Sadly it seems that authentic German Schnitzel, and sauerbraten has gone the way of the dodo bird.
Well since time stopped at Dreamland Palace in Waterloo about 40 years ago, you don't have to worry about finding authentic and tasty wonderful food at this restaurant.
We have been at least five times, it is never crowded and as some reviewers indicate the crowd is not made up of teeny boppers. Â OK fine with me, I like dining with people who are quiet and are in the restaurant to eat.
If there are any complaints and believe me they are minor, it is that the salad bar lacks originality and flavor. The soup is thin and watery, and there is a terrible selection. Â I would have hoped for a hot German potato salad, but that is not to be. Â The kraut is good though.
The entree's ( I had jagerschnitzel) were wonderful, hot, fresh and flavorful. Â The price is reasonable and the setting for the restaurant is way out in the country. Â Way out means about 45 minutes from West County so you don't have to worry about filing up with gasoline to get there.
The host and staff are friendly and it is a really nice dining experience with great food.
For Tom J. to make such stupid and rude remarks about the owners is uncalled for and indicates that he does not know what he is talking about.
I had a nice chat with the owner, and he is a gentleman in all ways.
Not good. We used a Groupon to try out the food, it was extremely bland! My husband is full blooded German and he hated it. Â We ordered cake for dessert, still frozen, yuck. The place was empty and I see why now. AND every week they do Groupons, that should be a clue that they don't get business.
Review Source:I having been wanting to try this place for years. The recent Group-On coupon got us to finally go. A great relaxing Sunday afternoon experience. The atmophere, food, and value was excellent. Very authentic German experience. The owner is very friendly as well as the waiter we had. We will be back soon.....coupon or  not!I
Review Source:I guess a couple of things might run through your mind when you see a German restaurant in a rural town. Â The glass-half-full crowd would think it's quaint; they're proud of their heritage and the history of their town, etc. Â For us cynics, it's hard not to wonder if a bunch of nazi war criminals found a refuge right here in Illinois farm country. Â I saw a collection of old Mercedes by the garage.
Such is life in post-911 America, I guess. Â Any chance to be suspicious, I jump on it. Â Â
The people at Dreamland Palace were very nice, and this place definitely reminded me of some of the restaurants I visited in Germany. Â The soundtrack was probably "Live From the Hofbrau Haus" and really made the scene complete. Â The other thing we loved here was the beer - huge glasses of hefeweisen on draft and a nice selection of bottle beer, too. Â Our favorite was the Paulaner Dubbel Bock.
For an appetizer, we had something called brat bites, or something like that. Â They were deep fried pieces of bratwurst and came with some brown mustard. Â They were good, but please don't tell my doctor I had them. Â For entrees we ordered Jaegerschnitzel, breaded veal with a mushroom gravy and something called Black Forest Schnitzel, which I don't recall seeing in Germany; chicken with ham and swiss on top. Â For sides, we had potato pancakes, German potato salad, green beans and red cabbage. Â You got to go through the salad bar before your meal, which reminded me very much of dishes you might find at the Hometown Buffet. Â Definitely no seconds. Â Probably the best things were the chicken and potato pancakes. Â The rest was just okay. Â The aren't a lot of German restaurants in the St. Louis area, but I don't think there's really a need to drive way out here for a fix. Â
To summarize: Â Great beer, okay food, very authentic German atmosphere and friendly service.
We had a wonderful experience at Dreamland Palace. My mother is from Germany, and we found the food to be quite authentic and the décor reminiscent of an old German gasthaus. I ordered the Wienerschnitzel Ala Holstein, which was tender and delicious. However, the egg was fried until the yolk was almost firm, and I am used to the yolk being runny in this dish so it can act as a gravy for the schnitzel. When I mentioned this to the waiter, he said that customers complain if they serve it with a runny yolk. I guess I can understand that. The portions were generous, and the potato pancakes that came with the meal were fantastic. The meal also came with a tasty vegetable soup and a nice buffet selection of vegetable salads which are very typical of what you would find in Germany. The owner was very friendly, making his rounds to all the tables and chatting with people as they were leaving. My 9 year old loved the two gift shops. We'll definitely be back. I want to try the Saurbraten and the Hasenpfeffer.
Review Source:My husband chose Dreamland Palace for  his birthday dinner destination. He was not disappointed. The service was excellent and the food...definitely worth the drive. We noticed the dessert case was running low and my husband had his heart set on carrot cake. We asked our waiter if he could save the last slice for him...no problem. It arrived after dinner with a scoop of ice cream and a birthday candle...how nice.
My hubby raved about he vegetable soup from the salad bar and he loved the carrot salad. Â Our main meal was excellent, he chose the bratzel and I had Gefullter Paprika which tasted like my grandma used to make.
The owners even stopped by to make sure the meals were to our liking. Â We had the best time and chatted with them till closing.
Best German food in the area. What a nice place.
A little hole in the wall out in the middle of nowhere, but definitely worth the trip. We arrived around 6:30-7pm, but there was no wait. There were only a few tables with diners at them when we arrived, but the dining room started to fill up as the night progressed, so any worry I had that it was not popular was soothed. There was a bad smell when we walked into the dining room, but one of the men in our party reported there were plumbing problems in the men's room, so I assume that was the cause.
