Goulash Place

If you want a fancy, well-​organized place, this is NOT it. But it does have simple, solid ethnic food. The stuffed cabbage was excellent. We split one as an appetizer and it is available as an entrée. I had the Hungarian goulash which was out of this world. The beef literally melts in your mouth. She had the beef Stroganoff which strangely came with melted cheese but it was delicious. Both came with ok veggies and what they call dumplings but what most of us might call spaetzel. Salad bar comes with dinner. Again, not fancy. Just some vegetables and lots of dressing. Beer and wine only. I had an excellent Czech beer. For dessert we split some concoction of cake cubes covered with ice cream and whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate and strawberry sauce and some kind of liquor. The cake was a little dry. But here’s the best part: $ 50 for 1 app, 2 entrees, 1 dessert, 2 beers and 1 glass of wine! We’ll be back!

You don’t come here if you’re looking for a pretentious, fancy atmosphere or presentation. But if you want truly superlative comfort food that will warm you to your core, you’d be hard-​pressed to find a better choice than the Goulash Place.
I’ve come here enough now to try almost everything on the menu, and I haven’t found anything yet that I didn’t say, «Oh wow, I’m definitely getting this again next time!» Even foods that I wouldn’t typically find all that tantalizing (like cabbage) is brought to savory splendor here. My favorites have to be the stuffed cabbage, paprika chicken, and the Hungarian and Transylvanian goulash. The goulash soup is a great value for lunch and soaks up perfectly with the included fresh bread.

Best home made Hungarian food in town. Owned by a husband and wife. They are adorable and is like eating at grandma’s house

Great food at really good prices.
When I get a comfort food craving this is my to go to spot.
However, you need time to eat here. Service can be slow.
Getting the waitresses attention is just like home.
Just like the food.
Have the Transylvania Goulash, with Spatzel.
To die for!

I love small family-​run restaurants, especially if it’s something you don’t find everywhere, such as this Hungarian gem in a residential part of Danbury. It’s not fancy at all, but it is good food served by good people. You can smell the goulashes from outside as you enter. The menu is limited but authentic. Most important, you have to be patient here, especially on a busy night, as service can be casual, and your servers enjoy conversation. The beverage list is limited, and the salad bar which comes with your meals is small but sufficient (and you don’t find pickled beets on a lot of salad bars these days!).
I started with a stuffed cabbage appetizer which was difficult to eat slowly. If you like it as much as I did, you can consider the meal-​sized portion as well. But for dinner I went with one of the goulashes (they have 3) accompanied by vegetables and dumplings (though the dumplings are more like spaetzle). The chunks of beef were so tender I had difficulty picking them up with a fork — they would split in half when I put my fork in them, so I had to scoop instead.
The desserts are primarily crepes filled with jams or chocolate, but tonight they offered one additional dessert, of which I took a picture. There’s no way I could remember the name of it, but it was described as combinations of chocolate, pastries, coconut, ice cream, and more — think of it as a Hungarian trifle, I guess.
One final suggestion: remember what you ordered and the price. Your bill will simply be a register receipt with the prices listed. Fortunately, the majority of the items in each menu section are the same price, which makes it easier.
Dinner here was a treat. It took a larger part of the evening than originally expected, but it was well worth it.

What a great restaurant! Home cooked Hungarian cuisine, relaxed, like going to grandma’s & grandpa’s for Sunday dinner! The gentlemen who owns it is Hungarian I believe and he is funny, warm and outgoing! The food is simple, great taste and very good portions! Exceptional value… we had a wonderful time… one of the folks with us is in her upper 80’s, from Hungary and she loved chatting with owner. VERY affordable, a real gem! Make the time to go to Goulash Place!

I couldn’t love it more. We make a point to time our road trips for a stop at Goulash Place. The owner, John, is warm and welcoming. The dining room is like being at Grammie’s house. The food is phenomenal. We usually start with chicken stuffed crepes and then on to goulash and papricash. The whole scene makes me feel cozy and happy.

The Goulash Place is for goulash. Don’t be concerned with the sides — pretty straightforward canned green beans and carrots — the goulash is so good. We did both the Hungarian Goulash (soup), Hungarian Beef Goulash (chunks of beef), and the Paprikas Chicken. All of the mains were excellent — great dumplings and spaetzel — and very authentic. Lovely staff. Great place.

