I had the best fried chicken last Saturday. It was perfectly seasoned, juicy and the outside was yum, yum, yum crunchy. I normally do not eat fried chicken because it’s greasy and heavy and the meat isn’t as good as the rotisserie kind. However, when I saw Adam Richman visit Yoder’s Amish Restaurant in Sarasota on the Travel Channel’s Man v. Food, I knew I had to try this chicken. You know how I feel about my Wolfgang Puck pressure cooker. So you know I was super excited when I learned they deep fry their chicken in a pressure cooker. I wanted to reach through the TV and snatch the chicken out of Adam’s hands.

You know what, watch this clip from the show to see what I’m talking about.

As you can tell from the clip, there are lots of good things to eat at Yoder’s, but my stomach is only so big. I ended up ordering the 4 piece Fried Chicken (2 dark, 2 white that I shared with Wesley), mashed potatoes and gravy and Amish Noodles. What are Amish Noodles? I didn’t know either. They’re egg noodles cooked in chicken broth with pieces of chicken and slathered in butter–YUM! The mashed potatoes were very smooth and creamy. I kind of like mine a little more chunky and bold, but I could still eat a mountain of Yoder’s. If you get this, make sure you try the chicken with their homemade sweet and sour sauce that made GOOD chicken even better! Here’s what my plate looked like.

After watching M v. F I also knew that I had to sink my teeth into some of that pie. I would’ve loved to order the Peanut Butter Cream Pie, but my little Wesley is VERY allergic to peanuts and was sitting next to me. So I ordered the Yoder’s Key Lime Pie and was not disappointed at all. It was different than their traditional Key Lime Pie because it had a pastry crust (instead of graham cracker) and it was light and fluffy, rather than slightly dense and tart. I’ll definitely try a different pie next time, maybe Shoo Fly Pie.

However, I did sneak a bite from Dan, who was at another table.

Speaking of separate tables, this place probably isn’t the best for groups larger than six. The inside is quaint and it didn’t look like they could handle more than one group over eight people. When you arrive, you have to wait in line, which can back out into the parking lot, and they don’t find out the number in your party until you’ve made it near the podium inside. There’s also a sign that reads “You will be seated when your whole party arrives.”, so don’t send one person to wait while the rest hang out. I think we arrived around 7pm and waited for at least 30 minutes.

I would definitely say that Yoder’s was worth the hour drive and long wait. We plan to go back over Father’s Day weekend with my parents and Dan’s dad for dinner. I hear their breakfast is amazing too. I guess I can go a third time

Yoder’s is located at 3434 Bahia Vista Street Sarasota, FL 34239. They’re open Monday through Saturday 6am-8pm and are closed on Sundays.

To find out more about Yoder’s you can check out their website, which includes information about the Gift Shop and Fresh Market too. You can also follow them on Yoder’s Facebook page.