My wife and I went to Leavenworth for the weekend. Luckily, we ran into this gem of a hole in the wall! The bar is in the basement of a building but they also have a small outdoor area with tables and heaters. There is also an outside grill! They had a decent selection of 8 or 10 micro-brews on tap.
We ordered the brats from the appetizer section. The regular brat is bland but the jalapeno and cheese brat had great flavor. The only difference from the appetizer brat and the full dinner is that you don't get bread or sauerkraut. The brats are the exact same size. It doesn't matter what section your order them from. We don't eat bread (Paleo eating) so that's a $4.00 savings. You can always get the sauerkraut on the side. They were great! They were cooked to perfection. The skin was crisp and it was hot.
We ate at several other places but were so unhappy with the other restaurants that we ended up eating at Uli's at least once on all 3 days.
We had the meatballs which were fine (they are from Sysco). The sauce on the other hand is made in-house. It was delicious. They also make a hot mustard that my wife loved.
Jason the bartender was there on all 3 days. He made our visit top notch. He was very friendly and was eager to assist with anything that we needed. This is the kind of employee that any business owner would want working for them.
Issues: We tried stopping in on Sat night but it would have been next to impossible to get food or drinks because it was about 80% full. The problem is that there is a bar and several tables inside (not to mention outside) but Jason was the only person waiting on everyone! He was running around but totally overwhelmed by the number of people. There should have been at least 2 more wait staff.
Their bathroom has a weird setup. You have to get the key which is attached to a foot long board then walk out of the bar and down the hall. There are only 2 bathrooms. I guess they keep it locked because people shopping at the other businesses in the building would use it. There is a pubic bathroom which is pretty clean directly across the street. People were running over there so they didn't have to wait in line.
Visited April 2013
Grab a doggie cookie at A Paw Above first. Â The folks here are very dog friendly and it is so nice to be able to bring along your furry baby while you enjoy a beverage. Â The food menu is typical "Leavenworth" fare-- I would loved to see something along the lines of schnitzel. Â The more traditional schnitzel type restaurants in Leavenworth won't allow a dog in the place. Â Uncle Uli's could corner the "Bring your dog and enjoy some schnitzel market." :)
Review Source:We hit this place in the middle of our trip to Leavenworth.
The servers were pretty nonchalant and didn't seem to care at all. The service was pretty slow and lacking. The menu lacked fries? At a pub? And they didn't have a liquor license for liquor? So they only sell beer and wine?
It was a bit frustrating. After waiting for, what seemed like forever, we were finally able to order. The locals came by and they admitted they were frustrated too and insisted the bad service was worth it. At least from what my boyfriend and I received it wasn't.
It's sad when even the locals are getting fed up (or accustomed to) bad service.
I've been here a couple times, just recently came here for NYE lunch. The hubs and I split the Brat Burger. Oh my, so good! My husband doesn't even like burgers...at all...and he loved this! Good prices, the vibe is very leavenworth with skis and snowboards on the walls. Definitely a fun place to stop and chill and grab a good bite to eat. Will go back just for the Brat Burger!
Review Source:We went on a slow February Saturday afternoon for a little snack. Â Our waitress was very nice and attentive - no complaints. Â She was also willing to take the time to help us peruse through their t-shirts and still friendly and patient when we decided not to buy one. :) Â
If you consider this pretzel stadium-quality, I want to come to your stadium! Â I thought it was FAR, FAR better than stadium pretzels. Â We were able to get the cheese fondue with the pretzel. Â Interesting, yes, but the menu states it's made with white wine and that's exactly what it tastes like.
Came in on a weekday afternoon, so it was pretty slow. Â The waitresses seemed to be preparing for the evening, but were still very attentive. Â A shopkeeper suggested we try the fondue, so we did. Â We also ordered the pretzel, a Hofbrau and a hard cider. Â The beers were good and the food was above average pub food. Â The fondue was interesting, but all they give you is rye bread, so if you don't like rye you might be in trouble. Â The pretzel was nothing special, like what you would get at a ballpark.
Review Source:Awesome service best in town if you have Aurora , Jason or Michelle. Every week a new special that is good. Best burger in town with the Ultimate! Try the gazpacho soup if you haven't before.15 different micro brew on tap. If you come here during one of the huge events ie Oktoberfest, Maifest, Christmas tree lighting etc just like any where else expect to wait. Read the guys review about ordering beer spot on. To the girl who said it smelled like BO, weed and hippies ... welcome to leavenworth during the summer!
