Ludwigs Biergarten — Restaurant in Mountain View

The food was amazing. Everything tasted so good. The servings are large and we all took some home in boxes for later. Everything was plated beautifully. The kitchen did a wonderful job.

The rest of the staff, I didn't feel great about it. Maybe it's because there was a football game on? It's also Oktoberfest weekend and it's a German restaurant. I'm not sure. We were seated and a server came by to explain that the menu is all online. We took a while looking at our phones to all figure out what we wanted, and then waited, and waited, and waited for a server to come take our order.

We were given water and I drank some, then noticed debris at the bottom of my glass so I set it down towards the end of the table so it could be grabbed easily. It never got taken, asked about, or even attempted to get refilled for the almost 2 hours we were there so I just didn't end up drinking any water. I had a light Kolsh that was good so it didn't bother me too much since I still had something to drink.

Before our food came, I mentioned we had grabbed table that hadn't been wiped down when we got there since it was one of the only ones open. I asked if I could have a rag to wipe it down really quickly and was told yes.

We never got anything to wipe the table down and then we got our food so it would have been too much of a hassle at the point anyways.

We ate our food and talked. Everything was wonderful. There was a football game on that I didn't care for so it was a loud the couple times there was a touchdown or someone fumbled or something. Once we finished eating, we all sat waiting for a long time again. I finally asked if I should go get someone since we had been talking about getting boxes for ~20 minutes. My friend got up to go ask someone.

They brought us boxes and we ordered dessert. We were finally able to let someone know about the water glass. I said I didn't want any water now but there was stuff in the bottom of my glass. Someone came back with a pitcher and tried to pour more water into the dirty glass to refill it. We managed to stop him and he had another clean glass with him so I finally got some water which was nice since it was pretty hot out today.

The food was amazing. Maybe it was an off day between the game and Oktoberfest things happening. I'm not sure. I definitely want to go back for a special occasion again since it's...

Liked the beer options, and that you can order smaller sizes. Miss that about Austria where you can get refreshing local beer in smaller sizes rather than having to always order a pint.

Food is one star for us. We tried brunch, lunch, and dinner menus. The wiener (veal) schnitzel was thick shoe leather dipped in butter. Even the overpowering buttery smell could not mask the gamey odor. We love veal, and in Austria the veal in a proper wiener schnitzel is thin and tender, and coating is thin and fried crisp (not a thick batter like southern fried chicken/chicken fried steak which has its own charms), no butter. It is also not oily, greasy, but surprisingly light. Ludwigs version is very filling, and sat very heavy in our stomaches. The potato salad, cucumber salad, sauerkraut is overpoweringly vinegary. The fried potato cakes were very hard and dry, and the lemony quark on top was odd because it smelled and tasted sweet like a dessert, not what I expected with smoked salmon. I wonder if they used lemon extract instead of fresh lemon zest. Pretzels are just ok, if you are missing it and the sausages are okay. For people with dairy allergies, the server let us know there is no food that is not cooked in butter here. We personally did not notice it with the sausages (although they were very oily) or other foods. We only noticed a strong smell and taste of butter with the schnitzel.

Seating and service are spotty. Every time we have had young, untrained kids, who also did not know anything about the menu, much less the beers.

If you do go for a refreshing beer, ask for seating under the tarp, otherwise you will have a constant confetti of leaves, tree bark, bird poo, etc. but if you sit too close to the wall, there is sometimes someone's pet dog relieving themselves on the rocks (in restaurant seating), and a lot of dog poop around the sidewalks(outside the restaurant) which you can get a whiff of on a...

Hands down, some of the best German food I’ve had in a long time anywhere in the Bay Area. We looked around and tried several other German restaurants that would accommodate a really large group of people with solid authentic German food and Gisela with her team at “Ludwigs” was it. They use the freshest, finest ingredients and making sure each dish is done the right way. There are so many items on the menu that are mouth watering, from the “Schweinshaxen” which is huge (be prepared to take a lot home), the sausages, Schnitzel and especially the Goulash was especially memorable by all the guest we had. Everyone raved about it and people are still talking today about the quality of food while being immersed into a true Bavarian dining style experience. It feels just like home and it’s a must to try!!! Ludwig’s service was impeccable from start to finish. Our servers handling the large party was gracious and accommodating, ensuring every aspect of our dining experience was perfect. We would come back anytime just for the food and the service.” Big thank you again Gisela and the Ludwig’s team to make this such a memorable event!!!! You guys are the best!!!

P.S Don't forget to check out their bar. So many great selections of luscious German...