Das Radler Ist [Kaputt]? Bavarian Cuisine in Logan Square

I sent my dining companion a dozen options to choose from for our Sunday dinner, and The Radler won.

Growing up with two working parents, I spent every summer with my Bohemian/German grandmother in Westchester. We ate a lot of fruit dumplings, pork tenderloin, and were treated to corned beef once a month (my favorite). My grandmother would make half a dozen tins worth of kolaczki cookies at a time.

When The Radler was described to me as Bavarian comfort food, they had a lot to live up to. I'm happy to say, they did not disappoint.

After a few cocktails at nearby Scofflaw, we made our way to The Radler on a fairly cold Sunday night. I was happy to see Glühwein was on the drinks list, as I needed something to warm me up


Buddy ordered
The Pope & Miller schlichte steinhagle gin, echte kroatzbeere blackberry brandy, lemon & soda


Fried Brussels Sprouts apple mayo, butternut squash puree, gingersnap cookie, candied ginger

This first dish I was not in love with. Tasted as though they were left in the fryer for a bit too long.

Grilled Thuringer (Pork, Beef, Caraway & Marjoram) stewed white beans, pickled cauliflower, marinated celery


Seared Blutwurst (Pork, Juniper, Golden Raisins) butternut squash rondelle, apple & potato mash, red wine syrup

What an oddly satisfying dish. blutwurst was both a little sour and a touch sweet, the rondelle had a nice grilled taste to it...just really nice.

Smoked Brisket Reuben gruyere, sauerkraut, haus 1000 island, rye bread & fries

Delicious, tender brisket may have been the best I've ever had though the fries were a bit salty and hardly touched. We were told the sauerkraut here is different than the one offered as a side, so we ordered that too.

Braised Sauerkraut with bacon


Pork Tenderloin Schnitzel horseradish roasted fennel, marinated kale, celery root puree, pickled apricots

I've never been a fan of apricots (a kolaczki grandma always made), but pickled is a different story, apparently. Grandma used to pound the hell out of her schnitzel so that it was a piece of bark by the time it was done cooking - this was not the case here. Lovely dish from beginning to end.

By this point, my mulled wine was nearing its end, so I opted for one of the radlers.

Blood Orange Radler Ayinger Brau Weisse, blood orange soda


Chocolate Mousse (Schokokladenmousse) chocolate cookies & peanut butter cookies

With a touch of salt on top, this was...pleasant. Not ground breaking, but it didn't have to be after the large meal we had just enjoyed.


The Radler
2375 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 276-0270
4:30pm - 12:00am M-R
11:00am - 2:00am F-Sat
11:00am - 12:00am Sun

No one else going here?

For me its become one of my favorite places to stop for a drink and bite to eat in that area of the city - always good service and the food I have tried has been excellent - the brisket reuben is fantastic and i thought the pretzel was another hit. not as doughy as most, some segments a little crunchy. great with a beer.

Pretty good sazerac here as well. Much better than the Manhattan I had down the street at Analoque.

Big fan of the food too (love that reuben) and drinks . . . don't know why I haven't posted here, but I can probably blame their beer (and a few cocktails) which I've happily consumed to the point of forgetting the details of my meals.

BR wrote:Big fan of the food too (love that reuben) and drinks . . . don't know why I haven't posted here, but I can probably blame their beer (and a few cocktails) which I've happily consumed to the point of forgetting the details of my meals.

i can see that - tried the blood orange radler on my most recent visit as well, surprised I liked it as much as I did. Will be much better this summer vs on a winter night.

service is always spot on here as well.

I have only been once (and I didn't eat - others in the party did), but the service was pretty bad. Good drinks though.

I haven't been to The Radler yet, but planning to remedy that, I signed up for their emails, and by coincidence got one today. Their March news and events include:

-- March 17, German corned beef and cabbage,
-- March 24, Schweine & Steins Dinner, preceded by cocktail reception,
-- A collaboration with Atlas Brewing Company,
-- New brunch menu items, and
-- New closing and opening days and hours.

