I think we’ve found our new favorite German restaurant down in Largo.  German Bistro 2 is in a little strip mall, has about 10 tables inside and some very tasty and hearty German food.  They started us off with some bread and coleslaw.

The bread was fresh and tasty.  The coleslaw was a bit on the peppery side, but still very good.  I knew I shouldn’t have ordered an appetizer, but I just love potato pancakes.

Normally, Loren isn’t a fan, but he really enjoyed these.  They were nice and crispy with a little bit of herbs on them and served with applesauce and sour cream.  I have to admit, I was already full by the time our entrees arrived.  Loren got the Gypsischnizel with a side salad and dumpling.

They forgot to bring out the dressing for his salad, but other than that the meal was very good.  His pork had a tomato and green pepper sauce on it.  The dumpling was made of stuffing.  It was different.  I ordered the Jaegerschnizel with spaezel and warm potato salad.

The pork was very tender and the mushroom gravy had lots of thick slices of mushrooms.  The spaezle was so good that I had to order seconds.  I forgot to mention, all the sides have free refills.  Loren really enjoyed the potato salad.  It had bacon and that distinct vinegary German flavor.  We both ended up with lots of leftovers and yet, we still ordered the apple strudel for dessert.

It was served with ice cream and whipped cream.  Seriously, we were both so stuffed by this point that we couldn’t finish the pastry, though we did eat all of the apples inside.  Another thing to mention is that they also offer complimentary beer or wine.  It was a very enjoyable experience.  The owners are very friendly and accommodating.  They want to make sure you enjoy every last thing on your plate.   This is definitely a restaurant we’ll be returning to.  Just have to remember to bring a big appetite.   Total bill was $55.

German Bistro II
1300 E Bay Dr Ste L
Largo, FL
727-216-6519

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We ate dinner at Lager Haus in Palm Harbor tonight.  The front bar area was pretty busy and loud, but we were able to get a relatively quiet table in the back.  I come here specifically for the Jaegerschnitzel when we don’t feel like driving up to the German Restaurant in Holiday.

I got the half portion tonight, which was plenty of food along with a side of spaetzl.  The chicken was tender and the mushroom sauce had a nice flavor.  The spaetzl was completely flavorless and needed salt and pepper at the least.  Loren tried the rosemary chicken tonight with a side salad that was brought with the meal instead of before.

He said the chicken had no flavor whatsoever.  Not a hint of rosemary to be found.  He had to liberally salt & pepper it just to get a hint of flavor.  It was tender, but not something he’d order again.  Total bill with a drink was $25.

Lagerhaus Brewery & Grill
3438 East Lake Road
Palm Harbor, FL
813-343-2449

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I’ve been craving German food for a while so we headed off to the German Restaurant in Holiday.  They were pretty busy when we got there and as it turned out, I think all the tables showed up right before us, so it took quite a while to get our food tonight. This definitely isn’t a place you go for a quick meal. We both started out with bread and the potato sausage soup.

The sausage took over the flavor of the soup, but it was yummy.  There’s nothing quite like fresh, home made soup.  From here the long wait began.  We were beginning to think they had lost our order when they finally brought it out. Loren got the Rinder Roulade.

He said it had some interesting flavors.  There was a pickle in the middle, which they actually warned him about, saying it gets really hot and doesn’t cool down quickly. The only thing he really didn’t care for was the cabbage.  He thinks it’s too tart.  I’m pretty predictable when it comes to food here.  The Jaegerschnitzel and spaetzel were the two things I was looking forward to.

The portions are huge and I ended up taking half of it home.  I did find it a little on the salty side, but overall it just has such a nice flavor and texture.  Comfort food at its best.  And there’s no coming here without a slice of the Black Forest cake.

Cream filled chocolate cake goodness.  Delicious!  Total bill with a drink was $46.

The German Restaurant
2616 US Hwy 19
Holiday, FL
727-937-7400

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Didn’t feel like cooking dinner tonight (I’m on vacation afterall), so we went over to Lagerhaus for some schnitzel.  I got the Jagerschnitzel and Loren went for the Naturschnitzel.

We’re both somewhat amazed that you can get chicken & pork this thin and yet have it come out so tender and tasty.  Loren finished his, but I had lots of leftovers.  Our dinners both came with salads and for sides I got some spaetzl with mine & Loren got some warm potato salad.

Last time, I got the spaetzl with cheese and it was kind of greasy.  This time I got it without the cheese and liked it better. We have to remember to order salads without the onions from now on though.  These have got to be the strongest onions on the planet.  Total bill with a drink was $33.

Lagerhaus Brewery & Grill
3438 East Lake Road
Palm Harbor, FL
813-343-2449

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We decided to try the Lager Haus Brewery & Grill in Palm Harbor for dinner tonight.  We like German food and the best we’ve found is up in Holiday, so it’d be nice to have a place closer.  Loren decided to try the brats and I went for the Jagerschnitzel.  Both dinners came with a salad.

Those were some strong onions that had to be removed very quickly.  The Brat sampler came with two different kinds of brats.  Loren said they were pretty good.  One of them was a spicy chicken flavor.

The Jagerschnitzel was enough to feed two people.

The chicken was very tender, but it wasn’t evenly flattened, so there were parts of it that weren’t quite as tender as the rest.  The breading didn’t adhere too well to the chicken, but it had a really nice flavor and the mushroom sauce was very good.   It also came with a side so I got the cheese spaetzl.

It was good, but a bit oily.  I think next time I’ll get it without the cheese.  I also ordered a piece of brownie cheesecake to go.

It was ok, but completely frozen when we got it.  I probably wouldn’t order it again.  Overall, the food & service were pretty good.  I didn’t feel the food was as good as The German Restaurant in Holiday, but it would satisfy my cravings.   Total bill with a drink was $42.

