Take a stroll down Xenia Road in Yellow Springs and it won’t be long until your eyes meet a white mansion-style home. This building houses two separate entities that coexist quite sweetly with one another: The Mills Park Hotel and Ellie’s Restaurant and Bakery.
The Mills Park Hotel is located at 321 Xenia Avenue in Yellow Springs, the hotel being only 10 miles away from Wittenberg’s campus. Travel to and from requires a bicycle at minimum, with the drive taking around 20 minutes. As the weather continues to brighten up, students should feel inclined to use their bicycles to get out and grab some exercise before chowing down on a delicious meal or spending a weekend outside of the Wittenberg bubble.
The bakery boasts breakfast hours Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m. and lunch hours from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Although the bakery isn’t open much in the evenings, it does promote a bar menu from 2 until 5 p.m. and a dinner menu from 5 until 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. On Sunday, Ellie’s is only open for bunch from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m.
The restaurant itself, through the hotel’s main doors and directly to the right, boasts a wide menu of options for any palette. Although the menu is small, there certainly is an option for anyone and the portions are fairly hefty.
For a sunny Sunday morning, brunch at Ellie’s is the perfect adventure in Yellow Springs. The brunch menu boasts dishes from gingerbread pancakes to chicken and waffles. If you get the chicken and waffles, then beware: you most certainly will not finish it in the restaurant; you’ll need to get a to-go box.
To accompany your choice in dish, don’t forget to try one of Ellie’s signature smoothies, including typical one-flavor options, and favorites like strawberry banana. The restaurant also offers coffee selections as well as pop items.
When enjoying the brunch meal, make sure that your eyes are watching the traffic out on the sidewalk outside the hotel. Because The Mills Park Hotel is directly in downtown Yellow Springs, the stream of visitors, both locals and non-locals, passing outside of the hotel make for a sight to see, nearly all with a grin spread across their faces.
For a weekend getaway, don’t feel afraid to stay in the hotel for the weekend. With rates as low as $100 a night, the hotel feels like a vacation spa without being too far away from Wittenberg itself. As spring break approaches, the Mills Park Hotel would make for the perfect mini-getaway, even for the weekend before all students return to campus.
Both the Mills Park Hotel and Ellie’s Restaurant and Bakery boast great food and company for a mini-vacation away from Wittenberg, even if just for a day. For more information, students can call Ellie’s at 937-319-0402 and the Mills Park Hotel at 937-319-0400.
