The German Cafe — Restaurant in Wilmington

As a half-German who grew up with his Grandmother and Mother regularly serving up German food for dinner, this place was an interesting let down. While the service and decor were good, it is a sad excuse for a German restaurant unless you like an extensive beer selection.

For appetizer we ordered the potato pancakes and thought we were off to a good start. Pretty good if a bit bland.

My wife got the Veal Schnitzel and it was pounded INCREDIBLY thin. There was more thickness to the breading than the actual meat. While tasty, there just wasn't enough there. The red cabbage was spot on with passable potato salad. The steamed veggies were down right sad, something out of a "microwave in bag" packet.

I ordered the Rouladen and had the same sad mixed veggies. The Potato Balls was good, but the Rouladen was extremely tough and it was all I could do to cut through it with the dinner knife. I have never had tough Rouladen, but this was almost jerky levels of tough. Even worse it was slightly cool in spots.

Both entrees were very small portions for the cost, a single Rouladen for $26 shouldn't be acceptable. An app and two entress would be over $70... Just for you leave hungry and go elsewhere.

The waitress was nice, she ended up giving us 10% off, but even their bill has issues. They charge a 4% service fee on cards, but the receipt said "save 4% by paying cash". I paid cash and it was the amount on the bill, there was no 4% savings. They need to update their language to be clear "avoid a 4% card processing fee by paying cash".

Overall this place has the location and decor to be good, but whoever is cooking up the food and running the place needs to strongly think about what they are doing. While there aren't many German restaurants, you should just change the concept entirely instead of confusing people about what good German...

I absolutely hate to leave a bad review and I always try to find positive things, especially since i know how much a bad review can influence a rating.....the two stars are truly only for the atmosphere and the waitress (while not crazy outstanding, it definitely was fast, friendly and nice) Unfortunately the food was just plain unacceptable. I am german and REALLY wanted to love this place! I was so excited to find a really good rated german restaurant so close to home and we took the trip of 1 1/2 hours extra to try it (well, with a shopping trip) We started off with the cheese platter, and while good enough, I only made out one piece of "german" cheese on it. For a pretty small selection of mediocre, everyday cheese $15...was just plain crazy! I made the assumption there would be differnet kinds of cheese from europe on it. After eating some and going back to look at the menu, I realized it was my mistake....still absolutely crazy price for this kind of cheese.

Husband had the pork schnitzel with potato dumpling and german potato salad and cucumber salad. I had veal schnitzel with german potato salad and red cabbage. For $23 and $26 a very small, thin amount of meat . Definitely not schnitzel breading and just soggy and not nice and crisp on the outside, like it its supppsed to be. Also absolutely no seasoning. The potato salad was warm (never, ever had warm potato salad??) And just not good at all, the red cabbage was ok, but tasted a little old. The Klöße (potato dumpling) was definitely not homemade, The only thing we enjoyed was the cucumber salad. 🫣 For almost $100 after tip and Taxes, for two entrée , one appetizer and two cokes.... Im sorry, to leave my first very bad review on a german place of all places.... Maybe we are too...

This is out 2nd time eating here. It was every bit as good as the first time! My husband and mom had the bratwurst plate, while my mother in law had the veal, and I had the reuben. Oooohhhh my goodness. I had them put the sauerkraut on the side just in case it was too tart. It was so mild and delicious. I couldn't get enough of it. The German potato salad was so yummy! The reuben itself was pulled high with corned beef, and the pumpernickel bread was ever so lightly toasted. Now, the desserts... holy cow! We all tried different deserts. The napoleon was so light and highlighted the amaretto as the star of the show. The strudel was warm, flaky, with just the right amount of fruit filling. Lastly, and certainly not least was German chocolate cake. The semi-sweet chocolate cake was paired with a light coating of chocolate ganache on the outside, and just the right amount of coconut caramel ooey gooeyness between 2 layers.

The meal was so good, we didn't even get pictures of it. By the time the desserts came, we were slowing down enough that we managed to get pictures of the deserts through.

The atmosphere was just as charming as it could be. The ambiance added to the experience. It was as close to being in Germany without actually flying there.

This is definitely worth eating here. Afterwards, visit the shops at the Cotton Exchange or take a stroll down the river walk on the Cape Fear River. It's a great photo opportunity, especially when you see the battleship.

If you're looking for an eating experience, definitely come here!

Rating: My belly...