Guglhupf Restaurant — Restaurant in Durham

Update: When we finally spoke to the manager after waiting two weeks for them to get back to us, they wanted $1500 to rent their upstairs, which we had been told during our visit is often totally empty during June (most people prefer to sit outside). That $1500 doesn't include food or alcohol or any discount thereof.

I understand a reservation for 25 is a strain on their staff and kitchen... But asking $1500 dollars is arrogant and insulting. If you can't accommodate us, the response should be that, instead of putting the onus of inability on me. There was also no attempt to justify this specific amount; I'm left only to wonder if it's completely arbitrary.

I hope that having waited two weeks won't make it harder to find another venue. I'm partially disappointed because we had been so looking forward to this specific version of our celebration.

Original Review: Went to the Guglhupf to check them out as a venue for our wedding's rehearsal dinner. We had looked at other places that evening, and decided to get dinner here.

The building is unique, with water features and a sort of old world + copper, concrete, and glass vibe. Very Durham without just being another tobacco themed establishment. Has a good energy and is warm and inviting. Expansive, walled-in outside seating is also available.

They had an extensive beer selection, heavy with German and Brulux beers. Don't expect a lot of local taps, they're clearly not trying to be part of the local Brew scene, but I was completely happy with the Trappist brew the waiter recommended. Wine by the glass was a little limited, but their bottle list had lots of options.

The food was excellent. My fiance got the radishen and zitrus salad which she loved. She's vegetarian, and I wouldn't have assumed a German resteraunt would cater to that, but she had plenty of options on the menu. I got the hasenpfeffer, which is rare to find on a restaurant menu. It literally melted in my mouth.

An extreme attention to service was shown. We had asked some questions about using them as our venue and taken pictures (many of which are attached). They decided to highlight some of their cuisine by sending an awesome brussel sprouts dish to our table (they even successfully guessed that my fiance is vegetarian). They also comp'd us a glass of sparkling wine as a congrats on our engagement.

Awesome place, good drinks, great food, nice people. Our only "complaint" is that their forks are weird 😁...

I had a lovely brunch the other day with my friends from my internship. This place is both a bakery and a restaurant, both of which are simultaneously exclusive and not. a paradox of sorts. let me set the layout for you. once you get past the gantlet that is parking, you, your party, what have you, will either quickly find somewhere to sit or immediately join the line to order at their window. After deciding on the latter or not, you’ll eventually sit and wait on your requested items. however, there is no need to simply stay seated as now you explore the aforementioned bakery. it’s quaint and smells lovely. they really have some amazing stuff here.

I ultimately decided on a buttermilk chicken sandwich with fries and a vietnamese iced coffee. I saw the sandwich plated and immediately settled on it. i’ve also been hooked on the flavors of vietnamese iced coffee. it’s like chai’s nonchalant older cousin who sneaks you your first cigarette. anyways.

the actual servers do not come around much as they just come to drop off stuff and promptly pick up after you are gone. in fact you pay at the window before it even arrives. a bold model indeed.

here’s why it’s four starts: i can’t leave four and half due to googles limited algorithm. this place is truly a 4.5 star experience! it’s near perfect. an expansive menu that rotates depending on the time. it is hands down one of the best spots for brunch in all of the triangle. here’s the catch though. they only do ketchup. that’s right, just mayo, mustard, and ketchup. maybe hot sauce. i didn’t ask. i only hope they do. hugely disappointed with this lack of dipping sauce. no ranch, no bbq, no honey mustard or anything in house. i believe i heard something about an aioli; so, fancy mayo is your other option. also parking is miserable. idk who to blame here so i’ll yell my grievances into my pillow.

BIG SHOUTOUT though to the staff who gave us a free cookie (we had seemingly ordered one but possibly was misplaced/not on our ticket due to the large size of our party’s numerous order) so they told us to not worry about it. wish i caught their name but thank you nonetheless.

they have lots of great things going on here. indoor outdoor seating good wifi a great menu and a freaking bakery. tough to find the same experience at any brunch place, as much as i despised getting here, i loved every second i...

I don't know why this restaurant has so many good reviews, I went here with high spectations and left disappointed. I'm gonna describe my whole experience. First when I arrived the restaurant was full of people so there weren't any parking spots available and I had to leave the parking lot and come back in again, then wait for someone to leave so I can take their parking space. When I got in, there was no host to explain to me their setting, so I followed a waiter so he could explain to me how the restaurant works, which was, first ordering through a window in the patio, and then they'll give me a number and I would be served wherever I decided to seat. I went ahead and did a long line to order, but it was fine, the line was long but fairly fast. Before seating I decided to go to the restroom, and it looked like a dungeon. The faucet in the sink was leaking so they put a lot of rags to prevent it to leak, the floor was full of toilet paper and the appearance of the bathroom looked old and wornout. After that I went to seat and the indoor part of the restaurant looked kinda worn out and old too (just like an old bar that the management decided to not spend money in renovations). So I seated and I ordered the shitake mushroom omelette that came with fruit and 2 old pieces of "baguette" and I say old because they were hard as a rock, I also ordered a cappuccino and a mini guglhupf. The only good thing was the mini guglhupf, my omelette had a piece of eggshell and the already mentioned 2 pieces of old baguette, the fruit was ok (its just fruit) and the cappuccino was mediocre too. I give it 2 stars because the food wasn't completely repulsive and the waiters were nice even though there was no host to explain to me the restaurant setting, but honestly I would have saved the 25 dollars I spent, and cook at home for the quality...