Cultures — Restaurant in Fredericksburg

It's Christmas Eve Eve, and we know our visit to Fredericksburg for Christmas might present some challenges. Having plan ahead personalities, we proactively called several places to ensure they were open and at what time they stopped serving food, so we could plan our trip down to every meal, as well as nightly activities. That said, I called Cultures to find out if they'd be open and what time the kitchen closed for Thursday evening Christmas eve. I even made sure to remind them it was Christmas eve and asked if they had special holiday hours. They were very clear in stating that they were open until midnight and stopped serving food at 11, so you can imagine our surprise when we were rudely turned away this evening at 8:43p and told the Kitchen was closed and they were closing at 9:30.

We hung out for a minute to see if we could use our phones to find somewhere else open, so we could feed the kids.

As a final attempt to ascertain if maybe the door greeter was just being rude or not wanting to do her job, which we've witnessed here before, I approached the bar to ask for a manage. However, before I could ask, I was addressed by the blond tattooed bartender. She quickly reinforced that the kitchen was closing at 9 but not taking any more orders, then when another patron pointed at the giant pretzels, the bartender said no those are fake. The patron asked if she was joking and she again said they were not for sale because they are fake. I told her that I called to verify their hours yesterday and she said that she's not sure who I spoke to but clearly I was mistaken. I said okay, and as I walked away, she very rudely yelled (in a very sarcastic tone) MERRY CHRISTMAS, then laughed loudly. Then she began to make fun of me and my family for not planning or having anywhere to eat. I was appalled at her behavior.

We've experienced bad service from the bar staff and the hostess' at Culters before, but the service provided by Marcos was amazing, thus we were taking a chance so we could introduce the kids to the chicken sandwich. We won't make that...

The food was terrible, and the atmosphere was bleak and uninviting with an odd smell of cleaning solution and old bar. The charcuterie board was a joke with sliced deli cheese for sandwiches and toasted sandwich bread. The chicken tequila rolls tasted like something out a frozen TGIF appetizer box you buy at the grocery store. I ordered the quail which was unusually gamey and undercooked. The green beans were soupy, under-seasoned, and flavorless (most likely canned and heated). The wine selection was mediocre, considering where we were. My dining company was also highly dissatisfied with the food, but since our entire experience was forgettable, I couldn't tell you what they ordered. The only redeeming quality was the staff who handled our grievances with grace and a smile.

It should be noted, no one came by to discuss our experience whenever we expressed our dislike with the food, and the meal was promptly removed from our ticket. A good restaurant would want feedback, and senior level personnel should have touched based with displeased guests.

Once we left, we went across the street to a local favorite of mine for a palate cleanser, and casually mentioned our disappointment with Cultures. The waiter voiced he was not surprised and joked we should have asked him for a recommendation. We explained we were recommended to Cultures by a bartender at Fredricksburg Brewing Company due to the long wait at Fredricksburg Brewing, to which the waiter replied the bartender must have had some stock in the restaurant, since the locals know the food is no good.

This happened in early November, and I write this now because a friend of mine is traveling to Fredricksburg and requested recommended spots. As I was cautioning against Cultures and Fredricksburg Brewing Company, (if the staff believes a restaurant of such poor quality is good, then they are not staff I trust with my dining experience), I thought I might share my cautionary to anyone else who was looking for places to go.

Avoid Cultures, at least until they fix what's coming out of...

This place is billed as American, Mexican, and German food.

I admit, I haven’t been to Germany, but I have had a lot of German potato salad in the U.S. Cultures has THE BEST German potato salad I have EVER had in Fredericksburg. It has the perfect balance of vinegary and sweet sugary taste to it. The potatoes are cooked perfectly tender enough, but not overcooked. PERFECT is the best way to describe it.

Dinner entrees include two sides AND choice of soup or salad.

The Pepper Schnitzel entree ($16.99) is a breaded pork cutlet, topped with red and green bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, and paprika sauce. Nothing really out of the ordinary here, but the pork is nice and tender. The paprika sauce is very flavorful, but too heavy on the salt side for me. The same goes for the grilled veggies that comes with it - just too salty. The side salad it came with was awesome. Real greens (not plain old iceberg lettuce) and it included tons of chopped tomatoes and was covered with shredded cheese.

Another one of my favorites here is the entree sized Avocado Salad ($10.99) - really good - it comes dressed in lime juice and olive oil, and with a small handful of tortilla chips and salsa on the side. The salsa is REALLY good and flavorful. I recommend breaking up the chips over the salad and spreading the delicious salsa over it. Fresh, tasty greens, tomatoes, black beans, red onions, and yellow peppers, and a decent amount of avocado. The only negative is, there could have been more avocado since it was featured in the name of the salad.

They have at least a couple of dozen German, Mexican, and American craft beers on tap. 12 oz beers are $5, .5 liter beers are $7, or you can go with the giant 1 liter Das Boot for $12. We’re in Texas, so go big or home y’all. Das Boot...