Country Table Restaurant Bake Shoppe and Deli

Country table served up the worst meal we had in 4 days in Lancaster county. And by far the worst restaurant meal I’ve had in the last year. Overall, the quality of the food was depressingly poor. We felt like we had a meal that was prepared by a person who really didn’t know how to cook and couldn’t care less about either the ingredients or their preparation. To start off, my daughter’s fruit cup was directly from a can. I ordered a veal Milanese. This was halfway decent probably only because it came out of the freezer and went straight into the deep fryer, so that was hard to mess up. But then it was topped with a tomato sauce that had so much sugar in it that it made me gag. My daughter had the ham loaf, which was (again) laced with sugar. Why, oh why would you put five spoons of sugar in meat? And in tomato sauce? My husband had the charbroiled chicken. It was literally just that, a slab of charbroiled chicken. The cook had not bothered to put salt, pepper or any seasoning on the chicken.

I dined regularly at the Country Table years ago as a child and teen, and was always happy with the service and food. I visited there again today for lunch and sadly, found it much different. It took my family and I over an hour to get our food after ordering, because the waitress forgot to put in our food order. She also lost the slip that she wrote our order on, and so 35 minutes after we originally ordered she had to come back and take our order again (at least she was apologetic). And then we waited 30 more minutes for our food. This would have been annoying enough if it was just adults, but we had a four month old baby to entertain while we waited an eternity for our food. We were offered free dessert as compensation, which we didn’t want because we had dessert waiting for us at home (cake). When we asked to be compensated in a different way, we were told no. Should have argued, but honestly just wanted to get out of there at that point (because baby). Extremely poor customer service all around. Also, I ordered the pickled beets as a side dish; the beets came right out of a can and were not fresh. What happened to you, Country Table?

We went on Christmas Eve and that might be part of the excuse for bad service but they weren’t crowded at all. Even before we ordered, my friend opened her napkin and the fork was dirty — we had to ask for another. We ordered and my friend asked for cole slaw — instead the waitress brought apple sauce. We told her that was wrong and she went back and got the cole slaw, then had to ask again for new utensils.
I ordered a Reuben and instead of corned beef it came with pastrami (a Rachel). Usually Reubens are o big that you can’t finish them. They are served an Large slices of rye bread. This sandwich can on sliced bread size pieces of bread that barely tasked like rye and was very thin and sparsely filled.
My friends Chcken strips and french fries were good but the service was poor. After receiving our food we didn’t see the waitress again until she brough the check. We were out of iced tea but were never asked if we wanted refills. I could forgive this if she was serving many tables but she nly had us and one other table.

I’d like to say that my waitress was very professional and polite and got me water while I waited. That’s about all I enjoyed about my visit with the country table.
I ordered for take out. I got a vegetarian omelette and requested no mushrooms and requested pepper jack cheese in my omelette. When I get home open up my box what do I see? An unmelted slice of pepper jack cheese on top of my omelette. So I go ahead and pop it in the microwave. I start to bite into it what do I find? An omelette filled with mushrooms. Since I’m now whom I’m not going to bother to drive all the way back to the restaurant. The price is about right when your order is correct and the amount of food is decent. This is my second visit to the country table and unfortunately will be my last.

