Gene's Sausage Shop - Rooftop Dining

Walking in Lincoln Square last Saturday I noticed a sign that Gene's Sausage Shop's rooftop was now open. I ventured up to take a peek and was pleasantly surprised by the effort they'd put into it. It was really too hot to eat outside in the noonday sun, so I didn't sample anything, but I can report that they are selling a menu of hot food items and have multiple beers on tap under a food/beer tent they have constructed. There were rules posted that customers were not to bring up food or drink from the store below -- you're supposed to make your purchases on the way out. But they had a nice-looking menu of various encased meats, potato pancakes, side dishes, and even a couple of salad options. Didn't make a mental note of what was on tap, but my memory is that there were a couple of "old country" imports along with a couple of local micros. I found their newest photo album below:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150186879322787.305137.167572647786

Looks like the hours are Thurs.-Sat. 11AM-7PM, Sundays 10AM-3PM. Seems like a perfect place to hang out around sunset or after dark, but I guess that won't be an option for now.

With this and the (soon-to-open?) new American Flatbread restaurant across Lincoln on Giddings Plaza, we'll have even more options to add to the "al fresco" roster in Lincoln Square...

Wow, didn't know they had in house dining. I've been there many a time shopping, very impressed with the sausage and cheese quality. will try some in house eats

Went there Saturday, 6/25, afternoon after a few hours bocce-ing at Montrose beach. Sure was a gorgeous day, no?

Which is, indeed, part of my review. The sun was out; it was the right amount of hot (fairly) and humid (barely), making it a lovely day to sit at a rooftop picnic table with a beer and a sausage. This idea is what led us to Gene's Rooftop in the first place, and why, despite some operational kinks, we didn't mind the long time we ended up having to spend up there.

Let me state, first and foremost, they're doing the food right. We tried the Alpiner Sausage, a thick, smoked and heavily spiced sausage; a Gene's bratwurst, mild and rich, perhaps a mix of pork and veal?; and a bacon-infused burger, along with Gene's german potato salad and the confetti salad. And a pitcher of Hoffbrau.

All we excellent, with the Alpiner Sausage's big snappy flavor taking top prize among our three mouths. Gene's potato salad managed to taste light, despite meaty chunks of bacon lardons. The confetti salad - a marinated cabbage and veggie mixture - was a surprise hit, its brightness being the perfect counterpoint to heavy, rich sausages. The bacon infused burger was good, although I have to say besides a bit of smoky flavor I was at a loss to find bacon in it.

The problem we have is with HOW you get the food and beer to your mouth. When we arrived, a line of about 12-15 people was waiting to place their food and beer orders (you order everything at the same place). We stood in line, assuming it would take 10-15 minutes to work our way through it. It took 40 minutes. Yes, 40. They seem to want to avoid a backlog at the grill, so they space out taking orders, which means you spend a lot of time standing and waiting - so much time, in fact, that two people in front of us gave up and left 1/2 way through.

Now, I don't own a restaurant, but it seems a little backwards how they're doing things. I'd want to get all the people through the line, beers in hand, and sitting at a table to wait for their food, instead of waiting in line with nothing in hand while the grill keeps pace with the line. At the very least, people would be waiting while sitting (happy customers), getting to enjoy their beverage while waiting (even happier) and perhaps buy more beer/drinks when their food arrives (more $ for them). That and Gene's had apparently underestimated demand - they were out of a few sausages, pierogies, and sides.

I think that it's a matter of being open only a few weeks and needing to work out some operational kinks. What it seemed to me was that they're great at running a gourmet butcher shop/food store, but are discovering by 'doing' that running a food service establishment requires some different tactics.

Bottom line, I'll absolutely go back. I'll probably just wait until August to do so.