildings and structures in Saginaw County, Michigan Tourist attractions in Saginaw County, Michigan