Rolled in here last Saturday after an almost three year layoff to find that Country Table is still a solid place for food in the Mount Joy area. We got in early enough that waiting was not an issue although by the time we left (6pm) the place was mobbed.
The food here like I alluded to prior is solid and that’s what you should keep in mind. It’s more of a glorified diner or a «family restaurant» than anything else. If you’ve come to be blown away by something trendy or «foodie» related you’ve most definitely come to the wrong place. The saying people throw around with things where they say «This isn’t your father’s…» certainly applies here as this is not only your father’s restaurant but more than likely it’s your grandfather’s restaurant as probably 80% of the clientele I’ve ever seen in multiple visits are well over sixty.
A few things worth noting:
* They still close at 8pm Monday-​Thursday and at 9pm Friday-​Saturday so late night here is not in play although they are now open Sundays from 8 – 2 which if I remember right is not something that existed a few years ago.
* They now offer certain things here Gluten Free or things which are healthier but overall the menu still leans very heavily to old school items like Pork and Sauerkraut, Ham Loaf, Burgers, Liver and Onions along with several other meat dishes covered/​smothered/​slathered in gravy.
* The one service item here that is super annoying is that they practice fake portion control by using very small glasses for drinks which really becomes a PIA when it gets busy as you are constantly waiting for a refill. Ownership should just bite the bullet and invest in larger glasses as it would make everyone happier.
* The desserts here are arguably the star of the show although I would recommend against going off of the menu like I did when I asked them for a milkshake that was not vanilla, chocolate or strawberry because while they attempted black cherry the results were less than ideal with a consistency that was closer to purple-​ish water versus typical milkshake thickness.
* Surprisingly when we visited the bakery section to check in on taking something with us it was for the most part picked clean. The fridges were dark and empty and most of the display tables were either empty or only had cookies on them. #Boring
Overall things were good and anytime we’re in the area we always talk about going somewhere else but keep coming back to CT as at the very least they are amazingly consistent and you always know exactly what to expect everytime.

Came in for a family lunch, and really enjoyed the entire experience.
We made a reservation, and asked to sit at one table (11 people plus a baby), and they were able to accomodate, and place us all together.
We arrived, and were seated, and greeted by a super friendly waitress (didn’t catch her name), and she took our drink orders. We then ordered our food, and wanted to highlight two things we ordered:
1) The Tuna Melt: This came out and was a «closed» sandwich (different than the expected open-​face I’m used to), and when I bit into it, I was in heaven. It was really yummy, just the right amount of creamy and heartly.
2) The Thanksgiving Panini: My wife got her panini with a side of sweet potato fries (side note: AMAZING!), and it looked great. Nice grill marks on the bread, and the right temperature. The bread was cranberry walnut bread, with fresh-​roasted turkey (no lunch meat here), apples, walnuts and swiss cheese inside. It was moist and delicious.
And then, dessert. This is always the highlight at Country Table. They have one of the best bakeries in the area (I had my wedding cake made here!). I am generally not a fan of cake, but Country Table’s is super moist, flavorful, and delicious. The things they do with icing is also amazing. I ordered one of my favorites: chocolate cake, with peanut butter frosting.
On the way out, we got home made whoopie pies to go!
Overall — a great experience, great food, great service! Go here!

Indulgent! One of the best bakeries around.
Their cakes & icings are all from scratch and absolutely incredible.
Flavors of the Month that are available for cupcakes
Decently priced and great staff that is helpful in orders & customizing their creations (no raisins please) to your liking

Great bakery … Friendly staff and guests … Tasty omelettes and other breakfast fair. Solid diner experience overall. The only disappointment I’ve ever had here was their Eggs Benedict special (the sauce was the consistency of a light soup and lacking in flavor).

The quality and preparation ain’t what they used to be. Too bad they can’t pick it up a notch to go toe-​to-​toe with Gus’s. Those are my limited (several times each) experiences, I don’t go once a week or month.

The pork and sauerkraut is great, it’s a pain to always need refills on drinks because of the tiny glasses. Breakfast is good, most dinner main courses would benefit from seasoning. They are very bland and the place seems to cater to the older people that seem to be their main customers.

Solid experience. Food was very good, and they gave a lot of it for the price. Definitely a place to go for breakfast. Don’t expect anything extraordinary, but a solid choice in LanCo.
Loses a star for slow, disorganized service.

