The Radler

Ok so let me start this off by saying my star review reflects the NEW radler, after renovations/​menu overhaul.
A longtime resident of Logan Square (10 years) I was really excited when the Radler opened up. When I first went I loved the beer hall meets modern germany asthetic. There was awesome grafiti on the wall, an open kitchen which had a super interesting real mural made out of bike parts. The food, phenominal. During their happy hour special we got $ 5 amazing steamed muscles and the best vegan entrée I’ve ever had (esp considering it’s a german place) was a charred cauliflower dish with sunflower butter and omg even meat eaters would have died for this. Their sausage plates were also amazing. I was a total fan and often visited here (once a month I’d say.)
Well a couple months went by and they renovated. The place now looks like any generic ‘what an american thinks a german beer hall/​restaurant should look like’ and it’s pretty sad. They made the kitchen no longer open. The place now has terrible live polka bands. There is no longer any sort of actual interesting food on the menu. All flavorful chef designed dishes were taken away in favor of a $ 6 brat menu. They are now catering only to the people who want to get wasted by drinking boots and eat cheap «fancy» hot dogs. I really am sad. The staff there is awesome and always friendly. I ADORE the idea that they made it a living wage place and stand by their ethics, but I can sadly, no longer enjoy going there for food, or ambiance.
Old Radler, I give you 5 stars in everyway. New Radler, you get 2.

Threw my birthday party here, and set everything up with Adam Herbert. The thing about Adam is that he is first class all the way.
What we ordered:
Spring Green Salad
Bay Scallops
Charcuterie Plate
Beer Battered Perch
Crispy Potato Dumpling
Shots
All of this was delicious. I appreciated every bit of it.

When the Radler opened I was very eager to try a spot that emphasized the German Bierhall concept while also focusing on making innovative and fresh interpretations of German classics. Initially, however, it missed the bierhall mark a little bit by serving mostly small plates of expensive foods that did not always have the muster to match 1L of cold german beer. Also, the interior was lacking some of the dark woods that youd expect.
They recently made some great changes, however, like focusing more on providing sandwiches and brats that you can cheaply order with a beer. Also, real nice little beer patio area. They have some nice specials, like $ 8 for a shot, a cheap beer, and a brat. Went twice in 1 weekend and it is not too crowded, has great service, and has some of the best german food I’ve had anywhere in the world

We initially came here to try the pretzel because of good reviews. it was ok. We then ordered the brockwurst and thuringer sausages and buttered spaetzle. The spaetzle was the best thing.. the sausages were good, but a little salty. Just fyi. when you order food items, they automatically put an 18% gratuity on the ticket.

Good food, good atmosphere, good beer selection. Best options: breakfast for dinner sausage and haus pretzel.
The breakfast for dinner sausage was among the best I’ve had. The flavors worked extremely well together, although the potato could’ve been a little crisper.
Haus pretzel was also fantastic. Served hot with barley butter and jam.
The bacon and Swiss sausage was almost as good.
The pork schnitzel was average; if you really want schnitzel, get the sandwich instead.

Went on a Sunday night and it was pretty quiet. It’s set up like a German beer hall, so the seating is shared. There are tables/​booths that are large enough to comfortably seat 4 – 6 people. Unfortunately, my group forgot to bring their IDs, so I don’t have anything to say about the adult beverages.
On to food: we started with fries, which were nothing special. Too bad we didn’t see the currywurst, which was sausage, curry sauce, & fries. Would have done that in a heartbeat over regular plain fries.
We also got a haus pretzel, with the mustard trio. That mustard trio was delicious, my favorite being the spicy one.
The best part, we ordered the pig’s head platter which is only available on the weekends. It also tends to run out on Friday & Saturday, so if you want it get there early! It took them around 30 – 40 minutes to get it to our table, but our waiter explained in advance that it would take that long, but only because it wasn’t prepped ahead of time.
This platter would fill 4 people easily. It comes with a DELICIOUS half head. You get the whole thing, the snout, teeth, ear, eye, and the cheek (don’t eat that other stuff… just the meat off the cheek and on the backside). It also comes with 3 side dishes that were delicious. It’s hard to remember them because the pig’s head was so good.

