Bavarian Brathaus

I liked this place. Shame it closed but I am not surprised because this seems to be a difficult location for any restaurant to survive.

Overpriced. Horrendous service. Sausages are consistently dry. I don’t recommend it and doubly disrecommend for Oktoberfest. They reserved the tent section for a group and that tent section did not fill in for two more hours. One star for the beer list (the selection of German beer is stunning) and another star because the schnitzel is very good.

Update: The owner of this place is obnoxious. He disregarded all of my signs that I was annoyed by his constant interruptions. The food has gone down hill and the beer is overpriced. Magic eight ball says «outlook not so good». Durham deserves better. I now give you permission to go out of business. Crap service has cost this place dearly.

Went for Oktoberfest, so we paid ~$ 20 per person for a buffet-​style meal and live music. The food was just ok — I’d eaten there before, when it was operating as a sit-​down restaurant, and it was much better. Though the band was good, we were given 1L beers that were 3−4% ABV higher than we ordered, and $ 7 more each. As we were paying, our waitress explained that she just got us this beer because they were out of the other. Annoying, because at 1 Liter, that made us quite drunker than we wanted to be.
All of that would’ve been annoying but fine, but to top it off, ²⁄₃ of our party was painfully sick the next day on top of all of this, the third merely queasy.
I’d still say to go when it’s a sit-​down restaurant (it’s pretty good,) but avoid the Oktoberfest.

Always a fan of the German food… Great Steins of beer (they have Reissdorf Koelsch!), plus I had the Burgermeister Platter… the schnitzel could have been better, but the sausages were good (Currywurst, strangely with no curry, and a Nurnberger). Would go back. Also, they have a big Oktoberfest tent if you’re in the area during the season…

This place was not as good as I thought it would be. The good was very bland down to the brats which is supposed to be their specialty. However, they did have my favorite beer on tap (Fraziskaner Hefeweis) which is the only reason in even giving this place a 2. I’d you like German beer, this us the place to find it. Otherwise, prepare to be underwhelmed by the food.

Brats, beers and babes. Well, at least there is lots of beer, brats and frankfurters and schnitzel here at the Bavarian Brathaus. I came here for lunch and for $ 9.00 I got 2 Nurnberger style brats with sauerkraut. It came with catsup, curry catsup and 2 different kinds of mustards to use, a spicy and country style. I thought the brats were a little small for the price. The décor is heavily German from the beer steins to the picture of a castle on a wall. In the background was German music. The wait staff does not wear lederhosen when they come to your table if you were imagining. In looking at the menu, it says they serve breakfast 7 days a week, but they are not open until 11:30am!!! The bread that comes to the table with butter is tasty. In short, I was not blown away by the food or the service and I think for lunch it was not a great value. It will not be high on my list of places to return, but I will give it another shot in the future maybe for diner instead.
Food C
Staff C
Location B
Décor B
Health Inspection Grade 99.0

Housemade brats (get the fire!), large sides of kraut and cabbage, great crusty bread, diverse beers served in steins. LIVE Bavarian folk tunes on Friday, complete with an accordion and an old man crooning Edelweiss. Great for groups, with long banquet tables; and no wait even on the weekends.
Oh, and there’s a pair of lederhosen pinned to the wall.
A little Epcot, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. (How can you not?)

So the food was definitely authentic, but they’re just missing something. Yeah, the décor is a stretch, but they’re trying to make it feel authentic. But I think the prices are too high in general. It seems like you’re paying for the experience, which unfortunately is lacking.
It was small things… Like the bread they give you. It was basically a bratwurst bun slightly toasted and put into a basket. They could have at least done something more authentic. The spatzel was way overseasoned and I agree with some other reviews that the sauce/​gravy for the meals tasted way too similar, even though they should have tasted way different than each other.
We used to go to the one in Cary, and had far better experiences there, but unfortunately that one closed. If you want authentic food that is somewhat well prepared, it’s worth giving it a shot. But be ready to pay a little more and don’t expect a truly immersive experience!

