3 Germans: Go while you can

The cooler weather has had us craving rib-sticking stuff, and we've been in the right neighborhoods to try several of our city's remaining German eateries. German food is what I think of as an orphaned cuisine in this city, along with Hungarian, Old World Jewish and classical French -- food-styles that are disappearing for reasons that include few recent immigrants, the assimilation and economic rise of subsequent generations and the unfashionableness of rich, heavy fare.

There are still a few good German places around, but they're closing fast. (Glunz Bavarian Haus, opened in 2003, was the first new German place to open in years. And it's an exception with considerable backing -- Glunz Bavarian is owned by a scion of one of Chicago's oldest German families, who own several local beer- and wine- related businesses, including Louis Glunz Beer, Louis Glunz Wines, Glunz Family Winery and the House of Glunz, the city's oldest wine and spirits store, opened in 1888 by Chicago's first Schlitz bottler.)


Black Forest Chalet

The death watch has begun for Black Forest Chalet in Morton Grove. When we headed there the other day after an unsuccessful attempt to get flu shots at the nearby Dominick's, we were appalled to see this sign outside:



Inside, folks confirmed that the 39-year-old restaurant is closing, though the date of its demise is yet undetermined. The property's owners need a zoning variance from the village before the strip mall plans can go through, but it seems all too likely they'll get it. (As if Morton Grove weren't chockablock with strip malls already.) Harry Vizethum, who's owned the place for about the past five years, is looking for a new space, they said, but nobody seemed too hopeful.

Black Forest was an outgrowth of the adjoining butcher shop and delicatessen (opened in 1961 and also doomed), where Vizethum makes the sausages, and the thing they do best is meat. Bland white bread comes in the bread basket . The red cabbage and other sides are nothing special. The strudel is soggy.

The sausages are sublime, however. We had an appetizer of Thuringer and two kinds of bratwurst, with delightfully contrasting flavors and textures, and pretty good kraut. I really liked smoky, succulent Kassler-style pork chops, served with excellent German-fried potatoes. The mushroom gravy on the Jaeger Schnitzel had good flavor, but gloppy texture.

I also enjoyed goulash soup, zesty with paprika and chunky with wurst, and Himself liked the robust Leberknodel Suppe (liver-dumpling soup).

The place is a bit shabby, and on the night we went, full of a largely blue-haired local clientele, some singing along with the music. If you go on a weekend, the live entertainment -- The Amazing Mike -- has to be seen to be believed.


Black Forest sausage plate


Black Forest Kassler ribs


Chicago Brauhaus

When we found ourselves in Lincoln Square late on a weeknight, the Chicago Brauhaus beckoned. The bar was full of older neighborhood types, including a white-haired gent in lederhosen -- he turned out to be with the band. The place was by no means full, but there were several tables filled with a mix of older and younger people, many of whom got up to dance to the mix of German songs and American pop numbers cranked out by the venerable members of the three-piece band.

I had to laugh when a group of 20-somethings who were obviously celebrating a birthday went up to dance to a romantic ballad. They had uneven numbers, so one fellow danced with his beer stein -- a large glass boot. Then he cut in on another couple and exchanged the stein for a live dance partner.

We enjoyed both the atmosphere and our Wiener Schnitzel and wurst and Kassler Rippchen special, and Himself liked the Leberknodel Suppe, though it's somewhat milder than Black Forest Chalet's. Chicago Brauhaus serves some very good black and rye breads, too. Chicago Brauhaus serves till midnight daily (closed Tuesdays). Chicago Brauhaus also dates to 1966.


Christl's Inn



We were a bit concerned about how late Christl's Inn in downtown Palatine stayed open, so we called while en route one Saturday. A man with a German accent told us 9:30 p.m., so we were taken aback to arrive just before 9 p.m. and find the "closed" sign out. We went into the empty restaurant ask again about the hours, and the matronly waitress said, "Oh, yes, we've been waiting for you." So of course we had to stay for dinner, earning evil glares from the bus boy. No other customers arrived before we left.

