My friend, George Miller, had been on me for quite some time to come dine with him at a German restaurant in the picturesque town of Stillwater, MN. Located on the beautiful St. Croix River, downtown Stillwater is a collection of shops, restaurants and bars about 15 miles from downtown St. Paul.
I was in Minneapolis for meetings last fall and I made plans with Geo to have him come to pick me up and take me to The Gasthaus Bavarian Hunter, but known simply as The Gasthaus, which George told me was some of the best German food he's had.Geo came to the hotel and we took off toward Stillwater. He turned down a road in the country outside of Stillwater and then went down another road when we saw the Gasthaus sign (see map). Suddenly, it was like deja vu. I realized I'd been there years prior with my old colleagues when I first became a sales rep in the mid 80's.
Before we walked in, I said to George, "I'm almost certain I've been here. You come in and the bar is on the right, and the bathrooms are on the left."
George said, "That's right." He was a little crestfallen. He thought he had taken me to another place I'd never been to before. He offered to go somewhere else, but I said, "Are you nuts? We're eating here!"
I told him it was a LONG time ago - nearly 17 years - since I'd been there. But I remember it being good.
When we got in, it was exactly as I remember it. The Gasthaus is large, yet cozy as the rooms within the place aren't all that big. There are lots of ornate German touches to the dining room and bar area (which isn't very big), including a nice collection of steins. It wasn't busy that night, but the crowd was steady.We both had a 1/2 liter stein of their imported Munich brewed Oktoberfest and George ordered up a sausage sampler. When she brought it out, I thought, "Holy crap! How are we going to eat this AND our dinner?" It was a large plate of cut up sausages and sauerkraut with a tangy German mustard to dip in. We did make a dent in it, I'll tell you that.
Our waitress was an older lady, which reminded me of the waitresses at the restaurants in the Amana Colonies. She gave wonderful service and had a good sense of humor, too.
I don't exactly remember what George had for dinner, but I had the Jagerschnitzel, two lightly breaded boneless pork chops in a mushroom sauce with sauerkraut and red cabbage. All of which were just wonderful. Just as I remember them from years prior.
We washed down another half liter of Oktoberfest at The Gasthaus. I found the next day that was probably a mistake - Oktoberfest, with a higher alcohol content than most beers, has an affect on me that just makes me feel like crap the next day. Well, that and the fact that George took me to a neat little bar in downtown Stillwater afterwards for three more beers before we ventured home.
George was telling me that The Gasthaus has one of the largest Oktoberfest parties in the upper Midwest. They erect a huge tent next to the restaurant and park the cars in the open field to the east of the building. He says it's fun and just crazy. I'd never been to an Oktoberfest any where before, and the way he was describing it, I really wanted to go to the one next September.
This is NOT the waitress we had, but one of the girls who works at The Gasthaus during Oktoberfest. Hey, I'm a sucker for any pretty girl who has a handful of full beer mugs and a big pretzel around her neck.The Gasthaus is as authentic Bavarian cuisine as you can get in the states. I've eaten at a lot of great German restaurants in my lifetime, and The Gasthaus is right up there with the best of 'em.
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