Easter Brunch, what a mess! After making a reservation for 1 pm and arriving on time, we had three parties of walk-​ins sat before our complete party. After we were seated and told we could access the buffet and mile-​long omelette line, we were ignored for 20 minutes with regards to drink orders. After making many efforts to flag down a server, I approached the host stand and asked if this was a bar service brunch as we had now been ignored for a solid 30 minutes.
After the host (possibly the manager on duty) brought us drinks, which we promptly slurped down, we waited another 10 minutes trying to flag down a server for refills before I headed to the bar and asked for a refill myself. Another server, filling mimosas, at the bar asked us where we were and profusely apologized for not having addressed us as soon as we came in. You’d think we would get decent service after that. Not so much. Mind you, it’s now been almost an hour and we STILL have not been addressed by a server… lots of promises though.
Then they ran out of sparkling wine. For an advertised bottomless mimosa meal. We finally got decent service when we were the only people in the restaurant save a few bar patrons and two other parties at tables. Drinks were comped, but I still wouldn’t go back there for a holiday brunch. Ill-​staffed, unprepared, and overpriced. The only reason I did not give this review a single star was the fact that they had an Uno deck on hand, which we used, and A League Of Their Own was playing on the big screen. Spend your money somewhere else, Logan Square. There are so many other places that won’t run out of sparkling wine during bottomless Sunday brunch.

I went in to have a drink while waiting for some friends to arrive in logan square. It wasn’t a very busy Sunday afternoon. I sat for 5 minutes at the bar (one other person was seated at the bar) and I was never served. Other times I’ve been and have no complaints, they need to step it up because there are a lot of other places to go.

The Radler has recently changed its format, and I think it’s all for the better. The no-​tips policy is hard to get used to, but I’m on board if they’re paying the staff a decent wage — which I hope they are, as the service is uniformly good. There’s a good selection of beers with an emphasis on German styles and, well, radlers, which are all fine and delicious. The food’s always been good, and I like the choice of putting in more communal tables to encourage socializing; it keeps the ambience intact while giving it more of a beer-​hall feel and not losing its unique character.

Get the pretzels. Immediately. They were BY FAR our favorite part of our meal… so good, in fact, we ordered more AFTER our entrees came because we just wanted so many more. They have this amazing buttery crispy outside that tastes so good with a bit of salt. The mustard sauces for dipping are good, but that pretzel was delicious with the house butter. Order more of that butter immediately. It was SO amazingly delicious.
The rest of our meal was pretty good. We all ordered an entrée but ended up sharing a lot of what we ordered with each other. The Radler seems like a good place to just order a few things and family style share them with friends. The meat was fresh and there’s a lot of varieties of sausage on the menu if that’s something you like. I’d avoid this place if you’re a) not interested in sausage (or meat in general) and b) you hate sauerkraut. I enjoy both of those things, so I really liked the food here.
The beer selection is large and they have some lower-​priced selections available. You can also get the huge German-​style Hofbrau on tap and other specialty German beers that aren’t widely available in other restaurants or bars.
The bill was kind of a lot at the end of the night, so I’d say this is a place to get some food, skip the drinks (or have just one) and then go to Cole’s across the street for cheap beer, good music, and games. They take reservations, which is always a plus when you’re going with a large group. They get super busy after 7 p.m. most night (especially on weekends) so make a reservation or plan on a wait. Some of the seating is «shared» so you might be two people sharing a table with another party of two or four that you don’t know (think The Publican). Parking is near impossible on Milwaukee on evenings and weekends so maybe take the bus or the Blue Line.

