Schmidt’s Sausage Haus und Restaurant

Reviews 4

HO

Howard Luken

I dropped it here a week or two ago after being sorely disappointed at other restaurants in Columbus Ohio. I remember this place from back in the day and usually you cant even get in the door its always packed with yuppies. This time however I actually got in, nobody was really waiting and there were at least three tables within spitting distance to sit at. However like everywhere else that claims to be pretentious they had twenty something girls seating people at the tables. This time they looked around looked at me looked at the empty tables and said go sit at the bar or wait 25 minutes. I pointed at the tables which is useless of course, walked to the bar I told the bartender they wouldnt seat me. He pointed at an empty table right behind me at the bar not sitting at the bar itself of course and said have a seat Ill take your order no problem. Of course he had to go and mention it to these 20 somethings who looked peeved the rest of the evening. They have a $15 buffet of sorts which probably hasnt changed in 30 years its basically just their sausages cut up that have probably been left over for some time, a couple of different kinds of nasty potatoes and thats about it. Theres only so many pieces of two different kinds of sausage you can eat for $15. They had something called stew that was basically the same sausage stuck in some kind of barbecue sauce. Not good. They make their waiters wear those silly lederhosen to pretend that its some kind of authentic German place when in fact its just another corporate hole for yuppies. There isnt a real German brewhouse left in Columbus probably not since the end of World War 2. The breweries, micro breweries they call them that have popped up everywhere not so great. Its yet another yuppie, millennial, 20-something bullshit excuse for the real thing. Go to Germany. Theres a real Brewhouse on nearly every corner and everyone even though they follow a 600 year old brewing law have different beer, different tastes, different everything. They dont even speak the same language in Villages that are separated by 20 miles. I was sitting with a friend one day, this was back in the late 1980s and I asked him what these guys were talking about and he says I cant understand them its a different dialect. Thats old Europe thats old Germany. Theres nothing German about German Village except for the brick buildings and streets that were built by the original German immigrants my ancestors.

AN

Andrew Viancourt

My wife and I heard great things about this place and were excited to try it out. We were quoted a 20-30 minute wait time on a Friday night, but ended up only waiting about 10 minutes. Cant complain about that! We both tried the buffet, which is a great way to sample a lot of things Schmidts has to offer. I didnt see a price listed for the buffet on the menu which worried me slightly, but it ended up being $15 each, right on par with other entrees on their menu. Between the two of us, we tried everything the buffet had to offer except the sausage stew and the cold salad bar. Neither of us found anything we didnt like. I especially liked the Bahama Mama and thought it paired very well with the tang of the red cabbage and apples. Theres a pot of brown mustard on the tables that goes very well with the Bratwurst, too. Pictured is my third plate (mostly because I was too busy eating the first two to remember to take a picture) clockwise from the top: Baked chicken leg, red cabbage and apples, German potato salad, sauerkraut, bratwurst, Bahama Mama, garlic knockwurst, and mashed potatoes with chicken gravy. At the top is a cup of their potato soup which is also very good, but different from the cheesy, bacon-laden potato soups you usually see. We added a half-pound vanilla cream puff to-go for a special price of $3.75 with buffet purchase. Though Im still too stuffed to dig into it, I did swipe my finger through the filling and found it to be delicious as well. The restaurant itself is in an historic building with lots of neat things to look at. Its definitely a tight fit, but it works out well. I felt more like I was in a friends house or with extended family for a holiday dinner than crammed in somewhere like sardines. I will definitely be visiting Schmidts again the next time Im in town!

RE

Rev Doe

The short: Food was good but small portion size, service could be better since my waitress went mia, and ended up getting sick with the runs all night afterwards. The long: Im a person who likes to try out local offering in my travels. Decided to dine here after reading rave reviews and drove 15 miles from my hotel room with every intention of having three course meal since i barely had lunch due to busy schedule in Columbia. Parking is very small and packed so i ended up parking behind the building and got a booth table that was bit scattered. Appetizer didnt appeal much so decided to skip and just had the light pilsner which was great with lot flavor with almost floral undertone, arguably one of the best light beers i had while constantly waving off couple of fruit fly buzzing around (first time ever in a restaurant). The sampler i ordered came with four small 1/4 size sausages in mount of sourkraut, small side of potatoes, 1 crispy hot dog roll and apple sauce. Disappointed in serving size since it looked like an appetizer than a 13 dollar dinner plate but the sausages were flavorful with snapping casing but wanted the second hot dog roll but could not find my waitress for the next 10-15 minutes when restaurant was not that busy. She ended up bringing my second beer as requested earlier but by this time i was finished with dinner and staring at a 22 ounces dark lager, didnt have much inclination to order desert so just finished my beer and left. Stomach pain woke me up middle of the night and nature called couple times afterwards, didnt get much sleep while contemplated on life choices.

MA

Mathias Hilpert

I am originally from Germany (actually from Bavaria) and lived there for 40 years of my life before I came to the US. So when I was visiting Columbus for a few days, I went with my wife for lunch to Schmidts, partially based on the good reviews as well as visiting German Village anyway. So I ordered a Sauerbraten (marinated beef with gravy) and my wife a Wiener Schnitzel. Unfortunately, none of them came close to real German food as I know it. The key for a successful Sauerbraten dish is to marinate the beef for several days before cooking, so it takes the flavor from the marinade as well as becoming really soft and tender. The meat was pretty tough without significant flavor. I suspect they did not marinate it long enough, so overall the dish failed.The gravy was ok. The Schnitzel was also kind of disappointing. This is a very simple dish, but was in my opinion not executed well either. The key ingredient of a Wiener Schnitzel is a thinnly sliced piece of veal meat and after frying it stays thin and crispy. Here it looked way too thick and wavy, taste was not better than average. The side dishes were Ok, nothing above average either. Net, I was pretty disappointed based on the really good reviews and the expectations they raised. Overall, I give 2.5 stars based on what I ordered. On a side note, I went to the Hofbräuhaus the day after, which in my opinion offered better and more traditional (Bavarian) German food.