Gasthaus Bavarian Hunter  TODOTC.com To Do in the Twin Cities Restaurants Gasthaus Bavarian Hunter  Date: June 30, 2023 8390 Lofton Ave N  Stillwater, MN 55082 Phone: (651) 439-7128 www.gasthausbavarianhunter.com

To be in the Midwest and know nothing about German food would be like being on the coast and know nothing about seafood. If you are from the Midwest and not have some German in your ancestry would make you as they would call you in Minnesota a Mover-Inner. Assuming some German in your ancestry today we are going to take you on a bit of a memory trip to your youth and food they served in the Mother Country. There are about four good German restaurants in and around the Twin Cities Gasthaust Bavarian Hunter is the one in the Stillwater area. We always attend the June German Party of the year in the Twin Cities German Days or Deutesche Tage at the German American Institute a few blocks up summit from the Cathederal overlooking St Paul. It was at this years German Days I overheard a conversation about best German Restaurants in the Twin Cities. After Black Forest, Gasthaus Bavarian Hunter of Stillwater was mentioned for some of the best original German food around. I talked with E and we agreed and she got us reservations. And they were needed in this popular place. If you are looking for a quick place to stop in and sample some food on the way to something else the Gasthaus Bavarian Hunter is not that place. Since it is in Stillwater, and we were coming from our every Friday night wine tasting downtown Mpls E, we set our reservation for 7:30. And only a few tables came in after us and they were sweeping up an almost empty restaurant when we left an hour later. To get to Gasthaust take any freeway to 36 east of Fleet Farm in Oakdale, North to Manning Rd and look for the signs. When we arrived, it was as German as German could be. In an area of rolling hills as White Bear Township is, we were seemly in the middle of the Black Forest. It was picturesque. We were looking at a German Hunting Lodge with a huge deck and Mayday celebration area next to a huge parking lot. We will definitely return for their Ethnic events. As we walked in it was clearly built to resemble a German Hunting lodge with deer & animal mounts on every wall which were not filled with intricate German Engineering artwork. Then we heard it, a German Accordian playing beer hall sounds. Yep, we were back in the motherland. Looking around we saw steins of beer meeting in the air with the yell: Ziggy, Zaggy, Ziggy Zaggy, Oi, Oi, Oi, a German Classic drinking toast. We were met by the Maitre D’ who’s name I’m sure was Greta and taken to our seats in the midst of this German Party. The restaurant was packed, something we have not seen except very exclusive restaurants for years. And the people were all ages. A few tables away was clearly a grandma & grandpa with 3 grandkids aged 3-7 that were not used to sitting for an hour to eat. People, as will happen at the Octoberfest attitude that was in the air, are very gracious to each other. We even had a table call me over, since I take a lot of pictures to show you the restaurant and food, that offered to take our picture. We were seated with water, utensils and a menu. As usual we started with the wine menu. For a German restaurant they had a great wine menu. When we think of Germany we think of whites, but they had much more. I’m reminded of an interchange at a Bastille Day Wine booth when I asked what kinds of wine they had. I was told they had BOTH TYPES of wine Rouge AND BLANC! For Blanc I was thrilled to see my former go-to wine a Gewurtz from Starling Castle, you know the one with a huge castle on the bottle. It’s at half the summer parties in the world. It’s a wine anyone can drink is you can handle a bit sweet. In addition, they had a Riesling from Relax, a Chard from Josh, a Sav Blanc from NZ, a Moscato from Italy and a Prosecco. My cousin ARNOLD may not have been happy they were lacking an Austrian Gruner, which we drank an hour earlier, but they filled all the rest of the slots. For Reds they had Apothic a mainstay of newbies, a Noir & Merlot from Murphy Goodie, A Cab Sav from Josh. We had the Josh Cab since they were so nice to us when we visited their winery and the Noir. Both were as good as the fine wineries they came from with good pours for about $8. Then we needed to turn our time to the menu. We started with Walleye Cakes, Fisch kuchen for an appetizer. On top of the Walleye was Brussels Sprouts Slaw with lemon, vinaigrette finished with a Bistro sauce. It tasted even better than it looked. But before the Walleye they brought us out some fresh hot baked square bread and a bowl full of broccoli. Followed by a beat and green salad, also good. Then I ordered the Walleye Fish and E the Sauerbraten (sour roast beef topped with a red wine & vinegar dark sauce) and we finished with what else, the Apple Strudel. It was as good as what we had at German Days on the Summit. No trip to the Gasthaus is complete without mention of the Accordion player who knows every German Drinking song we know: Edelweiss and In Heaven there Is No Beer and he played them all for us flawlessly as we all sang. It was a rare eating experience. The bill ended up being just over $100 with tip. I don’t know if I would take someone you were trying to impress to the Gasthaus but it is definitely a fun family experience. 

Contact us Dennis@ToDoTC.com