Christl's looks like a diner: tan Naugahyde booths on the bar side and worn wooden chairs with turquoise vinyl upholstery in the dining room, where tables are set with thick, white coffee cups, metal holders containing salt shakers and sugar packets, and glass boxes of coffee creamer. The walls, mostly covered in rec-room paneling, sport pictures rendered in a Sunday painter style, under a stained drop ceiling. A jukebox full of German tunes hunkers in a corner.

Meals here come with soup and salad -- we had bland liver dumpling and a pleasant beef barley. The house salad was mostly iceberg, though the warm bacon dressing was nice. The best thing we had was a special, breaded pork chops, crisp outside and moist and flavorful inside, served with good German fries. Himself found his Sauerbraten tender but less sour than he prefers; still, the gravy went well with the rather nice spatzle. The tender, house-made apple strudel, otherwise good, seemed a bit soggy; it may have been warmed in a microwave.

This seems like a place that would be better around 6 p.m., but the clock is ticking....

Glunz Bavarian Haus
773/472-HAUS
www.glunzbavarianhaus.com
4128 N. Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL 60618

House of Glunz
312/642-3000
www.houseofglunz.com
1206 N. Wells St.
Chicago, IL 60610

Black Forest Chalet
847/965-1642
847/965-3113 deli
www.blackforestmarket.com
8840 Waukegan Road
Morton Grove

Chicago Brauhaus
773/784-4444
www.chicagobrauhaus.com
4732 N. Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL 60625

Christl's Inn
847/991-1040
http://christlsusa.com
45 W. Slade St.
Palatine, IL 60067

Here's another German place I spotted out in the burbs which seems promising, and which you or somebody else will probably get to before I do.

It also has a questionable future, since (although the restaurant's site makes no mention of the fact) owner Fritz Gross apparently passed away a couple of years ago.

Gasthaus zur Linde
15 N. Grove Ave., Elgin, IL 60120
(847) 695-8828

You might also want to check out Chef Paul's Bavarian Lodge (www.bavarian-lodge.com) in Lisle...

Mark

I'm not saying that the places I wrote about are the only German spots left in Chicago -- several others have been posted on here and there are more besides. There are plenty of good ones left. The situation isn't as dire as it is in regard to Hungarian food, where we have but a single restaurant left. What I'm saying is that, as a cuisine, German food in Chicago is moribund.

We don't have new chefs coming over from Germany and reaquainting us with the cuisine from a contemporary viewpoint. We don't have American cooks using German food as a branching-off point, creating new forms of schnitzel or uniquely flavored spatzle. We don't have new places opening in every quarter of town. We have -- oompah, oompah -- Kassler Rippchen and Rouladen and Sauerbraten and other classics, served at overwhelmingly older places, which are slowly disappearing.

Compare to, say, Thai or Japanese.

LAZ wrote:We don't have new chefs coming over from Germany and reaquainting us with the cuisine from a contemporary viewpoint.

Is there such a thing? I ask this because on my visits to Germany, I didn't find anything other than the type of German fare offered in Chicago. Most of the "contemporary" cuisine that I came across was from a different culture (Italian, French, etc.). Admittedly, my experience was limited to the area around Berlin.

I wonder too-- we had a similar discussion a while back and VI, I think, pointed out the example of Wolfgang Puck as a famous Austrian chef, for instance, yet the food he's famous for-- duck pizza and so on-- seems to me sort of generally nouvelle-international rather than specifically Austrian, for instance. Maybe someone's created das neue Deutsche essen, but the news has not reached me.

(Which brings me to another thing-- the one German cookbook you're likely to see in a bookstore is this one. It seems surprising to me that even as late as 1965, German cooking was still a popular enough choice that the (future) New York Times critic would devote a year or more to producing a book about it.)

Yes, there does exist 'contemporary German' cooking, which does all the things one generally expects from such culinary reformations: substitution of lighter for heavier, quicker cooking methods, incorporation of foreign elements... und so weiter und so fort.

And a rejection of the practice of eating indulgences.

