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Sunday, December 15, 2013

Heidelberg Restaurant- Yorkville

Yorkville used to have a lot of good German places, especially the famous Cafe Geiger (long gone) with its patrons who would come in for their "Stammtisch" every week or something...

This place gets some thumbs down but mostly more like raves

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  • 1648 2nd Ave
    New York, NY 10028
    b/t 85th St & 86th St in Yorkville, Upper East Side
  • Transit information 4 5 6 6X Get Directions
  • Phone number (212) 628-2332
  • Business website heidelbergrestaurant.com
  • 11/30/2013
    1 check-in here
    Very authentic German restaurant place in a nice an calm part of town.

    The food is really legit.

    Service was exceptionally good and professional.

    Good choice of imported German beers.

    The only kind of disappointment was the dessert. Mine wasn't an original black-forest cake, nope!

    Great atmosphere and food. I'll go back
  • 11/23/2013
    1 check-in here
    * 3.5 rounded to 4 *

    Good German fare that has obviously been a family run joint far back into the annals of NYC history and it shows. The service is a little weird and our waitress, all dirndl'd up, was very curt with us (though it was funnier than it was off-putting, we just assumed she really wanted out of the dirndl.)

    The dishes are also quite expensive, but you will have leftovers if you order one entree per person, so it becomes more affordable if you order 1/2 as many entrees as you have people and add on a couple apps. Still, we walked out having spent $20-25 each.

    Just like Korean food, German food is always inexplicably more expensive than similar filling food from other cultures. But if you've got to have it, this is a good place to do it.

    BTW, the bread basket has a bit of pretzel in it. Win!
  • 11/13/2013
    1 check-in here
    Probably the best German place in Manhattan.  They have been here for quite some time and generally if anyone from my family visits NYC this is one of our must stop locations.  A great selection of German beers coupled with top notch German food.  Starting every meal off with some bread (always good to drink and eat), the potato pancakes are my favorite appetizer.  You cannot go wrong with any of the sausage's (yes, I was tempted to just say wurst) or anything that comes with their spaetzel.  An almost everything is served with a side of red cabbage (which is delicious).

    I can't speak to the desserts, between the beer and the delicious other food, I almost never have room for dessert.
    • 5 friends
    • 1 review
    12/14/2013
    Awesome!!! Loved everything about this authentic German restaurant from the food, beer, to the ambiance and wait staff. Yummy goulash! Can't wait to return!
  • 10/19/2013
    1 check-in here
    I give this restaurant 3 stars for food and 4 stars for ambience and service.  The beer selection also deserves 4 stars.

    I sat at the bar here on a Friday night and had dinner and a beer. They have a good selection of German beers on tap, and serve them in half liter, full liter, or two liter boots. I went with a full liter of Hofbrauhaus dark beer.  The beer was fine, but seemed a little flat and not the same as what you get in Munich.  The beer was slightly on the high side in terms of prices.

    For dinner I ordered the paprika hähnchen. It was just OK. While it came out quick from the kitchen, it was not quite hot enough for my tastes, and seemed as though it were sitting around for a little. The chicken was slightly on the tough side, definitely not fresh and tender. The sauce and Spätzle were fine, and those noodles really helped to soak up the beer.

    The service, though, at the bar was outstanding. It's a small bar area and the bartenders were friendly and attentive. It was a nice place to sit with the German decor.
  • 10/18/2013
    This place has been here since the 1930's.  My grandma used to go here when she lived in Yorkville in her 20's.  The area used to have a ton of dance halls and German places.  This is one of the last vestiges from that era.

    I come here for the beer.  They have a bunch of German beers on tap.  You can get huge liters and the boot (requires a deposit on the boot).  Interesting scene on a week night, with a diverse crowd of old and young.  Not a bad place to come with your buddy and grab a drink at the bar.

    I'll have to try out the food next time I'm there.
  • 10/7/2013
    1 check-in here
    We sat at the bar on a Saturday afternoon in late September.  Service was a little slow at first but eventually picked up and was quite attentive.  The atmosphere was great, and exactly as expected.  Dim, cozy and comfy.