Lagerhaus Brewery & Grill
3438 East Lake Road
Palm Harbor, FL
813-343-2449

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I was craving some German food, so we drove up to Holiday to have dinner at The German Restaurant.  They had live music tonight.  It was amusing to say the least.  I’m not a big accordian fan, but the tunes were bouncy and the yodeling definitely made me grin.

Loren got a salad and I decided to try the brussel sprout soup.

Now, I’m not a big fan of brussel sprouts, but I gotta say, the soup was pretty good.  It was very creamy and had an interesting flavor.  If I didn’t know what was in it, I’d have said it was pea soup.  Loren went for the roulade tonight.

He said the roulade was very tender and had some good flavors, but found the cabbage to be a bit too vinegary.  I was craving schnizel, so I got the Jaeger schnitzel which is covered in a mushroom gravy.

I was one happy camper.  It was delicious.  The pork was very tender and the gravy had a nice flavor to it.  My only complaint was that it seemed to be a bit greasy and not as crispy as the last time I had it.  There was also plenty of leftovers given that it came with two big pieces of pork.  The homemade spaetzle was also tasty.  And I just can’t leave this restaurant without having a piece of the Black Forest cake.

Mmmmm… It’s a tasty cake, but like I’ve said before, the whipped cream on the plate needs to be sweetened a little more.  Service is a bit hit or miss here.  During the meal, it’s pretty good, but we found ourselves waiting way too long for the check.  Total bill was $41.

The German Restaurant
2616 US Hwy 19
Holiday, FL
727-937-7400

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We planned to go to an Italian restaurant called Saimira European Grill in Palm Harbor tonight, but the “No Trespassing” sign out front led us to believe they weren’t open.  I’m not sure if the restaurant is closed for good or if they’re on vacation, but either way, we still needed to find some dinner.  We continued north on Hwy 19 and ended up back at The German Restaurant.

They weren’t very busy for a Friday night, but perhaps the crowd shows up for the early bird specials.  I enjoy dinner in a quiet restaurant though.  It’s always nice to be able to actually carry on a conversation without having to yell.

The bread came quick to the table.  It’s a dense bread, but pretty tasty.

For an appetizer, we ordered the potato pancakes.

Loren didn’t like them that much, but I thought they were ok.  It’s sort of like a hashbrown served with apple sauce.  He was very happy with the meatball soup though.

This is a soup with lots of flavor.  It’s obvious that it’s been simmering for long hours to get all the deep, richness that just warms you from the inside out.   Loren ordered the goulash with spaetzle.

He enjoyed it.  It had a vinegary, mustardy taste to the sauce and the beef was very tender.  He said the spaetzle was good to cut the tartness of the sauce.

I ordered the chicken schnitzel.  Ok, I admit, I didn’t read the menu all that closely and thought that schnitzel was always made with pork, so I was actually a little surprised when it was chicken.

I gotta say, though, this was some of the best chicken I’ve ever had.  It was pounded thin, but it was so tender and juicy inside and the crisp coating on the outside was outstanding.  There was way too much for me to eat in one sitting which is always a plus.  The leftovers were yummy too.  The spaetzle was good as well and the broccoli was a little overcooked and soft, which I’m sure a lot of people don’t like, but I prefer mine that way.

Even before we sat down, I already knew what we were ordering for dessert…. the Black Forest Cake.

Layers of chocolate cake and whipped cream.  Yummy!  The only issue with this dessert tonight is the homemade whipped cream on the plate didn’t have enough sugar in it.  Normally, I would never leave whipped cream on the plate, but this just wasn’t sweet enough.  Total bill was $50 and we both had leftovers.

The German Restaurant
2616 US Hwy 19
Holiday, FL
727-937-7400

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We drove up to Holiday tonight to eat dinner at The German Restaurant.  It’s a homey little restaurant, sort of like walking into grandma’s living room.  They brought some bread to the table while we waited for our appetizer.

It was warm, which is always a plus in my book.  I couldn’t really tell what kind of bread it was though.  For our appetizer, we got the Kartoffelpuffer (potato pancakes). 

They were nice and crispy and had a good flavor.  You can get either 3 or 4 in an order and we should have just gotten the three because they were pretty big.  We decided to split the sampler platter for our entree, so I got the soup that came with that and Loren ordered a side salad.

The soup was awesome.  It had a hearty beef flavor to it like it’d been cooking for hours.  The veggies were a bit mushy, but the meatball had a lot of flavor.  I could have gone for just a plate of the meatballs.

We wanted to try a bit of everything so we got the sampler platter which included roasted pork, sauerbraten, pork schnitzel, grilled Nuernberger pork sausage, red cabbage, sauerkraut, potato salad, potato dumpling and their home made spaetzle.

It was a lot of food.  My favorite was the pork schnitzel.  It was crisp on the outside, tender on the inside and had a delicate lemon flavor.  I would definitely order it again.  Loren really enjoyed the roasted pork and sauerbraten, but honestly, everything on the plate was good. 

The dessert case is in the lobby when you walk into the restaurant, so we knew from the moment we walked in that we were going to have a piece of the Black Forest cake.

It’s not often you get real homemade whipped cream with a dessert.  This was a wonderfully delicious piece of cake.  It was light, the cake was moist, and the filling was awesome.  I was tempted to get another piece to take home.

Service was pretty good.  One of the owners stopped by our table to check on us a few times during the meal.  The total bill was $47.  They charged a $3.95 splitting charge that I thought was a bit excessive, but overall, the entire dining experience was great.  It’s definitely worth the drive to Holiday.

The German Restaurant
2616 US Hwy 19
Holiday, FL
727-937-7400

Food
Service
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