European Bistro

Update. This restaurant attempted to make good by offering ¹⁄₃ of the meal cost back in the form if a credit at the restaurant. My uncle (70 YOA) partook on the offer having a good 2^nd experience. Thank you European Bistro.

I lived in Germany and this food was absolutely real and amazing well done. And for the money, it’s a great deal.

Quick review… I’m German and grew up with this food. The quality of the food at European Bistro is very good. Not excellent. But very good.
However, portion size is too small.
And, prices are way too high.
Service is not great… Not real friendly.
I would not recommend.

I love schnitzel and was pleased to find this out of the way place in Pflugerville.
With a quaint Old World European décor, the Bistro offers an interesting selection of Hungarian dishes like goulashes, big cold-​cut salads, and, of course, breaded chicken or pork schnitzel.
Vagueness in the menu isn’t a smart way to go. They charge extra for bread, and the portions are adequate with tiny sides and side salads. Service was mixed — the owner was very friendly and came out to say hello to our table, but the single server that day couldn’t handle more than 2 tables.
This is a nice homey occasion restaurant. So for Texans who want to try schnitzel — the food that originated «chicken fried steak,» the Bistro is worth checking out.

I love, love, love this place!
I grew up in Russia and Ukraine, so it is not easy to fool me with a crappy borscht. And these guys — well, the know great borscht. As well as a great beef stroganoff, cold cherry soup and… well everything is amazing!
The service is great, the wine list quite nice, and the deserts are amazing! AMAZING! Home made cakes that look and taste like the came from an award winning bakery. Black Forest cake is my favorite, but I am yet to have something short of amazing there, no matter what I order.
They also have live entertainment on weekends — pretty awesome. Got serenaded by a violinist who played me Russian songs =)
In short — a great place to explore Easter European food at its greatest, and to show off to friends and relatives=)

Stopped in here only because we saw a piano player in the front window. My party of 4 came in for a few drinks before catching a show across the street.
The piano player, Valentino, was fantastic. He played a nice set of classic hits and had a great voice. He was the best part of the visit.
The menu looked good, but we had just eaten, so we didn’t order anything. Seemed like a great mix of Hungarian and German food. One of our friends did grab a slice of chocolate cake and seemed very pleased with it.
The biggest problem with this place was the over-​friendliness of our waiter. He was nice and all, but he wouldn’t stop coming by and speaking to us at length when we were quite obviously trying to listen to the music. When a girl asked for a glass of wine, he went into the history of the style of wine and other types of wine she would also like for about 10 minutes. This would be great if we were on a wine tour. But not right up front listening to Valentino. These diatribes continued regarding beer choice, cakes and the bill.
Seems like a nice place to go for a family dinner or to see Valentino, just hope you don’t get an over-​talkative waiter.

When I heard that EB was closing on August 31, 2012, my eyes teared up. For the past 6 — 8 years, this has been a restaurant we use for special occasions and celebrations. I told BF we need to go before they close… Okay, so I told him many times.
I was concern when we had a hard time finding a parking space that they would be packed. All previous visits, they were empty with us being one of two or three dining parties. This time there were five other tables filled when we walked in. I guess others were saying their good-​byes also. We were seated next to the pastry display. Oh, heavenly visions throughout dinner.
Our waitress was a lovely girl who just started two weeks ago. He is out of a job in 4 weeks. BF orders an Octoberfest and I had the Erdinger. We start with the appetitzer of beef and Lamb pirogues with a dill sour cream sauce and spicy mustard. Growing up on only potato and pot cheese pirogues, these were a unique experience. Very tasty, BF perfered the sour cream and I liked the mustard.
A plate with complementary bread was brought out. It came with a blend of three cheeses, which both of us fought over. It was so good.
It was at this time the place got crowded. A party of twelve arrives and sat behind us. Another six tables were also seated. I have never seen it this full. The good news is we could still hear the piano player. The two waiters got very busy at this point so our service wasn’t as attentive. Ours stopped by to say she was going to check on our dinners. Sure enough, here they come.
My chicken schnitzel was golden brown; actually I received two chicken breasts on top of spatzle. My bf’s gulash was puddle in the center of his spatzle. This is when our conversation died so we could eat. This is the best schnitzel I have eaten. We both only managed to finish half of our meal because it is so plentiful. ToGo boxes were filled for later.
Both of us were stuffed but kept eyeing the dessert display. It was decided, we were ordering dessert to go. So a cherry strudel and a dobos torte got packed up for the trip home. The check came to $ 68.00 which considering the amount of food and drinks was not bad.
I will try to make it there one more time before they close. I will miss you greatly EB.

