Krause's Cafe — Restaurant in New Braunfels

Went the second time and what I can tell from both times is that the food comes out fairly fast and is good. Being German I have to give this place a fair review. Is it authentic German food? No. But it’s definitely much better than anything in the greater San Antonio/ Austin area. The one thing I can’t get over is the heavy Bavarian ambiance. Germany has 16 states and much more to offer than the typical Octoberfest style. You will never find Blue and White checkered flags in Hamburg but they have the best Salmon sandwich in Germany. This place focuses heavily on the Bavarian dishes.

The Spätzle tastes really good! The Wiener Schnitzel is also really good. Authentic made with veal cutlet but the sauce on top is a crime. A real Wiener Schnitzel is served with a lemon wedge only and German waiters will chase you out if you’d ever ask for any sauce on a Wiener Schnitzel. (Yet the sauce is really delicious.) The sauerkraut is extreme tasty and the Apfelstrudel as well. Now the red cabbage is not good. Was pretty bland and no apples in it and no cinnamon/allspice or vinegar flavor (which should be there) was noticed. The Bratwurst was alright. A bit too much gibbels for my taste but my husband liked it. Good seasoning tho. The Bretzel is good. The mustards on the other hand are just fine. Again it’s heavily Bavarian influenced and where I come from I never heard of bretzel and mustard. Had to come to America to get introduced to this. The German chocolate cake was good too but it’s American chocolate cake. Nowhere in Germany will you ever find toasted coconut flakes in or on a Chocolate cake. German chocolate cake is just your standard chocolate pound cake with a chocolate ganache frosting. So if we’re already in a German inspired restaurant why not the real deal? The coconut version is named after a person who’s last name was German, has nothing to do with the country Germany. The beers on tap are absolutely fantastic. Had the Reissdorfer Kölsch, Hefeweizen and Pilsener. Definitely the real deal.

We will be back for sure. This surely is a good fix when missing German food although...

** UPDATE: 11-15-2024 Came for Santa. Beer was great. Ordered the pork chop like I always do but it was pink and raw this time. Server never asked. Merry Christmas. Food still is disappointing here.

**UPDATE: 11-24-2023 Food was terrible. Service was almost non existent. Our first beers were perfect. Our 2nd beers were nothing like the first and had been sitting out for ten minutes. No foam head at all. In Germany this wouldn’t be acceptable to serve to customers. Also, some guy almost ran over my daughter in the parking lot because he was speeding, then he wanted our parking spot. Too bad he mouthed off to us, we told him we would move very slowly since he’s speeding. Some of these patrons are trash. I’m talking about you, white Tahoe on the day after Thanksgiving.

Service is hit or miss here. You can complain to a manager but the managers are just as hit or miss here. My big complaint is hot sweaty beers. Last two times my family came here, we watched our beers sit for 10 minutes. By the time we received them, they were no longer cold. They also don’t know how to pour a beer properly but I can look past it. But I really can’t look past warm beer.

The food is usually good but sometimes it’s not. It’s not consistent. I used to get the ranger plate but they don’t have it. Now it’s a sausage sampler. They give you two bratwurst and sauerkraut and red cabbage. So you get double cabbage with your two little bratwurst. How the heck is that a “sampler” well that’s beyond me. The bratwurst, although rather small, are very good. The cabbage I could do without.

The schnitzels are good but not authentic German style. I am always dumbfounded by the lack of authentic German food at a place that promotes itself as German. There’s a lot of fusion going on here. A lot of Americanized stuff of course. But things like Cajun food doesn’t scream German at me. I guess it’s my German blood in my veins.

I wish this place was better. I miss Freisenhaus which was here before the new Krauses. That was much better food in my opinion. And the beer was...

While visiting New Braunfels, we went to Krause’s Café based on a recommendation from the front desk worker at our hotel. This is a pretty typical German restaurant with an outdoor biergarten. We stopped on a Sunday for dinner and although the place was busy, we were seated right away. There is seating outside in the biergarten where they had live music or seating inside in the café. We chose to sit in the café. Our server, Beatrix, was great! She had a great personality and greeted us with a smile. She went over the menu with us, and when I told her that my wife was not a big fan of German food, she told my wife that it’s fine, she gets credit for being in a German restaurant and they have plenty of American type food for her to choose from. Very friendly, very attentive, great service!

I got the Krause’s Reuben with German potato salad. This was a great Reuben sandwich; one of the best that I’ve had. From the corned beef to the sauerkraut, thousand island, and Swiss cheese, the sandwich was perfectly proportioned. And the marble rye bread was great! I really liked the German potato salad also. I convinced my wife to try the schnitzel, and she ordered the Jager Schnitzel, which comes with mushroom sauce. She got the seasonal vegetables and roasted Yukon potatoes as her sides. This was a big plate of food. To be fair, she gave it a good try, but she just didn’t care for the mushroom sauce (maybe should have gone with the Wiener Schnitzel). Beatrix was totally understanding and offered to exchange it for anything else on the menu. She told us her goal was to make sure we enjoyed our food. My wife got a Reuben sandwich to replace her schnitzel.

If we are back in the New Braunfels area, we’ll definitely come back to Krause’s Café. If you love German food, this is the place for you. And if you don’t love German food, they have plenty of other options on the menu to choose from. The prices were reasonable, the service was awesome, and they have an amazing selection of beer! What more could...