NYC BEST: German Bars and Restaurants

Welcome to a new segment on this blog. On Mondays get ready for a quick list of the best restaurants, dishes, or food trends in a certain category. There are so many great things to eat and drink in the city and think of this as your resource to find the absolute best.

If you look around the city this week, it seems that every bar wants to be German. Blue and white flags are everywhere, waitresses wear traditional garb are outside taking a smoke break, and the faint sound of an oompah band can be heard on just about any street.

It’s Oktoberfest! Perfect time to celebrate and soak up German culture. But make sure you find your way to an authentic German bar or restaurant and not get stuck at an Irish bar in disguise. Here are the seven best German bars in NYC (in no particular order):

1. HEIDELBERG

One of the few places left in the old German neighborhood of Yorkville on the Upper East Side, this is where I celebrated one of my first birthdays in New York with the legendary boot of beer that came around to cause intoxicating revelry. But the food is really good here too.

2. LEDERHOSEN

One of the more hidden German bars in the city, Lederhosen is on a residential street in the West Village and features a transportive indoor beer garden.

3. LORELEY BEER GARDEN

Loreley has been going strong for over 15 years in the hip Lower East Side which was once known as Kleindeutschland. Sit in the garden, munch on freshly baked pretzels, and drink a kölsch or two.

4. NÜRNBERGER BIERHAUS

There’s more to Staten Island than Sri Lankan food and pizza. This German company has both a restaurant and a spacious beer hall. They have killer goulash and fried potatoes topped with a Nürnberg bratwurst!

5. PAULANER NYC

SADLY, PAULANER NYC IS NOW CLOSED.

Paulaner is the only place in New York where you can drink freshly made German beer. The historic brewery (one of the hosts of the real Oktoberfest in Munich) runs a brewpub on Bowery where a brewmaster makes all the classic styles (including an actual oktoberfest) on premises for in-house consumption. Proust to that!

6. ZUM SCHNEIDER

This intimate but festive bar is one of the more popular spots in Alphabet City. It’s always a party here whether it’s for a cold lager in summer or a hot glühwein in the winter. But the food is gut bomb-worthy year round.

7. ZUM STAMMTISCH

Many people don’t realize that Glendale, Queens used to have a large German community. It’s far enough away from the city to not get the frat boy crowds so things stay pretty authentic. This is the place for a giant schnitzel topped with mushroom sauce washed down with a beer or two, of course.