If you are a fan of The Radler you should sign up for their emails, if you haven't already.

Good to see folks posting about the Radler; when we made dinner reservations for this past Saturday I naturally searched to see what other LTH'ers were saying and was surprised to see only one post (at that time). As for our experience, I'll say that it was one of the best dinners I've had in quite a while. The service was excellent (aside from one minor blip when a friendly hostess ushered us to the bar to wait for our table to be prepared, and 5 minutes later we received a call from the other hostess sternly wondering "whether we'd be joining them for dinner tonight?"). Our server was friendly and extremely knowledgeable about all of the nuances of the menu and how it had evolved over the past year-plus since the restaurant's opening.

The food really hit the spot -- we had the pretzel with barley malt butter and blackberry jam, a delightful appetizer of bay scallops, a take on warm German potato salad with fingerlings, gouda, bacon, and pickled apples (so good), and the pork loin schnitzel, which was a big, hearty portion while at the same time elegantly plated with complex textures and flavors (not descriptors I often associate with the style of German food typically served in the US, although the meal did share similarities with a meal we had at an off-the-beaten path restaurant in Munich years ago). The chocolate mousse dessert was good, the highlight being the two peanut butter cookies served on the side that were perfect for dipping (there were also two chocolate cookies, which didn't leave much of an impression; I recommend asking for "all peanut butter" if you order this one).

The beer menu was really great, too -- even in an area of town known for great beer menus, it stood out as a well-curated mix of old-world and new-world styles.

Overall, it was superb, and highly recommended. We'll be back.

My dinner there was a bit over a month ago, and we did the family-style sausages with a couple extra sides, and I thought food was fine, but rather overpriced, especially compared to Laschett's or Resi's. I found the spaetzle and potato salad to be offensive renditions, even. The spaetzle were kinda soggy and flavorless, in a tomato sauce, and the potato salad had some nice components, but was in massive chunks. It was like German potato salad cross-bred with a wedge salad, and an ugly child at that. Braised cabbage was weak, too. Beer selection was great, service fine, but for more/better/cheaper, I'll continue to kick it Altschule up on Irving Park Road.

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Recent late(ish) Radler solo dinner at the bar. Terrific room/beer/bread/sausage/service, but molten core pickled egg w/pickled mustard seed blew me away. Ramen shops take note

The Radler, count me a fan!

i'm a big fan of the Radler, though i don't like beer and have never considered german food a favorite. the current menu includes one of my all time favorite cocktails: the 'love'- nolet's gin, ginger beer, lime and st. germain's, as well as a fantastic entree of SLOW ROASTED PORK SHOULDER with wheat spaetzle, limas, ramps, walnuts, smoked crème fraiche and a barleywine glaze . they were both so memorable, i had them twice within the last week. we had some service issues with our first meal, which got us a comped dinner tonight. the general manager of the Radler was more than generous in offering to treat us to a return visit. we would have been happy with a drink on the house, but he was graciously insistent on providing us with a free meal. the service was excellent this time and so was the entire meal. i was a little surprised that the restaurant wasn't particularly busy either nights, but it's a real pleasure to have a neighborhood spot that doesn't require advanced planning, so i'm not complaining.

German Beer Hall The Radler to Close After Five Years in Logan Square

https://chicago.eater.com/2019/2/7/1821 ... erman-food

Radler owner says bar considering new options after major response to closing announcement

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/c ... story.html

The change in this thread's title reminds me of when I lived in Champaign, walking distance from a Wienerschnitzel that, sadly, I never got to eat at, because it closed about the time I moved into the neighborhood and remained closed for a long time, until someone else had a business use for a triangular building. (Ah, but apparently there still is one open in Champaign, so there's a road trip.) My brother, who learned some German to get on better with his German in-laws, would shake his head sadly every time he saw it and say, "der Wienerschnitzel ist geschlossen."