FOOD

Zehnder’s fried chicken is not the craggy, heavily flaked Southern style that the words “fried chicken” might suggest. Think closer to Austrian Backhendl — classic breaded fried chicken — than to thick Southern batter: a finer, more even crust with savory, slightly herbal seasoning and a juicy interior when the platter lands fresh at the table. Bavarian Inn across the street shares the same general Frankenmuth chicken tradition, so what distinguishes Zehnder’s most is everything that surrounds it.

The first real difference comes before the entrée. A sharp, creamy cheese spread arrives with crisp garlic toast, and the chicken liver pâté is smooth, savory and deeply seasoned enough to make those toast points disappear quickly. Creamy cabbage salad, cottage cheese, cranberry relish, fresh breads and fruit preserves fill out the opening table. Every one of these starters belongs to the all-you-care-to-eat meal, which makes it entirely possible to overcommit before the chicken appears.

Then come the familiar Frankenmuth sides: redskin mashed potatoes with chicken gravy, Grandma Zehnder’s dressing, buttered egg noodles and a seasonal vegetable. They are deliberately old-fashioned, built to be passed around rather than plated with restaurant precision. The noodles, dressing and gravy are part of the ritual, but at Zehnder’s they work best as the supporting cast for the chicken and distinctive starter spread.

The Family Style Feast is where Zehnder’s pulls away most clearly from the basic chicken-dinner formula. For $42.95, the standard unlimited meal is joined by sliced prime rib and breaded shrimp, and both justify the upgrade. The prime rib is tender and restaurant-quality, arriving more like a freshly cut dinner entrée than something held for a buffet line. The shrimp are especially easy to keep replenishing: jumbo, crisp, substantial and closer to prawn-sized than the small breaded shrimp that often appear as an AYCE extra.

Dessert changes with the Feast as well. Instead of finishing only with vanilla or chocolate soft serve or orange sherbet, the upgrade brings seasonal fruit strudel from Zehnder’s bakery downstairs. Flavors rotate, giving dessert a little more sense of occasion. The regular soft serve remains satisfyingly creamy, but the strudel makes the Feast feel complete.

The $44.95 Premium Feast adds Bavarian sausages, bringing a more explicitly German note to a meal otherwise rooted as much in Midwestern American tradition as Bavarian cooking. Additional second entrées can also be added, including Great Lakes walleye, chicken schnitzel, yellow perch, jumbo shrimp and Wiener schnitzel. The schnitzel, finished traditionally with lemon, is a tempting addition when the table has room for one more plate.

That is the trick at Zehnder’s: there is more range here than “all-you-can-eat chicken dinner” suggests, but the meal never needs to become a menu-sampling exercise. Fried chicken, cheese spread, liver pâté, prime rib and those jumbo shrimp already create a remarkably complete table. Add the strudel and, if ambition allows, the Bavarian sausages, and the experience becomes less about unlimited chicken than Zehnder’s particular version of abundance.