Located in German Village, on the end of a cobbled lane adjacent to the companion Fudge Haus (no gay jokes please, people are trying to eat), Schmidt's looks like a Brother's Grimm story setting- minus the fairy tale ending (the bill). Think wooden plank floors, giant beer steins, exposed brick and beer barrels on the walls.
As the name indicates, and thousands of diners already know, this is German food, in all its porky glory. They've been proudly clogging arteries here for over a 100 years, and guten for them. The world has enough low cal wrap places like Cosi. You have to admire a place that wears its heart attack on its sleeve by showing off their huge cream puffs in a glass display as you enter. Good merchandising too. Imagine how many impatient, screaming kids have been placated with the promise of one of these?
The cream puffs don't just look good, they are a cannonball of mushy love. The a la carte entrees and buffet items we sampled were well prepared and specialties included the usual German suspects- schnitzel, sauerbraten, spaetzle, potato pancakes, etc., plus their well-known, made-in-house bratwurst and Bahama Mama that you see at fairs, sporting venues and in the grocery store. I recommend the meat loaf- it's soft, dense and contains pork, along with beef and breadcrumbs. I didn't find the buffet to be too impressive or an especially good value- a few sausages, meatloaf, mac and cheese, potato salad.
Service was timely and friendly, even though the place was packed.
Predictably, ambiance is lacking- it's very bright and noisy. As an over-the-top theme restaurant it's not surprising to see the Euro bogus decor, silly server costumes and an Oom Pah band of fat old guys in lederhosen. What might surprise you are the prices.
Let's face it, entrails and potatoes aren't expensive, but dinner entrees here average $11-15 and a 16 oz. beer (the excellent Hofbrau lager) is $7.50. We got dinged for $120 with tip for a table of 5. For these kind of prices, you should get free Lipitor.
Even though I'm unlikely to eat at a place like this all that often, I'm glad that a one-off family run place like Schmidt's that actually makes things from scratch exists rather than another TGI O'Murphys. Where else are you going to take your visiting Aunt Edna?
Service was timely and friendly, even though the place was packed.
Predictably, ambiance is lacking- it's very bright and noisy. As an over-the-top theme restaurant it's not surprising to see the Euro bogus decor, silly server costumes and an Oom Pah band of fat old guys in lederhosen. What might surprise you are the prices.
Let's face it, entrails and potatoes aren't expensive, but dinner entrees here average $11-15 and a 16 oz. beer (the excellent Hofbrau lager) is $7.50. We got dinged for $120 with tip for a table of 5. For these kind of prices, you should get free Lipitor.
Even though I'm unlikely to eat at a place like this all that often, I'm glad that a one-off family run place like Schmidt's that actually makes things from scratch exists rather than another TGI O'Murphys. Where else are you going to take your visiting Aunt Edna?
RATING: 3 Bites
240 East Kossuth Street
Columbus, OH 43206-2188
Columbus, OH 43206-2188
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