All roads didn’t lead to the San-Dar Smorgasbord in Bellville, Ohio, but at times it certainly seemed that way.
The big draw: a buffet table that just never seemed to end. Most times you could find 150 or so different foods—soups and salads, main dishes and sides, and an eye-opening array of desserts (including the one below)—laid out for the feasting hordes. Roast beef and frog legs daily. Prime rib on Friday nights.
The sprawling, 300-seat operation traced its beginnings to February 1948, when Eugene and Dorothy Banks opened Banks’ Soda Grill on Main Street in downtown Bellville. This was a small place, with seating for just 26, and the demand for tables often exceeded the supply. In 1950 they expanded the establishment, renaming it the San-Dar Dining Room (a combination of the first syllables of the names of their two children, Sandy and Darrell). As the reputation of the restaurant spread, so did the need for space, and by 1954 it had expanded into the San-Dar Smorgasbord.
And so it went until 1981, when Gene and Dorothy Banks sold the business to their son, Darrell. Along the way Gene had gotten hooked on golf, to the point of building an 18-hole executive layout in Bellville, just a little ways past the restaurant. It opened as San-Dar Acres Golf Course on May 10, 1976, but in 1983 he sold it, too. (Today it’s known as Little Apple Golf Course.)
As the travel habits of Americans changed with the advent of the Interstate Highway System, the fortunes of the San-Dar Smorgasbord waned. The small towns like Bellville that travelers once had to drive through to get from here to there had become all but invisible from the superhighways, and the tour buses that once poured patrons into the San-Dar Smorgasbord seemed to be disappearing. In the early 1990s, faced with this decline, Darrell Banks decided to put the restaurant up for sale, but there were no takers. He closed it in December 1994 and auctioned off all the equipment the following month.
A newspaper story that contained news of the restaurant’s closing noted that in its 47-year history it sold more than three million frog legs, 700 tons of chicken, 300 tons of shrimp, 200 tons of scallops, and 300 tons of beef and pork.
Eugene Banks died in 2004 at age 84; Dorothy Banks died in 2006 at age 87. “Though her husband usually took the credit, it was Dorothy who was the idea lady,” her obituary said. “She patterned the concept after one she had seen in Florida. So in 1954, with $50 in seed money from her husband, Dorothy put on the first spread that birthed the San-Dar.”
Here’s the recipe for the Dutch Apple Dessert that was served at the San-Dar Smorgasbord.
Dutch Apple Dessert
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Loading...Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for buttering the pans
- 4 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into thin slices
- 1 cup light brown sugar, divided
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup and 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup pecan halves
Instructions
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 10-inch springform pan.
In a large bowl, combine the apples, 1/2 cup of the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, 1 1/2 tablespoons of the flour, and whipping cream. Mix well and pour into the pan.
Prepare topping: Combine 1/2 cup remaining brown sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, and 1/2 cup remaining flour and blend. Sprinkle over batter in pan and garnish with the pecan halves.
Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 40 minutes or until apples are tender.
Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely before releasing the sides of the pan and serving (at least 2 hours).
Serves 4-5.
Notes
This recipe has been scaled down from the original recipe used by the San-Dar Smorgasbord, which, to make two 10-inch-round desserts, called for double the amounts of these ingredients.
Dutch Apple Dessert
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading...Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for buttering the pans
- 4 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into thin slices
- 1 cup light brown sugar, divided
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup and 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup pecan halves
Instructions
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 10-inch springform pan.
In a large bowl, combine the apples, 1/2 cup of the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, 1 1/2 tablespoons of the flour, and whipping cream. Mix well and pour into the pan.
Prepare topping: Combine 1/2 cup remaining brown sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, and 1/2 cup remaining flour and blend. Sprinkle over batter in pan and garnish with the pecan halves.
Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 40 minutes or until apples are tender.
Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely before releasing the sides of the pan and serving (at least 2 hours).
Serves 4-5.
Notes
This recipe has been scaled down from the original recipe used by the San-Dar Smorgasbord, which, to make two 10-inch-round desserts, called for double the amounts of these ingredients.
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