This place has been around forever and has the feel like youre eating at someone’s grandpa’s dining room in terms of how the food is served, the feel of the place.
We had hungarian goulash and it was phenomenal… its not cheap but it comes with a generous heap of very tender well seasoned meat and the all you can eat salad bar (potato salad and pasta salad were delicious).
We also had the paprika chicken which seemed to be liked by alot of Unilocalers, but we find that it was lacking taste though we like the consistency of the chicken. however, given that this is our first time so though we might probably never order this again, this could just be a not so good batch.
We’ll stick with the yummy goulash and wil definitely come back again… this types of moms and pops establishments have to be preserved!
The hungarian owner is so nice, talked abt hungary and showed us pictures of his trips there and offered our son a kinder chocolate before we left so that just made his day :)

This was our first time here. I do not normally eat Hungarian food and I was pleasantly surprised. It was delicious! The food was freshly prepared and we thoroughly enjoyed it. In addition, the owner was so nice! We had a great conversation and he made us laugh and feel very welcome. We will definitely come back!

Overlooked, disappointing. The 1950’s lives on. Nice family but not worth the trip. I wouldn’t have minded the throw back if the food had been better.

Really good food and the owner is very friendly. I had the chicken paprikas. The chicken was fall off the bone tender like others have said, really great flavor too. My husband had the beef goulash, not as good in my opinion, but still good! Great food, great owner, a must try!

I wanted to like this place… the restaurant seems built into an old house and is quite charming. The old man cooking was friendly and welcoming.
Salad bar, as others have mentioned is pretty nice and one can easily get full just with the salad and the bread they serve
However. We had two problems… the dishes were too salty for our taste, then we found some hair in the cabbage roll which was actually quite tasty (despite a little salty for my taste)
I like to explore this style of ethnic food more, but I don’t think I can convince my wife to come back here again for another try… :(

This is the sort of unassuming culinarily-​amazing hole-​in-​the-​wall that deserves a gushing 6-​paragraph review, which I’ll come back and write at some point, but for now: just go. It’s as good as everyone says. It’s worth driving an hour to Danbury for (even if you don’t feel like visiting the mall).
My wife is Hungarian — grew up spending every summer in Budapest — and ranks it among the best Hungarian food she’s ever had outside of Hungary; the first time we went there I had to duck out for a few minutes to calm our crying toddler and when I came back she’d eaten most of my dinner. (and she’s not the sort of person who’d normally do that)
For my part while my Hungarian experience is more limited I can say it’s really really tasty. And the staff is friendly /​accommodating, the portions generous and the prices low.

It is a dump! Truck drivers go there !
Not a family place and definitively never a date place !!! Go to Danbury mall, lots of family restaurant around there.

I’ve lived in Danbury all of my life and have driven past Goulash Place on numerous occasions, always saying I’d stop in one day to give it a shot. Thank god that day was today.
Goulash Place is super tiny, but very welcoming. The couple that owns it, and apparently have owned it for the past 38 years, do a fantastic job at accommodating their guests and even have small talk with the customers. We talked for a bit with the husband about where we were from, where we went to school, and since football was on the TV, what teams we rooted for. The wife was in the back cooking the majority of the time, but she came out nearing the end of us eating to ask about dessert/​coffee. Both incredibly nice people.
The menu was short and to the point and still had a little bit of everything. I believe there were three different goulash dishes, which is what I was interested in because after all, they are the Goulash Place. I opted with the Hungarian goulash, which was a variation with chunks of beef over a bed of dumplings (that can also be substituted by potatoes). We also ordered the German beer they offered, I believe it was Spaten, and even though they don’t have a beer list, the husband could list them all off the top of his head. All of the main dishes included access to the salad bar, which even though was small, still had everything you needed to prep for the main course. We also got huge pieces of bread which were pretty delicious.
The dishes came out and smelled amazing. The beef in my goulash fell apart when I tried picking it up with the fork I was using, and melted in my mouth. Unbelievable stuff, and the dumplings mixed together with the beef stew gravy complimented each other perfect. Not to mention, the dishes were all served with a homelike feel. They came out on plates that you’d see in your house and all of the food was placed on the plates as if you took helpings off your table and placed them there. It was delightful.
We ended the night with coffees and paid our bills, having short conversation with the couple before we left. Overall, we had a great dinner and I hope to be back here sometime soon. There’s plenty more on the menu I’d like to try and the hospitality was perfect.