    I would love to come here with a whole bunch of people and sample everything on the menu.  We ordered a sampling of traditional favorites.  The cheese spaetzle was amazing... very fresh and decadent.  The potato pancakes were also great although pretty oily.  I didn't mind and honestly, if  you're worried about health when you're eating here, you're probably better off not coming.  The bratwurst were so good!  I don't even usually like bratwurst, but these were packed with flavor.  Even the sauerkraut was great and I usually go to great lengths to avoid anything cabbage-related.

    Very pleasant afternoon with good beer and great food.  Can't wait to come back, and with more people.  Getting here from the west side was kind of a trek, but totally worth it.
  • 10/5/2013
    The service was a little slow, and it took a while for a table, but the food was good and we would definitely go back.  We had to check back with the hostess and by then our table was ready. However if we hadn't checked back who knows how long we would have waited...

    Anyway, we tried the beer, it was good. Nice sized glass for $7 each. Not bad. For food, we tried the potato pancakes, butchers plate (special October feast menu), and the goulash (with schnitzel). Everything was really good, wished we would have tried the sausage plate instead of the special. There were a couple kinds of "sausage" that you had to cut out of the casing and the texture threw us off. It had amazing flavor but we would have preferred traditional style of sausage. That being said the bratwurst was our favorite. I don't even like mustard and the mustard was great. The sour kraut and red cabbage were really good. We didn't care for the bread basket.

    We skipped dessert as I was disappointed there was no German chocolate cake on the menu (maybe that is an Americanized tradition). We opted for cupcakes next door from Two Little Hens, you must try them!!! Yum!
  • 8/30/2013
    I know...you were eating at Heidelberg before Bourdain, and had the Schweine Haxe ten years before he did. Actually, you didn't, because the only people who did before Bourdain were the Frauenhilfsverein at my old bilingual church on E 84th. But I digress...

    You should go now, just don't claim the early adopter status listed above. You might as well grow a handlebar mustache and wear an organic wool skicap in summer instead; Heidelberg is not for hipsters or faux-foodie airs. It is for eating German food and drinking German beer, and being thanked in German by your waitress. And bonus: it doesn't have Rolf's claustrophobia-inducing Christmas decorations.

    Heidelberg is my favorite remaining Yorkville institution. It remains as it was and ever will be: a dark and brooding interior with servers in dirndls and lederhosen, that is somehow fun for families and singles, complete with small taxidermy, an amazing beer selection and schnapps by the glass for the finale.

    If you have German family, you will be reminded of Sundays with Grossmutter: cucumber salad, divine potato pancakes, braised red cabbage, goulash soup, sauerkraut, spaetzle - the works.

    But  Heidelberg's reputation is as a shrine for German meat. Have you ever been anywhere else where the menu had two categories of sides? One is "side orders", one is "side of meat". (True!) In addition to endless entrees, they have delicious sausages, complete with platters that range from 1-4 people plus the "Stammtisch", which remains on my list of things to arrange with daring and hungry friends. Maybe this is the year!

    Insider tips:
    1) When Baroness Schraeder said, "I really must speak to cook about the wiener schnitzel; it is entirely too delicious for my figure," that cook learned how to make it at Heidelberg.

    2) I shouldn't tell you this, BUT they also have a small biergarten downstairs, through the kitchen, and in back. It's wonderful to quaff a Weihenstephan there in summer. Or do as the lovely Asian couple next to me did, and order the 2 liter Steifel. Yes, put down that security deposit because it's awesome, and if people like you were raised right and didn't steal the boot, they wouldn't need your deposit.

    3) Don't pull a fast one on the servers: if you are just having apps, sit at the bar. Tables are for dinner, like coffee is for closers. They are the one remaining place that will call you out for bad customer behavior, now that Mocca is no more.

    4) Speaking of Mocca: if you miss their palacsinta, Heidelberg has palatschinken! (tomato, tomahto) They also have homemade apple strudel that is, as Dad says, "to die for".

    5) You will be way too full for palatschinken or strudel unless you linger for hours, so get a piece of the Schwarzwelder Kirschtorte *to go*. They even bring you the Andes mints!

    6) If you are lingering, do it right. Drink schnapps and roll into a cab after bidding "Danke schoen" to the lovely folks that made your night so great.
  • 8/15/2013
    1 check-in here
    Listed in manly men.
    This is where men can go to be men.

    By that I mean it is where we will tenderly share boots of beer, discuss our feelings in depth, and consume phallic-shaped tubes of meat, bacon, potato pancakes, and delicious, delicious spaetzle.

