Buchner's Bierhalle — Restaurant in Jacksonville

I have never left a bad review nor found it necessary to take the time to leave one, but for this place, I felt it was necessary. I have traveled around to many restaurants throughout Florida and specifically seek out hidden gems, which is exactly what we thought we were in for. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The food was good but nothing I couldn’t find at a less expensive, much better-serviced, and better-managed place.

From the moment we walked in and spoke with the hostess, we felt unwelcome. Our first encounter, when we sat at the bar, was met with a cold vibe. We even tried to lighten things up and get to know the staff, but our efforts weren’t reciprocated. After being poured our first beer, we were ignored for over 30 minutes. We politely tried to get the attention of a different bartender, who had been talking with her friends at the bar for a long time. When she finally noticed us, she immediately gave us the worst attitude, despite the fact that we were left unattended with empty beers.

Her name was Vienna, I believe, and she said, “Okay, so then what do you want me to do for you?” in an extremely rude tone. As we sat there in disbelief at her demeanor, we still kept our kindness, asking if something was wrong or if we had done anything to upset them. She then said, “Do you just want me to get the manager?” We, of course, agreed, since we weren’t getting anywhere with her.

We should have left immediately after that, but we tried to make the most of the situation by making acquaintances with the people next to us, who convinced us to stay. We never had the manager come out to us, and she walked past us with her bag on, leaving without updating us about the manager. We then asked for the owner’s name and ended up having to chase him down outside to speak with him.

We spoke with Jason about our issues, and all he said was, “Okay, what’s your name?” He then told us, “I have to go and shuck oysters,” and walked off without providing any comment or solution. Keep in mind, the place was not busy; there were maybe 10 people in the restaurant total. We even thought there might be people outside, but there wasn’t a single customer out there. At that point, we decided to ask for the tab and leave as soon as possible.

The service was awful from the start, from the host to the manager. We didn’t even receive the least anyone could do in this situation: an apology. I don’t know how this place gets any customers with the attitudes we experienced. We still left a good tip because we truly believe in “kill them with kindness,” and we work in the service industry ourselves, so we try to be understanding under certain circumstances. However, this may have been the only time we regret it. We will never recommend this place to anyone, and we will definitely never be...

Einfach Lasch

So here's the deal: If you are a college-age Gen-Z, and looking for an umbrella-clad Biergarten with a Germanesque vibe, this is your place. But if you are expecting a real German restaurant, with German quality, as portrayed on their website - you may be disappointed.

Case in point: There is minimal indoor seating, which leads one to the outdoor ambiance of picnic tables in a giant smoking area under moldy umbrellas (albeit of Deutsche origin), all surrounded by several carefully stacked piles of construction debris. Ok, maybe the smashed-up OSB wood is for a fire-pit, but God forbid anyone actually inhales when they burn that toxic glue-board). At least the American 80/90’s music will get you going. Hopefully you weren’t expecting something German?

The food appeared wunderbar, the presentation got points. Truly. Just looking at the fully laden plates was a sight to behold. More preliminary points. But books are not to be judged by their covers. Did you say you wanted to taste something German? The Jaeger schnitzel was good, and the Weisswurst was not bad, but the Nurnberger was sterile, and the Brats were …boiled… really? Were they even Brats? What was that taste in my mouth? Ugh. Thankfully we had $8 beer to wash it down. Serioulsy, I'd give the food alone 3.5 stars, even twith those ghastly Brats. But...

Service was prompt and efficient, well-dressed, but like the food, rather sterile, which, by the way, sterility felt rather elusive in a bioligical sort of way. The food was prompt, maybe a little too prompt, since our entrees came out about 8 minutes after the appetizer. That’s ok though, as the waitperson, who gets credit for initial attentiveness, a Robocop in a Lili Marleen uniform, standing by the Grosse Tur, and noticing that we hadn't hardly touched our entrees, simply asking "... would you like to order another one?". No apology or indication of concern, culpability, or compassion for these fine examples of culinary mediocrity in front of us.

$120 for a meal for two (one appetizer, two entrees, three beers). On par for a fine restaurant, but definitly not for food-truck quality and...

I loved the speakeasy-esque of this place, as you have to walk through the Vape shop to get to it. I also loved the "European" atmosphere that my family and I picked up on right away, coupled with the biergarten out back. The draft biers are all fresh and cold, as they should be in a proper German pub. Our waiter was very knowledgeable and attentive and informed us that they have a changing bier of the day, which is fun. To start we got the small "Weisn" Charcuterie Board. Everything on it was delicious. And the small was huge, more than plenty for the 5 of us who went. I can only imagine how big the large is! We also shared a pretzel, the Biergarten Obatzda, and a Spiced Haus Pickled Egg. The pretzel was near perfection in salty, warm, dough form. The Obatzda was served with the pretzel and was lovely to pair together. I wasn't a fan of the pickled egg, but my husband and his family enjoyed it (too much vinegar for my liking). For dinner we got the Jaegarschnitzel and the special of the day. The schnitzel was delicious, properly breaded (unlike the jokes over at The German Schnitzel Haus who use Italian bread crumbs), and the mushroom gravy was very nice; spiced and plentiful. However, the sides fell short. The potato salat also was too vinegary and had a spice in there we couldn't place, but didn't enjoy (collectively as a group). And the sauerkraut was pretty boring. However, the special came with Rotkraut (sweet red cabbage) and that was wunderbar. I wish it was offered on the menu all the time. Also, how do you call yourself a German Restaurant and not offer spaetzel? I mean, honestly. It's arguably the best German side dish ever, and combines perfectly with Jaegerschnitzel. Instead of two vinegar heavy sides, I'd really love there to be some variety. And, of course, they could have limited their menu due to covid, and if they did, understandable, but spaetzel still should have made the cut! But that's just my opinion. Overall we enjoyed ourselves and were happy to finally...