Biergarten Haus opening with a babe

"Yes, it's strictly 21 plus ma'am and I'll need to see your ID"......"Oh, is that your baby? Of course you can bring him in!".

There was a line out the door and the place was packed. Honestly, we hesitated before entering the madness, but then the bouncer told us to run in and grab a table which had just become vacated in the window. That we did, and started looking at the menu amidst the madness.



Hesitation #2: "Sorry, we are out of everything but three beers..." We found this out after perusing their extensive menu selection of German beers on tap. Oh well, we are flexible people to even come here with a baby, right? At $12 for a litre of beer and $8 for a half it isn't cheap, but we were there and it looked like fun.

I have to give the Biergartn Haus some credit. First, their style, food menu, and beer menu is unabashedly German. Not some German-inspired American cuisine, not a trendy German with a modern twist, there isn't even a hamburger on the menu. Straight up German as it has been in Germany, and I like this. Secondly, they seem to be holding it together pretty well for the opening. They were friendly and accommodating although you could tell they were tired (the place opened early for the world cup games).




The food wasn't bad, but it wasn't cheap. I'll be back for the crusty and chewy pretzel rolls with mustard sauce. The spaetzle with emmentaler and caramelized onions was fresh and flavorful, but not a bargain at $16, although the braised cabbage with it was tangy and sweet and sour and excellent. My husbands turkey schnitzel was true to form and was, as he put it, "as advertised".

Child-friendly? Yes, they even had highchairs. The outdoor section should entertain children well and the atmostphere is hectic enough they could likely wander around and not bother anyone. The noise inside would cover even the biggest fit. The queue was way too long to check out the loo.

The piglet found this place very amusing. In fact, he got so over stimulated by the whole thing he slept almost the whole night through. It was almost a miracle, and enough to make me want to drag him to every noisy, crazy, bar opening in town.