German food in S.D. area?
We're newly moved here from L.A., and have been exploring area restaurants. Tried the new Cotton Patch Grill in Lakeside today, which was abyssmal. Bad bad bad.
Anyhow, I've been craving good German food. I realized San Diego is neither Germany nor the upper midwest... but how about it? Is there a passable German restaurant somewhere in driving distance?
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As a non German with minimal German food experience (I was there when I was 12)....I thought Kaiserhoff was great. My experience (as well as Honkman and other experts responses) leads me to the following conclusion. If you know TRUE german food, you may be disappointed in the food the way an old housewife from naples might shudder in horror at many of our "italian" restaurants. If however, you are like me and love food, however have no real history to base it on...You may rather enjoy it. I had the Jagerschnitzel and thought it was wonderful : )
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re: csils
honkman
Aug 7, 2009 01:03 PM
If you like that kind of "German" food than you might take a look at Continental Deli in Escondido. They have a mix of German, Italian food. It is a very tiny shop/restaurant with a very small menu but their sauerkraut (pick the dish with Kassler (smoked pork chops) and sauerkraut) for example is homemade and by far the best I have eaten in San Diego (and California).
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The area's best German food, hands down, is in El Cajon.....
There, have I got your attention?
The rest of the story. . .it's for only 2 or 3 weekends a year at the Oktoberfest at the German-American club on S. Mollison in E.C. Early to mid October every year. Sausages, ox on a spit, leberkase, two kinds of kraut, homemade potato salad, wurstel, and of course German beer on tap. A band from Munich. And please DON'T confuse this event with the La Mesa (alleged) Oktoberfest which is no more than a street fair with beer and hot dogs.
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Thanks all! I had found Kaiserhof on Google, but it had such mixed reviews I was hoping the local foodies knew something. Guess we'll try it and see what we think...
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Captain Jack
Aug 4, 2009 10:51 AM
Kaiserhof in Ocean Beach is worth a try in my opinion. Give them a try, and if you don't like it, then don't go back. Their food reminds me of the tourist food I ate while visiting towns along the romantic road in Germany like Wurzberg and Rothenberg. I enjoy their steak tartar, wiener schnitzel, veal imperial, goulash soup, potato pancakes, red cabbage, and spatzle. They also have Spaten Optimator on tap which is a plus. Kaiserhof is not great by any means, but there are not a lot of other options in SD. I always crack up when they advertise winning best German restaurant in SD magazine. The question is, who else is there? Tip top is more of a counter service place
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re: honkman
Captain Jack
Aug 4, 2009 11:44 AM
Too funny! I never knew that spinich artichoke dip and chicken quesadillas were Bavarian specialties. Well I guess they do offer hamburgers right? There is a somewhat nebulous connection to Hamburg there. lol
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re: honkman
Oh maybe about 4 years ago Karl Strauss actually had a couple of German like dishes on their menu. I am thinking a schnitzel dish and a saurbraten. That was only during October and I am pretty sure they stopped doing them, because nobody ordered them. The Schnitzel was not half bad, not greasy at all and the spatzel was fine. I would of gone back considering the lack of German places in San Diego and Socal for that matter.
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honkman
Aug 4, 2009 12:17 AM
As a German living in San Diego I can tell you that there is not even somehow decent German food in San Diego (Some might mention Tip Top Meats or Kaiserhof but both are just sad jokes regarding their food. But Tip Top Meats has a quite good butcher). The only decent German restaurants closed 2 years ago (Axel's Bistro in La Mesa is only catering now). We tried a few German restaurants in LA but none of them were good. The closest good German restaurant is Brummis in Santa Barbara.
