Gustav's — Restaurant in Leavenworth

Gustav's is one of the first spots you’ll notice as you enter the market area in Leavenworth, and we were excited to try their vegetarian options. We were particularly interested in the Garden Ortega Burger, and ended up ordering three of them.

The burger comes with a black bean patty (nicely grilled), Monterey Jack cheese (I had it for the first time—surprisingly creamy and almost potato-like in texture!), fresh veggies, and a side of salsa. Since we're vegetarians, we skipped the mayo as it contains egg, and also requested to switch the brioche bun (which also has egg) for a baguette instead. They were happy to accommodate all our customizations.

We also chose to replace the fries, which are fried in the same oil as non-vegetarian items, with one Strawberry Spinach Salad to share. I was initially a bit skeptical, but the sweet strawberries paired with the fresh spinach made for a surprisingly delicious and refreshing combo! We also considered the tomato soup but skipped it upon learning it contains chicken broth—glad they were transparent about ingredients.

We arrived around 8:15 PM, just as the restaurant was preparing to close, but the staff—especially our server (we think his name was Jose, based on the receipt)—was incredibly helpful and welcoming. He brought out the full ingredient list, patiently addressed all our questions, and helped us build a meal that fit our dietary needs. Even though it was close to closing time, they didn’t rush us and allowed us to sit and enjoy our meal comfortably.

Overall, a great experience for vegetarians if you're mindful and ask the right questions. The staff went above and beyond to accommodate us, and the food was satisfying and fresh. Would definitely recommend Gustav's to fellow vegetarians visiting...

The worst restaurant experience I've ever had. Went here a few weeks ago and decided to leave a review because I still can't comprehend how the waiter treated us. I came in with a group of 5 to eat, and there was a bit of a wait, totally understandable! We were the first people on the waiting list and were told by the young sandy haired waiter it would be a 20 minute wait and we would be contacted by phone when we were up. He wrote our name down on paper, and in the service computer. We went outside and waited for over half an hour, then came back to check. The same guy said we weren't even on the list, which means he must have not only lost it in the computer, but also thrown away the piece of paper he wrote it down on. He added us to the end of the now longer wait list and we went back out and continued to wait. Then we came back in and HE DID IT AGAIN. He lost track of our name, didn't contact us, and wrote it off when it didn't suit him. There was another woman who came in and had the same complaint and he wrote her off too, in favor of talking with someone about the things he dislikes about customers. We were very polite about it, as I understand the difficulties of the service industry. But this was unacceptable. We ended up wasting an hour and a half of our time in 100 degree heat because this one man didn't know how to do his job, and didn't care. We never even got to eat the food (which looked really good) because it was such a terrible experience we decided to find somewhere else to eat, which had much better service. Absolutely never coming back to...

My wife, two children, and myself ate at Gustav’s for the first time while we were in Leavenworth for vacation on Tuesday, August 6, 2024. I expected to go in there and have a menu placed in front of me for dishes ranging in price of $30-$50 but that wasn’t the case. Most sandwiches and burgers are in the $15-$17 range HOWEVER they don’t come with fries or chips so you have to purchase those a la carte.

I ordered the bison burger which was phenomenal. It comes with blue cheese crumbles, fried onion, and other good stuff. As our server summarized it, the burger is “decadent.” My wife said her patty melt was the best one she had in a long time and my kids enjoyed their $10 kids meals.

It wasn’t that busy on the Tuesday night we were there and it was a really enjoyable atmosphere as we sat in the bar area. Our server was so awesome and considerate but I never got her name and one of the reasons for that was because I was never offered or given a receipt. When I said we were ready for the tab she just read off an amount ($74) and I begrudgingly gave her a $100 bill. She returned with change and she didn’t bring a receipt at that time either. This was a tad bit frustrating just because the tab seemed a little high (although I have since figured out that it was correct) and because I like to keep receipts for documentation sake (if a manager sees this before our family leaves on Saturday, Aug. 10, I would still gladly take my receipt and will come by to retrieve it).

Gustav’s is a tremendous value with fabulous food to back it up. However, receipts...