First of all, I am a vegetarian. I did not go to the Brathaus for any food, just drinks. But I did meet up with 20 other carnivores who ordered a wide selected of meaty goodness.
Given, it was a Wednesday, but the place was empty except for our table and a couple of one-​offs watching re-​runs of Rick Steves’ European tours. That sums up the atmosphere– it was trying too hard to be an indoor German beer garden, but with poor taste, tacky lederhosen nailed to the wall, a couple of fake vines growing, and a pixelated picture of Neuschwanstein Castle taking up the far wall.
But that’s not the worst part. My friend took a bite of his cheddar bratwurst and the inside was pink and cold to the touch. Several others in the group had already sent dishes back for various reason, and the guy beside me barely touched his huge meat sandwich because it was so unappetizing. I ordered a liter of my favorite German beer, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d swear they watered it down before bringing it to me.
Overall, this place was straight-​up terrible. Maybe in the summer their few tables outside facing a very busy 15 – 501 offer some much needed outdoor ambience… but I doubt it.
I will say, the birthday boy in our group received a free strudel with a candle on top as we were leaving. That’s probably the only reason I didn’t give one star.

I went with a group of friends. To be honest, the idea of a fancy sausage place didn’t really appeal to me… but the group was going, and I like to keep an open mind.
First off, dinner took at the better part of three hours, from ordering to paying. That’s just too long. If this were a dining experience like Second Empire, that might be ok, but trust me, this is anything but…
It wasn’t that the waiters were bad. In fact, they seemed friendly and personable, but the service was SLOW. On top of that, my bill came out significantly higher than I had expected because the waiter decided to charge me for something I didn’t really order; it is possible that I received what he charged me for, but how was I to know? I just know I paid for something I didn’t order. It reminded me of a mis-​adventure in a café in Paris where the waiters took advantage of the language barrier to charge me for a more expensive meal than I thought I had ordered. Oh well.
If these problems weren’t enough, the food just didn’t deliver. The brats themselves were ok. I had the King Ludwig’s Feuer (Fire), a spicy sausage, fairly tasty if a bit dry. The sides, though, ugh! The red cabbage was a brown-​red mush. The kraut was mushy, and maybe that’s authentic, but it didn’t impress me very much. The mashed potatoes weren’t much better. The Viennese salad was a bland concoction of tomatoes and onions.
And have you seen their Web site? I’ve nominated it for Worst of the Web. No. Seriously, I sent WotW a nomination.
In short, don’t color me a fan of this Bavarian hot dog stand.

I can only come to one of two decisions after eating lunch here — I either don’t like German food, or this place serves very bad German food. Upon further reflection, I am convinced that the latter is the case. I have eaten at a number of restaurants offering German dishes, from the long gone Luchow’s on 14^th street in Manhattan, to the excellent, quaint The German Restaurant in Yadkinville, and J Betski’s in Raleigh.
I often fix Wiener Schntizel at home, with warm German style potato salad & red cabbage and/​or spatzle, and I love all kinds of European style sausages. So, it is not German food that is the problem, but rather the very poor version served here.
This very new place is decorated kind of over the top, with communal, beer hall type seating, and numerous displays of beer steins, etc, and there is German music playing none too softly in the background. There are several interior seating sections here, and a small bar area, as well — all in all, fairly large place seating wise. way it is laid out, it will be noisy when crowded.
We wanted to try several different dishes, so we ordered Oma’s (Granny’s) Sampler Platter which included Rouladen (rolled slices of beef, onion, pickle, carrot & mustard), Goulash, and Sauerbraten. This platter came with spatzle, red cabbage, Vienna Salad, rolls and butter. All the meat items were covered with a thick, brown gravy that tended to make everything taste alike — though you could tatse some sourness in the Sauerbraten, everything else was the same taste — heavy, and relatively bland. The spatzle was large, tough, and tasteless. Red cabbage tasted overwhelmingly of vinegar, the rolls were tough and leatherly. The Vienna Salad was mostly chopped tomato, some onion & parsley, with a thick dressing — taste like an Italian dressing out of a bottle. Not an item on the platter would I order again. Cost was $ 22.99.
We also ordered the veal Wiener Schnitzel (cost was $ 14.99) which came with the same sides, which were no better, of course. The veal was overbreaded and overcooked, and tasted old. Would not order this again, either. Left most of both platters on the table. Maybe I should have settled for some form of sausage — hard to screw that up.
Did try a very nice German beer, Arcobrau Lager — actually drank 2 since I was not filling up on food. Service was friendly, but slow — only one wait person on the floor. I definitely will not be returning. Bad food, overpriced.

