The Hoffbrau — Restaurant in Austin

It probably has to do with your personal history as to how you feel about the Hoffbrau. Our family ate steaks there in the late 40's and 50's. We loved the salads flavored strongly of olives. The steaks were not what you would get at a high-dollar steak house, but were what we could afford. The big Porterhouse was $1.29, if my memory serves. This is compared to Schultz's Garden $1.00 Filet night (Fridays.) Other smaller steaks were under $1.00. The food was generous enough to fill up a hungry kid - me - for sure. It was a treat to go there. About ten years ago, I was in Austin with my son and I took him there. The steak was full of gristle and I was disappointed. And, of course, the prices had gone up from my childhood. I still loved the salad. I hate to see places like this that were so wonderful in my childhood memories slide in quality such that they get the bad reviews seen posted more recently. I will go back and try it again though, just for old...

This has been a family favorite for as long as I can remember. However this visit was the end for me. I went early on a Saturday night. Upon arriving I went to the restroom to wash my hands. The restroom is located in the adjacent bar and it was standing room only with sports fans. packed wall to wall. It took me 15 minutes to get through the lively crowd. Once I made it back to the tabel the salad was amazing as ever. Yet the steak was disappointing. It was not the high quality beef that they offered in the past. I had to apologize to my friends as I could tell they were not impressed. The service was adequate. I was given a bill and paid in cash and when I received my change it was not right. I asked the waitress for the receipt and sure enough when she brought the receipt she brought me the 20% that she had mistakenly held out. She said it was busy and it was her mistake. This has been...

Definitely not your typical steakhouse. The steak was very flavorful. However, it was rather thin. You get served 6 fried potato wedges with you steak That's it. They have onion rings for sale, but they're not on the menu. Their "Love it or leave it" salad was nothing more than lettuce, a few green olive slices, and a couple of cherry tomatoes served on a small bread plate. What makes it unique and yummy is its healthy slathering of an oil based dressing. That's it though. No desert. No sides. Nothing. Hell, they don't even have menus! Jus a little table card with a few selections of different meats.

Overall, it was a unique experience, but not worth the premium that you pay for it. The wife and I paid right at $75 for dinner. Not bad for a steakhouse, but we could've gone to Texas Roadhouse and had steaks just as flavorful with a much better selection of sides...