Yoder’s Country Market
375 Eleanor DriveIt’s funny that now that my in-laws have moved to St. Joseph County, I’ve been going there a lot more for work too. I could count on one hand the number of times I had been to Sturgis before last fall. That number has gone up significantly since about November.
I was in Sturgis again late last week with a co-worker. We weren’t in a really big hurry to get back to Kalamazoo so we sort of took our time and took the long way. Along the way, we passed some Amish bakeries and my co-worker kept making comments about wanting cookies. We were heading towards Centreville and I knew exactly where he could get some delicious cookies.
Yoder’s Country Market is someplace everyone in St. Joseph county knows about. It’s right on the edge of Centreville on the east side. The address is on Eleanor Drive but you’ll see it on M-86…it’s hard to miss. The parking lot is ALWAYS packed.
The last time I worked this much in St. Joseph County was about nine years ago when I spent almost two weeks straight in Centreville. The co-worker I had for those two weeks found Yoder’s first and loved the place. We ate there about every other day just because there wasn’t a lot of options in Centreville at that time. While the building is the same, this is not the same Yoder’s it was back then.
Yoder’s County Market started in 2004 trying to bring the Mennonite markets of the east to Centreville. It was more of a bulk food type store. Over the years, they’ve grown and become much more known for their prepared foods. They still have the bulk foods. In fact, I stocked up on smoked paprika again. I bought some there back in 2010 and it’s the best stuff I ever used so I decided to get more.
They also still have a deli meat and cheese counter, which, again, was part of the original idea of the store.
But now they have more options for prepared foods. There’s a counter to order fresh made deli sandwiches.
There’s a hot bar area with a rotating selection of BBQ and pasta dishes.
And a salad bar with a huge variety of toppings and home made dressings.
I was really conflicted on what to get. The salad bar was calling me..but I kinda wanted a sandwich…but there was hot wings…..I got none of those and asked for a slice of lasagna instead based on the recommendation of the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Deputy who must have seen that I was having a hard time deciding.
I grabbed a Pepsi from the cooler behind the salad bar and headed up to the cash register to pay. With two containers of the smoked paprika, my bill was a little over $15.
My colleague got the salad bar and wanted to eat before we got back on the road. That sounded like a plan to me. Lasagna I would assume is pretty hard to eat in the car. Luckily for us, there’s a pretty large dining room just past the salad bar.
The lasagna was a good choice. The noodles were super soft like they are home made. There is thick, meaty sauce between each layer and it’s topped with mozzarella cheese that’s slightly golden brown on top. It comes with a slice of garlic bread which is also very soft and crispy around the edges. Perfect to sop up the left over sauce.
Yoder’s Country Market is a gem in St. Joseph County. It’s a bulk food store. It’s a grocery store. It’s a deli. It’s a bakery. It’s so much in an unsuspecting place. It’s a must stop if you’re traveling through the county and even worth going a little out of your way for if you’re nearby. Lucky for me, my in-laws live just a few miles from Yoder’s.
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