Strudl Haus

The atmosphere is outstanding! Takes you to another world. The coffee was served on silver with a water and a tart. I bought two pastries with my coffee and was not disappointed! I did feel underdressed but the waitresses and the manager and owner all made me feel okay with it! I will definitely be back. I highly recommend stopping and at least getting a pastry! We didn’t do dinner this time but we will be in the near future!

Entrees not so good. Had the veal schnitzel. .lots of food but poorly prepared. Dry and not very meaty or flavorful. Very good wine and excellent dessert. The violinist was WAY TOO LOUD.

I’m not someone who buys into all the hype of the place. I went there with a friend and was disappointed for Sunday breakfast. The coffee was weak and not very hot. I could not try anything but the sausage de jour so I was disappointed about that… there were several interesting sausages on the menu but was told the owner would only cook one and he picked it… I asked for scrambled eggs and got a chopped fried egg. My female partner was also disappointed in her experience and the quality of the food. Because it’s the strudel house we tried the strudel and it was okay nothing spectacular though and it might have been my experience with the whole meal that affected my feeling about that… to be fair there are plenty of people that think it’s great… but it’s not in my Wheelhouse ever again.

Simply amazing! The cutest little place with AMAZING pastries and fresh tasty food! Love love love it! Got the Mélange coffee — dark rich Italian style cappuccino. Cherry strudl –yum, Dutch letter — so light and tasty. German omelet — YUM. Can’t say enough. Now get your butt over to this cute little place!

What a quaint and adorable place for lunch or dinner. Authentic Austrian cuisine and the pastry are to die for. I also saw a few ladies having the cutest tea service.

To my knowledge this is the only Austrian restaurant in town, so that just meant one thing: I had to try it! We actually attempted to eat here multiple times, but their hours were a bit odd to me so we always showed up when they closed. (Just check their hours on their website beforehand)
Although they have a private lot, it is very small. This makes sense because the restaurant itself is very small as well, there are a very limited amount of tables so if you show up when it’s full, I can’t imagine what the wait will be like. They have a bakery display in the front with dozens of wonderfully prepared bakery items.
The staff members were very friendly and provided excellent service. A majority of the tables are for couples or parties of 4, I honestly can’t imagine fitting a larger party in here without inconvenience.
The lunch menu is very small with very limited options. We got the German Sausage Platter and the Pork Wiener Schnitzel. Both these dishes were alright, nothing that excited my taste buds and served lukewarm. We also chose a bakery item which to me tasted subpar.

This has been a delightful find. An authentic Austrian bakery that serves breakfast and lunch. Great atmosphere, classy and elegant, the service and food exceptional. Wish I could take this place back to CT with me.

Wunderbar! A true Austrian dining experience!
Dutch letters are off the chart! Note though, Austrian pastries are not the sugar bombs served up at Wal-​Mart; there is more to taste in a pastry than just sugar. So if your palate expects sugar soaked pastries buried in pure sugar «frosting», you may find it «tasteless»…
To the complainers here, this is not a Corporate America restaurant; it is Euro style. Things are more laid back and require you to participate (examine the pasty case and inform the server of what you would like) in the selection and delivery of your meal.
Pastries are baked FRESH; so don’t expect everything to be available all the time. Food is cooked when you order it; so patience is a must… this is not a rush in/​out restaurant unless you just want something from the pastry case.
And please, if something is wrong, ask for the owner (Micheal); he’s Austrian, speaks fluent German, super nice, honest, and he takes Personal Pride in what he serves… he’ll take care of you as a customer if you give him the chance.
PS. This is a very small restaurant; so if you can go at an off time (weekdays) you’ve got a better chance at immediate seating and faster service in a quiet atmosphere.

Having been here before and enjoyed it, we were disappointed to have a sub-​par experience this morning for breakfast.
Two meals and two drinks came to $ 30. The spreads were not near as big as expected — especially on my wife’s plate, which was the most expensive plate — some fruit, two eggs, two crescent rolls (stale), a tiny pile of prosciutto, and a little yogurt and jam. We both ordered the eggs soft-​boiled — all four were overcooked, with solid yolks. My assortment of rolls was actually one.
The couple next to us complained about lukewarm coffee.
Also, for those with kids, note that they have no high chairs or booster seats.
Next time we will grab a couple of pastries and go. But we were disappointed enough that that may be a while.

Not since Julie Andrews enchanted us with her favorite things have I felt this close to the wonderful land of Austria! The pork medallions were so creamy and flavorful and the apple strudel made me feel like I wanted to yodel for the rest of the day. If you wish to be transported to Salzburg while still saying on the south side then get your self to the Strudl Haus! In short, es war lecker!

