Sweet Willie

Where does one turn to get German food in our city?

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Sweet Willie

The Trib mentioned this place for it's potato pancakes, sausages (beef, pork, veal) as well as the 200+ foreign beers.

The photo showed one of the waitstaff with two huge liter sized glass mugs. ^

Resi's Beirstube
2034 W Irving Park Rd
Chicago
773.472 1749

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paytonc

Nearby, and so incredibly kitschy that Disney should buy it and helicopter it whole to Epcot Center:

Chicago Brauhaus
4732 N. Lincoln Ave.
773-784-444

Call ahead to make sure the whole place isn't booked for a party.

A few German businesses are holding on for dear life amidst the breakneck gentrification in Lincoln Square: Delicatessen Meyer and Merz Apothecary are both absolute standouts. However, note that they also keep German (i.e., limited) hours.

balima

As a German/American first generation I totally agree with paytonc. The Chicago Brauhaus has excellent German food. Their Liverdumpling Soup is fabulous. You can even buy the Liverdumplings to have at home with your own homemade soup.

Also, Mirabell's on 3454 W. Addison 773-463-1962 in Chicago is also excellent. Chef Werner does an outstanding Wiener Schnitzel. And I know my Weiner Schnitzel! All other German restaurants are second to these. The Edelweiss on Irving Park is OK, but the Brauhaus and Mirabell's are tops. Take it from an old German.

Resi's Bier stube is good if you are more into the beer aspects than the food aspects. German yes, but nothing to write home to ma about.

Another great place to have an authentic German Lunch are at the two remaining Kuhn's Delikassen's. The original Kuhn's was a German mainstay when all of our German immigrant parent's moved to the Lincoln and Belmont neighborhood after WWII. Kuhn's does have two remaining deli's that both offer German aufschnitt (lunch meats) and lunch menus. I do not recommend the Kuhn's on Lake Cook and Waukegan in Northbrook - way too Americanized. But the Kuhn's at 749 W. Golf Des Plaines 847-640-0222 offer authentic German Food at Deli prices. Great place to get a German food fix without heading to the "old" neighborhood. They also have the best selection of German meats, cheeses, magazines and food stuffs in Chicagoland. They will even Fed-Ex to anywhere in the US.

paytonc

And, of course, how could I forget? The Berghoff Café at O'Hare (end of C concourse, C22?) is still alive and well, and supposedly the downtown basement location will reopen.

The food aside, the Brauhaus is great fun: dancing every night (often to visiting bands from Germany) and a huge beer selection.
.pc

ILuvParis

Wanna come over for pork and kraut sometime?

Sweet Willie

I live in Des Plaines, so I get to Kuhn's on a pretty regular basis, there is a thread here: http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthrea...light=Kuhn%27s

Thanks for the other suggestions.

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Sweet Willie

YOU cook?

Schurr

Laschet's Inn
2119 W. Irving Park
Chicago

Menu available at this web page:

http://chicago.menupages.com/restaur...neid=28&home=Y

Steve

bdesmond

Brauhaus in Lincoln Square during Oktoberfest if you can get in there is unbeatable - I go there every year multiple times during that period.

Resi's Bierstube on Irving Park is good, though smoky if you don't mind. Laschet's I've been to only once I think though I recall it being good. The Mirabel on Addison is also good - haven't been there in a couple years but always good, a little smoky like Resi's though. My all around preference is the Brauhaus. Problems with the Brauhaus are the lack of parking (although there are two public lots at the South Entrance to Lincoln Square which generally have a spot and the fact that its always mobbed or rented out in some capacity.

ILuvParis

I used to go to Zum Deutschen Eck just for the kidney bean salad and warm potato salad (I make that too, Willie ) and I don't drive by that stupid parking lot without thinking of it. Or, for a more upscale experience, The Golden Ox on Clybourn.

Sweet Willie

I can tell what parts of town you DON'T get to, Golden Ox has been gone for LONG LONG time.

I didn't know if Zum was still around either.

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ILuvParis

Ahhh, that's why I "used to" go? I was reminiscing!

ElmhurstNick

I just go to Milwaukee. From WillieLand, Karl Ratszch's isn't that much further time-wise than downtown Chicago.

ScottC

Had the pleasure of dining there this weekend, a great reastaurant indeed!

^ ^