There’s an old song by KC & The Sunshine band called «Please don’t go». It is playing in my head right now. The Bistro will close on August 30, 2012! I will definitely miss this place! Where will I get food this great? I am saddened, but I am happy for the owner. She’s 72. Where does she get the energy? Apparently, the lady that used to own the German tavern has opened a German café just around the corner from this place! I guess I’ll have to check it out. But not until this place officially closes. It would be like cheating. I can’t cheat on the Bistro!

We went there for dinner and had a fantastic meal. They make no bones about the place being family run and everything has that home made taste. You do wait a bit longer for your meal to come out, but it is sooooo worth it. I had Turkey Cordon Bleu and my partner had the Jagerschnitzel. Both were fantastic and huge portions. I also tried the Russian Beet Salad and the Hungarian Beef Gulash Soup. Rich and flavorful soup and I surprised myself with the beet salad… it was out of my comfort zone, but well worth it. The pianist filled the restaurant with nice music and entertained the crowd.
I am ready for the next visit.

LOVED this place. We got the Groupon for it and decided to try it out and we’ll definitely be back.
The owner was extremely friendly and attentive and you can tell she’s proud of the place, which she should be.
We started off with the beef pierogies (have never had beef in a pierogie before so thought why not) and the borscht with beef. Both were delicious and I was sad when we finished them.
For entrees, I had the cabbage rolls and my husband had the special, which was roasted beef with brown gravy and potato croquettes. The cabbage rolls were delicious and comforting and reminded me of home. The sauerkraut that they use with this dish is very mild and tasty– have never had sauerkraut like it before. The sausage had a delicious smokey flavor and my husband stole about half of it from me. It was great. His entrée was also delicious. We both had to resist the urge to lick our plates clean, even though we were stuffed.
Not about to let our full stomachs get the best of us, we pushed forward into the dessert course. Instead of sharing one like we normally do, we had to both get our own since there were so many amazing looking ones to choose from. I had the cheese crepes which were warm and light and just sweet enough. The husband opted for a piece of cake– either the walnut or the pistachio. I can’t remember, but it was also light, just the right amount of sweet, and topped with lovely cream.
The presentation on everything was very nice. The dishes were well put together and you can tell whoever plated them really cared about detail. It wasn’t all just slapped on a plate like you see in restaurants so often.
Another interesting note is the annual trip for 4 to Budapest that they give away– very cool!

we were disappointed… we’ve had great german food and this place did not compare to rudi lechner’s in houston or the zumgassehaus in lake jackson. The german bratwurst tasted like a lean hot dog and the hungarian goulash tasted like a poor relative of carne guisada…

For background– I have spent some time in Germany, have German grandparents, and my husband lived in Germany for 6 years. Experts? No. But, I have a point of reference.
What can I say? Don’t believe the hype. Bad food, bad service, bad time. After a long drive in the rain, I was hopeful about our prix fixe Christmas menu.
Perogies– just okay, but a little cold
Cauliflower soup– best thing I ate
Salad– iceberg salad mix
Trout– what a mess. Really fishy with a creamy, stingy crab sauce on top over rice. Did I mention this was also cold?
Dessert– chewy fruitcake with rubbery icing
My husband had the jagerschnitzel which was cold, as well.
The couple there were really nice, the music was wonderful, however, the décor was a little bizarre.
All in all, I will not be returning or sending anyone all the way to Pflugerville. Next stop… Walburg.