I arrived alone for lunch one day about two months after this place opened. I had one of their special expensive coffees which came in a nice cup on a nice saucer with a small cookie. Quite frankly, It was enchanting. It was the kind of place I’d love to be on a rainy Fall day.
I had the goulash for lunch, which was $ 9.99 (the most expensive lunch item), and came with, of all things, a split hot dog tip. Granted, I’m sure the hot dog had a fancy name, but I didn’t write it down.
So why did I rate it 3 instead of 4 stars? The location is very small — some might say «cozy». There isn’t really room for a group. The prices of food seemed just a little high compared to the amount you get. My goulash was good, yes; the portion left me wanting an entire second helping… and some. Would I call it «small plates»? Probably not, but for $ 10, I can get a sandwich across town with a basket of fries that will nearly put me in the grave. Granted, not everyone is a cow like me, so if you’re a light eater, ignore the previous comment.
And the parking — yeah, if you don’t mind walking from three miles away, you should be fine. The lot next to the building fits about seven cars, four of which are employees, and there’s nothing else nearby except Indianola Ave (good luck parking there).
I like this place and I’m looking forward to coming back. Maybe my review will change once I’ve ordered something from the dinner menu.

Walking into Strudl Haus is like walking into a pastry wonderland. Everything looks SO amahzing. I visited for the first time with my mom last Friday. We took our goodies to go but I’m already plotting my return. It feels like the perfect place to take grandma, go on a cute date, or have a low key ladies night.
I ordered the lemon pomegranate pie thing, a raspberry, almond, and apricot linzer, and a berry pastry. Full disclosure, I ended up not liking the lemon pomegranate pie very much but LOVED the almond linzer. All the linzer cookies were great but the almond was my favorite. The berry pastry was okay. It crumbled really easily which made it difficult to eat and difficult to enjoy. Meh.
Discovering places like this in Des Moines make me love living here even more. Do yourself a favor and check it out!

Their pastries and coffee are insane. I ordered cherry strudel and an almond cookie, and both were so packed with flavor. I also had a vanilla coffee drink with espresso and milk foam (similar to a cappuccino, but had a different name) that warmed my belly and kept me energized through a day trip to Omaha. Their lunch menu and sausages looked promising, so I will definitely be back!

BE NOT AFRAID dear Unilocalers, for although this little place hath not many reviews, tis FANTASTIC!!! Who knew you could find an authentic Austrian restaurant in Iowa??? You must try this place.
After frequenting the Farmer’s market almost every saturday to get their German sausages, we could not wait for them to open up a little restaurant! Finally it’s here and it did not disappoint. The restaurant is in a stand-​alone little yellow building.
The menu changes every week and if you like them on Facebook you can see this week’s menu. Some of this week’s offerings included a german sausage platter with sauerkraut, cheese spaetzle, breaded pork loin, cream of asparagus soup, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, and for those of you looking for a lighter lunch– a salad with grilled chicken on top. My boyfriend and I started with coffee and hot chocolate. They make the hot chocolate with actual Ghirardelli chocolate chips and they will add an extra flavor if you want– raspberry, extra chocolate, chai, vanilla, and a few others. My boyfriend said the coffee was outstanding.
To eat, we ordered the cheese spaetzle and the breaded pork loin. They were both extremely authentic and delicious. The cheese spaetzle came with cucumbers dressed in a thin white dressing, carrots marinated in vinegar and other flavors I couldn’t discern, and green cabbage. They spaetzle was creamy and cheesy and worked perfectly with the acidity from the cucumbers and carrots. The pork loin was very homey and had lots of flavor. It had a gravy on top and came with sauerkraut and potatoes.
The main lady working there (red hair, I forget her name– bad Unilocal reviewer! I know) was very nice and very helpful. She explained the dishes we ordered and helped us pick some sausage varieties to take home. ***YES, they have sausages to go– sold by the pound. We knew how amazing they were from our experience at the farmers market so we went a little crazy and bought 3 lbs of sausage. Our favorite kind is the chicken jalapeño sausage, there just is nothing better in this world.
–My only wish, is that they offered a sausage variety sampler. The german sausage sampler they had today only featured one type of sausage. I think more people would be inclined to order sausages to go if they got to try a few kinds at the restaurant and see how amazing they are.
This is one of our new favor places and we will absolutely be back! Maybe next time we will try their Tapas (They offer them after 6pm, so you need to check which days they offer them).

I was so excited about this place and I am pretty sad it let me down. Came here for a dessert date with my husband. I ordered a hot chocolate while we read the menu. The hot chocolate was super good and my husband decided on the Napoleon and I wanted a piece of cake. The waitress said they had all the cakes in the case and for me to take a look and let her know what I decided. When I came back my husband already had his dessert, so I decided to wait until she came back to let her know what dessert I wanted… except she didn’t. We waited for twenty minutes for her to come back and she didn’t. Finally we just decided to just pay our bill and leave. While the hot chocolate and dessert we DID HAVE tasted great, the lack of service left a bad taste in my mouth.

