The Sarasota Walkabout

Man vs. Food has become a television show that put many under-the-radar restaurants on the map. What were secret places within the town suddenly gain their fifteen minutes of fame and it carries over to attract food lovers around the state. What GQ Magazine did for Le Tub in Hollywood, Man vs. Food forever changed Yoder’s Restaurant. Man vs. Food featured an episode in Sarasota, Florida concerning a well-known local Amish restaurant, a seaside eatery, and also a spot that creates some of the craziest sandwiches in the east coast. So, being the food enthusiast, decided to embark on a journey to follow Adam’s footsteps and see just what food he was eating.

From Orlando, Sarasota was a meager two hours away, but I’ve done worse (4 hours for Le Tub anyone?). The drive in itself wasn’t difficult, a quick trip to I-4 and then I-75 South towards Sarasota. Yoder’s wasn’t too far from the interstate, so it was easy to find. The episode displayed a massive line that stretched outside the door and wrapped around the restaurant. The reason for the line is because apparently their fried chicken is absolutely, positively incredible. They say the smell of the fried chicken ranges past the restaurant and even past the adjacent gift shop. However when we arrived (Arika, Josh) the line wasn’t too long, a couple of families. Yoder’s also had a gift shop close by and a large fruit market next door. The place inside felt very old-school but did feature a wall full of awards and there was a television showing Adam’s visit to the place. Everyone inside was friendly and more than willing to help out. They had a list of specials written on a whiteboard next to the end of the line.




We are seated, prepared to tackle the fried chicken (and eventually take on the Munchies joint, but that’s another story entirely). But, we hit a snag that not a single person could predict, not even the most pessimistic of human beings. Arika reads the menu and is a mix of angry, disappointed, frustrated, and shock. Her face drops. I check the menu to see why such a reaction happened.









No.










Come on now.










Are you kidding me? No fried chicken?


That’s right boys and girls, no fried chicken on Fridays. Guess what day I arrived. Go ahead, I’ll give you time. In one of the biggest plot twists you’ll ever hear about since Psycho, they don’t sell the extremely famous fried chicken on Fridays. It explains the lack of a line, lack of a smell, and why we noticed nobody else was really eating it. Now, of course, this demands some explaining, so we asked the waitress why the most popular part of the restaurant serves their delicacy only a meager 6 days a week. This is not only bizarre, but absolutely pointless. Wouldn’t it make sense to serve your big dish all the time? It’s like Magic Kingdom selling Mickey Premium bars every day except Mondays---which would result in riots stretching from here to DisneyLAND.
The waitress explains that since one the specials calls for all-you-eat fish, they need all the fryers to make the fish.



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That was it? The place has been around since the 70s and their solution to the problem of all-you-can-eat seafood is by limiting the sales of their big seller once a week? What? I understood the answer, but it was not going to make up for the two-hour drive and heavy anticipation. The show never mentioned this, and it’s not warned outside the restaurant. With disappointment in our hearts and minds, we order other random items and disappointingly wait for the food that was disappointingly not fried chicken. They had apple butter, which was amazingly good. But no fried chicken. I ordered a pan chicken of some sort with mashed potatoes and corn. No fried chicken. The food was very good, but it wasn’t fried chicken. The food was decent, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t deliver the spiritual nirvana experience that I received from Le Tub. No fried chicken. Oh, one final note, Arika really wanted sweet mashed potatoes---but they don’t serve that until 4:00. Oh, another note, I wanted dumplings---but that’s served only on Tuesdays. …..




No fried chicken.




The other thing they are known for is their pies, which are made from scratch from the first second to the very last. At first, we wanted to meet the owner, but after having our hearts torn out and fed to a hungry blender, our anticipation to see the owner died with our chances of getting fried chicken. Yes, if you have been counting, I’ve mentioned no fried chicken seven times so far in this article. I ordered fried chicken-less peanut butter pie, which was quite good and definitely nearly made up for the lack of….dumplings.
Arika had her apple pie, which was good. Overall, the food was good, but quite costly and doesn’t really justify the heck of a drive like Le Tub. Not to mention, this is easily the most restrictive restaurant I have ever visited---so many items, but so many different rules and restrictions surrounding them. At least we still had the munchie place that opens at 4:20.





No fried chicken.


Let me be very clear about the munchie place: it was disappointing to the utmost level. It was small, crampy, had bathrooms full of dead bugs and smells that could kill dogs, the service was slow, and it just lacked the personality of anything old-school or even new-school. The person at the counter just didn’t want to be there, and it looked like barely anybody was making the food at the restaurant. It was 5:30, don’t get me wrong, it won’t be jumping like in the evening time—but the food did take over 20 minutes to receive. This munchie joint (which has a name, but it’s not worthy of mentioning) was known for their fat sandwiches, in which they mix all sorts of random crap together to create Mary Jane fans’ dreams come true. Me and Arika shared a Fat Sandy, which was a mix of cheeseburgers, chicken strips, mozzarella sticks, French fries, and onion rings. It was whether going to be the greatest thing ever or the worst thing ever.



The result was: one of the weakest sandwiches I’ve ever eaten. It was prepared very half-assly. If I can make a tastier sandwich (My newest sandwich creation: The Basil Salmon Experience) then we have a major issue. Something must have happened between the time Adam went and the time we went, because I find it hard to believe that Adam had any good words to say about this dirty joint. I find it even harder to believe that it’s featured as one of Travel Channel’s top spots to chow down. Give me time, and I’ll come up with 100 superior places. The trip was a disappointment with Yodel’s, and became nearly a total bust with the second joint. Thank goodness the beach area was fun and nice to look at.


Bottom Line: A trip to where Man vs. Food had traveled was one of the most disappointing moments of my entire life. Not sure where the disappointment began and where it ended; but quite frankly there was no willpower to consider a return visit-----although technically I can’t totally knock off the Amish joint until I officially try the fried chicken. Can this fried chicken totally change the way I view the restaurant. This wouldn’t be the first time a single item in a menu represents the entire location: the kitchen sink at Beaches n’ Cream, fish and chips at Rose and Crown, Cheeseburger in Paradise in Margaritaville being other notable examples. Will I return to Yoders? Most likely, but definitely not on a Friday. What about the other place whose name is not worthy of being mentioned in this sentence? Nope. Not at all.


There still is the Salty Dog to visit, which is in the beautiful beach area of Sarasota.


In the meantime:










No Fried Chicken.

Post-Article Note #1: Technically, they do warn you outside the restaurant...with an online menu at the website. But either way...why would I check to see if they serve their food all the time every day?

Post-Article Note #2: In an ironic move, Pride Rock (the cafeteria at Animal Kingdom) serves fried chicken the day after the Sarasota walkabout. Boy oh boy that sucked.....