Deryl Stoltzfus was reviewing the whoopie pies behind the case at Hershey Farm Café and Bakery.
“So today, we have the chocolate peanut butter,” he said. “We have the confetti with strawberry. Chocolate strawberry. We have chocolate original. We have the shoofly whoopie pie, which is unbelievable.”
There in Tanger Outlets Lancaster, Hershey Farm Café and Bakery feeds the soul crying for comfort food, with a stacked panini, hearty soup, refreshing smoothie, or rich cup of coffee. But first, you have to get past the whoopie pies. They beckon from the window, inviting you to step into the farmhouse-charming atmosphere, put down your shopping bags, and savor a meal made just for you.
You might know Hershey Farm from its 23-acre getaway, with hotel and buffet, neighboring Lancaster’s Sight & Sound Theatre. Or maybe you’ve custom-designed your own treat at Hershey Farm’s Makin’ Whoopie Pies at Hersheypark.
Now, Hershey Farm Café & Bakery brings a slightly sassier member into the family. Since opening in May 2021, Hershey Farm Café & Bakery has introduced Tanger Outlets shoppers to a local experience in food, with a menu that adds signature twists to familiar classics.
The café emerged when Tanger officials approached Hershey Farm ownership about enhancing the local feel of their outlets. Stoltzfus and his partners had to think for a moment.
“We’re always open to opportunity, but this is literally coming out of the pandemic, which is really rough on restaurants,” Stoltzfus said on a bright Friday morning as the lunch crowd started appearing. “We talked about it and decided that the pandemic is going to go past. It’s a great opportunity for us to do something new. We wanted to have comfort foods that were done just a little bit differently.”
A commitment to local foods and top quality anchors the menu. Soups and breads arrive freshly made from Hershey Farm daily. Produce comes from a local auction. Lunch meats come from an Amish supplier in Ohio, the clear winner of many meats taste-tested. A local coffee master roasts the smooth cup of java.
“Everything is made to order,” said Stoltzfus. “A panini, you’re going to have to wait five minutes, but it’s going to be fresh, and it’s going to be great.”
Stoltzfus and the Hershey Farm team, including his wife, Hollee Stoltzfus, designed the varied menu of salads, soups, pizzas, and paninis that jazzes up comfort with the unexpected. The pizza is served on fresh-baked flatbread. The Hawaiian panini of applewood ham, smoked cheddar and Swiss cheeses, pineapple, and BBQ sauce delivers sweet and savory. The Presto Pesto with roasted red peppers, spinach, mozzarella, and smoked provolone, all on a fragrant rosemary basil bread, wins raves. All of the seven paninis can be made with the suggested bread or your choice of hearty white, garlic oregano, rosemary basil, or pepperoni bread.
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With your meal, sip a smoothie, fresh-brewed tea, gourmet hot chocolate, or chocolate chiller. Choose a classic lemonade or green tea base for your wonderfully light refresher–under 100 calories!–in exotic flavors like wildberry hibiscus or the summery watermelon cucumber mint.
Hollee had the idea that turned the Sweet Apple Gobbler panini from a standard sandwich into a moonshot. Today, it is Stoltzfus’ favorite.
“I remember Hollee saying, ‘What if we put sliced apples on it?’” he recalls. “I was like, ‘Okay, I’m willing to try it. Sounds a little weird.’ Oh, my goodness. It was fantastic. That combination of apple slice and apple butter with the smoked turkey and the smoked cheeses is amazing.”
And of course, there are the baked goods, also fresh daily from Hershey Farm. Whoopie pies in singles or six packs. Brownies. Muffins. Whole pies.
“And we don’t even have our cinnamon buns here today,” Stoltzfus confessed—the ones designed to out-cinnamon bun Cinnabon. “Those are phenomenal, as well.”
Stoltzfus credits his staff for giving each diner’s order something extra special.
“They really care what they serve,” he said. “We try and give each customer a personal experience. We want people to feel like we made this sandwich just for you.”
The décor, designed by Hershey Farm’s inhouse contractor, John Martin, draws diners into a modern farmhouse. Menu boards hang like sliding barn doors. Tactile touches include a faux hedge framing the Instagram wall, with its neon sign declaring “Farm To Table.” As for the restrooms, you just have to see the Instagram-ready sayings decorating the walls–“Sprinkles are for cupcakes,” and in the men’s room, “Players with short bats please stand close to the plate.”
The décor also spotlights the food, placing the soup kettles, panini makers, and prep areas where diners can see them and witness the care that goes into their selections.
Those open areas are one of the ideas that Stoltzfus, a Lancaster native, brings home from his travels. They help give Hershey Farm Café & Bakery a feel of contemporary nowness rooted in down-home tradition. Order an ice cream cone, and you’re getting a taste from the same Amish dairy where Stoltzfus, as a kid, would ride his bike for a frozen treat.
The response to the café, he says, has been “humbling,” from the “super-supportive” Tanger Outlets to the customers who stop their cars just to pop back in and say, “Just so you know, this is the best sandwich I’ve ever had.”
“There’s something intangible about Lancaster County,” said Stoltzfus. “There is a feeling when people come to Lancaster County, and they just go, ‘Ahhh. I feel safe. I feel relaxed.’ We try to capture that at Hershey Farm and Hershey Farm Café & Bakery.”
Hershey Farm Café & Bakery
Tanger Outlets
312 Stanley K. Tanger Blvd
Lancaster, PA 17602
717-869-6553
