HI,

You don't get a German feel on the restaurant menus until you reach the section for 'beef, chicken & pork.' The starters, salad, soups and desserts lean more Italian.

Thanks for highlighting this change, I may stop by to support the German menu.

Regards,

I seem to remember reading a quote from the owners in Dish that they changed the name to Himmel's in part because "That's what everyone called the restaurant anyway". I can't say I've ever heard of Pizza DOC being referred to as Himmel's, but if that makes them happy...

Stopped in here on Friday night and really didn't notice any discernible changes from Pizza DOC to Himmel's outside of couple of menu items. It feels like and Italian restaurant still, nothing particularly Germanic about it. That being said, we had a pretty enjoyable meal. As others have noted, portions are extremely generous, so we shared a number of items.

We started with the pear and gorgonzola salad, which was absolutely beautifully dressed, with perfectly ripe pears. I can't recall the last time I enjoyed a simple salad so much, nicely done, particularly the perfectly balanced vinaigrette. My only quibble is that I would have preferred a more interesting gorgonzola, but such is life. We followed that up with a half order of the Carbonara and a Pizza Gustosa (ham, asparagus, egg). Very flavorful guanciale in the pasta, which was sauced a bit too heavily for my tastes, but a respectable rendition that I would happily order again. More char on the pizza as it was somewhat soggy in the middle (particularly with an egg in the center), would have been great, but we enjoyed it despite that. The toppings were fresh and well distributed, and the crust (outside of the egg zone) had good flavor and a nice chew.

The service felt a bit rushed, the pasta and the pizza came out at the same time, and we noticed throughout the meal that the moment you looked away from a plate or a glass, it would be whisked away, but overall friendly. I think at the price point and area, I have a preference for Pizzeria da Nella, but it's nice to see that they're still in the game at Himmel's.

We were at Himmel's on Friday evening as well. The second side of the menu, particularly the Beef, Poultry & Pork choices seemed where the German influence came in. Most of us stuck with the Italian options. We shared the Antipasto Platter (daily selection of assorted meats, cheeses and vegetables) and was disappointed with the lack of cheese. It consisted of grilled eggplant and summer squash slices, some caprese salad and some meats (salami, ham and prosciutto) with some whipped marscapone in the middle.

I had the minestrone and got to taste Mr. X's Champignon Rahm Schnitzel (pork tenderloin medallions seared then sautéed in butter and finished in a shallot mushroom cream sauce, served with spätzle and red cabbage). The minestrone was fair, but the schnitzel was fantastic. I would go back for that.

Beer choices were limited. The friends who had wine were't overwhelmed with what they had by the glass. Service was good until our server got stuck delivering, then processing, the individual checks for a large group. I was especially appreciative of the restaurant's willingness to accommodate our group that started with 1 person at 5:50 and grew to 8 people by 7:45. I knew we were going to eventually have 8, but due to schedules and traffic, some would be late. Himmel's graciously seated our incomplete party.

We were at Himmels last night for an Italo-Germanic meal. We split a pizza as an app. I had Buccatinia Amatriciana and my wife had Chicken Schnitzel with spaetzle and red cabbage. We walked out stuffed and happy. And I at the rest of the pizza (cold) for breakfast this morning.

The wood burning brick oven produces some really good pizza!

I should also note that our drinks were quite fair pours for the price.