Deutschland Downtown — Restaurant in Fredericksburg

Here is a recipe for Sauerbraten that I highly recommend! INGREDIENTS • 2 large yellow onions, chopped • 2 large carrots, diced • 1 large leek, chopped, thoroughly washed and drained to remove any dirt • 3 cloves garlic, minced • 2 large sprigs thyme • 2 small sprigs rosemary • 2 bay leaves • 8 juniper berries, cracked • 6 whole cloves • 10 whole black peppercorns, cracked • 2 1/2 teaspoons salt • 1 teaspoon sugar • 2 1/2 cups red wine • 1 cup red wine vinegar • 1 1/2 cups water • 4 pounds beef roast (tougher cuts like bottom round or rump roast are traditional but you can also use chuck roast) • 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour • 1/4 cup raisins • 3 ounces ginger snap cookies, crumbled • 1 tablespoon honey

INSTRUCTIONS Prepare the Marinade: Place all of the veggies and herbs in a heavy non-reactive stock pot or enameled Dutch oven along with the garlic, juniper berries, whole cloves, bay leaves, salt, sugar and peppercorns. Add the red wine, red wine vinegar and water. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool down completely. Marinate the Meat: Nestle the roast in the vegetable marinade and place the lid on the pot. Let it marinate in the fridge for at least 4 days, preferably 7. (Traditionally, the marinating time is as long as 2 weeks!) Unless the meat is completely submerged under the liquid, turn the roast over once every day. Remove the roast, pat it dry with paper towels, and strain the liquid from the vegetables. Reserve the liquid and the vegetables. Cook the Roast: Rinse the pot out and heat a tablespoon or two of oil in it over high heat. Generously brown the roast on all sides. Remove the roast and set aside. If using bacon, cook the bacon until done. Leave about 2 tablespoons of oil/fat in the pot. Place the strained vegetables in the pot (with the bacon if using) and cook for 5-7 minutes. Stir in the flour, cooking the mixture for a minute or two to eliminate the flour flavor. Add the liquid that you strained from the vegetable marinade, bring it to a boil, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Add the raisins, honey and crushed ginger snaps. Return the roast to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 2 hours (may need less or longer depending on roast and marinating time) or until the meat is very tender. (Important Note: The longer you let the roast marinate the faster it will cook because the meat will be more tender from the start. So check on your roast periodically for doneness.) When the roast is done, remove and transfer it to a plate, tent it to keep warm, and let it rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Prepare the Gravy: While the roast is resting, strain the gravy and return the gravy to the pot. Taste and more sugar, salt and pepper as desired. If you want your gravy thicker, make a cornstarch slurry to thicken the gravy. (Note: The balance of sour to sweet is a matter of personal taste - adjust the flavor according to your preference. If the flavor is too strong for you, you can dilute it with a little water or broth.) Spoon the gravy over the sliced Sauerbraten and...

A party of 8 went to this restaurant the day before Valentine's day. Mind you it wasn't our first choice we couldn't get an earlier reservation at a different restaurant so just opted for this to keep in theme for a German meal. It was busy Saturday night. On arrival at 6:30pm we were seated at the big table right by the front door (freezing cold may I say). Drinks start to get ordered.... no lemonade when asked, they had run out! - strike 1. As we went to order our food we were told they only had 1 of the pork loin meals left. So between a party of 8 people at least 3 wanted pork, so had to decide who would get it! - strike 2. After the longest time with this serving disappearing and then serving others, she finally came back to take our order. At this time it was already 7:15pm and we had waited 45 minutes to finally place an order. Once orders and appetisers were complete 10 minutes later the server comes back to tell us that the chicken cordon bleu, could no longer be served as they had none left. At this point 4 people had to look for a different meal - strike 3. I'm pissed at the fact that we spent 45 minutes deciding on an order only to find out that early in the evening on one of the busiest nights of the year, they had run out of food. How does that even happen?! Not even told as we were being seated!!

Pathetic! Waste of time, it's cramped and more than likely you won't get to order what you...

Avoid this place at all costs.

Went with friends (four of us total) to try the newest restaurant in town. At 6:00 PM, we were the third table to be seated (one of the parties was already finishing up). The bartender took our drink orders, no problem. The server took our appetizer and entrée orders. Two in our party ordered the soup of the day which came promptly, they said it tasted good. Then the ordeal begins... We watched as the place slowly filled up (approximately 12 tables). Then we watched as every other table ordered and got their food as we sat there with just water and silverware. When we asked the server the status of our order, he blamed the cook/owner for having to "re-do" the chicken dishes which two in our party had ordered. (I'm sure we weren't the only table to order the chicken, and no other table had a problem getting their chicken.) Finally after over an hour our order arrived. I had ordered the veggiewurst platter, but what the server brought was a breaded, fried veggie schnitzel that looked nasty. So I had waited over an hour to get the wrong order! I sent it back, and out of frustration my husband sent his chicken dish back and we left. The rest of our party told us later that the cook/owner came out and blamed the server, the server blamed the cook/owner, all very unprofessional. If you want good German food with good service in Fredericksburg, go to The...