What a joke.
1. We walk in, a sign at the door says seat yourself.
2. We proceed to some stools on the left side of the room and sit.
3. Wait 20 minutes trying to grab the attention of staff who seemed to deftly avoid eye contact.
4. Finally flag down someone to have them rudely explain that this is a bar service area only and we’d have to sit somewhere else to get service.
Are you serious? The bar is no where near this area, it’s clear across the other side of the room. Why in the world would anyone assume some remote area that is far away from the bar would be bar service, especially when there are menus, utensils, and condiments on the table?
We walked straight out of there — what a waste of time.
Management: The least you could do is put up a damn sign saying «bar service area» or better yet have a host/​hostess at the front directing folks. And if you see clueless customers maybe don’t hang them out to dry, you could try helping ‘em out instead of avoiding them and then being annoyed by them…

I’ve been here for lunch and dinner and drinks and late-​night but I don’t remember enough specifics to rate them on that. I never intend to go here, it just happens. Everything else is packed? Radler. Waiting for a table at Revolution? Radler. Last minute Sunday brunch? Wait, the Radler does brunch?
The only reason I know this is because we were scrolling through Opentable in bed looking for a hassle-​free, wait-​free, traditionalish, not-​too-​healthy brunch. Enough specifications for ya? They went a little nuts with the salt on the poutine. Next time I’ll go with the basic breakfast. The hash brown patties have a great crisp, I think they’re fried not griddled. Get the biscuit. Actually, get biscuits.

This review applies only to the pretzel: don’t buy it.
Who ruins a pretzel? What kind of sick sociopath takes something as beautiful as a pretzel and decides to make it junk? I will say: the radler looks good, smells good, and seems good. Their pretzel is an abomination and fewer mustards have sucked more. Think about it – this place serves three mustards as a side for $ 2. Do you know how much mustard I can buy for $ 2? Some guy in the kitchen came up with the whole, I’m going to serve bad mustard for $ 2 gimmick?
Who do they think they are? The pretzel should be $ 5 and your mustard should not be terrible. Instead, you have a $ 7 pretzel and a $ 2 flight of awful mustard. Worst deal in the Northwest Territory. I’ll try this place again, but never these weak pretzels.

We really enjoy the Radler. The atmosphere and service are outstanding. We’ve been there for dinner and once for lunch (which turned out to be a brunch menu). I was a slightly disappointed in the brunch menu as is was quite limited compared to the dinner. That said, what we ordered we thoroughly enjoyed. But, it’ll be a dinner place for me.
Great beer selection as you’d expect at a German restaurant too. PROST!

Me and a good friend of mine decided we would come to brunch on a very chilly Sunday morning to get some nourishment. She is German and lives nearby so I thought it was a good choice. I guess this is a German joint as its kind of wide open and have a lot of the communal tables that you find in places in Bavaria.
The menu isn’t that big but they have some goodies on it. We started out with some Gluhwein as it was quite cold outside and it definitely warmed us up. We both found the Radler Benedict very appetizing as it included honey glazed ham, poached eggs, horseradish hollandaise and pickled cucumbers with biscuits… very good dish. Once I got some food in me I knew it was time for a drink so I went with the Blood Orange Radler which was a tall ass glass of hefeweizen and san pellegrino blood orange soda. I loved it and it went down nice. We had a nice server by the name of Ashley that was very nice. This place seems like it would be a good place to get dinner and then being able to stay and have drinks after for a nice amount of time. I can dig it!
They add gratuity to the bill FYI!

Das Radler is fun and the food was pretty good, but they’re super beer– and meat-​heavy on the menu so it just isn’t my bag. It’s not the best German-​inspired restaurant in the city, but it’s good. I kind of prefer their setup at the Logan Square Farmers Market, so I think we’ll spare the cost of a full dinner and do that instead in the future.
Random aside: I am a big fan of the no tipping policy though. It makes sense and it pays everyone well. Having been a server for a many years of my life, I get that it sucks losing out on the big tip, but it spares the frustration of working hard for the patron who is bad at math/​too drunk/​too cheap. I’m sure many disagree, but it’s just my 2 cents.