Well I do resent people stating that this is for gray haired gummy seniors. Those who wrote those comments, you will be there one day!
Anyway, we ususally go to The Country Table for breakfast or lunch, as dinner has become a little too expensive. We decided to go for dinner when my son and his family came for a visit. Boy what a disappointment! They have a salad bar which is clear out in the next county. You have to trot over to the bakery section for that one. And it was ho-​hum. We all ordered a different entrée and let me tell you, we were really disappointed. My roasted chicken was dried out and a bit on the burnt side, the sweet potatoe fries were burnt. Only good thing was the salad I had. My husband ordered scallops. They showed up swimming in so sort of herby sauce. My son commented to me that when we first started coming (about ten years ago) the food was really home style and tasty (a typical description of Lancaster food). Not anymore! The prices have gone up quite a bit. Apparently a new chef was hired in 2012 and his cooking just doesn’t do it! The place is extremely noisy also, especially if you sit in the back by the wall painting. Apparently the dirty dish drop is there and let me tell you, those busboys really know who to throw dishes. Scared the heck out of us a couple of times with the way they dumped the dishes into the box. We all were disappointed and needless to say, will not go back for dinner again.
One other thing. If you want excellent jelly donuts and baked goods, this is a great place. Little pricey though.

So I have eaten here a lot as well. I still think its an ok place to eat, but tonight, uh, well…
Tonight I ordered the Haystack Fries and the Buffalo Wings. They usually give me good fries, but tonight, the cheese on half of the fries was burned. I dunno what went wrong tonight. I mean, I was in the mood for something other than Italian tonight, but still…

Used to like this restaurant. Food was only ok as well as cold when served.

I have been going here for nearly 20 years. Most of the time we do breakfast and it’s really good. But over the past 2 or 3 years the quality of lunch and dinner have gone downhill. Seafood is obviously frozen and out of a box. Too many side dishes are no longer homemade. Sad! Dinners used to have that Amish feel and now they look like cheap diner food.
As to service, I’ve never had bad service until this past weekend. We had one waitress that was so inattentive and rude I actually had to complain to the front desk. And lo and behold, the girl there just shrugged it off. Makes me want to try somewhere else for a while.

Always fresh, always delicious, a fantastic bake shoppe if you are looking for the typical fare.

Country food at country prices. Clientele are mostly older (at least while we were there) which says two things to me: 1-They’ve been coming for a long time and 2-​This is a place for home cooking, not trendy fusion stuff. Our waitress was WONDERFUL, food was all good, and service was fast. Plus, plenty for the kids to choose from. We’d go back, as long as we keep our expectations to a minimum. Not nearly as many flies at this place as the other restaurants in Mt Joy, for example. We liked it.

Great service, okay food. Sometimes you just get the wrong thing on the menu, but I would stay away from the honey chicken. Bland chicken breast sitting in a pool of honey… It tasted like I bit into a water logged tasteless piece of meat. The mashed potatoes were great including the baked goods. Don’t expect a culinary experience, just some down home cooking. I wouldn’t equate it to southern soul food, so don’t expect deep flavor. BTW it did feel like I was in the movie Cocoon and I was eating in a retirement home cafeteria. Don’t go here for the ambiance or vibe. The most popular dish seemed to be the «special of the day» — spaghetti and meatballs… Not worth the extra 20 minute drive outside of downtown Lancaster… I would take a look at Oregon Dairy for a closer drive and ice cream to boot…

Try the Wegner’s hamloaf. It’s a Lancaster County dish. Very good

For me, this place tastes like home. I’ve been out of the area now for a number of years, but this is usually a dinner meeting place when I’m home on a visit.
Monday nights always pose the biggest problem for me at Country Table: The Chicken and Waffles or Pork and Sauerkraut special? Decisions, decisions! I usually choose the pork and sauerkraut with mashed potatoes. I double-​checked their menu online and the specials are still the same. Some things just don’t change.
Anyway, I’ve read some other reviews and for some out-​of-​towners – the disproportionate number of senior citizen patrons and the religiously-​themed literature are off-​putting. But I view them as all just part of the Lancaster County charm of the Country Table. After all – this place is what Mount Joy/​Lancaster County is all about. But at the same time that I can appreciate said «charm» on visits – I do live on the West Coast for a reason.
The food here is fill up your belly– comfort food. No doubt about it. Country Table for me is all part of my «country girl» heritage. And for that reason alone, Country Table gets 4 stars.