Review Source:a great smell of bbq lured us in, however sadly they were out of pulled pork, and the ale we wanted to try. either a good sign of we have so much business we ran out, or bad planning on inventory and meal prep. Â waiter smelled like he smoked a bowl on one of his trips back to our table. eek.
outside seating is nice when warm out, you can watch foot traffic and car traffic both, and the park is across the street to hear oompa music. my suggestion take a break from walking if ya want to sip a cold one. and snack on pretzel.
I went here with a friend on a nice spring day, and despite what I would consider a small number of customers, we received what appears to be the customary extremely slow service.
Aside from that, the bratwurst was ok and the Beer list was decent. Nothing was really great, though.
"Meh" pretty much sums up this place.
My dad, my brother and I went scouring around Leavenworth for a bar that had at least some atmosphere and a few people during the slow season. We stopped in 8 different bars before deciding to order a beer at Uli's. My dad and brother are very picky when it comes to beer and they thought the selection at Uli's was better than the rest in town. The place definitely had a lot of charm, and the bartender was very nice and helpful. It was rather empty, but then again, the town is pretty much empty in February and March. We didn't get to try to food, but I'm heading back to Leavenworth soon, so I'll give their food a try since it sure did smell good.
Review Source:This place has been one of my favorite hang outs in leavenworth for years. Â Great place to stop and get some good beers after climbing, hiking, or doing whatever it is you do. Â Yelp is a great tool but unfortunately you get a lot of negative judgemental people on here. Â
Ill try and be as unbiased as possible.
TR the owner is a super nice dude, very chill, friendly, and an overall good guy. Â
The food....is decent. Â I used to be a huge fan of the burgers but admittingly i think they have gotten worse over the last year or so. Â
The service....just like anything and anywhere depends on the day, who you get, and whats going on. Â Anybody expecting amazing service during Oktoberfest is a fool....its Oktoberfest and guess what...your in a small ass town FULL of people....so be prepared to wait. Â When you order beers....order two, and order your next round after you drank your first. Â Bunch of rookies. Â
It doesnt smell like hippies....people that thing it does....dont know what hippies smell like....they prolly have leather BMW brand new car smell stuck in their nose so a human next to em with a lil sweat on em from being active in the mountains around them is prolly offensive. Â OR, there may have been a hippie sitting nearby...but by no means does "the place" smell like hippies. Â
Good place to chill, good beer selection, nice staff. Â If you want a high dollar experience go to a high dollar restaurant. Â This is a local pub. Â
:)
Ok, so many of you seem to be having difficulty at Uncle Uli's, so I have decided to write this guide to help you "get it".  First of all, when you walk in, don't wait for a host or a server to take the time to assign you a seat, there's your first mistake, just find a spot and sit down.  Now here's the first test to see if you're "cool".  After the 1st 10 minutes, don't start roaming the place with your eyes, or cross your arms, or god forbid, stop a staff member in the midst of whatever they're doing.  That's a dead giveaway  that you in fact DO NOT "get it" and the clock will be reset as a penalty.
So after about 20 to 30 minutes of testing you, a server might come over to see why you're sitting there. Â Now I know you may feel the urge to skip the whole, "asking for menus" thing because you can't stand to wait any longer so you just start yelling out words like, "cheeseburger", "house salad", "turkey sandwich" thinking surely they will have these things here and I can skip some steps to save time...BUT NO!! Â You'll have to get yourselves some and menus and really think it over. Â I mean come on, this is Uncle Uli's. Â This is some special food here. Â I mean, there's like garden burgers AND Â chicken sandwiches!! Â You have to walk like, at least 20 yards to find another place that serves those things, so I highly recommend you wait it out.
Ok, so before your food arrives, you may find yourself wanting to talk to a manager, or maybe  pull a server aside and ask, "Is this normal for you guys??  Did someone call in sick??  Are you under staffed today or something??"  FIGHT THIS URGE!!  This will instantly alert the staff that you are NOT cool and most certainly DO NOT get it.  If you do this, be expected to get the stock reply of either, "Oh....you're obviously not from around here," or my personal favorite, "We just move a little slower down here."  And boom, just like that they've managed to shame you into regretting your big city existence and glorifying their simple, country livin'.
Hopefully you can avoid these pitfalls and have an enjoyable 2 to 3 hour meal, but more importantly, you'll have earned the staff's respect in the process.