I wanted to like this place so badly. My husband grew up in near Munich, Germany and we are always interested in checking out a German restaurant. We were particularly excited to be coming during Oktoberfest. There were 6 of us who dined at the Bavarian Brathaus and the food was consistently. .. just plain bad. The food overall was very low quality and also poorly prepared. Our server, who is German, was very friendly, but made mistake after mistake in handling our table. The only items that were even decent were the chicken schnitzel (pretty hard to screw up a pounded, fried cutlet) and the bread they bring with dinner. On top of it all, the ladies restroom had a very intense smell of raw sewage and the restaurant overall did not appear to be clean. The only real positive of the whole experience? The beer was really good!

The décor is over the top. The service was attentive but had some issues understanding us and splitting checks. The food, pretty good.
Tried their jäger schnitzel which comes with spatzle, vienna salad, and rolls. For $ 15 for lunch it’s a pricey proposition but filling and good for at least two meals.
I wish the restaurant were a bit more open, like they’ve done with hofbrahaus chain. The place still has potential though, the food is pretty good (if you’re a fan of German food), and it’s different.

This is only the second time I’ve dined here (and once at the Cary location) and enjoyed it as much as the last time.
I ordered two of the Original brats for $ 8.99 and the sauerkraut and German potato salad, which were priced as separate sides. I payed almost as much as I would had I bought the platter, but I didn’t want the brat on a German sub roll. Anyway, the brat is not greasy at all and a tad dry as some have said and very big — and very good. Next time I’d just get one. They also bring what I think may be homemade mustard to the table, which has a good dash of horseradish in it that’ll clear your sinuses!
I liked the German potato salad that has a nice vinegary blend, but wish they’d cut the potatoes into chunks rather than slices as some of them are large and kind of hard to cut up in the bowl it’s served in. The sauerkraut is nice German style and although I prefer Polish style sauerkraut, I wished there was more of it!
It’s kind of interesting that they have two flat screens showing German scenery on a loop. It’s beautiful, but distracting if you’re dining with someone else!
I would love to try something other than just the brats, but like many others have mentioned the entrees are quite pricey. Guess I’ll have to save my pennies up!

BB is a spot that I’m glad is near where I live.
Pros: Tasty Bratwursts. The original and fire are the two I’ve tried and enjoyed. These are made by the restaurant and are not as greasy as the store brands you might buy at the store. For $ 8 a lb. I feel they are a good price for a homemade product. A great way to go is to purchase a couple pounds to cook on the grill.
A few cons: This place is excessively expensive for what they are serving. I think the food is good and the concept is unique in Durham. I just feel the prices would only be justified if they were importing their produce/​meat from Europe to get it to Durham.
BB deserves 3 stars for offering good brats and for being unique to Durham. I recommend trying it out.

An out of town friend and me decided to try the German themed Baviaran Brathaus located off of 15 – 501 in Durham. I had been to the Cary location about a year ago and had ordered the rueben sandwich with German potato salad so this time I was eager to try one of their entrees. Walking in and sitting at the bar, I liked gazing at the German décor including a mural of a big castle. It makes you really feel you are in a foreign country!
I ordered the sautéed pork chops which came with a salad and bread. The salad was a mix of tomatoes and onions mixed with oil of some sort (maybe olive oil?). Although edible, this wasn’t nearly as appetizing to me as a nice crisp iceberg lettuce wedge, but oh well, this must be how they roll in Germany with their salads. The bread was rock hard on the outside, but once you break it open and add some of their honey butter, was a pretty satisfying accompaniment.
The entrée itself. just…was…not…very …good. The pork chops were dry, with too much rosemary herb seasoning for my taste, as well as too salty. Good thing I had a Spaten lager to wash them down with because they definitely needed help. My friend ordered some kind of pasta/​sausage combination and he usually inhales all of his food, but this time left some on his plate, so I don’t think he was blown away either. He did say he liked the side order of potato pancakes and apple strudel though.
I think Bavarian Brathaus offers some promise and I may go back, but I was disappointed this time around. The dishes seem to be hit and miss and with entrees over $ 20, I was hoping for a better German culinary experience. For quality German food, I recommend J Betski’s in Raleigh instead.

