By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
PORTVILLE — Sprague’s Maple Farms marked its 25th anniversary late last month.
Randy and Toni Sprague started building the 14,000 square foot pancake house and restaurant and maple production facility in the summer of 2000 and opened Feb. 21, 2001.
It soon became a destination, drawing people from a wide swath of the Western New York region and beyond.
Their signature turkey dinners are from free-range turkeys grown on the family turkey farm and the maple syrup for their pancake breakfasts is produced in-house.
“We were overwhelmed when we first opened,” Randy said. They haven’t stopped. The restaurant is open every day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. — except Christmas and Thanksgiving. It takes about 100 employees to run the restaurant, said Toni.
The maple farm’s large modern evaporator and reverse osmosis machine can be seen as visitors enter the restaurant.
Randy has a crew of five or six men who maintain the sugarbush. Miles and miles of plastic pipe collect sap from maple trees in several area locations. The crews spend a couple of months in the woods tapping trees and clearing limbs and downed trees from the collection lines.
Sprague’s Maple Farms is one of the larger producers in Cattaraugus County. It also has a retail store for other maple producers large and small.
After breakfast or dinner, check out the gift and nature center that features Sprague’s 100% maple syrup and other maple products.
In March, Sprague’s offers weekend wagon rides to the maple sugar house on the hill behind the restaurant with its wood-fired evaporator from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., weather permitting. There, samples of Sprague’s maple cake donuts, sugar on snow or a Maple Vine Chardonnay sample for adults.
Sprague’s also participates in two New York State Maple Weekends March 21-22 and 28-29. There are also maple tree tapping demonstrations. Maple kettle corn will also be available. Follow your nose.
March also features Sprague’s corned beef sandwiches and on the 17th, slow-roasted corned beef dinners with all the trimmings.
Don’t forget to try a maple cream brulee or maple cinnamon waffle for breakfast. And you can’t beat the tasty turkey dinners.
