Millers offer new menu, bigger portions

July 10, 2011

Steve and Vicki Miller, new owners of Miller’s Dutch Kitchen on Tomahawk Drive, package a “whoopie pie” for takeout. The couple have owned the business since March 31. Photo by Angel Perkins

New menu. Bigger portions. Those are the two main things Steve and Vickie Miller have brought to the Dutch Kitchen restaurant (now Miller’s Dutch Kitchen) since they purchased the restaurant March 31. That and their giant tenderloin of course.
“Its a monster — plate-sized,” Vickie said. “We have an all-new dessert menu too including ‘whoopie pies.’ Those are very popular. And we added several items to our Saturday morning breakfast buffet like ‘overnight’ french toast and waffles.”
Other additions to the staples regulars have enjoyed is the Friday night dinner menu with meatloaf, pork chops, chicken alfredo and spaghetti dishes as well as the fish and chicken choices of the buffet.
Vickie said her husband of 17 years had always wanted to own his own restaurant and when the opportunity arose to purchase the popular eatery, they jumped at the chance. “I was unemployed and things just fell into place at the right time,” she explained.
While the decor remains pretty much the same as when Junior Anderson owned the business, and groups and organizations can still rent out space for meetings and special dinners, the biggest thing the Millers feel they offer is giving their customers a little more.
“We looked at the prices and the portions and knew we had to make a decision,” Vickie said. “We either had to shrink the portions or raise prices and make them bigger. I thought, myself, I’d rather pay a little more for a good portion of food.”
“I love it when I see the looks on their faces when they first see the tenderloin or the Manhattan,” Steve said with a grin. “I like meeting all the different people and making them happy.”
And of their food and dessert choices, many are homemade. Several dishes offered are straight from Steve’s family recipes. “My goal is to have 90 percent of what we sell be made from our kitchen,” Vicki said.
Adding a modern twist to the business, people can now “like” Miller’s Dutch Kitchen on Facebook and can fax in orders. Other bonuses to the customers include a monthly coloring contest for the kids; that police, EMT, fire and military personnel can receive free coffee and a 10-percent discount on their food order; and that diners can purchase large quantities of soup and whole pies with a 24-hour notice.
Of the challenges business owners face in these trying economic times, the hardest thing Vicki said she faced was “keeping things consistent.” Steve said his was staffing the restaurant on weekends, when they are the busiest.
With 18 employees (four of them family members — and not including themselves) Steve said “everyone wants the same time off because they all have so much going on.”
And, while they are still new at the restaurant business, the couple seems confident that this is what they are “supposed” to be doing. “I truly believe things happen for a reason,” Vicki explained. “Just when one door was closing, this one opened.”