I’ve been to their Cary location and I have to say that I like this one better for a few reasons. The service here is great. I’ve gotten the same waitress here twice and she was extremely attentive and accommodating both times my friends and I were there. I love the fact that they have German bands come and play, but I felt bad that they had the band play outside at night, which can be really chilly. So unfortunately, they didn’t get much of an audience :(
The waitress told me that they were planning on expanding their restaurant and adding a biergarten (beer garden), which I think will be an awesome addition. I’ve always been satisfied with their dinner entrees, but I really think their homemade sausages are average at best. The only downside to this restaurant and their sister restaurant is how grossly overpriced everything is. I mean REALLY overpriced. Aside from their sausage, many of their dinner entrees, and by many I mean 85% of their entrees are above the $ 20 range. However, my friends and I keep coming back for the ambiance and the fact that you can get a liter of beer for $ 8-​$ 9! That is a really awesome price for imported German beer!
If you’ve been to their Cary location, their menus are the same for the most part. However, the Cary location serves these awesome chicken wings and the Durham location doesn’t seem to have them. A funny fact about this restaurant is that for some reason, all of their silverware seemed to come from shabu shabu because they all had shabu shabu printed on the silverware.
I highly recommend this place for drinks, but not so much for food unless you don’t mind spending money on food that’s not really worth the money you paid for it.

I am a loyal patron of the Bavarian Brathaus, it is the best (only) place in the Triangle to go for authentic German food accompanied by great beer. I grew up with a German mother, and my relatives live in Bavaria, and I can say that this place really does have some authentically-​made dishes.
However, I’d give their newer Durham location 5 stars instead of 4 if they could provide more consistent side dishes and good service. In the past couple of months, they’ve brought in better staff who know more about the food and beer (when this location first opened, their bartender didn’t like beer — in a German restaurant! — not a good sign). Their side dishes, particularly the potato salad (kartoffelsalat) and the red cabbage seem to waver — sometimes they’re great, and sometimes they are just… not.
The brats are excellent. They are very lean and a bit on the dry side, but I really enjoy that. If you’re not offered it, ask for the curry ketchup — it goes along nicely with the brats — as does the German mustard, of course. The Goulash is incredible, it’s very different from the Goulash I grew up eating, but it’s not to be missed — it is thick and hearty with plenty of meat and gravy. And the Weiner Schnitzel is excellent. If it’s on the specials menu — try the Herr Burgermeister platter — you get Weiner Schnitzel, 2 brats and 2 sides for $ 25.
The beer selection is great — they serve small, medium (½ liter) and full Maß (1 liter). All of the beers on tap are German — and you really can’t go wrong with that. My three favorites: Spaten Bock, Warsteiner Dunkel and Bitburger.
As other reviewers have pointed out, the location is a bit unassuming and the ‘sign’ out front consists of an old, faded German flag draped over the old Grady’s sign (I believe the most ‘recent’ restaurant in this location was Grady’s). It’ll be nice to see this place pick up more business, as it is definitely a little slow at the moment.

Of course my husband wanted to go to the Bavarian Brathaus for his birthday, nothing shocking. We have been to the one out in Cary, which was, like so many other very cool places around here, in a strip mall. Once inside, though, you are transported completely… it’s pretty awesome.
The Durham Bavarian Brathaus is a lovely stand-​alone building complete with German flags-​a-​waving on the front lawn. Inside, the décor is just about the same as the other one: steins and lederhosen lining the walls, as well as a giant mural of a majestic Bavarian castle – spot on!
Our waitress was very friendly, though, when we asked her for her opinion on certain menu items, it turned out she had not tried much yet – a newbie. No bother. Rob decided on a two brat platter and I had the one brat platter (spinach). We also ordered dumplings to start.
The dumplings came out with a side of gravy. I ate up my dumpling, but I wanted to douse it in gravy because it was a little sticky – not sure if they are meant to be that way. It was interesting.
Finally, our brat platters came out and let me tell you, I am not quite sure how my husband was able to eat two, because just my one was ginormous! Their specialty bread, which is the bun that the brat comes in, is really good, perfectly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Smother and cover the brat with curry ketchup and sauerkraut and there you have it, deliciousness! The platter comes with a side of potatoes, which are sort of, meh, but when you have this huge brat to contend with, that is really all you need.
We went sort of early on a Monday night and the place was pretty empty, but it did start to pick up, which I was happy to see. We filled out a comment card at the end, which asked for our birthdays and anniversary, because the Bavarian Brathaus likes to celebrate you :) Except, we kinda forgot to mention that it was Rob’s birthday that day – oh well, next time. Yes, I think this place will be great to visit with bigger groups of friends to celebrate things. I hope that at some point they hire the local senior lederhosen-​sporting, accordion playing, polka band!
OMG, I forgot to mention that they played «Islands in the Stream» by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton IN GERMAN!!! Crazy enough, I had just sang that same song at karaōke only a few nights before… only, not in German ;)