Glunz Bavarian Haus

It's not easy being green, or German. A German acquaintance of mine who has lived in the US for 10 years came to Chicago on business. Thinking he might like Thai, Mexican, or something exotic or trendy he asked me, "Do you know any good German restaurants in Chicago?" He knew I knew what he was talking about; I lived in Germany in 1988, and had a pretty good idea of what he was looking for. Not a beer hall, not a sausage stand, not a schnitzel or a struedel. A sit-down restaurant with homemade sauces, roasted meats, their own dumplings, spaetzle, and food that isn't chasing a trend, following a stereotype, acting out a movie character or bending to a foreign palate. Simply German, not passed off as Swiss or Austrian, food from the foothills of the Alps, at the crossroads between Western and Eastern Europe.

This type of food is hard to come by apparently, I really hadn't searched it out before. Going to Glunz did bring back memories, and I enjoyed some tasty food. Of course we had to have beer, which we enjoyed sitting outside on their patio on a beautiful evening. Bread (sorry no brotchen) was served with homemade krauterbutter (herb butter). We both started with house salads with a yogurt-herb dressing. I seem to remember lots of raw vegetables soaked in this stuff in salad buffets in Germany. This was tastefully done here, simple and refreshing, without the German soak.

I had the Jaegerpfandl: braised pork tenderloin in a mushroom bacon sauce (Jager sauce) with spaetzle. The key to this dish was in the sauce and it was substantial, a full flavor of a solid homemade sauce, which the homemade spaetzle soaked up nicely.

I didn't get a full review of the roast pork with dumpling (schweinsbraten), but he liked it very much and finished it off quickly. He was rather amazed to find the sauerkraut to be not sweet; apparently this is a big beef of his about American sauerkraut. The best facsimilie for him is found in Jewish delis, where he seeks it out while fearing retribution.

I remember last year's review in the Trib. I really don't see why some mediocre restaurants get great reviews in the Trib, and the reverse happens too. This restaurant is at the other end of the imbalance, a really good restaurant which clearly got snubbed.

Glunz Bavarian Haus
4123 N Lincoln
Chicago
http://www.glunzbavarianhaus.com

Rich4 wrote:This type of food is hard to come by apparently...

Rich4,

You're quite right there. Just in the years I've been in Chicago, I have heard of the closing of a number of long-standing German restaurants and now it seems it's down to a mere handful. Of course, without any large-scale immigration since before WWI and, even with that which has been in more recent times, there are very few areas where there was at least something of a local concentration and so there's no such thing as a real German neighbourhood anymore. Without a base of knowledgeable regulars, most of them have closed over the last 20-30 years. This is true as well in the New York area. My mother grew up in a heavily German neighbourhood that had several great (at least so they seemed to me as a child and teenager) German restaurants and I believe there remains not a trace of that old neighbourhood, save perhaps the de rigueur final funeral parlour with the ethnic name. Yorkville in Manhattan is, from what I hear, also kaputt.

I remember last year's review in the Trib. I really don't see why some mediocre restaurants get great reviews in the Trib, and the reverse happens too. This restaurant is at the other end of the imbalance, a really good restaurant which clearly got snubbed.

There was recently a little discussion of German food on another board, instigated by someone's inquiry concerning food options in the neighbourhood of the Art Institute, and there the venerable Berghoff came up. I don't know what the Tribune's reviews of the Berghoff are, but on account of its great location and considerable charm (both indisputable, I think) and, yes, to a degree reputation, it does well and the proprietors apparently see no need to fix a long-standing and grievous short-coming: their German specialties are, to me and apparently many others, bad caricatures of German food.

I lamented in that thread that I'm afraid some people get their first exposure to German food there or at some of the goofy places where the emphasis is not on food but that ersatz Gemütlichkeit. There is, I believe, a fairly widespread dislike, even disdain of German food, that I hear expressed (it's too heavy; it all tastes the same, etc.). If one really has tried it and doesn't like it, that's one thing, but this is one of those prejudices of ignorance that is at heart no different than the prejudices that used to exist broadly in mainstream America about Mexican food and (I do remember this too), before that, about Italian food, back before the general population knew what garlic was. In any event, perhaps with German restaurants, the strange reviews are just a natural product of the ignorance of the reviewers -- increasingly, as all the old, traditional German restaurants die, the only way to be introduced to the real deal, in all its (humble) glory, is either to have culturally conservative relatives or to spend time in Germany. In a way, it's funny how much easier it probably is now in the States to become familiar with Thai or Ethiopian or Oaxacan food, in a country where the largest single ethnic group (however they determine such things at this point) is German.

