Bären Haus — Restaurant in Leavenworth

Surprisingly few restaurants in Leavenworth take reservations, which can be problematic during peak event seasons, such as Christmas or Oktoberfest. Anyone expecting to grab a table for dinner quickly at any restaurant in Leavenworth is deluding themselves. We'd prepared for it, and thankfully, the Baren Haus runs an efficient operation, somehow processing the turnover in a reasonable amount of time. I knew that, walking in around 5:00PM and requesting a table for 7, we were in for a bit of a wait, so the quoted 90 minutes was anticipated, and reasonable. We killed the time at The Loft bar across the street, and the wait ended up being only 60 minutes, all told.

It is a foregone conclusion that we will come here at least once during every trip to Leavenworth, because my wife has a problem, and is hopelessly addicted to their Kohl Roulade (stuffed cabbage rolls). I'm also a big fan of them, but I know that, with her bird-like appetite, there will be leftovers, so I have the luxury of being able to bide my time and have them later; they're just as great on a re-heat!

My virtuous patience results in being afforded the opportunity to order whatever strikes my fancy at the time; on our most recent visit, this means I was able to try out the Beef Rouladen, which I'd avoided previously, as it seemed too similar to my wife's entrée. This was folly, on my part, because it ended up being the best meal I've ever enjoyed here, and forever consigning the reubens, schnitzels and sausage platters of the past to the vague vestiges of memories, destined to fade. They might as well rename this restaurant "The Highlander" because, like my wife, There Can Be Only One entrée I will ever order here in the future.

For those with allergies, food restrictions, or just aren't into German cuisine, the Baren Haus has your back. Two members of our party have Celiac disease, so they legitimately have a reason to avoid gluten, but were accommodated by sharing a pizza with a gluten-free crust. Similar to my wife, they were unable to finish it, so I scored even more leftovers, and I gotta say, that was a damn good pizza, gluten or not.

Despite being obviously overwhelmed and exhausted, the staff here were (and always are) polite, friendly, professional and efficient. Us tourists may (inadvertently) make their lives Hell due to the swelling mass of humanity that floods this town during event seasons, but the Baren Haus' servers are always Baren through it. Tip them...

My wife, two young children, and myself ate at Baren Haus for the first time on Thursday, August 8, 2024, during our Leavenworth vacation. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the best experience. It was mostly our fault because we didn’t do any research beforehand. The restaurant we planned to dine at couldn’t accommodate us due to a large party they were serving so we walked into Baren Haus as our backup plan.

We got seated and someone came over and brought our family of 4 two water glasses. About 5 minutes later she followed again with two more water glasses. It was then 10 minutes later that a server finally approached our table. Granted, when she saw we hadn’t been waited on she acted mortified and we appreciated her sentiment. We were literally just about to leave but since she did arrive and she was apologetic we decided to stay.

We put in our order and the food came out pretty quickly. I got the combination sausage platter, my wife got the steak sandwich, and both my children got the kid’s order of chicken strips and fries. The food looked great and the first bite of food was delicious but then the flies swarmed us. It pretty much eliminated our appetites. The insect problem was so bad we didn’t wait for the waitress to come by to ask for boxes…we got up and asked a nearby staff member for them.

The server brought us our bill and knocked off 20% which we genuinely appreciated. However, even with that kind gesture, it wasn’t worth it. We would not return to Baren Haus if we ever vacation again in Leavenworth (which we...

Bären Haus has good food, on that account there is no argument. Our server Kristy was wonderful, helpful and very sweet, but spread a bit thin (as in most places these days). The young man who was the host was obviously new and hadn't been trained very well, tho he was nice. The real issue was the management (or mismanagement) of the place as a whole. Tables were not bused quickly after diners left (some tables sat with dirty dishes for 15 minutes) and when they were it was a few items hand carried at a time, and slowly. Zero urgency, even though there were customers waiting inside the door. The only use of a bus tub we saw was the one sitting in a bar stool behind the host station, where the host was putting together napkins/silverware in the middle of the open dining room, instead of it being done out of sight in the back. We were told this was at the direction of the owner. The wonderful hand painted mural of a Bavarian mountain scene on the back wall was partially obscured by a large wall-mount tv, which wasn't even turned on but looked grossly out of place regardless.

This place has good food and nice people and could be amazing with only a little effort and attention to detail, but ownership/management needs to wake up and get with the program. Faux stained glass needs to be redone. Trim/molding/light fixtures need to be remounted/repaired, and staff needs to be better trained. And get rid of that ridiculous TV - nobody comes to a place like this to watch the game, for...