Zehnder's
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Zehnder's is a large restaurant in Frankenmuth, Michigan. It has seating for 1,500 people and features all-you-can-eat style chicken dinners, seafood, steaks, fresh baked goods and European desserts. Every year Zehnder's serves almost a million people. It is open from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and open every day of the year except Christmas Eve and one day in early January for the employee party. [1]
[edit] History
Zehnder's was originally built as the Exchange Hotel by Henry Reichle in 1856. Reichle ran the hotel for twenty years. It was then sold and operated by several different people until 1900, when owner John L. Hubinger disassembled the original building and it was made to look like Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. One day, during the Great Depression, when times were hard, the total profit was only seven cents.[2] After World War II, the business grew rapidly. In March 1947 the business was turned over to William's children. The business became a corporation, and in the fifties the Zehnders bought Fischer's Hotel, which was located across the street. In 1955, William Zehnder Jr., manager of the Bavarian Inn (formerly Fischer's), and Edwin Zehnder, manager of Zehnder's Restaurant, purchased the interests of Zehnder's, Inc. from their brothers and sister.[3] In 1984 Zehnder's and the Bavarian Inn became separate Corporations with friendly competition between relatives.
The incorporated split allowed the growing Zehnder family to expand their family enterprises and become more diverse. The Zehnders Restaurant family went into the Golf Industry and currently runs Zehnders Fortress, a 18-hole magnificent golf experience in the heart of Frankenmuth. They've also entered the Lodging business by buying an existing hotel called Bavarian Haus Motel and later turning it into Zehnder's Splash Village, a family-focused water park hotel at the edge of town near Bronner's Christmas Wonderland.
The Bavarian Inn and Zehnder Restaurant Families built a wooden covered bridge across the river to support both of their additional parking needs. The Bavarian Inn faction of the family built a Bavarian-themed Lodge, which opened in 1986 and has expanded 5 times to become a 360-room family resort. It currently contains 5 indoor pools, 3 whirlpools, 2 lounges, 2 gift shops, and Michigan's largest family fun center in any hotel (along with nightly entertainment) all under one roof. Free shuttle service leads guests across the Covered Bridge (or Holz Brucke) to the famous Bavarian Inn Restaurant.
[edit] References