Antonius

We have discussed this before, but I can't remember when. My experiences as a business guest in Germany reflect Steve's: our hosts would not entertain our requests for German food, not even a little. Of course, our hosts were upper middle class professionals who practically apologized for their country at every opportunity. It was a little sad and tiresome after a while. We did have some great French and Italian food in Frankfurt, however. But I never did get to try anything with the local green sauce. Certainly no new German.

I have had old fashioned "German" German food in Germany as well, and found it to be very good. I also find that the traditional German places here do a better job at replicating the taste of home than do European restaurants representing other countries -- especially Italian. It possibly has to do with ingredients and the fact that the basic American appraoch to cooking and eating is more Northern European than Southern European.

New hope for German food.

stevez wrote:

LAZ wrote:We don't have new chefs coming over from Germany and reaquainting us with the cuisine from a contemporary viewpoint.

Is there such a thing?

Restaurant die Ente Von Lehel, Wiesbaden.

The dining room offers starters like Rabbit in Aspic with Winter Salad and Sliced Potatoes, Pickled Salmon with Dill sauce and Potato Pancakes or 'Steinpilz' Ravioli in Herbal sauce. (A Steinpilz is a yellow boletus mushroom popular in German cooking). Soups range from Franconian Potato Soup to a hearty Casserole of Salmon and Pike-Perch.

Entrees are mainly based on local dishes -- Noisettes of Suckling Pig in a Caraway and Ale sauce, served with Red Cabbage, Apple and Dumplings and Veal Liver Sauteed in Herbs with Chive sauce, Pureed Onion and Dumplings being just two examples of a mouth-watering selection.

Röckenwagner, Santa Monica, Calif.

Try a 'taste' of our current favorites

First Course
Venison Carpaccio
With Bacon Wrapped Port Wine Plums and Pumpkin Chutney
(Riesling, Monchof, "Estate" Germany 2002 ~6.50 gl)

Second Course
Taleggio-Pear Risotto
With Parmesan Broth
(Chardonnay, Sonoma Cutrer, Russian River CA 2003~9.75 gl)

Third Course
Wild Boar Stew
With Pretzel Dumplings and Lingonberries
(Pinot Noir, Witness Tree, Willamette Valley, Oregon 2002 $10.75 gl)

Modern German Food

Feast upon such inventions as Crusty Pork Loin with rhubarb and celery Sauerkraut, Turkey Fillets with pepper brie and Black Forest ham, Light Potato Dumplings with Buttery Croutons, Cherry, Quark and Pumpernickel trifle, Pumpernickel Ice Cream, Stollen Bread and Butter Pudding.

The New German Cookbook

This book should give many cooks a new perspective on German cooking. All of the ingredients traditionally associated with this cuisine appear, but veal, for example, shows up in a Riesling wine sauce as well as in Wiener schnitzel, and dumplings are scented with tarragon and tossed into a clear asparagus soup. Anderson, author of numerous cookbooks, and Wurz, a German native who works for the German Tourist Office in New York, have gathered recipes from the country's creative young chefs, regional home cooks, and their own files to provide an up-to-date look at the culinary scene.

Mike G wrote:New hope for German food.

Given the choice between getting bird flu, eating saurkraut or eating kimchi, I'm going to come down on the kimchi side every time. This news may help keep struggling German restaurants afloat for a while longer, though.

Isn't there that whole white asparagus obsession thing every spring with all sorts of wild and traditional dishes using asparagus? Or am I confusing it with another cuisine?

I think "German food" has a generally negative connotation in the US (sauerkraut and sausage for many?) so a creative young chef might not call his place German. Alsatian would be a better spin, and one could argue that Jean Joho, though possibly a bit past his youthful, creative prime, makes something very similar to modern, creative, German food at Everest.

Austria was mentioned in passing, with the Wolfgang Puck reference (and some of his places also serve what would pass for modern, creative German food), but I do want to say that for my money Vienna is a great food town. What I like best is the range of German/Czech/Hungarian places that run from simple "peasant" fare to experimental, new wave stuff, but still clearly coming from the germanic/slavic tradition. Plus the profusion of excellent sausages to be consumed in the market. For whatever reason, I have not found it so easy to find really good local-style food in my visits to either Germany or the Czech Republic (perhaps because of a lack of pride in it, and the problematic traditions of decades of commuinst rule respectively). Though, as I have mentioned before, possibly the single best dish I had in my life was a stroganoff made with charcoal-grilled beef in a small town in Germany 20 years ago. Sadly, I have no records of exactly where that was.