This is a very unusual find! A business acquaintance took us here and it was memorable. Everyone order something different with compliments around the table. What a treat to have home made Authentic Hungarian food.
Located in a residential neighborhood the dining room felt like we were eating in a personal home. The owner provided excellent service and company. He made sure everyone was enjoying and answered all of our questions. He was such a pleasure to listen to and it felt quite relaxing to sit back enjoying the entrée he prepared. I understand he is continuing a tradition that he and his wife started years ago. He will provide take out as well but the actual experience in the restaurant is part of the ambiance.

Another evening in a new town that I traveled to on work. I wanted to find some nice restaurant, some cuisine I have not had in a while. And this place popped up in my search and I am so glad it did.
The Goulash place is in the middle of a residential neighborhood and in fact, I drove past this place thinking it was just a house. It actually seem to be a house re-​purposed into restaurant and the owner/​chef lives in small house right behind the restaurant. Parking is available in front of the residence and then you walk around to go to restaurant. When I entered, an elderly gentleman came out of kitchen and greeted me — I soon learnt that he is the chef, host and waiter of the restaurant. I was seated in small table and I was the only costumer in the restaurant. In fact, I was the only one during my entire meal.
The seating area was quite small, housing only about 6 tables with 2 – 4 chairs and about 6 small bar stools around the bar area. The décor resembles a restaurant that has been around for very long time (they have been open for 37 years now, that’s much older than I am) with so many souvenirs, items and pictures acquired over years — the whole place felt very cozy, homey and casual. There is also another seating area that is reserved for celebrations, parties and such stuff. This whole room is covered in red — red carpet, red table cloth and wall paintings.
The menu is full of traditional dishes — Goulashes (Hungarian meat & vegetable stew with some paprika. There are different types based on what ingredients are added to the stew), beef Stroganoff and Stuffed cabbage plates.
I ordered, stuffed cabbage from the appetizer section and Chicken paprikas. And they have a free salad bar. It has freshly cut lettuce, four kinds of dressings, potato salad and mac salad. I was going to skip, but the chef insisted that I eat, so out of politeness, I had quick bites and it was okay.
The stuffed cabbage — For starters, this is minced meat (usually pork) rolled/​wrapped in pickled cabbage and steamed (or baked). While several European countries have this dish in their cuisine, the Hungarian one is a bit different. It always has paprika in it (like any other Hungarian dish) and served with sour cream on top. And I can tell you, the stuffed cabbage I have had at Goulash was text-​book Hungarian and hands down the best I have tasted. Ever. It was moist, tasty and the meat was perfectly seasoned. A Must try here.
Chicken Paprikas — This is another traditional extension of their stews. The chicken is usually cooked in the paprika based creamy stew. At Goulash, the preparation was bit different. Instead of creamy sauce, the sauce was very subtle — I mean, you can still taste it in chicken, which I think simmered in the thin stew. Three pieces of chicken legs served with dumplings (as he called it), boiled carrots and green beans. The dumplings served in the plate was pretty much like a pasta and it is called nokedli (which in turn is similar to spatzle). The chicken was so tender and falling off the bone, the nokedli was absolutely delicious. I loved the hint of paprika in chicken, it was very flavorful.
For an unique experience like this, the dishes were reasonably priced. The service was very good when I dined at Goulash — very attentive, prompt and he even shared some travel stories over the dinner.
At the end of the day, this is a pure experience of Hungarian flavors with zero pretentiousness. And it reminds me why I love traveling and eating different cuisines — in my opinion, food is one of an easy way to learn about different culture and people. Should I travel to Danbury again, I will definitely go back to Goulash Place and I highly recommend it.
5 stars.

We tried this place right after the German Restaurant. Some things we liked better here. The beer was better at the Old Heidelberg. We tried two versions of the Goulash. Both were good, but lacking just a little on the quality and amount of paprika. I know it is hard to buy good stuff in the USA, due to food laws. Still other places do seem to find better flavor paprika. The paprika chicken was the same, missing a little zest.
In all the food was good and well prepared. The dumplings were good and tasted fresh. Sauerkraut in the Transylvanian Goulash was very good. A good place, that we will return to again.

Wow. Priceless. Outstanding authentic Hungarian food. Tried the cucumber salad, Transylvanian Goulash and the Hungarian pork chops. Loved it all. It’s easy to get to off 84. If you know and love this kind of food you absolutely should go. By the way, the potato salad was very good. You are in someone’s home being serviced by those who live there. They’re proud of their food and heritage. Hungarians who were born there had a rough go of it. That said, a warm smile goes a long way. Finom!