Good German Restaurant

[NYPORK]

My dad is coming to town and he is a man with simple tastes. He loves sauerbraten(sp?) any restaurant recs for me? Thanks

[eameyer]

Zum has great bratwurst.

[egit]

It's not technically "german," but you may want to look at Cafe D'Alsace. I would choose Loreley over Zum Schneider. Zum is always, always, always, always packed with post-college frat boys and I-Bankers.

[JungMann]

I think it's the other way around. Whenever I am at Loreley, it is post-collegiates looking to get tanked on German beers. Zum Schneider, however, is more of a neighborhood place with the rare obnoxious frat dude not well-received. I've only encountered one obnoxious party and the bar closed to get rid of the bag factor.

[jakew8]

Both are occasionally filled with d-bags (like me), but my vote in this case goes to Zum Schneider as the more consistently crowded place. Also, Loreley doesn't accomodate people standing (i.e., blocking) all over the place like ZS does. ZS feels more like a bar; Loreley feels more like a restaurant. I like the food at both but prefer Loreley.

[JungMann]

My mistake, I didn't read the above close enough and thought we were talking about Lederhosen and not Zum Schneider. Everything egit said is right. Everything I said about Zum Schneider is wrong. The place is a fratfest.

[Jorel]

Loreley, on Rivington Street, is excellent. I go almost once a week. They serve saurbraten. It's not their best dish, but it's decent. I think their sausages are very good.

[foodwhisperer]

you'll do better checking the queens board, although the best one in queens closed.

[avp10003]

Cafe Katja on the Lower East Side (79 Orchard Street). Okay - technically Austrian but who's going to know the difference?
Great spaetzle, goulash, beers and wursts.

[kathryn]

I have not been but Anthony Bourdain visited Heidelberg Restaurant in Manhattan's Upper East side on No Reservations and it looks like one of the few remaining traditional German restaurants in Manhattan.

There's also Hallo Berlin, Loreley, and Zum Schneider.

There is also a currywurst joint in the East Village that is new, but I think that's a newfangled Berlin trend, not traditional German. It's called Wechsler's Currywurst & Bratwurst.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/469585

-----
Zum Schneider
107 Ave C, New York, NY 10009

Heidelberg
1648 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10028

Hallo Berlin
626 10th Ave, New York, NY 10036

Loreley
7 Rivington St, New York, NY 10002

Wechsler's
120 1st Ave, New York, NY 10009

[owlwoman]

Blue Gans is very good too (on open table).

[Spends Rent on Food]

Blau Gans is by far your best option in the city. I had an extremely impressive Jager schnitzel on my most recent visit. I've got to get back there soon.

[Lucia]

Agree that Blaue Gans is very good, but it's not German.

[JungMann]

Heidelberg isn't what it used to be. Most of the German haunts on the UES aren't what they used to be. And although Blaue Gans is a great restaurant, it is more of an Austrian haunt.

My recommendation for sauerbraten would be Lederhosen. It's a very intimately-run Bräuerei where everyone speaks German and everyone knows your name. While the food at Loreley is very good, it doesn't have the same atmosphere and Gemütlichkeit that Lederhosen does.

[snaporaz]

Agreed about Heidelberg. I haven't been a long while, but two chowhounder friends were there a couple of weeks ago following in Bourdain's footsteps and were very disappointed.

[Bob Martinez]

You've got to be careful about Bourdain. There are things he does just because it makes for good TV. Recently he went to Sammy's Roumanian and pretended it was a swell place. Sammy's is an outrageously priced dump serving awful food. The combo of Heidelberg and Sammy's means that Bourdain is looking ofr good pictures over great food.

[foodwhisperer]

I agree with Bob M on Sammy;s , nothing is good there , even the chicken fat isnt too good. They have this thing also with radish all over the chopped liver which Ive never heard of nor do i like it . The steak overhangs the plate , i guess that is their trademark,,, the steak is overspiced and not very good

[epcol]

Just went to Heidelberg last night. Not sure why others are disappointed - the Bauernwurst was delicious and the Sauerbraten was melt in your mouth tender. The place was packed and everyone was enjoying.

[TatyanaG]

I second Zum Schneider.

[Pan]

Has anyone tried the Currywurst place yet?

[gadget170]

wechsler's currywurst bratwurst is some great stuff. went there a few weeks ago w/ a group of about 6 friends before hitting a bday party in the area. we hung out for like 2-3 hours in the place, ordering more and more beers and german sausages/fries. so cheap/streetfood-ish and also so delicious. and the beers are great, too -- though be careful. my impression of the press around the place is that the "tap" is known to be excellent, but in reality the whole selection seems to be about 70% bottle and 30% tap. no matter though...i didn't have a bad beer in the whole few hours.