Have not been to Hungary yet.

Anyway, I think there is less a dearth of good traditional and modern German food, than a reluctance to call it such. But Berghoff and Chef Paul both do a good business, and seem likely to endure into the next century... Though, LAZ, that is not to say that I do not share your sadness in seeing the passing of so many of these old places. I am pretty sure that part of the process for them is that they were originally gathering places for German immigrant communities (like the old Golden Ox, where my great grandfather first started to go at the beginning of the 20th century). With the assimilation of those communities, subsequent generations just stopped going and the slow decline began.

dicksond wrote:Isn't there that whole white asparagus obsession thing every spring with all sorts of wild and traditional dishes using asparagus? Or am I confusing it with another cuisine?

It's definitely germany. There's actually a bit of a crisis over white asparagus now, because the labor costs associated with growing in germany are too high. A lot of Germany's white asparagus is now, apparently, still grown in Germany but harvested and processed by migrant Polish workers. Much to the dismay of many Germans.

The Black Forest Chalet is almost in the neighborhood
and I've been driving to the Western Suburbs for
Bohemian liver dumpling soup. Black Forest's was
excellent, not insanely salty broth with 2 big, obviously
homemade liver dumplings. Kind of expensive though,
think it was $2.72 with tax. Reasonable lunch entrees
include soup, but I didn't try them. Thanks for the post.

dashboard diner

Hey, that reminds me, it's lunch time.

The overall format of the Brauhaus I think just about assures it's survival: big space for a band and dancing, balanced emphasis on food and drink... it should stay around, great party atmosphere, etc.

Mirabella is a cute joint and I'm thinking it will survive quite well too, although I personally don't have much craving to go there. Not particularly impressive beer selection IMO.

We love Resi's BierStube on Irving Park.... what a gem. Easily the best full-range of german beers on tap. The food is more "german bar food"... sausages / kraut mostly, but fits with the beer real nice you can almost fool yourself that it's a "meal".

Nearby, Laschet's Inn seems to be treading water, might put that on your "watchlist"... the beer selection and atmosphere just isn't as impressive as Resi's although they have a more extensive menu.

I don't know if it should be on the watch list, but I certainly enjoyed Edelweiss on Irving Park in Norridge two weeks ago. Nice decor, very good food, and on Friday and Saturday they have live music which is enjoyable because it's not too loud -- nice background music and an occasional couple on the dance floor.

Jesper

[quote="stevez"][quote="Mike G"][url=http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/11/13/nsauer13.xml]New hope for German food.[/url][/quote]

Given the choice between getting bird flu, eating saurkraut or eating kimchi, I'm going to come down on the kimchi side every time. This news may help keep struggling German restaurants afloat for a while longer, though.[/quote] I used to date a Korean lady who did her own Kimchee. Her condo smelled like an open grave. Kinda like Limburger, i like it but just like to smell it.

Chicago Mike wrote:We love Resi's BierStube on Irving Park.... what a gem. Easily the best full-range of german beers on tap. The food is more "german bar food"... sausages / kraut mostly, but fits with the beer real nice you can almost fool yourself that it's a "meal".

Resi's has -- unless something happened very recently -- full meals, starting with soup and on to platters with such things as prok schnitzels with potatoes and vegetable. Real meals by my reckoning. The sausage platters are also more than just snacks, in my view.

Nearby, Laschet's Inn seems to be treading water, might put that on your "watchlist"... the beer selection and atmosphere just isn't as impressive as Resi's although they have a more extensive menu.

Laschet's is doing quite well, so far as I can tell, and I've been there quite a bit, on various days of the week and various times of day. Resi's gets the nod on breadth of beer selection but Laschet's is hardly poor in what it is has on hand.

