Jack Barkla
Castle mural
On the west wall outside: Mespelbrunn Castle in the Spessart forest, once a bishop’s hunting lodge and still inhabited today.
Unsere Geschichte
Sixty years of patience, hard work & good old-fashioned stubbornness.
Since May 15, 1965
Owned and operated by Erich Christ & family.
Born, raised and professionally trained in and around Mannheim, Germany, Erich still makes our famous bratwurst — and every German specialty — right here in our kitchen from scratch.
We’ve always strived to serve excellent, handmade food at an accessible price. That commitment shaped everything that came after: the beer garden, the banquet hall, and the spaetzle we sell in grocery stores (still only three ingredients!).
We know there’s no way we could have done it without you, our loyal customers. From the bottom of our hearts: thank you — we can’t wait for the next chapter.
1965
Doors open on 26th Street
The kitchen was literally in the front closet. Expansion started almost immediately.
Late 1960s – 70s
A real kitchen & a new bar
Renovations established roughly the floor plan we still have today.
Mid-1970s
The Beer Garden
We expanded next door and built one of the Twin Cities’ first outdoor dining patios.
1980s – 90s
Spaetzle & the Festsaal
Our spaetzle hit grocery freezers and we opened our banquet space next door.
2000s
Billboards & festivals
A famous 12-year billboard run — and our brat stand at nearly every German event in the metro.
2015 → today
50, then 60 years
A big street party for our 50th, and still serving “Guten Food” on Eat Street.
Our “famous” billboards
Twelve years of puns on Nicollet Avenue.
We don’t tweet. We prefer alphorn.
A tour of our objets d’art
Things on the walls, off the walls & off-the-wall things.
Just steps from Mia and MCAD, we’ve been steeped in Twin Cities art since 1965 — including work by Michael Lynch, Chuck Huntington, Jack Barkla, Bernie Quick and Richard Avedon.
Bruce Thomas & Mike Lynch
The bronze deer head
The sign hanging on our corner — a collaboration in bronze and our unofficial mascot.
Dale Dettman
The brick arch
The brickwork arch over our front door was designed and built by the late Dale Dettman.
Tiffany “Rosebush” reproductions
Stained glass fixtures
Three Tiffany-design lamps have hung over the small dining room since February 1997.
Jack Barkla
The Heinzelmännchen panels
Industrious helper elves from Swabian folklore — think the shoemaker’s elves — painted above the windows.
Frank Stone
Stained glass light
A local glass artist’s fixture that has welcomed guests to the waiting area for over 30 years.
Jack Barkla
Twelve painted shields
Traditional German city and state crests — Berlin’s bear, Hessen’s striped lion, Bremen’s key and a few mysteries.
Jack Barkla
Rhineland panels
Painted for the old Restaurant Lorelei. A visiting winemaker once recognized one scene as his hometown, Assmannshausen.
Restaurant Lorelei
The café sign
A traditional hanging sign — it lost its “café” plaque after one too many bumped heads.
Mike Lynch
Nature scene
Painted above the 26th Street entrance, along with the panels around the banquet hall windows.
Collected over decades
Steins & curios
Pewter-lidded steins, cuckoo clocks (one works) and a souvenir plate from Erich’s hometown, Mannheim.
Richard Avedon
“The Daughters of the American Revolution”
A print by the world-famous photographer hangs in the restaurant — one of our most talked-about pieces.
Community giving
Proud to give back to our neighbors.
Every year we donate more than $4,000 in gift certificates to silent auctions, raffles and fundraisers — and several times a year we share a portion of a day’s profits with a local partner.
Recent partners include Children’s Hospitals and Clinics Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Minnesota Opera, Como Zoo & Conservatory, Twin Cities German Immersion School, Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus, Whittier Elementary, Stevens Square Community Organization, Helping Paws, Memorial Blood Centers and many more.
Request a donation