Himmel Haus — Restaurant in South Lake Tahoe

If I could put a 0 star rating for service, I absolutely would. We had a group of 9 people that had a reservation at 7:30 pm. Upon arriving, we were instructed that our table was not ready (which is completely fine….this happens). We were seated at our table at approximately 7:40pm with one food menu and two drink menus. After waiting another 20 or so minutes, we requested more food menus from the host, to which we never received. Approximately 10 minutes later, a waitress finally came over to our table to take our first drink order. This was our first issue…..

We then had a series of unpleasant interactions with our less than pleasant waitress. Over the course of our 2.5 hours dining experience at Hummel Haus (with no dessert mind you), we maybe saw our waitress at our table 4 or 5 times. On multiple occasions, we asked for refills on drinks that were completely missed. By the way, we had a party of 8 people that would all drink a few cocktails or beers each, which could have resulted in an extra $300-$400 in revenue. We were waiting on drinks for so long that we ended up having to ask another server for drinks. Once we ordered our food, two people in the group had to reorder not once, not twice, but three times since the meals that they ordered were not available. This is completely ok as items do certainly get 86’d on busy nights, but the serve should absolutely state this for the table.

Once we received the food (around 9:30pm - 2h after our reservation time) everything was great (hence the 4 star review for the food). However, this then gets us to the next issue. After we received our food, we didn’t see our server for another 30 or 40 minutes (with empty drinks). We were contemplating getting dessert, but we felt that it would take far too long to receive.

Once we received the bill, we had a $71 service charge on our bill ($457 total). Upon receiving this, I walked to the bar to speak with the manager on duty. Upon speaking with the manager (also a very unpleasant conversation), she was very reluctant to do anything for us related to compensation on the bill. From my perspective, the only type of compensation that I was in search of was a lesser tip or equal compensation. Upon talking with the manager for a minute or two, she then agreed to give me 20% off of our bill (in my mind, this was somewhat acceptable). Ironically, this 20% off of equated to the entire service charge, which I was completely ok with.

Here is my next and final issue….After this discussion with the manager, I returned to my table and awaited the server to come to take the payment method. Upon waiting 10 or so minutes, I observed the manager speaking with our server seemingly reassuring her that everything was ok and laughing about the situation. Shortly thereafter, the server arrived at our table to take our payment to which I provided my American Express credit card. No more than 60 seconds later, the server returned and stated that my credit card was denied (which is ABSOLUTELY not true). Any time a charge is posed to my credit card I get an immediate message to my phone via the American Express application and this did not occur, nor did I get a P.O.S print out with a card decline notification. Without further questioning the situation, another person in our party (who really enjoyed the mashed potatoes) provides his credit card to pay for the bill. We then quickly provided that card and the server returned with the payment slip and stated, “I’m am sorry that you felt that your service was bad.”

I am very sorry for this very, very long review, but this situation is HORRIBLE. I fully intend to reach out to the owners of this restaurant for a full refund for this bill given the experience that we received. I’m very much hoping that the owners of this restaurant observe this situation as a learning experience and take action accordingly. If you would like further detail other than the ample detail that is listed in this review, please feel free to...

People staying near heavenly resort got a pretty nice german restaurant tucked up in a neighborhood near its carpool entrance! When you walk in, there's a lot of beer advertisements mainly from German ones and while you can make a reservation depending on the time of day, they may not be needed, but do double check if there's any special events or you believe that there may be a busy time up ahead. This place is tucked up in a neighborhood so getting to it me be a little bit further from some main roads. When you do get here you either have the option of sitting outside or eating inside with some comfy chairs. Our server, Vanessa (if I remember that name correctly) was really nice and upbeat and another man that was fully decked out in all German attire from the hat to shoes! One of the drinks I ordered which wasn't alcoholic at all was a fentimans cherry soda which was amazing! They also obviously have an extensive German beer menu collection, and one of them i also tried was a maibock (pronounced like maybach) that was really rich in flavor! I ordered a cheesy pasta that had imported cheese from Switzerland and Germany along with their bratwurst which there are five different kinds of them but each of them are really nice because they are smoked and have tons of flavors! You also can use the three different types of mustard that are on your table! They also offer really large pretzels! And as you sit and look around, you can see how much German heritage there is around here! It's just a shame that the Wi-Fi is very spotty though... But I do glad they try...

Listen... I'm a born and raised German girl who moved to the US at age 18. 95% of German restaurants in this country absolutely disappoint me. I'm always expecting authenticity and it is extremely rare that I find it. Himmel Haus definitely delivered. We stopped in to try to eat there without reservations last night (Saturday) but they were booked up. We made a reservation for tonight at 7pm. Showed up, reservation nowhere to be found in their system. NO PROBLEM. They seated us right away and our waitress Eva was great. Hubby ordered the sausage platter and I tried a few bites (delicious choices of mustard!). Good stuff, but that's not what I was there for. Nope, all this girl wanted was a decent Jägerschnitzel with Kä Spätzle. Oh and every Schnitzel has to come with Rotkohl (red cabbage). It's the law, right? I was given the option of chicken or pork Schnitzel. Picked the pork, ate the first bite and 99% sure it was chicken but guess what! It. Was. So. Delicious. I didn't care, didn't mention it, just shoveled it into my greedy German soul. Crispy, juicy, perfect. Jägersauce was good. Cabbage was good. But.... I make my own Käse Spätzle at home which were always perfect to me.... Until now. Because these? These were UHHH-MAAAA-ZZZING. I'm extremely happy that I had just a little bit left because that's my breakfast tomorrow. For dessert we had the Apfelstrudel with vanilla ice cream. Good stuff, nothing to complain about. But really. The Kä Spätzle is where it's at. Thanks much for an awesome experience. Wish...