Antonius

LAZ wrote:The cooler weather has had us craving rib-sticking stuff, and we've been in the right neighborhoods to try several of our city's remaining German eateries. German food is what I think of as an orphaned cuisine in this city, along with Hungarian, Old World Jewish and classical French -- food-styles that are disappearing for reasons that include few recent immigrants, the assimilation and economic rise of subsequent generations and the unfashionableness of rich, heavy fare.

There are still a few good German places around, but they're closing fast. (Glunz Bavarian Haus, opened in 2003, was the first new German place to open in years. And it's an exception with considerable backing -- Glunz Bavarian is owned by a scion of one of Chicago's oldest German families, who own several local beer- and wine- related businesses, including Louis Glunz Beer, Louis Glunz Wines, Glunz Family Winery and the House of Glunz, the city's oldest wine and spirits store, opened in 1888 by Chicago's first Schlitz bottler.)


Black Forest Chalet

The death watch has begun for Black Forest Chalet in Morton Grove. When we headed there the other day after an unsuccessful attempt to get flu shots at the nearby Dominick's, we were appalled to see this sign outside:



Inside, folks confirmed that the 39-year-old restaurant is closing, though the date of its demise is yet undetermined. The property's owners need a zoning variance from the village before the strip mall plans can go through, but it seems all too likely they'll get it. (As if Morton Grove weren't chockablock with strip malls already.) Harry Vizethum, who's owned the place for about the past five years, is looking for a new space, they said, but nobody seemed too hopeful.

Black Forest was an outgrowth of the adjoining butcher shop and delicatessen (opened in 1961 and also doomed), where Vizethum makes the sausages, and the thing they do best is meat. Bland white bread comes in the bread basket . The red cabbage and other sides are nothing special. The strudel is soggy.

The sausages are sublime, however. We had an appetizer of Thuringer and two kinds of bratwurst, with delightfully contrasting flavors and textures, and pretty good kraut. I really liked smoky, succulent Kassler-style pork chops, served with excellent German-fried potatoes. The mushroom gravy on the Jaeger Schnitzel had good flavor, but gloppy texture.

I also enjoyed goulash soup, zesty with paprika and chunky with wurst, and Himself liked the robust Leberknodel Suppe (liver-dumpling soup).

The place is a bit shabby, and on the night we went, full of a largely blue-haired local clientele, some singing along with the music. If you go on a weekend, the live entertainment -- The Amazing Mike -- has to be seen to be believed.


Black Forest sausage plate


Black Forest Kassler ribs


Chicago Brauhaus

When we found ourselves in Lincoln Square late on a weeknight, the Chicago Brauhaus beckoned. The bar was full of older neighborhood types, including a white-haired gent in lederhosen -- he turned out to be with the band. The place was by no means full, but there were several tables filled with a mix of older and younger people, many of whom got up to dance to the mix of German songs and American pop numbers cranked out by the venerable members of the three-piece band.

I had to laugh when a group of 20-somethings who were obviously celebrating a birthday went up to dance to a romantic ballad. They had uneven numbers, so one fellow danced with his beer stein -- a large glass boot. Then he cut in on another couple and exchanged the stein for a live dance partner.

We enjoyed both the atmosphere and our Wiener Schnitzel and wurst and Kassler Rippchen special, and Himself liked the Leberknodel Suppe, though it's somewhat milder than Black Forest Chalet's. Chicago Brauhaus serves some very good black and rye breads, too. Chicago Brauhaus serves till midnight daily (closed Tuesdays). Chicago Brauhaus also dates to 1966.


Christl's Inn



We were a bit concerned about how late Christl's Inn in downtown Palatine stayed open, so we called while en route one Saturday. A man with a German accent told us 9:30 p.m., so we were taken aback to arrive just before 9 p.m. and find the "closed" sign out. We went into the empty restaurant ask again about the hours, and the matronly waitress said, "Oh, yes, we've been waiting for you." So of course we had to stay for dinner, earning evil glares from the bus boy. No other customers arrived before we left.

Christl's looks like a diner: tan Naugahyde booths on the bar side and worn wooden chairs with turquoise vinyl upholstery in the dining room, where tables are set with thick, white coffee cups, metal holders containing salt shakers and sugar packets, and glass boxes of coffee creamer. The walls, mostly covered in rec-room paneling, sport pictures rendered in a Sunday painter style, under a stained drop ceiling. A jukebox full of German tunes hunkers in a corner.

