Hildebrandt's — Restaurant in Augusta

So I was here for a fabulous Yelp event brought together by the equally fabulous Natasha C!!! I know this is crazy but I live three blocks from this place and never set foot in it before until now. I'm kicking myself now because I feel I could have been enjoying their great food a long time ago! This business started out as a general store and they also delivered. Soon after they started preparing food and added a cafe, which was a great idea. It's amazing to know that this place has been in existence for over 100 years and still is ran my the same family!!! You just don't see things like that anymore. The family that runs this place are very friendly and inviting. I was able to have a conversation with Rick, one of the family members, and he was sharing family stories and being very candid. I thought that was very charming. I was able to sample a few items on the menu and they were out of this world. I tried the Reuben sandwich, the King Louis sandwich, the German potato salad, and the chili. All of these items were pretty good, some of them I wouldn't have tried if they weren't offered to me and I really liked them. I will definitely be ordering these items when I come back. The items on the menu are really reasonable too. I also tried some desserts that were made by Mrs. Joyce(Rick's mom), and they were totally delicious!!! I don't think they are on the menu but she does make them for special occasions. This is a great place to grab lunch and admire all the history inside of this place. You will definitely get a history lesson while dining here and great hospitality as well. I hope this place is around for another...

For as long as these people have been operating their restaurant in Augusta, they still put forth a lot of effort and care about what they do. The interior of the place has a cozy, hometown feel but let's be honest, the building could be in better shape. To that end, they've been redoing and renovating little by little to make sure the business can keep running. Middle of march they're planning on redoing the floors (which is a big deal for them since they've been dealing with subpar floors for a while). These are all signs that they care about what they're doing and they're here for the long haul.

As far as food goes, they've recently refreshed their menu at the start of the year, and redid all of their marketing and logos. The lunch menu has always been great, and its prepared with great care. They also won Augusta's best sandwich in 2017 (The Sweet heat Louis, which I took a photo of). The only real negative is that perhaps they don't have enough people staffed for the lunch rush. Expect to wait a bit to have your order taken if there's a large group of people there. They still take orders by hand and unless you're getting a pre-built sandwich, it's going to take a while for them to get all the details. Water is no longer free either, it's 25 cents I believe.

Once your order is taken, the kitchen staff work quickly and get your food relatively fast. While you wait, you can walk around the store and look at historic pictures and old-timey stuff from eras long past. Would recommend this...

The food is very good and authentic German/Southern. We had the king German sandwich, German potato salad, and Hoppin' Jack soup. Three of us shared one order of each for a light lunch. It was $19 before tip which we found a little pricey with only one iced tea ($2.50) and 2 tap waters ($.50 each). The workers were having trouble routing customers IN one door (past all the Hidebrandt merchandise) and then OUT the other door. One worker met patrons at the out door and made them go to the in door with not much finesse! They had a handwritten sign on the outside of the in door reading "Entrance only" but on the other door we saw only an "Exit only" sign on the inside. We saw a local tv news feature which brought us there. It mentioned that the owners have kept the turn of the century merchandise interior and added an updated floor. It seemed a little unfinished but...