About Zehnder's of Frankenmuth

Restaurant

Mother's Day and weekends in October are our busiest days.
Zehnder's is the second largest independent restaurant in the U.S., and America's largest family restaurant.
On weekends, we often serve over 10,000 guests, for a weekly total of 20,000 people... about a million diners a year.
On October 19, 1986, Zehnder's served 5,916 guests, our record so far!
During the year, Zehnder's guests will consume 840,000 pounds of chicken; 628,000 pounds of cabbage; 110,000 pounds of vegetables and 26,000 pounds of coffee.

Zehnder's of Frankenmuth has over 10,000 square feet of retail space
Zehnder's Maketplace, the foundation of Zehnder's Retail made up of Z-bakery, Z-Gifts, and Z-Chef's Cafe comprises over 5,000 square feet of retail space on Zehnder's Lower Level.
Rapunzel's Boutique located just north of Zehnder's, is our off premise retail operations.
Our bakery annually bakes almost a half million loaves of bread (35 different varieties).
The Bakery at Zehnder's was voted the #1 Retail Bakery of the Year in 1985.
The best selling baked good in the Foodstore is Stollen (Fruit Bread).

The Zehnder family purchased the Bavarian Haus from Walter and Marie Palmer in 1988.
Zehnder's expanded the motel from 114 to 137 rooms in 1992, adding an indoor pool, exercise room, games room and garden courtyard.
In September 2004, a portion of the hotel was demolished to make way for the Zehnder's Splash Village Hotel and Waterpark. The hotel remained open during the construction period. Zehnder's Splash Village Hotel and Waterpark now features 152 rooms including 63 family suites, indoor waterpark, 20,000 square foot video arcade, 125-seat restaurant and new lobby with a gift shop. The indoor swimming pool and spa facility remain in the hotel.
The new lobby features a towering and playful 26-foot tree with a large gas fireplace built into the trunk.
The 30,000 square feet indoor year round waterpark includes:
Two, four story tube slides - Giggling Gorge and Perilous Plunge
Splash Landing play area with 400-gallon dumping bucket
Tree Dwellers Tower with tube slides stairs,
Crooked Brook Creek - a lazy river that winds through the waterpark
Whimsical Whirl hot tub
Dragon Fly Pond - fun water play features
Wee Folk Springs - toddler fun
Geysers and water sprays

The Fortress golf course was originally a nine hole facility.
Zehnder's of Frankenmuth purchased the Frankenmuth Golf and Country Club in 1984.
The FG&CC was converted to The Fortress, an 18 hole championship golf course completed in 1992.
Every year, the grounds crew retrieves 3,500 lost golf balls from the course.
The Fortress was recognized as one of the top 450 public golf courses to play in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean by Golf Digest.

Zehnder's originated in 1856 as the Exchange Hotel.
The Zehnder family purchased the Hotel in 1927.
The Edwin L. Zehnder family owns Zehnder's, and the William (Tiny) Zehnder family owns the Bavarian Inn.
The slowest day ever... records show that one day during the depression of the 1930's, receipts totaled seven cents. On that day, Fred Goetzinger bought a "Speckled Sport" cigar, and remained in the barroom to smoke it to its tip.