The Berghoff/German Restaurants

I'd like to thank the posters on this site for their very informed and helpful commentaries during my weeks of anonymous educationalizing on the culinary delights, and lowlights, Chicagoland has to offer as expressed in this forum.

Out from the bushes I come...

THE BERGHOFF RESTAURANT
17 West Adams, Chicago, IL 60603
VOICE: (312) 427-3170
FAX: (312) 427-6549

Lunched at the Berghoff the other day with business associates. I'm certain most, if not all, of the posters here have either been here or have known about this Chicago institution for some time. I'm certain this post will not be original but perhaps it might prove helpful to other posters considering a visit.

We were six for lunch in the main dining room. What a sight with it's Old World charm and decor very reminiscent of what one might find off the streets of some Bavarian village in the Old Country. Seasoned servers and simplistic plating; tabling; and utensils encouraged one to focus on the meal itself and the enchanting surroundings of the main dining room.

I work near The Berghoff and stumble on over to the downstairs cafe or the bar with the lunch offerings probably 15-25 times each year. I hadn't been in the main dining room for years.

I ordered the Rahm Schnitzel. That was the beginning of the end. This is supposed to be a classic, uncomplicated German specialty. The pork was very thickly breaded and one of the two pieces was severely undercooked. The burnt orange gravy included stale mushrooms; was applied sparingly (which ended up being a blessing); and lacked any semblance of flavor that one might expect form this particular dish. The pork was extremely dense and fatty and tasted like it had been is the storeroom for a year-and-a-half.

The spaetzel(sp?) was flavorless and also undercooked, adding an even more bland flavor to the completely underwhelming entree. A side of canned, lukewarm, sticky peaches preserved the consistentency of this frighteningly disastrous culinary experience.

Business colleagues with the Wiener Schnitzel had similar disappointing experiences. Although, the saurbraten apparently tasted outstanding (and looked extremely appetizing smoothered in thick gravy).

I am fearful that The Berghoff might be resting on its laurels; reputation and tourist attractiveness. I have never had a worse dining experience at any of the German establishments in Chicago.

I would avoid The Berghoff if you are searching for a true German dining experience.

The best place in the City for authentic, quality, made-to-order German fare is Laschet's Inn:

Laschet's Inn
2119 W. Irving Park, Chicago
Tel: (773) 478-7915

I would also say that the best place for shanks (veal; pork and beef) is the Chicago Brahaus hands down:

Chicago Brahaus
4732 N Lincoln Ave Chicago IL
773-784-4444

Thus ends my maiden voyage.

Bster:

Grüß Göttle!

There's a fair amount on this board about German stuff and I have included some links below. That said, it's always good to have up-dates and further opinions, so many thanks for your report.

I agree with your report regarding the quality of Berghoff's German offerings, though the place has other positive points (the bar and, if one is hungry, some of the simple, non-German dishes).

Specifically on the Berghoff:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=16415#16415

Laschet's is quite popular with folks on the board. I nominated it for a GNR award (see the Forum on this programme) and it was one of the winners.

Two threads on Laschet's started by this writer:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=23745#23745

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=35035#35035

A thread on Laschet's started by G Wiv:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=31787#31787

Also of relevance and interest... Rich4 on Glunz Bavarian Haus:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=2062#2062

There's also a fair amount of stuff in the shopping and cooking forum on topics Teutonic.

Antonius