Last night, based on a recent report on the other site about Resi's by JeffB, we were going to go there for a much anticipated and long desired fix of good German food out (we cook German dishes at home with regularity). The plan was postponed but will be executed hopefully next week. I'm happy to hear of another German possibility and look forward to checking it out. Thanks for the nicely detailed report.

Antonius

There is, I believe, a fairly widespread dislike, even disdain of German food, that I hear expressed

This is what my friend said last night, but I think his reference was more cultural than just preconcieved notions about the food. Sausage stands and beer halls are fun, non-threatening, Hogan's Heroes' version of German food. But nicer restaurants of substantial German cuisine is somehow perceived as making a cultural statement, accepting German food to the table of world cultures. Saying you are German carries with it a considerable amount of baggage. I think this carries over to choosing a restaurant where most diners are looking for that transporting experience into a movie-like setting, and it would be unappetizing to add the brand-image of world domination into your meal.

I have run into exactly one authentic German restaurant in the Chicago area - the Gasthaus in Elgin. They have decent but not great food. And they are run (barely) by the wife and the son of the founder. They will probably close in a year or two as the place has that look of a place that should have closed when the owner died.

Let's be real blunt. Germans tend to assimilate into a culture when they respect the culture and the society. My grandparent strictly forbade the speaking of German in the home. I used to attend a lot of German speaking events in Cincinnati with my grandparents. However, most of those people are long gone.

The great German restaurants epitomize SLOW food. A meal at Richter's Chalet in Dearborn, MI (the world's best sauces, soups and gravies) take a MINIMUM of two hours. The food is heavy. It is generally everything that people are trying to avoid.

Most German descendents don't cook like that anymore. They pick up other recipes that are easier to prepare and require fewer ingredients. Most of my relatives don't cook German. I would not have had the classics if not for the fact that a lot of my friends had parents who emigrated to the US from Germany after WWII

Antonius

In addition to Resi's another excellent choice for German food can be found a block west at Laschet's Inn.Laschet's has been in the neighborhood for ever,and was formerly owned by Carl Laschet who was the "mayor" of the German community in Lincoln square.

Carl sold the place about 12 years ago to Franz and his wife Ursula,who I belive are from Hamburg.Franz runs the bar and Ursula the kitchen. The menu here is a bit more extensive than Resi's and everything has a fresh,homemade taste to it.

My wife is from Germanyand this is where we go for German "soul" food.Weekends usually require reservations

Laschet's Inn
2119 W Irving
773 478 7915

I started to write this then changed my mind about posting until I read Joe's comments just now:

Of course, without any large-scale immigration since before WWI and, even with that which has been in more recent times, there are very few areas where there was at least something of a local concentration and so there's no such thing as a real German neighbourhood anymore. Without a base of knowledgeable regulars, most of them have closed over the last 20-30 years.

I have lived most of my life in the Chicago area. My Grandparents both immigrated from Germany to Chicago in the 1920's along with quite a number of others. My Grandfather immigrated to fulfull his sense of adventure. My Grandmother to appease a very sad affair of the heart. Deep down, both were also fleeing the social and economic chaos of post WWI Germany.

My Grandparents choice of places to live was very much dictated by where their friends lived and German community locus: Lincoln Avenue from Lawrence to roughly Addison. My Grandfather located his business in three buildings on Lincoln Ave between Montrose and Irving Park. My Grandparents and their friends were always situated a short bus or car ride to their comfort zone; not an unusual pattern of behavior for immigrants.

Thirty years ago, Davis Theater exclusively played German movies. I know as I suffered through many as my parents brought all of us for exposure. I guess if we spoke German at home this would reinforce our education, but we didn't. So it was a torturously boring two hours. German was spoken in my Dad's family until WWII, when they switched exclusively to English. Consequently, my Father speaks German with an ambiguous accent, not quite German - not American - something difficult to place. His young siblings speak no German at all because of this shift.

Like all immigrants, my Grandparents wanted their children to live better than themselves. IN my family's case, this meant to the suburbs. It is no mistake there is a Kuhn's Delicatessen in Deerfield. Or Koenemann's Sausage Company, a German deli and sausage producer, situated around Route 12 and 120 on the border of Lake and McHenry counties.

The last 10-15 years have been hard on the German community locus. My Grandparent's generation has died. Their children are typical first generation Americans: usually try to shed their ethnicity to be more American than any American they know. They have assimulated to where German food is interesting but there are so many other options out there. Escalating property values and related taxes are putting those clinging to tradition into retirement with a nice cash cushion. I may have the name wrong but not the circumstances: one german restaurant (I think it was Zum Deutsche Eck) closed 18 months ago and the building converted to condos. I don't blame them to succombing to economic pressures. You're tired, you want to retire, your children are not interested in the business, nobody will pay you what the business is worth and someone will pay you more than that for the property itself.