This is a pretty cool restaurant in the Logan Square area. The two of us came on a Wednesday evening, and there was a little bit of a wait (We didn’t make a reservation), but we only waited about 10 minutes. The atmosphere of the restaurant is rustic, and also a little funky.
To drink I took a chance and tried one of their bourbon based cocktails vs. having a beer, and I was very satisfied with it. I found the dinner menu overwhelming because I wanted to try everything. Luckily my dinner partner and I were interested in some of the same menu items, so we decided to order the Ruben, one of the sausage platters, German potato salad, and sauerkraut. My favorites were the Ruben and the potato salad for sure. The potato salad was so savory and filling on its own. The meat inside the Ruben sandwich tasted like good quality meat, and the sandwich as a whole was fantastic.

Located just a block or so from the California Blue Line stop, The Radler is a German-​style beer house. The concept is pretty simple, but it’s executed very well.
Many of The Radler’s beer offerings are brews that won’t be found at many other bars in the city. There’s nothing wrong with a Revolution or Goose Island beer, but I appreciate being able to try something new. And the prices are pretty reasonable, so you can try a few different brews without doing too much damage to your checking account.
The food is great too. It’s mostly classic German fare — lots of «wursts» and «krauts» — which pairs nicely with their beers. I had the fried Brussels sprouts appetizer and one of their sausages, both of which were relatively simple but very tasty. It was exactly the kind of meal I needed before an evening of bar-​hopping.
My only critique of The Radler, and the reason I’ve given it 3 stars instead of 4, is the service. I sat at the bar during both of my visits, and I found the bartenders to be pretty disinterested on both occasions. They weren’t rude, but they gave of the distinct impression that they wanted to be anywhere other than behind that bar.
Mediocre service aside, The Radler is definitely worth a visit if you want to grab a beer (or four) and some German grub.

Come to The Radler to save some money because you’ll be so full from their delicious food that you won’t be able to go eat another meal for at least 24 hours. Went in for a late lunch/​early dinner on a gloomy Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago. Because we were there at an odd time, it wasn’t too packed, but still about ¹⁄₃ full.
Started with drinks – cocktail for me, cider for my husband – which they had plenty to choose from. They were nice enough to switch a gin-​based cocktail to vodka for me. We ordered a couple of items to share:
Fried green tomatoes: didn’t know what to expect from this traditionally southern dish, but it was fantastic. Great combo of flavors. Would definitely recommend as a starter or small plate.
Charcuterie plate: chose the smoked turkey breast and summer sausage. You get a ton of food along with it. In retrospect, I wish we had added on another meat for $ 5 and just called it a day.
Smoked brisket sandwich: basically a reuben. This was sooo huge. I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as I should have because I was just so full at this point.
The only real negative was our server. Hosts and food runners were nice and friendly, but there was just something off with the server… idk if she was having a bad afternoon or what, but she just kind of rubbed us the wrong way.

This place is dankhaus. We came here after being told the wait at Revolution was an hour and a half. We were told at The Radler it would be 45 minutes but we had a drink at the bar and only ended up waiting a like 30. They have a good selection of German and American craft beers on tap and a long bottle list. We tried the Boulevard saison and loved it. Eventually we tried the blood orange radler – with an extra shot of gin – and it was awesome as well. Perfect citrusy warm weather beer cocktail.
Once we got seated we started with the charcuterie board. The highlight of the board without a doubt was the mustard! There were a few different types and I wish they had given more. The pickled eggs on there were delicious and I could’ve eaten a whole meal of those alone. The toast that came on the charcuterie plate was just meh but honestly, who orders a charcuterie plate for the bread? We also shared two sausages and a side order of sauerkraut. Some of the best kraut I’ve had, outside my Nana’s house at least. The weisswurst sausage was my favorite – light yet creamy and served with a salty broth and veggies/​beans. Some might find it too salty but I thought it was perfect. The jadgwurst was served with a beet purée that was out of this world. Neither sausage felt too heavy and were a great amount for sharing. The cheesecake for dessert was the perfect ending to the meal.
Service was great and I definitely plan on coming back for another meal here! The artwork on the walls and the bike sculpture near the kitchen were super neat. Danke schoen, Radler folks.