Granted it was Oktoberfest but we stopped in for a pint. Â Found a few folks that let us share their table in the courtyard/deck area. Â Flies everywhere swarming!! Â Gross, not sure why but the staff were too busy to care. Â Took 10 minutes for a server to help us. Â 10- minutes later our pints came. Â Nearly 30 minutes later after still not coming back for round 2 we flagged him down and asked for the check. Â He came back almost 10 minutes later with no check but shouted our total to us as he carried plates of food past.
Review Source:Ok- here's the gig. Â They allow dogs on the patio- but also toddlers that climb on the tabletops. Â They have warm draft beer and they gave us 4 chips with a chicken breast sammy the size of a silverdollar. Â I gave it a 2 because they served my dog water before me. Â To the gal that said it smelled like weed, bo and spilled beer? Right on the money- I would add diapers. Â Skip this place unless you are desperate. They are lucky I'm not a bizziollionaire or i'd buy it and tune it up- PS, did I mention that they hate normal people? Go in hippie disguise if you want quick service, OR, Â dress like a dog.
Review Source:Don't go there. Decided to try this place just cause it had an outside eating area and the menu looked OK. But after a long wait wait for the waitress to ask if we were ready should have been the sign this was not a place to be. Well the overall service was lacking big time not that they were rude just that even when they did finally come by and check it was quick and to the point. Â It took nearly 45 min before the food was there and it was nothing to brag about in the least. The burgers well they were edible sorta. The bratwurst well I made tastier and a 12 dollar salad well go to grocery store and make your own. So bottom line pass this place up unless you just have nothing to do and and you like bland food.
Review Source:We met some locals at a different bar  and they had some friends who worked here, so we went with them to stop by. This is apparently where all the locals hang out all the time...but it just wasn't my cup of tea.
First of all, it smelled like hippies. A combination of weed/BO/and other unpleasant smells. Then, we had been warned there might be a cover charge. We went in with our 2 new buddies and were told that we didn't have to pay a cover. About 5 minutes later after standing around and listening to the live music, some guy comes up to us and tells us that there's an $8 cover that we have to pay to listen to the live music. At midnight? For a random local bar? Sounds like they're just trying to take advantage of outsiders to me. So my fiance and I left. It definitely wasn't worth it. And the smell was making me nauseous. There are much better other bars in the area  than this one!
I know what to expect from pub food, but the portabello burger was really disappointing with four skinny strips of cheese-drowned mushroom along with old lettuce on a wonderbread-white bun. Â
Doesn't a portabello burger involve a big fat circular mushroom top?
After camping a few days I was looking forward to some veggies, but got what looked like toppings to a school-lunch style burger. Â Â
Staff was friendly and this meal would be easy to improve.
It was Oktoberfest and every food place had a line, so we didn't complain at the 1/2 hour wait. There was a guy out front with a pad/pen to take names with a hostess coming out every few minutes to take new patrons in to be seated.
While waiting a lady in line told us that this place was very good. She'd come here many times. So we were anxioius for some good German food to get in the Oktoberfest spirit with.
They finally get to the couple before us and seat them, then a minute later the guy crosses our name off without calling us (I was standing next to him and saw him do it) and called the next party. I stopped him and told him what he'd done and he got angry and almost belligerent about me calling him out.
He said, "those people took the table when I called your name". I replied, "No, that was the name before ours you called out, I saw you. I didn't miss our name, I was standing right here next to you.".
Eventually the hostess asked the previous couple what their name was to prove me right and she seated us. The guy had already set a bad mood for the meal. We get seated and instead of some nice German music to set the mood for Oktoberfest, they are playing what sounds like Rick James greatest hits or something. It sounded like a soundtrack for 80s funkadelic music. Now THAT's Oktoberfest music, right?
Then the food was so/so. The appetizer was a fondue with bread. The fondue was good, but the bread was just fairly normal tasting. It was like they grabbed a loaf from the grocery store and cut it up. The main dishes were utterly mediocre in my opinion.
Service was very slow, but it was busy, so I can forgive that part.
Overall though, not impressed very much at all.
P.S. They only accept cash. Signs around saying they no longer accept credit/debit card. Good thing I happened to have cash on me as I didn't see the sign until we were eating.
I had plans on taking my parents to Andreas Keller German Restaurant for lunch once we arrived in Leavenworth; unfortunately there are stairs involved and mom doesn't do stairs so since they weren't handicapped accessible I had to find something that was and was somehow in the German/Bavarian theme. Â And that my friends is how we ended up at Uncle Uli's Pub, no stairs.