All of the dinners included the soup and salad bar, which I wish was mostly pickled vegetables and vegetable soup. If you don't like vinegar, you won't like much here. I enjoyed the carrots, but they were a little too strong for my taste. Others in my party had the vegetablle soup and they said it was very good. My mother said the sauerkraut slaw was very good, and I had the cabbage slaw which I enjoyed very much.
I ordered the Alpenschnitzel which was delicious. The pork was very tender and the Swiss cheese and mushroom gravy blended with the light breading and made it taste even better. I've had better spaetzels in my time, but they were still very tasty. The potato pancake was fantastic, I just wish it would have been thicker and that they would have provided a spoon to scoop out the applesauce as the pancake was too thin to dip.
My mother chose the Schweinschnitzel which was very like the Alpenschnitzel, but with more breading and no cheese. It was still delicious, but I prefered what I had.
My boyfriend ordered the Dreamland Platter which include beer steamed bratwurst and knockwurst. These were both very good. They were spiced perfectly and very tasty. The meat was very lean, which was a delight for sausages, and the bratwurst had almost a sweet flavor which was very nice. I do not ike sauerkraut, but he said it as fantastic and even when he reheated his leftovers a couple of days later, he still was raving about the flavor.
My father ordered the Beef Rouladen, but ate it so quickly I didn't get a bite, I'm guessing that's a rave review! I don't know what my 2 city friends ordered, but they seemed to like it, but were very apprehensive, so it was hard to tell.
It was easy to see that the decor was a compilation of purchases made when on vacation in the Rhineland, which, gave the place a home like feel, and whenever I looked up I saw something new. My only complaint was that it was hard to tell what was for sale in the gift shop and what was part of the museum. I may have made a purchase had it been easier to spot what was for sale.
Overall, if you enjoy German food, or trying new things, I definitely recommend making the trip to Dreamland Palace.
Have you ever wanted to eat in a retirement home lunchroom that the cast of some invisible reality show converted into a West German antique store circa 1985?
Are you tired of generic salad bars with their lettuce and low-fat thousand island and yearn instead for beets and German-style cabbage salad and hearty minestrone?
Do you want what is probably the best schnitzel in the St. Louis area?
Does your ideal restaurant scoff so heartily at the idea of healthy eating that it puts pork chops and bratwurst on the "lighter side" portion of the menu?
Do you want a restaurant that actually serves Hassenpfeffer and Beef Rouladen, the latter of which I'll vouch is delicious if a wee bit dry?
Do you dream in Red, Yellow, and Black? Â Moegen sie deutsches Essen? Â Do you like a good selection of German beer?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you'll probably find the short drive from St. Louis to the middle of godforsaken nothingness well worth it.  For fair prices, you get decent-to-good German food in the tradition of a cheap/mid-range steakhouse ("salad" bar of German vegetable salads, potato choice, entree), solid entrees (the schnitzels  are probably some of the best in the Midwest) AND you get to eat it in a place oozing with mid-century German kitsch (plus there's a gift shop!).
That said, it's not the absolute best German food overall that I've had (the sauerkraut isn't amazing, for example), and for me, it's one of those "only every now and then" type of places. Â I imagine the charm of eating in a room that looks like the resort in The Shining up and moved to Dusseldorf wanes a bit.
My husband loves German food and this is his favorite German restaurant in the area. Â We went there most recently last night for his birthday. Â I will say the food did not disappoint at all! Â
I'm not a huge fan of the "salad bar", but my husband is. Â The reason I say "salad bar" is because it is not what you would traditionally think of as a salad bar. Â There is no lettuce salad at all. Â Instead it is an assortment of cold vegetable salads (carrot salad, beets, slaw, sauerkraut salad, pasta salad, bean salad etc.). Â Don't get me wrong, if you like that kind of thing, it is good! Â Their homemade soup on the bar is also pretty good.
For the main course we have had a variety of different things. Â Last night I had the rouladen and my husband had the wurst platter. Â Both came with potato pancakes and your choice of red cabbage or sauerkraut. Â I opted for the red cabbage, which was excellent. Â The rouladen was delicious as were all through sausages on my husband's platter. Â We also added a side of spaetzle which did not disappoint either. Â Last night we had no room for dessert but they had a nice looking selection of home made pies.
The beer selection was mainly German beers, which was fine with us, but if you are looking for more of a selection this may not be your place.
In my opinion the decor is a little out dated, but it is all German so I guess it goes. Â I knocked a star off only because it is out in the middle of no where :) Â You definitely have to be planning to go there, it's not a restaurant near or on the way to something you would be doing. Â All in all a great German restaurant though!
Wonderful place for great German food, catering, and banquets. Â I went here on my first date with my husband. Â We also had our wedding reception there! Â Wonderful food! Â Great selection of beers. Â Also love the red German wine they have. Â Great salad bar with many different salads and their vegetable soup. Â Wonderful decor and atmosphere. Â The owners are all wonderful people as well. Â They will come up to your table and talk and make you feel at home. Â I definitely suggest trying it if you have never been here before!
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