Black Forest Brooklyn - Smith Street — Restaurant in New York

Tonight I visited Black Forest with my family. We were a party of 6 and had a reservation, so we got seated right away. The tables at this place are those communal style tables, so you share. Our table was bit crammed, but we squeezed in and made it work.

Since we were a large group, we ordered the family platter, which included most of the menu (and yes dessert). When the food arrived the table, it quickly became clear the table wasn’t large enough to fit everything. We literally didn’t have enough space on the table to fit plates. I promise you, the six of us could not fit plates to eat off of on the table. So, of course, we asked our server if we could spread out on the larger table. We were told no because someone else MIGHT sit in those other seats. Listen, I get it. You need to have as many customers as possible. But we literally couldn’t fit plates on the table. We couldn’t eat. Eventually they agreed to let us “for a few minutes.” It took about 10 minutes to get plates, so we stared at our food for awhile as it got cold.

As mentioned above, dessert was included in the meal we ordered. After they cleared our entrees, we waited ONE FULL HOUR with nobody coming to our table. No desserts. Nothing. We were enjoying ourselves so it took awhile to realize but once we did, we asked about the status our dessert. The next thing we know, 10 minutes pass, still no dessert, and the manager comes over telling us we have 15 minutes and then have to leave. We told him we were still waiting on our food. 20 minutes later our food arrives. We barely finished eating when the manager comes over to tell us “we really need this table.”

Abysmal service. Ok food. Do. Not....

Visiting some friends in Brooklyn, we stopped here on the first night. We were led out back where a small outdoor area was converted into a thriving compartmental seating area. Each table had a heat lamp, but it wasn't needed for the warm night. We ordered a couple of seasonal Märzens, which (don't let the $26 price tag deter you!) was one of the most delicious beers I've ever had, and decided on a couple of apps from the digital menu. The staff were very friendly and efficient and brought our cheese fondue, weisswurst, and schnitzel out shortly after we ordered. My girlfriend, the weisswurst connoisseur, and I agreed it was near the top of both of our lists (and we've had plenty, even in Germany). The cheese fondue, while not authentically German, was a fantastic shared dish for everyone and paired very well with our beers. And the chicken schnitzel with mushroom sauce was also on point. It's tough for a lot of German restaurants to nail every dish, but this place really did.

For the first German meal of our trip to New York, it'll be tough to improve from here. Overall, I was extremely impressed by the staff, the atmosphere, and the food. Dankeschön Black Forest Brooklyn!

Update: we come here every couple of weeks for the German Language Stammtisch meetup and the staff is always super friendly. We screwed up a call-ahead order one time by mistakenly placing it at the nearby Fulton St location, but the managers talked to each other and made a new order for us at Smith St at no extra charge. Amazing. Can't praise this...

We were really happy to find a German restaurant nearby and were so excited to visit - unfortunately, our brief visit made it an absolute no go for us. There was some confusion around our reservation - we had a reservation for a party of 6 but the host was adamant that the only table we could sit at was the tiny table for 4 by the front window. He seemed already frustrated with something and was rude from the get go but became extremely exasperated within a few seconds of us talking and me trying to to understand how we were supposed to fit at the table - he refused to communicate and just walked away. Maybe it was a busy time (it didn't seem particularly so) and he had a hard shift, which I can totally understand, but that was simply no way to treat anyone. I hope management can address whatever issue that led to his behavior, so no one else needs to have experiences like mine here

Edit: added photo of the table in question after owner's response that didn't address the issues (not being able to honor reservation and being extremely rude about it) and essentially painted the complaint as baseless, so y'all can see for yourselves if you care enough the table had seating on 3 sides, two on the short ends were for 1 person, and the bench on the long side seats 2 uncomfortably given that the two benches formed an L shape and there's no room for legs and knees. Were the other two people supposed to sit...