Folksy Schultz's Family Restaurant offers up basics in Croghan

CROGHAN — Lucky we knew where we were going.

There's no lighted sign out front. But we managed to find Schultz's restaurant in Croghan, a landmark there for many years.

So did a lot of other people. The parking lot was packed on a Tuesday night. There was some kind of gathering going on. Lots of seniors sitting around large tables were finishing up their meals as we entered.

Once they cleared out, it was just our foursome and one other couple in the good-sized dining room.

Once called Schultz's Fastidious Foods, it's now Schultz's Family Restaurant. The locals refer to it simply as Schultz's. It appears to be a place for members of the community to engage in friendly conversation a get an affordable meal.

Norm Schultz founded the restaurant many years ago. He had served in the military in Germany and gave the place a "Bavarian" atmosphere and appearance. Norm knew how to attract customers with good food, good prices and a good atmosphere.

The restaurant has changed hands several times since then. Unfortunately, it appears nothing has been updated since Norm was there. The old linoleum floor is full of tears. Dusty knickknacks line the walls. Original faux wooden beams criss-cross the ceiling.

There is, however, a big woodstove in the center of the dining room that we cozied up to. We were greeted by a smiling, friendly waitress working her second job of the day. An elementary school teacher earlier, she was ready to deal with big kids at night. "It's a long day, but I love it," she told us.

Paper placemats with local ads contribute to the folksiness of the eatery. Kellogg's Drywall. Wolff's Body Shop. Mill Creek Quick Lube. Places like that.

Appetizers consist of all the standard deep-fried stuff, so we segued directly to the entrées on the dinner menu. Nothing fancy-schmancy. Basics like fried chicken, hot roast beef or turkey sandwiches, ham dinner, deep-fried shrimp. Bullhead dinner in season, too. You get the picture.

We placed our order and sashayed over to the serve-yourself soup bar with the bowls our waitress handed us. It's a heated three-compartment stainless steel affair. We got to try all three purportedly homemade soups.

Cream of tomato had the consistency and flavor of a well-known condensed soup and also boasted a distinct chemical aftertaste, the same aftertaste we noticed in our ice water. (We did appreciate the thoughtful slice of lemon on our water, however.)

Fish chowder was flavorful, with a good amount of fish and diced potatoes, although seemingly thickened with something other than heavy cream.

Beef vegetable soup contained small chunks of beef, an assortment of veggies and small pasta noodles. It had a bit of an odd taste that distracted — something like you get from Lipton's soup made from a package.

A salad bar was advertised but is not available during the slower winter months. We did enjoy a basic salad of iceberg lettuce, shaved carrots, a piece of tomato, crisp croutons and a quarter of an egg, served in those old-fashioned wooden bowls. All the standard commercial dressings were available.

Chicken Parmesan consisted of three pieces of sliced and breaded white meat, deep-fried and placed on a large bed of spaghetti. Plenty of marinara sauce covered the entire plate, with a very small amount of melted shredded mozzarella on top. Homemade garlic bread was a nice touch.

Hot roast beef sandwich was served with homemade french fries and canned brown gravy. It was served as described on the menu: a hearty portion of fries with a large pile of fresh-cut deli meat. Slices of bread underneath were a little skimpy.

Liver and onions is a Tuesday night special and also appears on the regular menu.

Except for the liver being a little overcooked for our liking, this was the best dish of the night. Onions and bacon that covered the meat were expertly cooked and totally delicious. "Just right; the way it should be," was the comment from the liver lover. An interesting chilled broccoli and cheese (feta, we thought) side dish accompanied.

I got the steak dinner, an 8-ounce char-grilled seasoned steak (I think it was sirloin). It was an odd-looking piece of meat. They had either covered it with blackened seasoning or cooked it with a blowtorch. Although it looked like it had been incinerated, it tasted much better than it looked.

Both the steak dinner and the liver and onions came with blob of mashed potatoes — a huge blob, as big as my head — covered with brown gravy. We had initially asked our server for additional butter, but she said we wouldn't need any because the potatoes are prebuttered in the package they come in.

Other than potatoes, no other vegetables we offered.

Some of us had coffee. Some of us had dessert. Some of us still had dirty dinner dishes in front of us after we finished our coffee and dessert.

Pumpkin pie was a generous piece of premade pie, mildly spicy, a little watery, served with whipped cream. Cheesecake was made there, or at least assembled there, a preformed graham cracker crust filled with what tasted like a cheesecake mix.

Dinner for four came to $57 before tip. Except for the steak dinner, which was $10.99, our entrees were all under $10. We left feeling full, but not fully satisfied with the dining experience.

A word of warning about the men's room. You may want to enter it wearing a hazmat suit. It has all the intimacy and odor of a hunting camp outhouse, no doubt responsible for the perfumey disinfectant aroma that permeated the restaurant.

A sign over the sink did offer some comic relief, or at least served as a distraction:

All Employees Must Wash Hands after use of the Facilities — The Management.

All Others Must Wash Hands up to Elbows, Face, and Behind Ears — Mother

You can contact restaurant reviewer Walter Siebel via e-mail: wsiebel@wdt.net.

Schultz's Family Restaurant

9807 State Route 812

Croghan, NY

346-1270

Serving affordable food six days a week.

HOURS: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday

7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday (wing night 5 to 10 p.m.)

Rating: 2 forks