House of Gerhard — Restaurant in Kenosha

The restaurant is really cute when you walk in. You immediately see the bar and it's a place you want to drink at. It's dark and mysterious and is the perfect place to relax. The restaurant has been around since 1966 and is a favorite with the locals. There was a very decent lunch crowd in here considering it was only 10 degrees outside.

Our waitress was very nice but I don't think we really connected with her. I think she was nervous because we weren't regulars and we had no idea what we were doing. So that kind of threw her off.

I had a bunch of questions like why was the Schnitzel made from turkey breast. I was hoping to actually get an answer but it never happen. She assured me that it was really good. I was really on the fence but decided to go for it. I must admit it was really good. I was surprised at how good it was. They might be on to something here.

The Gerhard Schnitzel also came with a choice of potato. I was deciding between potato pancake and Spatzel. I finally chose the Spatzel and our waitress suggested I put gravy on top. Hey it's Wisconsin that's advice you take. I will say the gravy made it complete. I was really happy. There was also a side of carrots too which were over cooked but delicious and sweet. Typically a side of carrots are tasteless.

The Schnitzel also came with a cup of soup. I decided to go with the Bier Soup. When it arrived at the table it was cold in temperature. I flagged down the waitress and told her. She said, "I asked him if it was warm and he said yes!" So I'm not sure what that meant. Maybe my cup went into the microwave on its return back to the kitchen. When it did come back it was hot and had what looked like the microwave cooked ring on the top of the bowl. I will say that the soup was unique and good. There was chunks of the sweet carrot and onion in the soup. I was house made but sent out cold. After it was warmed up it was very tasty.

There were two other soups offered. A chicken Spatzel which was delicious. In fact, this was the star of the show here. I snuck a spoon from my little one. My wife had the split pea which was good but it had rich hints of smoke in it, most likely from a smoked ham. She loved it. I thought it was good but I probably couldn't eat more then two spoons of it because of the overpowering smoke taste.

My wife got the BLT and it was a huge disappointment. I felt bad for her. I would have expected the bacon to be better in quality and cooked properly. In fact, most of the bacon was inedible because it was really fatty. In retrospect we should have alerted the waitress but we didn't. We really don't like sending things back and we already had the cold soup sent back.

There is also a basket of buns which includes rolls and fruit cup muffins. I only had the rolls and they were really good. My little liked both.

This place has a lot of flair for a German restaurant. There are not many of these types of places around anymore, so when you see one you have to enjoy it. Hey it took us 9 years before we finally ate here. This place is a solid 4 in Kenosha but it would probably rate lower if it was located in downtown Chicago. I have to appreciate it for what it is and being in business for 48 years says you're doing something right. So I raise my glass and say, "Prost!" And I'm coming back for a giant bowl of that Chicken...

Updated Review - 8/23/25: WOW!!! What a disappointment! I have been to House of Gerhard more than 25 times over the past 20 years or so. My experience this time was terrible! The tables were so smashed together and there were so many people talking… you could not talk to the person next to you… let alone hear the waitress. I used the Noise app on my Apple Watch… it registered 84 dB. The next day I went to the Milwaukee 250 Indy car race and the Noise app registered 86 dB. (I attached a pic). The food was expensive for what you got. I ordered the Oskar Schnitzel. I could barely find any crab. The asparagus spear was like eating string. It was inedible. I couldn’t swallow it. But it gets worse! I ran out of iced tea. We could see our waitress, so I asked the waitress (who looked like she might have been a busser) if I could get some more iced tea. Her exact words were, “no, I am not your waitress!” and turned around. She could have said, “let me find your waitress”… or “sure, your waitress must be busy”. TERRIBLE customer service! The good news is, our server was really good. But my wife and I… and the people we were eating with decided we will most likely never come back. ——- Updated Review - 10/23/24: Every time I eat at House of Gerhard, I am amazed at how incredibly delicious everything is! Once again, I had the Wednesday Special… Split Pea Soup… and the Bavarian Pot Roast with red cabbage and spaetzle. The service was friendly, fast, and super helpful. Everything was perfect! I would highly recommend eating here! You will NOT be disappointed. ———- Original Review: One of my favorite places to eat in Kenosha. The service is always incredible. Super friendly, helpful, and fast. Our waitress was great! The food at House of Gerhard is delicious every single time I go there. There is no way you can complain about not getting enough food. The salads, the soups, bread…. everything is delicious! I had the Bavarian Pot Roast with red cabbage and mashed potatoes and gravy. The pot roast was so tender, I didn’t even need a knife to cut it. I love going to the House of Gerhard. I can’t wait...

House of Gerhard, a staple in Kenosha since 1964. A literal mixing of supper club and old world German style food, housed inside a rustic building featuring lots of dark wood, cool, kitschy bar related items and lots of twinkle lights. You definitely get the feeling of Old World cool walking into this place. I personally loved the bar area as it really hit the nostalgia "days of yore" sitting in the low bar, swivel seats and watching tons of Grasshoppers and Pink Cadillacs being handmade by the bartenders. We thoroughly enjoyed the servers and hostess, they were very nice, but a bit of advice... the bar is small and the patrons can hear you when you complain about being swamped or how backed up you are... we get it too and sympathize, but we are here for your best, as well... enough about that... on to the food! We stuck with the German side of things tonight and didn't order the prime rib or fish which, on another visit I would certainly try! We loved the pate served with crusted, seasoned French baguette slices. The kidney bean salad was good, but I wanted a bit more seasoning, however not atypical of a German-style restaurant! We also liked the homemade apple spice muffin and the rolls, but one of our rolls look like it had a bite taken out it, which made me wonder if they were reserving unused rolls and didn't check this one? The clam chowder was decent but felt the chicken broth base was overpowering and really made me question if it wasn't cream of chicken soup. I absolutely loved the spaetzel and the slight pan fry that gave it a good crisp. The schnitzel was good as well and the gravy it came with was on par, flavor-wise! I enjoyed the stroganoff as the beef was tender and easy to shred apart. I wish I had gotten more mushrooms in the sauce, though but it was so good, I wanted to lick the pan! Drinks were decent as well and they make a good Brandy Old Fashioned. The dessert drinks are worth it! I would share one with two people however as they are...