Meals here come with soup and salad -- we had bland liver dumpling and a pleasant beef barley. The house salad was mostly iceberg, though the warm bacon dressing was nice. The best thing we had was a special, breaded pork chops, crisp outside and moist and flavorful inside, served with good German fries. Himself found his Sauerbraten tender but less sour than he prefers; still, the gravy went well with the rather nice spatzle. The tender, house-made apple strudel, otherwise good, seemed a bit soggy; it may have been warmed in a microwave.

This seems like a place that would be better around 6 p.m., but the clock is ticking....

Glunz Bavarian Haus
773/472-HAUS
www.glunzbavarianhaus.com
4128 N. Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL 60618

House of Glunz
312/642-3000
www.houseofglunz.com
1206 N. Wells St.
Chicago, IL 60610

Black Forest Chalet
847/965-1642
847/965-3113 deli
www.blackforestmarket.com
8840 Waukegan Road
Morton Grove

Chicago Brauhaus
773/784-4444
www.chicagobrauhaus.com
4732 N. Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL 60625

Christl's Inn
847/991-1040
http://christlsusa.com
45 W. Slade St.
Palatine, IL 60067

A buddy of mine, Mark Nelson owns a hair salon- Nelson Group, a few doors down from Christl's. I never knew it was German! And as far as Black Forest goes...if the property is big enough, maybe they can build TWO Walgreen's there! I'm sure Norwood or Pontarelli have there claws already entrenched in that property. At this point in my life i'd say i despise developers way more t

Last night I was driving down Milwaukee Avenue, where I noticed a German restaurant I have not found any mention here:

Old Munich Inn
582 North Milwaukee Avenue
Wheeling, IL 60090
847-537-1222

Does anyone have experience at Munich?

Regards,

Scratch another one off the list, albeit not in Chicago:

Röckenwagner, Santa Monica, Calif.:

Try a 'taste' of our current favorites

First Course
Venison Carpaccio
With Bacon Wrapped Port Wine Plums and Pumpkin Chutney
(Riesling, Monchof, "Estate" Germany 2002 ~6.50 gl)

Second Course
Taleggio-Pear Risotto
With Parmesan Broth
(Chardonnay, Sonoma Cutrer, Russian River CA 2003~9.75 gl)

Third Course
Wild Boar Stew
With Pretzel Dumplings and Lingonberries
(Pinot Noir, Witness Tree, Willamette Valley, Oregon 2002 $10.75 gl)

Rockenwagner closed recently, I hear tell.

sundevilpeg wrote:Rockenwagner closed recently, I hear tell.

How recently? The web site's still up with a New Year's Eve menu.

Cathy2 wrote:Last night I was driving down Milwaukee Avenue, where I noticed a German restaurant I have not found any mention here:

Old Munich Inn
582 North Milwaukee Avenue
Wheeling, IL 60090
847-537-1222

Does anyone have experience at Munich?

Regards,

Old Munich Inn is not a restaurant, just a local tavern serving mainly German beers. Occasionally he has parties there with sausages, potato salad and more. Just buy a beer or two and enjoy the German music along with the food.

dicksond wrote:But Berghoff and Chef Paul both do a good business, and seem likely to endure into the next century...

dicksond, trade in your crystal ball!

Mike G wrote:Here's another German place I spotted out in the burbs which seems promising, and which you or somebody else will probably get to before I do.

It also has a questionable future, since (although the restaurant's site makes no mention of the fact) owner Fritz Gross apparently passed away a couple of years ago.

Gasthaus zur Linde
15 N. Grove Ave., Elgin, IL 60120
(847) 695-8828

I was in Elgin this evening for the first time in 2-3 years and Gasthaus has closed. There is still a bar in the spot but the restaurant portion appears to be closed completely. I wanted to stop BUT downtown Elgin, the definition of a ghost town after 6 pm, is all torn up with road construction and no parking was available.

Interesting discussion about german cuisine...