We’re just back from German — and walking into the restaurant is almost like an instant portal back to the EU! I was almost ready to ask «Sprechen Sie Englisch»… then i realized — i don’t wanna be *that* dude… –_​-​. The décor and ambiance is nice, but relaxed…, old fashioned, but well kept — this certainly makes for a great foodie date and eat restaurant. The staff /​managers are all friendly, fun, and seem like good people all around.
But what we care about is the FOOOOOD, right? Well the main course here was DELICIOUS!
Jagerschnitzel was delicious — a large (covered a good portion of the plate, but nice and thin) fried cutlet of meat. Easy to cut, easy to eat, too easy to finish. It went perfectly with the spatzle (German /​Hungarian type of pasta).
Chicken paprika was a good dish as well — leg/​thigh meat with paprika sauce.
[eyes twitching… twitch… twitch… twitch]
The Belgian chocolate cake was a bit… over-​sweet and floury tasting. Similar deal for the caramel cake.
[twitch… twitch]
Overall — excellent main course — we will definitely be going back again! (May skip dessert though).

Best Eastern Euro food within an hour of Austin, only 20 mins from city center (non rush hour traffic, obviously). Delicious homemade spaetzle can be ordered with cheese. Homemade beef (preferred) or lamb pierogies, homemade pickled salads, homemade bread and several delicious layer cakes, including chestnut cake, chocolate pistachio and black forest with cherry liqueur. Even the mayo is made there. You get the picture. Dinner may not be cheap, but the 2 older Hungarian ladies who run this place are for real.
Great service from the knowledgeable and friendly waiter. A nice, older pianist plays on weekends. Good classical music on rotation otherwise.
Loved that it is in a 100 year old building with 2 floors and high ceilings, giving an older world atmosphere to this unexpectedly charming, less than 20 year old restaurant.
Lunchtime crowd is sparse despite lesser priced lunch specials such as chicken schnitzel.
The jagerschnitzel gravy was quite salty, and the cheese blintz filling was too runny for me.
The only other reason we left off a star was a small hair on 2 plates, as mentioned by a previous reviewer. Oh well! Being a doc, I’m actually not as queasy about a piece of hair on my plate as with undone cooked food, which wasn’t a problem here. Plus, really much better Euro food than in New Braunfels an hour away.
When this former Chicagoan craves a homemade spaetzle or a mug of hot, citrusy spiced Gluhwein around Christmastime, you know where she’ll be! Not to mention when a tawny port in my preference of dryness (bottled 3 – 6) is wanted to go with their house made chestnut cake.

I’m really torn on this place, because of the outcome (both my mother and I were sick the entire next day from eating here), and it’s hard not to let the outcome outweigh everything else. We went to this restaurant this past Tuesday, after seeing an ad for it in a paper. My mom, who was visiting, is Hungarian, so we thought it would be interesting to check out and see how authentic the food is. The location is cute, looks pretty much European style inside. I had Chicken Schnitzel with rizi bizi, and my mother had Beef goulash. They both tasted great for the most part, and authentic! The goulash was a little salty, though, and the rizi bizi had a TON of onions (which I’m used to just peas and carrots), so I didn’t care for that. The waiter was great, friendly, and helpful. There was a hair in my rizi bizi (gross!), so they offered us free dessert. Pricing was a bit high, we thought.
Had we not gotten sick, I would have gone back, but that outcome just kind of ruined it!
**UPDATE** 06÷04÷11
I received an email from the owner of the restaurant asking me to remove my negative review, as it gives the business a bad name. I find that fact that they asked me to remove a review from a website made for reviews to reflect poorly on them. They’re obviously looking for biased reviews pushing them to a high rating. I wonder how many other people have been asked to remove their review.

After a failed attempt with friends in our search for some good German food, my husband and I were on the prowl! I found this place online and the reviews were great, thanks fellow Unilocalers!
The menu is small (always a good sign) and we decided to share two entrées, the Jagershnitzel and Beef Gulash with Spatzle. Oh Jagershnitzel, how I love thee, so tasty and delicious, I highly recommend.
If you go with an appetizer, the lamb pirogues were amazing! For dessert, apple strudel. They also serve Paulaner Oktoberfest on draft… Needless to say we had gorged by the end of our meal.
As a perk that night, they had an accordionist /​vocalist there, we received a very beautiful serenade (with tip of course). Considering how much we ate, drank and tipped, our bill came out to just under $ 100, which really isn’t bad. Expect to pay roughly $ 30 per person reasonably. All and all it was a great experience and we’ll definitely be coming back soon.
They have tables inside of little coves that you can reserve, which do give a bit more privacy.