You visit Mader's in Milwaukee where there are sunflower seeds in the salad and 'lite' versions of German classics. My Oma would not recognize this food.

I do have a little hope when I visited Edelweiss last Summer. I felt like I was in a time warp, my Grandparents were still alive. We went on a Saturday evening when they had a German band not playing oopah Bavarian stuff but rather music to dine and dance by. The men wore suits and the ladies were fresh from the hair salon. All looking their best with the expectations of a fine evening. The food wasn't dumbed down or least not as deliberately as witnessed at Mader's. And the place was full and patronized.

Fortunately, I have friends and family in Germany who are only an airplane ticket away.

Regards,
Cathy2

Edelweiss Restaurant
7650 West Irving Park Road
Harwood Heights, IL 60706
708-452-6040

Koenemann's Sausage Company
27090 Volo Village Road
Mchenry, IL 60050
815-385-6260

Kuhn's Delicatessen
160 South Waukegan Road
Deerfield, IL 60015
847-272-4197

the only way to be introduced to the real deal, in all its (humble) glory, is either to have culturally conservative relatives or to spend time in Germany

Maybe not even then. I've had business in Frankfurt and Heidelberg, the latter being a beautiful little place and the former not so much, though it gets points from me for being Goethe's home, the green sauce, and the Turkish doner stands. Anyway, our hosts, prominent lawyers, were always very gracious and in the European style never left us without something to see or do in our off hours. The one thing they always dissuaded us from doing was to eat at a German restaurant.

Germans are complicated, famously so. Fun-loving, almost Italian Bavarians; austere, ingenious, perverse Berliners; the sun burnt, drunk, underdressed and dirty tourists singing futball songs from Rio to Zanzibar; the sensitive Werther, the boldly destructive/creative Faust, the diassapated Gustav von Aschenbach; and then there are the real people.

One thing that was palpable among the educated, urbane, liberal Germans that I worked with: shame. Shame that manifests itself in vague apologetic, awkward statements. And, in not wanting for us to eat at an embarrassing restaurant with beer and wursts. We ate Italian and French and Asian, but never German.

Until pretty recently you saw the same thing here, in the South.

By the way, regarding the provenance of hot dogs, I did have many a frankfurter at the train stations. They come with a hard roll, on the side. I laughed when I saw Germans walking down the street, roll in one hand, red hot in the other, taking alternate bites.

...goofy places where the emphasis is not on food but that ersatz Gemütlichkeit... Antonius

"Ersatz Gemutlichkeit" is a great concept and a great phrase. I'll be working it into conversation every chance I get, for at least a while.

By the way, how do you get an umlaut into a postf?

I may be digressing a bit, but the mention of Kuhn's brought a smile to my face. They have the best mustard I've ever had. Perfect graininess and sourness. It is delicious on everything. They sell multiple mustards, but this is the one you get hand packed at the deli counter. I've driven 45 minutes each way only to purchase mustard.

Rich4 wrote:Saying you are German carries with it a considerable amount of baggage. I think this carries over to choosing a restaurant where most diners are looking for that transporting experience into a movie-like setting, and it would be unappetizing to add the brand-image of world domination into your meal.

Part of what you say concerning German culture in general is true and the discomfort exists in various circles with varying degrees of justification, some of which are easily understood in their historical context. But in a country where a majority of college students is unaware of the fact that the United States fought against Germany in World War II (I guess they don't watch the History Channel), such historically derived antipathies are fading (as I think they ultimately should).

But to return to food, there is a (partly) independent culinary prejudice. Within the world of American foodies or cibisti or gourmets or whatever, German food seems to be held in particularly low esteem in this country. Insofar as German cuisine might be held up in comparision to French and Italian, the lower status is for a number of reasons not surprising and I too would be inclined to say that I believe the French and Italian national cuisines are more refined and varied (thanks to the underlying regional cuisines).

Of course, German cuisine, along with English and Irish and other north European cuisines, was the substrate out of which grew basic, white-American, meat-and-potatoes cuisine, and the German suffers naturally from its meat-and-potato image and association with the culinary boredom that parts of middle America have been awakening from in recent years. On the other hand, that German cuisine might be dismissed as 'heavy' and 'unimaginative' whereas Scandinavian or English cuisines might be regarded with a certain delighted nostalgia, must probably be explained by the sort of lingering memories of massive unpleasantness from the last century.

Even so, I fully expect the American need for fads to turn to German cuisine one day, at which point we will be blessed with a Food TV show starring Gretchen Lieberwurscht and a chain restaurant named Brathaus (or better still, Bräthäüs).