    And it will be good.
  • 8/29/2013
    To be honest i don't know what to say!!
    I came there 3 times before and my experience was fantastic!! Love german food!
    But last time it was terrible.
    It  was 3 of us and we wanted to sit at the bar, but it was full, so we asked to get a table(restaurant was two third empty)
    The hostess said we had to have dinner in order to be sitted at the table. Awkward , but we agreed.
    We decided to try their beer from big glass boot. Waitress told us that she ll need to take $200 deposit for the boot. Really?! That's absurd! But we gave her the money. Then my friends and I decided to have a few apps. Waitress gave us attitude right away that we didn't order entree. I really don't get what's her problem.
    The whole time she made comments like we tricked her and we belong with the bar crowd. And we could have a sit only if we order entrees.
    That's very upsetting feeling that we were not welcomed. ;(
  • 11/18/2013
    For what it is the Heidelberg is great! Food that is satisfying, food for the soul and food for these dark chilly evenings! It's a place that harks back to times past in Yorkville when the place was truly a German neighborhood. There are few remembrances to this bygone era. But the Heidelberg remains steadfast.
  • 9/4/2013
    Great place for authentic German food on the UES. Potato pancakes are so good! Def get some red cabbage and speatzel too.

    Great for dinner or just a brew at the bar.
  • 9/10/2013
    Three couplets to describe my experiences at Heidelberg:
    1. Das boot
    2. German Beer
    3. What food?

    That is all.
    • 3 friends
    • 76 reviews
    11/3/2013
    Went here a last weekend with family. For some reason, despite being such a huge metropolitan city, it's still hard to find good German restaurants in NYC for some reason. And since I am a huge fan of German food, this place has been on my list for a while. I was thrilled to finally get the chance to check it out for myself.

    All three of us had the sauerbraten. We also split an order of the potato pancakes and creamed spinach. I love their dumplings here! Haven't had ones this good in a very long time. The sauerbraten and red cabbage were both amazing and the potato pancakes were second only to my mother's homemade ones. The creamed spinach was also quite delicious.

    We sampled a few beers with dinner and shared the apple strudel for dessert, which was delicious though they sadly forgot to put the cream on the plate, so we missed out on that. I also wish they would serve the Trollinger wine by the glass, but ah well.

    Overall excellent food and service and I am looking forward to returning.
    • 43 friends
    • 114 reviews
    8/20/2013
    1 check-in here
    Ever since I moved to NYC I've been searching for a great german place to mimic a favorite place back home.  There's something so appealing to me about drinking a tall, well-made beer and eating spaetzle and bratwurst and sauerkraut.  Sometimes you're just in the mood for that.  Anyway I walked by here a few weeks ago, and finally found a time to try it out.

    I was really impressed! It has a hole in the wall feel, but it's still nice but also casual at the same time.  There's is a pretty big bar, but also tables for seating.  Our service was good, not pushy but definitely sufficient.  I got the classic bratwurst and my friend got the veal sausage.  It comes with potato salad and sauerkraut, both of which I thought were really tasty.  I also really liked my bratwurst and the mustard that came with it. They have a lot of beers to choose from, and I was thrilled that they had my favorite one on tap.  There were lots of things on the menu that I would like to go back and try, so I will definitely be coming back.  I recommend this place to anyone looking for a good german place in the UES neighborhood.
  • 11/2/2013
    Great food,  always go for Oktoberfest time, but i am surprised they don't offer more as a special oktoberfest menu, its essentially the everyday menu.  The schnitzel was average,  and as a table we shared the pretzels, YUM,  some wursts,  and of course a great beer selection.  I was confused that they asked for a $68 deposit to have a boot,  but apparently people get out of there with them if they don't.  So if you want the authentic tastes of Oktoberfest and a jacked up price,  this is your spot.
  • 10/6/2013
    Heidelberg is a very unique dining experience.  We don't have restaurants like this where I come from and after going to Heidelberg on at least 1/2 of my visits to NYC, my question is why the heck not?!  This place is delicious!  The goulash is amazing.  I have tried to make goulash, and it tastes nothing like this wondrous stew.  The cheese fondue with the shot of cherry liquor is out of this world.  Potato pancakes are awesome and served with applesauce as they should be.  The schnitzel is perfection.  If you save room there is a great place next door with yummy cupcakes.

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