I came here for a holiday party for my friend’s company. Usually, I’m pretty reticent when the suggestion of going to Pflugerville comes up; that said, it’s the holidays. Why not?
We arrived at European Bistro just in time. The salad was typical, but satisfying. The service? Very attentive. It’s not often that you feel that the entire staff seems to want to make sure an event goes perfectly. This establishment understands service.
They offered up a hot wine. It tasted almost like a cider, but either way? It was delicious. The meal was a cornish game hen that was packed to the brim with bread stuffing. There were some steamed vegetables. My biggest surprise of the evening? They served mashed potatoes with a hint of both cream and cheese, but also with chopped hard boiled eggs. This was a definite first for me and I will struggle to recreate this.
Dessert was their Mozart Cake. It was nothing short of delicious. Chocolate, pistachio, more chocolate, deliciousness, and heaven.
I had a fine time in Pflugerville. How many times can you say that without a trace of doubt?

Every time I step into this restaurant I can’t help but think how awesome it would look during Christmas if they would decorate it in an old German theme. They’re already halfway there with the strings of white lights hanging off the front walls and balconies. The interior evokes a certain nostalgic sense of pre-​war Germany.
The menu features a mix of Hungarian golyases, German schnitzels, Czech stews, and other Eastern European specialties. We’ve been here several times for lunch and have enjoyed it every time. The portions for lunch are smaller and the items on the lunch menu are pretty much the same except for a dish or two (polish meatballs are on the lunch menu but not the dinner menu). The lunch menu runs about half the price of the dinner menu, but you get half the portion too so it works out. If you go for lunch make sure you ask for the lunch menu as you don’t always get a menu that has the lunch menu insert.
Tonight our party of four got 3 different entrees (we doubled up on one item). I ordered the Schweinshaxe (Pork Knuckle) $ 25. It was the special of the night– brined for several days then roasted to a golden yellow on the skin while the meat is fall off the bone tender. It’s about the tastiest pork knuckle I’ve ever had, even if I had to add a bit of salt. I opted for spaetzle instead of the cabbage it usually comes with.
My wife ordered her usual pork schnitzel ($ 14), and it delivered as usual. Two pork cutlets pounded thin, breaded, then fried with a small side of mushroom cream sauce ($ 1). She chose the steamed vegetables as her side.
Our friend ordered the jagerschnitzel ($ 20). It was the exact same as the pork schnitzel, except it’s veal. It’s the best jagerschnitzel in Austin. I usually order this dish but decided to go with the special tonight instead and I didn’t regret it.
The restaurant also carries a couple types of Hungarian soda, Malnazorp ($ 3.75) — the girls ordered strawberry and i have to say it was pretty good. It’s a cream soda so it’s a bit sweet for me but I enjoyed the taste.
The only knock on this restaurant is it’s pricey. Still, we’ll be back because it’s the only decent German place within 15 miles of our house. I recommend going for lunch, as all of the items are under $ 10. Oh also one more thing: the service is kinda slow and the kitchen takes a long time to get the food out, so expect to spend a couple hours for your meal.

Holy Crap! Eastern European food here in Austin, TX? I mean, BBQ and sausage… I get it already, but this stuff was great.
Let me preface this by saying I have many fond memories of dancing polka and eating real Winersnitzel on the East side of Cleveland as a young lass. However, I never thought that I would find that food again nor the ambience that went with it. Now, I have to stop and say that you will not have to learn polka or even hear polka at this place… but you will have an excellent Bavarian/​Eastern European experience!
The beer is fab. I went for the dark Wies… TASTY!!! I had two bottles, and they were huge. My dad had to drive us home, because I was a little drunko. The borscht was just like I remember at a Russian place I used to eat at in NYC. I had the Sauerbraten… which was the best I have had in years. My folks had the veal Weinersnitzel… I had a bite, and it was really great… no greasy at all. The spatzel and red cabbage, DELISH. The beet salad was good too.
I had strudel for dessert. The hubby had cheese crêpes. The folks had the Mozart cake. We all really enjoyed the entire experience.
The only sad thing that I will talk about (in regards to this place) was that there weren’t too many people there. The staff was awesome… explaining everything to us and making sure our experience was the best we could have there. We even had a private alcove with table which was great since we were not sans baby!
Go…you will not be disappointed… well, you won’t be disappointed if you like good food!!!