Von Trier — Restaurant in Milwaukee

Took my German expat girlfriend to Von Trier Beer Hall hoping for a taste of home for her and a fun summer afternoon for both of us. We got some of that—but not quite enough to want to come back.

The Fruh Kölsch was crisp, light, and refreshing—perfect for a warm, humid day in the beer garden. My girlfriend ordered the neon green Spekto Cooler (think Ghostbusters Hi-C in a glass) which, despite its appearance, actually tasted really good. She didn’t get the Ghostbusters reference, though—lost in translation, I guess.

We started with the potato pancakes—or Kartoffelpuffer, as she called them. Unfortunately, they were not fresh. This was surprising given we arrived right at their opening time (1pm). Possibly the oil hadn’t fully heated yet? At least the sour cream and applesauce on the side were spot on—classic, well-chosen accompaniments.

Biggest disappointment: the currywurst. The sausage itself was decent quality, and the fries were hot and crispy, but the amount of curry ketchup was laughably small—barely a drizzle. It came off more like “sliced hot dog and fries” than an actual currywurst. We had to go back inside to request more sauce, which the waitress did bring, but it was cold and came far too late to save the dish. According to my girlfriend (from Berlin), currywurst should be drowning in warm, spicy-sweet sauce. This was a weak imitation.

Service left a lot to be desired. After the food was dropped off, our waitress never returned to check on us. My girlfriend noted the staff hanging around chatting about Harry Potter and scrolling on their phones instead of tending to guests. Not exactly the attentive service you’d expect, especially when the restaurant was just opening for the day.

On the plus side, the water was nice—fresh and slightly cool, “just like Germany,” as my girlfriend put it.

One last note: the menu seemed much more limited than what we’d seen online. After a bit of digging, we realized the place changed ownership earlier this spring. Could be a case of growing pains, but as it stands, it was more miss than hit.

I was going to give it four stars, chalking it up to an off day, but my girlfriend was adamant it be two—and considering the currywurst was supposed to be the star, I can’t say she’s wrong. Better for a beer...

Sixth time wasn’t a charm for me.

Over the last year or so, I have stopped in at Von Trier for a casual drink or food with my girlfriend and enjoyed our time. I personally am partial to the Früh Kölsch as I visited their taproom when in Köln, but the wursts are also good.

Last Saturday my girlfriend and I stopped in for an old-fashioned and half liter of Hofbräu. I enjoyed the experience and asked a group of friends, aged 23 to 25, to join me for a midday drink to catch up this weekend.

Upon entering we were carded, which I interestingly never had been in my previous 4 times there, but that’s fine. Then, my 25 year old friend was buying his 25 year old girlfriend a drink and presented both of their I.D.’s upon his request as she was seated at the table next to the bar. He then asked her to stand up to match her to the I.D., which is also understandable. She was about 8 feet from him and then he made her walk right up to the bar to verify because “when you present an I.D. You generally have to be that close” And then he said “and we like to follow the rules here” and gave some of the other people in the group a hard time, including another of the 25 year olds with us who recently cracked the corner of his I.D. (And wasn’t served).

After praising the place to my friends, the server was super rude to the group. We quickly and respectfully finished our drinks and left because we were very aware that he didn’t want us there. As we left, a group of people celebrating a birthday wearing gold entered, so I hope the bartender didn’t also ruin their experience.

The “we like to follow the rules” comment, after being rude, was particular interesting because I was the second youngest of the group and had never once been carded there prior - seemingly not “following” the rules.

It would be one thing if we were drunk and yelling, but it was the early afternoon and our first stop after lunch. Again, I was eager to show all my friends a pub I had liked, but instead they all were scared off of the place and I felt bad that I hyped up a place that treated the group poorly.

Decent place for a meal and a good beer, but don’t try to expand their clientele and bring...

The only dining "rooms" are an outdoor patio or the small bar area. Not sure what they use the "Back Room" shown on the website for, but we certainly were not allowed to eat in there.

The staff was very friendly and the bartender was attentive. Our server on the other hand, not so much interested in serving. She was more interested in flirting with the male patrons at the bar and her male co-workers than paying attention to her customers. She rarely came to the table, and we spent much of the evening having to flag her over - which she still didn't see so her male counterpart had to point out we were looking for her.

The food was a mix of good and disappointing. I ordered the Schnitz Bitz appetizer to go with my drink as I waited for the rest of my party to arrive. They are described as being nuggets. What was brought to the table were - well not even tenders - they were like half of a flattened chicken breast. They were huge. Not an appetizer, and certainly barely shareable in this form. The flavor, however was excellent. Had they been what was actually described on the menu, they would have been perfect. Maybe cut up a chicken breast to obtain the nugget size as printed on the menu.

For dinner I chose the Jaegerschnitzel. The description made this dish sound wonderfully flavorful so I was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, had there not been sauerkraut on the plate, there would not have been any flavor at all. Major disappointment.

Update: I became very ill for a few days and assumed it was just coincidence. However one of the other people in our group ordered the same thing I did, and I was informed he too became very ill for a few days. Not...