The Bavarian Chef

Driving through the outskirts of nowhere we didn't expect to find a German restaurant, let alone a good one, but-- BAM! There it is. The food is great. The menu looked pricy but it turned out to be a good value. The entrees are generously sized and they'll serve refills on the side dishes. Next time we might split an entree so we can sample an appetizer and a dessert.

The beer choices here are pretty good, as you'd expect from a German restaurant. Lots of rare imports on tap. They also have Bud Light in bottles. Two people at the table next to us ordered them. I just about walked over and slapped them. What kind of ass-clowns order Bud Light with German food? They probably order cheeseburgers at fine steak houses, too.

Ambiance is very old world-y. We sat upstairs in an area that felt like the top level of an old lodge.

The one minus at Bavarian Chef is the service. This was a big problem that significantly reduced my enjoyment of the experience. If the service had been in line with everything else about the restaurant I'd be writing a 5-star review instead of 3.

Service problems started with the overly formal hostess at the front door. The folks in front of us had a reservation, yet she asked them numerous questions and made very careful notes in her ledger. It seemed like she was making them interview for a job, not welcoming them as paying customers.

We didn't have a reservation, so after our Q&A we were sent to the worst table at the back of the room where there was so little light my wife couldn't read the menu without having to get out of her chair. "Okay," I though, "All the other tables are reserved." But when we left an hour later the room wasn't even half full. They could have given us a nicer table.

Visits from the waiter were infrequent. I understand going 20 minutes between seeing the waiter is common in Germany, but it's nonsense to duplicate that bit of the culture in the US. At these prices I expect prompter service.

Our third visit to this wonderful German restaurant. The food is better than ever. The red pepper soup was excellent , and the waitress even split the appetizer in two since we were sharing. The sausage platter and rosted pork with dumpling special were as expected.   Can't wait to go back. The best.

German is the hubby's favorite food...we were both stationed in Germany so they bring back good memories for us. We hadn't tried The Bavarian Chef yet so we made a reservation for this evening. I was most pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere and the pleasantness of the staff. Many German restaurants have a rather surly wait staff and I'll be damned if its not part of the charm.

I thought the decor was nice and the ambience the best for German restaurants I've tried.

Hubby has a favorite, and nothing so far has lived up to Das Waldcafe in Newport News Va.  Tonight was no exception. One time he was eating at Das Waldcafe alone and the old German waitress came up and said "That's just so sad." He said, defensively, "I have a girlfriend but she couldn't make it!" Haha. That's the attitude we're used to!

So, back to the food. I ordered the pretzel appetizer because I'm always in search of the fest pretzel. This was the first that didn't disappoint. It was HUGE and came with both cheese sauce and mustard. Not sure it was worth $9.00 but I loved it anyway. Didn't eat it all because I had to save room for dinner.

I was super impressed that they had a vegetarian entree on the menu! That's a first. Unfortunately, it wasn't so impressive tasting but I'm still happy for the effort. It was portabella schnitzel over spaetzle with a Gouda cheese melted on top of tomatoes. I think I would have really enjoyed it if it had a mushroom sauce on top instead of the cheese. Please change it, please! I was so excited to have an entree in my genre. I noticed someone else said it wasn't so good with the cheese either. But a mushroom sauce? Could have been epic.

Hubby ordered the cordon bleu and he ate about half and brought the rest home. He said it was good but not exceptional. The spaetzle were much drier and chewier than Das Waldcafe.

We loved the family style sides. The spaetzle were about a 3, potatoes a 4, beans a 4, and he liked the carrots but I didn't. My meal was a 2.5 but the pretzel was a 5 for me. Hubby's food was a 3.5.

He had the apple strudel and I had the carrot cake. Both ok but not $9 good. With one drink, one appetizer, two entrees and two desserts before tip we were at $89. Seems pretty pricey to me. I think we'll go there again but we won't go rushing back.