Of course there is such a thing as a "new german cuisine" (actually this started in the late 70s already).
It is, of course, heavily influenced by french and italian cooking styles - but which cuisine is not?
I mean: what is "new american cuisine"? - none of the better restaurants I have been visiting in the US seemed particulary "american" to me, in style...scallops? duck breast? foie gras?? Even at Chez Panisse (french name?!) they serve Pizza, don't they?

By the way: the image of of american cuisine in germany is very similar to the image americans seemingly have of german fare...to many here, americans eat nothing but: Burgers, Fries, Baked Potato, iceberg or coleslaw salad, fried chicken, spare ribs, steak - and tons of fast food, of course.

Anyway. For some pictures of "new german cuisine" (including a caprese, admittedly, but also a 2*-version of "frankfurter green sauce"!), look here:
http://www.faz.net/s/Rub117C535CDF414415BB243B181B8B60AE/Doc~E3F1D68E1E7C84083842C6AFF9A3F3C37~ATpl~Ecommon~Sspezial.html

Sven Elverfeld is one of the best cooks in the country.

ralphmans wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:Last night I was driving down Milwaukee Avenue, where I noticed a German restaurant I have not found any mention here:

Old Munich Inn
582 North Milwaukee Avenue
Wheeling, IL 60090
847-537-1222

Does anyone have experience at Munich?

Regards,

Old Munich Inn is not a restaurant, just a local tavern serving mainly German beers. Food is 'available', at no charge during lunch and early evenings. They don't have a food license so the food is 'free', sandwiches, pizzas, cold cuts...etc.] Occasionally he has parties there with sausages, potato salad and more. Just buy a beer or two and enjoy the German music along with the food.

There is a large sign offering the building for sale. A phone call just reconfirmed Old Munich is still in business and receiving customers, because the exterior suggests it is out of business. The gal answering the phone said many people have called to double-check, also.

The warning bell to check it out before it's gone just got a bit louder. Old Munich is still open.

Regards,

I was never particularly fond of Christl's in Palatine. It has been closed for several months now.

A place we do enjoy is Fritzl's Country Inn on Rand Road in Lake Zurich.

http://www.fritzl.com/

Antonius wrote:

Chicago Mike wrote:

Nearby, Laschet's Inn seems to be treading water, might put that on your "watchlist"... the beer selection and atmosphere just isn't as impressive as Resi's although they have a more extensive menu.

Laschet's is doing quite well, so far as I can tell, and I've been there quite a bit, on various days of the week and various times of day. Resi's gets the nod on breadth of beer selection but Laschet's is hardly poor in what it is has on hand.

Antonius

As a semi-regular at Laschett's, I'm pleased to say, 5 years later, that it's still going strong.

I'm actually a little surprised Mirabell is still around. I only live 3 blocks from the place but I don't go there too often because as the evening goes on you never know if they're going to be open or closed. They'll close as early as 8:30 if nobody's there -- and the fact that they ever have the "luxury" of closing at that early for a lack of customers would suggest it's not doing well. Plus I had heard that the owners have been trying to convince their kids to take over and the kids have expressed tepid interest at best. Don't know if it's true, but that's what I've heard.

Drover wrote:I'm actually a little surprised Mirabell is still around. I only live 3 blocks from the place but I don't go there too often because as the evening goes on you never know if they're going to be open or closed. They'll close as early as 8:30 if nobody's there -- and the fact that they ever have the "luxury" of closing at that early for a lack of customers would suggest it's not doing well.

This might explain a strange experience I had there twenty-five years ago. (Which was the last time I went.) We and a friend of ours showed up well before the posted closing time (I mean, like a good hour-and-a-half before). We were seated, and served, but I've never felt less welcome in a restaurant in my life. Disdain is the best word I can think of to describe it. It was subtle, in the sense that no one said anything mean to us, but there was an undercurrent that all three of us picked up on. We were our usual clean, presentable and pleasant selves, so it was hard to figure; but I can still feel the ridicule and contempt to this day. (I'm a sensitive sort.) I'm kind of glad to learn the reason was probably that they just wanted to close early, so I can move on after all these years.