Tschüß.
A

JeffB wrote:

the only way to be introduced to the real deal, in all its (humble) glory, is either to have culturally conservative relatives or to spend time in Germany

Maybe not even then... The one thing they always dissuaded us from doing was to eat at a German restaurant.

I don't doubt for a second what you say here; quite the opposite, it rings very true. But in the course of studying there for a while and later, thanks to being able to speak German, the awkwardness has come up far less in my personal experience. (Of course, in the University student milieu of the RAF days, it was the Americans who were the political bad guys!) I certainly have run into that attitude toward German culture in interactions with Germans here in the States too.

By the way, regarding the provenance of hot dogs, I did have many a frankfurter at the train stations. They come with a hard roll, on the side. I laughed when I saw Germans walking down the street, roll in one hand, red hot in the other, taking alternate bites.

I have this mental image, from both Germany and Belgium, which always brings a smile to my face, namely, of train or factory workers, in their company overall-uniforms, having a 9:30 a.m. break from work with a Frankfurter and a glass of beer...

A

mrbarolo wrote:By the way, how do you get an umlaut into a postf?

Mrbärölö (that looks Turkish)...

I use a Mac and I just type option-u followed by the vowel. That's the same command sequence as used in MS Word and I guess Mac has it built into the system(?)... I'm horribly ignorant about how computers actually work... But I've got that heavy metal look going...

Äntöniüs

When I was laid up in bed for six weeks two years ago, I read Thomas Sowell's Culture and Immigration. He noted that where Germans did NOT respect the culture - i.e. Brazil - they maintained their customs and their identity. You will still find large enclaves of German speakers in Brazil. (In fact, Brazil is recruiting US farmers to replace the Germans who are now leaving Brazil. The Germans significantly out produce the native Brazilians agriculturally).

I have had very little good German food in recent years. Gasthaus wasn't bad. I have not hit the places in Milwaukee. I am open for suggestions.

I HAVE eaten in a number of Amish palces throughout Ohio. Whatever German influences they have kept, the food is terrible bland, although it is heavy.

jlawrence01 wrote:I have had very little good German food in recent years. Gasthaus wasn't bad. I have not hit the places in Milwaukee. I am open for suggestions.

what about frankenmuth michigan - isn't that germantown, year round?

leesh

leesh wrote:

jlawrence01 wrote:I have had very little good German food in recent years. Gasthaus wasn't bad. I have not hit the places in Milwaukee. I am open for suggestions.

what about frankenmuth michigan - isn't that germantown, year round?

leesh

No, it's Christmas all year 'round

Cathy2 wrote:I may have the name wrong but not the circumstances: one german restaurant (I think it was Zum Deutsche Eck) closed 18 months ago and the building converted to condos. I don't blame them to succombing to economic pressures. You're tired, you want to retire, your children are not interested in the business, nobody will pay you what the business is worth and someone will pay you more than that for the property itself.

Actually, it's worse than that. At least part of the ZDE property is now a parking lot for St. Alphonsus church (there's a three- or four-unit condo building directly south that may have been the other part of their property). There is a lovely brass plaque on the corner to let you know what used to be there (and interestingly enough, you can eat off some of ZDE's old plates at Ann Sather's on Belmont). It's not likely that a church parking lot and three or four condos have more economic value than a going restaurant business, so I'll guess you're right about the fatigue and loss of interest in the owners.

I got all excited when you said Ann Sather's had some ZDE dishes on the menu but when I look, I don't find these.

Could you expand on this please? Thanks.

Gee, bryan, I hope you aren't having fun at my expense ... but what I wrote is that you can eat OFF of ZDE plates at Ann Sather, not that you can EAT PLATES. They apparently bought up or otherwise acquired a bunch of ZDE plates and you can eat your eggs or sweet rolls OFF OF these plates. No, they don't serve plates on the menu.

My eye completely missed the word "off" in your post.

Apologies.

Rich4 wrote:I remember last year's review in the Trib. I really don't see why some mediocre restaurants get great reviews in the Trib, and the reverse happens too. This restaurant is at the other end of the imbalance, a really good restaurant which clearly got snubbed.

Glunz Bavarian Haus
4123 N Lincoln
Chicago
http://www.glunzbavarianhaus.com


I don't think so. I ate at Glunz shortly after they opened. I was really looking forward to it -- the first new German restaurant to open in Chicago in years! -- and I was greatly disappointed. The food then was mediocre at best. The schnitzel was terrible. I remember saying, "Well, this sure isn't going to lead to a renaissance of German food in Chicago."

If it's improved since, I'm heartily glad to hear it, and I'll have to give them another try.