Rienzbräu — Restaurant in Pustertal - Val Pusteria

We had such high hopes for this place, but sadly it did not impress us at all. The first thing was when we sat down and tried ordering, the waitress clearly understood English and kept pushing for us to order the Rose. I did politely decline twice and even told her I’ll think about it, but it did come as a rude shock to see the Rose being delivered to the table. Secondly, the bread the served to us was simply not edible. We had to actually request for the bread to be replaced, with one of the staff coming out to explain that bread is usually not baked fresh in the restaurant. Thirdly, I get that we are foreigners, but it seems from all of these experiences that we were given the ‘tourist treatment’ which did not enhance our experience. I did however think that perhaps the mains would be the saving grace, but all the food ordered was simply below expectations. The Ragu pasta was average, but the pasta used was simply cheap. The pork schnitzel was cold and the breaded bits simply did not stay on the pork. The pork knuckle was not baked and there was brown sauce slathered ontop that made it very soggy and unappealing. The best thing about the meal was actually the fries and the beer. Suffice to say, we would not be back given all that we have experienced. It was such a shame given we had a good time in other parts of...

Delicious lunch on a Tuesday, no wait to get a table. Inside and outside dining available. They had staff that spoke German, Italian, Spanish, and English. Portion sizes are generous so do not overorder like we did. In our defense, we did want to try as many dishes as we could. We did forget that to-go boxes and doggy bags are not a common thing in EU. As others noted, the pizzas do come out quickly compliments of their pizza oven that is located in the lobby. Try their beer as well. I had the pork shank, which had a great flavor and some crispy skin that reminded me of chicharrones. The antipasti dish, Cappellacci was delicious! The pine nuts really added an extra kick to the dish. Mineralwater is very common so if you are a foreigner like us, make sure you order still water. Go ahead and order 2 liters up front or you might go thirsty during your meal. When it comes time for the check, you have the option to pay at the register or flag someone down to pay at the table. I am unsure what the proper etiquette was in this situation but we ended up paying at the table with a different waiter. We did park at a garage around the corner and payed about 2-3 euros. Overall, this was a hit for us. Check them out if you are in the area, in our case, after taking a paragliding flight with the good folks at Kronfly in Brunico....

It’s a 4, but a strong one under the circumstances. It’s hard to get anything better in Bruneck, given that local standards aren’t as high as they are in a big city. In fact, it might be the best you can get for dinner. I liked their craft beer and I do appreciate the fact that they actually brew it. The pizzas are good, too. The restaurant makes a solid effort to incorporate local ingredients, giving it a lot of authenticity in general. There were minor details that caught my eye (e.g. I think cherry tomatoes on canederli were a bit unnecessary). I liked their cheesecake; it was clearly made fresh in house. They could make a better effort at offering vegetarian dishes because grilled cheese a veggies is a bit too generic a dish for a place that aspires to be authentic. Overall, however, it was a worthwhile experience and so long as competition in town won’t pick up, I’ll be...