They have inside and outside dining and both are handicap accessible unlike half the other restaurants around. Â You get slacker servers but in a ski bum kind of way not a completely bad way. After all it's a sports bar so people were busy watching the Hawks game that day.
My father and I both went with the bratwurst theirs is all pork and the three of us shared the big pretzel. Â The brat was meh and the kraut was just a step above meh, the pretzel was smoking heat hot and burnt my finger tips but was the best part of the meal along with the Tim's Cascade chips that came with the bratwurst.
Mom had potato soup and first sandwich which I think was egg salad, she said they were both good, the next day my father informed me that Uncle Uli's was a flop for him, he wasn't a fan but that's ok because neither was I.
A note to add they are cash or local check no cards but they do have an ATM right outside their door.
I want to give them two stars but since they were accessible for my mom I'll be nice and give them three.
Whenever my hubby & I can get a lunch date in, this is the place we head. What can I say the food is good, the atmosphere is laid back & the beer hits the spot when I'm in the mood!
Recommendations:
The Uli Burger - w/ball sauce (also known as the Welch Burger)
The BBQ Chicken burger
Gma Uli's meatball sandwich
Ever since Owner/Skier, T.R., opened this place years ago....his joint has reflected his personality! It's a place for anyone and everyone to enjoy an excellent meal and even some great beer, As the owner has always been enthusiastic about skiing, friends and fun, it truly reflects in the environment you will find at Uncle Uli's. Â Many-a-drive from Stevens Pass down to this Pub to eat the fondue, have either BIG burgers or when on the ball, Tacos! Sometimes you will find a local playing a guitar or providing chill-entertainment. Always you will find that you were happy in the choice to stop in and check TR's place UNCLE ULI's on your way through Leavenworth AKA WorthLeavin!
Review Source:Uli's is a favorite among locals, and for good reason, it has the most comfortable, laid back, welcoming atmosphere in town. By your second or third visit, the manager Michelle will remember your favorite beer and call you by name.
The location can't be beat. Smack dab in the center of town, yet tucked away, Uli's fees mellow even on the biggest festival weekends. On a hot summer day it's a great place to sit outside under an umbrella. Or in the winter, crank up the heat lamp and grab a community crocheted blanket. Dogs are welcome and they'll have as much fun and social interaction as you. If you're not an animal lover, head inside where you'll find warm wood floors and furniture, a big screen TV, a cozy tiled bar and lots of local history / art / flair on the walls.
The food is pretty standard pub food minus anything deep-fried because they don't have a fryer, so burgers come with potato chips rather than fries. This seems to be a Leavenworth trend. I believe a burger and a beer deserve their french fry counterpart, but apparently not in Leavenworth unless you want to pay extra, and not at Uli's, period. However, Uli's delicious Jim Jack sauce makes up for it. What ever you order, ask for it slathered in Jim Jack sauce. Peppery, smoky and tangy, it's not like anything you've ever tasted and so yummy. We've never found a beer that doesn't compliment the Jim Jack. Speaking of beer, Uli's always has a good-sized rotating selection of regional micro brews on drought. Though, if you like your beer icy cold, it may not be quite cold enough.
Their chicken wings are kind of tasty, though they are microwaved, which is reason alone to not order them. They have cheese fondue, which I think is supposed to be made of, well, cheese, but I'm not so sure about this one. Ask about their soup of the day which is always made from scratch and it shows.
PS. Bring cash as they do not accept credit cards. There's an ATM in the foyer, but they charge $1.50 per transaction.
Score:
1. Food Creativity = 5
2. Food Flavor = 8
3. Food Freshness = 6
4. Food Presentation = 6
5. Service Friendliness = 10
6. Service Attentiveness = 10
7. Location = 10
8. Ambiance = 9
9.Menu = 8
10. Cleanliness = 8
Total = 80 *or: (80-25 = 55!) hahahahahaha
*Uli's recently replaced their old menu's for new ones that look nice, but upon further inspection, is filled with (not two or three, but) 25 typos! Since I am a stickler for grammar, this greatly effects their overall score, which drops them from a solid B to an F! My only attempt in understanding why they didn't hire a proof reader is to think that perhaps dear 'Uncle Uli' was trying to play one over on all of us. Maybe he knows his menu says "peppperoni" and "pinapple", maybe he's snickering every time another wisecracking customer makes a comment under their breath. Maybe it's all for laughter's sake. If so, I can appreciate the humor.