Altdorf Biergarten — Restaurant in Fredericksburg

Good food - Horrible Front of House Team / Manager on Duty

I need to make sure that it’s recognized that our actual server was good, and the food was also good. We had a party of 8 and he did a great job with taking care of us.

I feel ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED to leave a a poor review solely based on the horrible treatment we received actually getting to the table.

We arrived to Altdorf at about 7:55 PM on a Saturday evening, requesting a table for a party of 8. We were told it would be a 35 minute wait, to which we accepted. We asked if we could wait inside and we were told NO and that it was too crowded. I said ok, we will go walk around the Main Street and wait to be called. We get called only 10 minutes later telling us that our table was ready. Awesome! They then informed us that we had no more than 5 minutes maximum to get back to the restaurant for the table… which was not stated anywhere in the restaurant or at the time of us putting our name in. I asked over the phone if we could have a max of 10 minutes to get back, since we expected a 35 minute wait and walked down the road. I was told no, absolutely not, and no exceptions could be made. So I pulled out my professional, but not rude, Karen wig out and asked for the manager on duty…

The MOD answers the phone and basically tells me the same thing as the hostess. In a very pointed tone, they told me they could not hold the table for 5 additional minutes for our group and that we’d get kicked back onto the bottom of the reservation list. I asked if, given the circumstances of overestimating our wait by 25 minutes, we could have a 5 minute extension. Then she HUNG UP ON ME.

I called back. Because of course I am going to call back. And I say very politely “we must have gotten disconnected, I was asking about an extension on time”. Mind you, I am basically running back to the restaurant at this time, ahead of the rest of the party, while on the phone with this restaurant. They again told me no I’d get kicked to the back of the waitlist. At this moment, I actually walk through the front of the restaurant again, manager is no where to be found, and I ask the hostess about our table, arriving only 1 minute past the 5 minute grace period due to my RUNNING.

They said we would need to wait, but we could now wait inside. So we stood directly in front of the hostess stand, waiting in the empty entry way and very pleasantly making sure we did not get bumped off the list a second time. After about 5 or so minutes, we got sat.

All this to say, if you are going to continue to severely overestimate a wait time, in the future please do the following to ensure the highest satisfaction by your customers:

Tell them there is only a 5 minute window to claim your table after calling them. OR post a sign? OR both! If this policy is so important and cannot be bent by a few minutes then make the customer aware instead of weaponizing it.

Have a seating area for parties to wait in which is actually free for just waiting to be sat.

Don’t HANG UP on your customers because you don’t like that they are presenting a logical appeal to you for some grace?

Won’t be back. Don’t bother commenting with your bot on...

They have plenty of German entrees, as well as 8 or 9 salads. I chose to eat rabbit food on this visit and ordered the Altdorf Fall Salad ($12). It was a decent size, but $12 for any type of salad is a bit on the pricey side for me. It was all fresh and tasty, included mixed greens, candied pecans, cranberries, tasty pickled onions smack dab in the middle of it, green apples, with an apple cider vinaigrette. By default, it comes with feta cheese, but I had them hold the cheese.

The Jagerschnitzel entree ($17) served with two sides (we chose the hot German potato salad and the red cabbage). The jagerschnitzel was pretty much as you would expect in any German joint in this town. It was good, the pork was moist and cooked well, the breading was perfect but not too much, and the gravy was tasty. Nothing to go out of your way for, it seems on par with the other joints in town. I’m not a fan of red cabbage, so it wouldn’t be fair for me to comment on that. The German potato salad was decent, but not over the top.

I overheard there was a 15 minute wait to be seated, but they seated us in the bar area without asking us if that’s where we wanted to sit - even though they were asking others if that was OK with them. There are tables in the bar area, but the service was just “so-so.” I had to flag our server down several times for drinks and for the check. Not terribly bad, but since she was also working behind the bar, she didn’t seem to have enough time to tend to the tables. My advice is to grab a table in the restaurant or on the patio where they have dedicated servers.

Although we sat inside, they do have a nice outdoor patio with a woman singing laid back songs like Dianna Carter’s “Strawberry Wine,” and “Crazy” by Patsy Cline. The patio had a really laid back vibe to it. Cool music, but not blaringly loud so you couldn’t hear each other talk.

Parking can be tough like any other place on Main Street, but I lucked out and got rock star parking right next to the building. 23oz German drafts are $7.50, while pints are $6. Go BIG or go HOME! ;-) To sum it up, the food and service were both good, but nothing to go out of your way for. Regardless, I would probably give them a second chance. It wasn’t...

We have eaten here twice in the last year, most recently 15 Aug 2025. We have had 4 different entries and both my wife and I have thoroughly enjoyed everything we have ordered. On most recent visit my wife had the Jagerschnitzel and I had the Zwiebelschnitzel and we shared the apple dumpling dessert which comes with a drizzle of carmel sauce and the best ever vanilla ice cream. The facility is very clean and comfortable and quiet in the INDOOR dining. The outside dining is not as comfortable simply due to outside type chairs & table and it is NOT quiet as they usually have a singer doing his/her/their thing.

Now let me tell you about my meal. The zwiebelschnitzes and sides were the BEST MEAL at a restaurant I have had in the last 3-5 Years - yes that was THREE to FIVE YEARS. Not only is the Zwibelschnitzel perfectly lightly breaded it is so tender it melts in your mouth (so was wifes Jagerschnitzel). The zwibelschnizel sauce, a onion and bacon in brown sauce was PRIMO. The onion was not over powering, but like perfectly sauteed onion flavor, the same for the bacon, the flavor came thru excellently, but not overpoweringly. The German spatzle side dish was great, it too was perfectly prepared a craft not every German restaurant has mastered; the rotkohl, German pickled sweet & vinegary red cabbage served hot was good too, but no better than most German eateries. My compliments to the chef for perfect preparation of the best I have had in a long time. Service was also efficient and server a gem. She answered all our questions and insured she got our order correct. She checked back a couple of times without "hovering". I noticed she also took extra time with two Japanese tourist ladies that had only very limited English language abilities. She was patient with them, trying her best to quietly explain some options on the menu and repeating in DIFFERENT, not same way if they did not understand something, she was never dismissive of them or show any frustration. They also have a decent wine list and a great beer selection, especially the draft beers. My Warsteiner Dunkel was delicious...