In Louisville to see a couple of dealers earlier this year, I was needing some kind of a "stick-to-your-bones" type of meal. Indian food has sort of become my "go-to" for comfort food over the past year or so, but this time I was looking for something different. German food sounded kind of good and I looked on-line to see if there was anything in the immediate area of my hotel on the east side of the city. Well, it turned out that there was only one German restaurant - in the whole city of Louisville. I sort of shrugged my shoulders and looked for it on the map. It turned out that it was about a 10 minute drive from my hotel and in moments I was on my way to the Gasthaus for some German food. (Photo courtesy Trip Advisor.)
Louisville has a deep German heritage, similar to a lot of Middle America cities that saw an influx of German settlers in the mid-to-late 1800's. Just before the start of the Civil War, 35% of Louisville's population were German immigrants and the German language was taught along side English in grade schools. After the Civil War, Germans were in integral part of the meat packing industry in the city as the population of Louisville rose to over 100,000 people. By the turn of 20th century, nearly 30% of the population were direct descendants of German settlers.
During World War I, anti-German sentiment was high and there had begun a de-emphasis of German culture around the city. German churches turned into English churches, German books were removed from the shelves of public libraries, German newspapers quit publishing and by World War II, the German population in Louisville were more identified as Americans than of German heritage.
Today, one-third of Louisville's population has some German ancestry in their lineage and one would think that there would be more than just one German restaurant in the city, especially with the Germantown neighborhood being one of the oldest in the city. Over 20 years ago there were over a half-dozen restaurants that served German cuisine. However, when Erika's closed in December of 2013 it left only the Gasthaus serving German food in Louisville.
It turned out that the owners of the Gasthaus, Michael and Annemarie Griepel moved to Louisville about 25 years ago with the expressed intent of opening a German restaurant. They found a space in the Brownsboro Center shopping complex and opened the doors to the Gasthaus in December of 1993. The family - the Griepel's five children were involved in the business, as well - was on a shoestring budget and many of the items they used in decorating the restaurant came from their home.
Initially, the Gasthaus sold only sandwiches and sausages, but the Griepel's eventually started to include German foods made from family recipes. Michael Griepel was the head chef of the restaurant and was soon joined in the kitchen by Jason Malone as the restaurant's executive chef. The Griepel's sons Nico and Robert helped in the kitchen while daughters Simon, Viki and Nina worked the front of the house with their mother.
The Gasthaus is located just off the Henry Watterson Expressway on Brownsboro Road on Louisville's east side. (See map) During the warmer months, they brings some tables out front for outside dining. And even though it was an unseasonably warm evening for that time of year in Louisville, the tables weren't out front.
I went in to the restaurant and found a place that was highly decorated with pictures, plaques, old world German knick-knacks and antique light fixtures. An older lady with pink streaks in her stylish hair - it turned out to be Annemarie Griepel - jumped up from behind the counter to greet me. Telling her that it was just me for dinner, in a thick German accent she told a young girl to take me to a table in the dining area of the restaurant.
Just past the front counter, there was a back bar area that was used for staging the desserts the Gasthaus is somewhat famous for. Desserts such as chocolate eclairs, Black Forest chocolate cake, lemon rolls and an Irish creme torte were on display on a table along the walkway going back to the dining room. It was a great way to tempt people before they ordered their dinner.
I was taken to a small table in the back corner of the restaurant complete with a red and white checked table cloth on top and given a menu. I immediately ordered a Warsteiner pilsner beer from the young lady who sat me. The lighting in the dining area was subdued, but somewhat eerie in the shadows that it projected. I needed the flashlight application on my phone to read the menu.
The dining room featured paintings, German state flags, and old-time pictures on the walls. Two small rooms - they call them the chalet rooms at the Gasthaus - featured tables for larger parties or overflow dining. One of the chalet rooms had a number of teddy bears in the windows on either side of the door that entered the open room.
My very pleasant waitress came back with a half loaf of fresh baked bread. It came with a small tub of herbed whipped butter. And I thought I could tell there was a bit of cream cheese that was blended in with the butter. The bread was delicious.
Each night, the Gasthaus features a dinner special and a special salad. That night the dinner special was a chicken breast schnitzel dish and the special salad was, if I remember correctly, a beet salad. I decided to look deeper into the menu to see if there was anything else that I could find to eat.
The Gasthaus featured a number of different types of German fare consisting of chicken, beef, pork and veal dishes. But the first thing that I noticed were the prices. The Gasthaus wasn't cheap. I think the lowest priced entree was around $17.50 for a chicken breast dish. Two bratwurst sausages with sauerkraut and pan-fried potatoes were $18.00. Whoa! This food had better be of the knock-your-socks-off quality, I thought to myself.
It was between a couple dishes - the Zigeuner Schnitzel which featured breaded pork cutlets that were topped with a sweet and sour mushroom, onion, pepper and bacon sauce; and the Stroganoff - tender beef filet tips cooked in a creamy sauce consisting of mushrooms, beets, onions and pickles. I ended up with the Stroganoff.
The Stroganoff came with spaetzle noodles and it featured a half plate of the beef with the heavy brown sauce with mushrooms prominently displayed with the beef. The meat was tender, but not tender enough to be fully cut by a fork. The overall meal had a good taste quality, but I thought it was somewhat overpriced for what it was. This was a $25.00 plate of food in front of me. I guess I didn't realize that German food was that expensive and I didn't think it was that good of a value.
But it was filling and I passed on getting any of the Gasthaus' delectable desserts that evening. With the beers I had that evening with my dinner, my bill was already approaching $40 bucks before tax and tip.
The stroganoff dish that I had at the Gasthaus was fine enough, but I thought it was on the low side of value for what I got. The bread and herb-blended butter was very good, the taste of the stroganoff was good, but not outstanding, and the service I received that evening was very good with a very pleasant young lady waiting on me. Tastes are changing and its getting tougher to find good German restaurants in the middle part of the U.S. The Gasthaus - to me - was fine for what it was, but not the most outstanding German meal I've had.
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