The Berghoff Restaurant — Restaurant in Chicago

I've been to the Berghoff a few times before. I generally try to take friends and family visiting from out of town. That's why this last time I visited was particularly disappointing. The food here is always exceptional.

This review has to do with the service and how we were treated after making a reservation, especially if we are not regulars. Due to the claims it would be difficult to get a table during the christmas season, I made a reservation ahead of time- with a special note that it was a "Celebration" but that had no bearing on any of the experience it seemed. It was so slow the time we got there, a reservation didn't matter. They still put us in a corner of the large room near a Christmas tree. I'm not sure if it was the placement of our table that made it difficult for our server to tend to us, but it took us 2 hours to get through a 3 course lunch. I kind of messed up most of our day and caused us to be late to a planned out evening. I had questions when I ordered my items, but we felt increasing pressure to just order things as soon as we saw our server as we realized she had no interest in being attentive to us and we wouldn't see her for quite some time. Of course the food here isn't cheap, so after a fat bill, we still felt obligated to tip her well because hey, it's the holidays. We noticed it was very slowe during the time we were there. We also noticed other people got far more attentive service around us with other servers. We observed several other customers getting lots of greetings as though they were regulars, so I suppose they gave them priority over us normies. The nicest person we spoke with was a lovely man who took our empty plates that worked there for over 20 years, he was great! Other than that guy, it was very discouraging to get this service in a place I have often regarded as a 'must see' destination for visitors in the winter time. As we were leaving, we popped our heads into the bar area and, my god, it was an entirely different scene! It had live jazz and high top tables, decorated lavishly with plenty of space to be had. What exactly did we need to do to get sat over here? Why were we relegated to the corner of the large room? Anyway, I don't like leaving bad reviews, but this should have been a memorable experience for good reasons, not what it ended up being. At least we got a tasty meal out of it. So thank...

This was the most disappointing meal I have ever eaten at a restaurant in my entire life. The meal and service was so terrible that it actually prompted me to write my first ever review.

On January 2nd I visited the Berghoff Restaurant with high hopes of an “authentic” german meal. I was instead met with microwaved food and terrible service. We started with the giant pretzel which was the highlight of the meal: on par with frozen pretzels from Walmart. Everything else was a step below the level of TV dinners.

The lowest point of the night was when I was served what was supposed to be a wiener schnitzel. It more-so resembled a Filet-O-Fish, but worse tasting. Not only was this “schnitzel” chewy and cold in the center, it was brought to the table less than 3 minutes after ordering. They didn’t seem to care to attempt to hide the fact that this was not cooked but thrown in the microwave. I mustered the courage to take a few bites but couldn’t stomach more than that. This main was served with a spinach dish that looked like a cat threw up in a dish and a “German potato salad” that was not a potato salad but instead a small potato sliced into pieces.

About two minutes after the food was served I realized that I would have to make other plans for dinner. Unfortunately our waiter, seemingly realizing that our food was awful, avoided us attempting to ask for the check for about a half hour until a busboy was sent to clear off the still-full plates. The next time we saw our waiter after ordering was 45 minutes later when he came to have us pay and tip him. No check ins or refills during our entire meal even through the restaurant was at less than 1/3 capacity.

We ended online ordering McDonalds from our booth while we waited for the receipt. After this experience my McDouble tasted like a Michelin star burger.

As a German citizen and lifetime lover of German food I felt like I would be doing a disservice to anyone planning to visit the Berghoff if I did not write this review. Please do yourselves a favor and just go somewhere else. If I had the options of finishing the meal I was served from this restaurant or removing on of my limbs, I would probably be in a...

Walking into The Berghoff Restaurant is like entering a time capsule from another era. As the second oldest restaurant in Chicago, proudly serving guests since 1898, its history is etched into every inch of the space from the ornate wood-paneled walls to the detailed paintings that show scenes of old Chicago. It’s a place where tradition lingers in the air, and where you can feel the stories behind every table and frame.

The menu was vibrant and full of character, offering a tempting variety of classic German-American dishes. As a first-timer, I wanted to choose something iconic, and I landed on the Hungarian Goulash. It turned out to be a deeply satisfying, soul-warming dish that felt like a hug from the inside out.

The beef chuck was fork-tender, simmered to perfection in a rich, velvety sauce that clung lovingly to every bite. The gravy was a slow-building wave of flavor, earthy with paprika, slightly sweet with caramelized onions, and balanced with just a whisper of tanginess from tomato and vinegar. There was a subtle smokiness in the background, perhaps from roasted garlic or a hint of caraway, that gave the dish depth and complexity.

Beneath the stew was a generous mound of creamy mashed potatoes, smooth, buttery, and comforting. The starch soaked up the goulash sauce like a sponge, turning each bite into a full-flavored, melt-in-your-mouth experience. The fried onion straws on top added just the right amount of crunch, their delicate crispiness offering a playful contrast to the dish’s richness. A dollop of sour cream added a cooling, tangy note that lifted the entire plate and kept the hearty flavors from feeling too heavy.

Every bite felt intentional and full of character, like it had been passed down from someone’s grandmother who knew exactly what comfort food should taste like. I’ll absolutely be back to explore more from the menu. If the goulash is any indicator, I’m in for some...