It seems like this place sprung out of nowhere. It’s like a trip to Austria! The inside has a striking elegance you would not predict from looking at the building from the outside. The formal waitstaff dress adds to the ambiance but also seems a little forced given the context.
On the sweet pastry side, I tried a raspberry linzer torte, a napoleon, and a strawberry cream roll thingy (over several trips…). The desserts are good enough to make a trip to Strudl Haus.
I also tried the chicken strudel for lunch once, which had great flaky crust and a mild curry-​esque sauce pool beneath. The meal was a little small in size but I enjoyed every bite.

Okay, so my stars given are based on the food and the stars not given are based on the service. The coffee, cold cuts, desserts and lunch are delicious and unique. The only reason I did not give a higher rating is because of the service. So this is how mine and my husband’s experience went on our visits:
We walked in on a Saturday afternoon, around 2pm-​ish. We ordered two mélange’s (which are superb, they are served on a silver platter), the cold cuts meat and cheese tray to share and two desserts. Everything was delish. When we got the meat and cheese tray, there was a small butter square, but no bread (it says it comes with bread). We waited and no bread came so we asked our waitress, she said, yes bread should come with it and she brought it out. Great. No problem at all, stuff like that happens, and it was kind of busy, but it is a very small space. We got our bread, but we never got a knife to spread our butter so we just used our forks (this wasn’t very soft butter), since it was kind of a task to get our waitresses attention. Still… no big deal. right? Well, our water never got refilled, and we were there for over an hour. My husband ordered a different cup of coffee and that never came. I guess our waitress forgot. Our empty plates and meat tray were never picked up. This was our second visit. Now, during our first visit, we came in during lunch and it went great. It was the manager that served us, and she was delight. I thought it was odd, because when we first walked in and sat down, she said that the waitress will be with us shortly, but that never happened and the manager ended up waiting on us the entire time. That first experience on the food and service is what brought us back the second time.
I really hope things improve, as far as service goes, I think it is a hit or miss on who you get as far as service… or it could’ve just been an off day for our waitress.
I do recommend people trying this place out, it’s cute, unique, and they have delish lunch, coffee and desserts.

Wow. Garlic soup– I could have had gallons in addition to the large bowl that is a serving. Excellent mixed berry pastry. EAT HERE! Had the «king of coffee’s» and it was delicious, best cup in town.
Getting Linzer and pinwheel to go.
Small place, intimate feel, friendly staff. Will be back!

Atmosphere and décor were amazing. The menu has a good variety with weekly lunch specials and a huge amount of pastries available.
I ordered a basic grilled ham and cheese sandwich. The sandwich was pretty typical with a little dollop of mayo and another of ketchup on the side. Another time I will be sampling something from the menu.

Ok… all I can say is WOW. I am having mixed feelings writing this review as I am concerned that I will lose out on all the fabulous pastries because all of you will flock to this place… but I have to do them justice and say that this is a tremendous bakery! Fabulous etc (add your exemplary adjective here and it would apply to Strudl Haus).
I love La Mie, but La Mie is very French and I can only get French pastries there and their pastries are more focused on breakfast. Strudl Haus is more of a European bakery (more like a Patisserie I would say) and that means to me… Napoleons!
I don’t mean the short french guy, I mean the puff pastry layered with pastry cream delight. It has been years since I have had a good Napoleon. The last time I had a good Napoleon was back in California many many many years ago. May I say that this Napoleon is one of the BEST I have ever had. The BEST. Granted it lacks the royal icing and the trademark sargeants hash on the top… but still it was crisp, the pastry cream was airy and rich… OMG I need another dozen.
Okay next is the apple strudel. So many Apple strudel that I have tasted are so dense and taste as if they have been made a week ago, pulled out of the ice chest and thawed out. That is NOT the case here. This is again probably the BEST strudel I have had since I was in Europe. It’s light and flakey and the filling is rich in apple.
Onto the Linzer cookie… okay most Linzer cookies aren’t much better than pepperidge farm ones. These ones are crisp with a snap and the raspberry filling is rich and tart. Again one of the best I have had. No lie.
Lastly I had the dutch letter… I must confess that i was a bit worried as I did not see the trademark huge crystals of sugar atop the letter. Although I was happy seeing the marzipan oozing out (could look gross… but YUM). I have to say next to the bakery in Pella this is the best Dutch letter I have ever had. Better than the Bake Shoppe’s.
I also had a strawberry cream cake but while it was good it wasn’t as amazing as the above and thus did not warrant a picture. Note — I only took a bite of all of these and shared the rest with my family (except for the Napoleon… YUM).
So in summary. Come here, or don’t I really don’t care because I will probably spend my 401K here on Napoleons and Linzer cookies.
A few things to note… it sits in a real weird yellow building but at least you can find it easy. The menu is a bit weird… good stuff on it but its only served till 2 and then after that they serve cold cuts… too bad as I had wanted to take my wife on a date here. Guess it will have to be a lunch date.