The Bavarian Chef Fredericksburg

Reviews 4

JO

Jody Crews

I like to think that Im a reasonable person, and that when I find myself in a situation where people are obviously in over their heads, that I do my best to be as forgiving as possible. We arrived 15 minutes early for a 7:30 reservation to a completely crowded entry area. When I checked in at the hostess station, I was greeted by what I have to assume was a high functioning autistic person. While she understood what she had to do, it was done with no urgency, and even less personality. On top of that, she didnt bother to check us in. So we waited a few more minutes until someone else was attending the hostess station, and they informed us that our table was still occupied, and that we would be seated as soon as the other occupants left. Ive never encountered a restaurant that had so little flexibility that they couldnt (or more likely wouldnt) move tables around so that people with the earlier reservations could be seated first. As it stands, we were finally seated at 8:00pm, half an hour after our reservation time. Considering the number of people in the restaurant, we assumed that things would get better once we were actually seated. The whole time we were waiting for our table, we saw the wait staff hustling back and forth between the kitchen and their tables, so the assumption seemed safe. Unfortunately, we were wrong. We managed to go through two servings of bread (YAY! for the kid delivering the bread!) before our order was taken. Youd think at this point, things might be looking up. Were actually sitting at a table, AND our order was taken. I would love to tell you about the wonderful appetizer we had, but our waiter delivered it to another table. At least he was generous enough to offer to take it off our bill. Our meal was adequate at best. My Jaeger Schnitzel was tasty yet underdone, but my husbands Sauerbraten was as tough as shoe leather. And the sauce tasted more like a red-wine reduction with raisins thrown in, than a true sauerbraten sauce. Im fairly certain that ginger never got anywhere close to the pan. With our dinner, we each got to choose two sides. We both chose potato salad, I selected spatzle and my husband selected string beans. The potato salad had a good flavor, but no discernible potatoes, just an amorphous paste. The spatzle was adequate, but the string beans contained more tomatoes than beans. The one bright spot of the evening was the overworked bar-tender. At least he apologized for providing lousy service - but it was obvious it wasnt his fault. By the time we were seated the poor guy had only three glasses left, and there was no evidence of any replacements. I find it difficult to believe that in playing the odds that night, that we lost at every turn. Nobody has such poor luck. Since we had never been to this restaurant before, Im also fairly certain that we couldnt have upset the wait staff so much that our treatment was retribution for some slight. This leaves a vast chasm of incompetence on the restaurants part. We will not be returning.

NA

Nathan Tabor

I have been there before and had a great experience with friends. This time was completely different. I ordered the sausage appetizer and they were cold. I asked to have them bring me a fresh plate and all they did was rewarm the sausages and re-plate them. By that time the mains were on their way out so I asked them to just take the sausages away as I didnt want them. They did take them off the check, but i was really surprised and baffled that the sausage plate was not redone completely. They also seemed to be simply prepackaged sausages. I think I could have gotten similar or better at Wegmans and cooked them myself. They were not very juicy either. I ordered the Rheinischer Sauerbraten as the my main. I was surprised that the beef was dry. The sauce was good, and I understand that it isnt steak, but it was very well done. My dining companion had the seasonal boar dish and as with my dish, the meat was over cooked. The mashed potatoes didnt seem to be freshly prepared, seemed like out of a box. The string beans had been under a warmer for hours. The zucchini side was good. So was the bread. If I was at a Dennys I might expect food like this, but I expect a higher caliber of service and food Our server Buck seemed new and seemed equally baffled that the kitchen had sent back rewarmed sausages. He was a champ, and I felt bad sending back the sausages at all, but for the prices at this place, come on.... cold, prepackaged German sausages at a German place? I would expect them to be prepping all of that food at their restaurant themselves. For the price I expect better, and since I live in Stafford, with Rhiengarten just up Route 1, there will never be a need for me to venture back to Fredericksburg for the Bavarian Chef.

JO

Johnny Bravo

Came up from Richmond to try this place out. This was an old train station, now converted German restaurant (attached to the new station). Outside was beautiful, architecture and all. Had it been warmer out theres no question I wouldve preferred to sit outside overlooking Rt.1. Upon entry the staff was dressed authentically and service to sit was immediate. Inside atmosphere was fairly modern. Theres another Bavarian Chef north of Charlottesville that appears more country like if that is the kind of Germany you prefer, I will be trying when Im out that way. Spotless, not crowded at all. They did not squish everyone in one area also like most places which was appreciated. Music in the background was downbeat and very fitting. Our waiter (Ryan) was one of the best servers Ive had at any restaurant, very intelligent and knew the menu, well spoken. The tables were small, but in the end fit all foods well. We were only given one beer menu for 3 people, did not like that. 3 types of bread were served with drinks. We all got 4 appetizers to start, all the appetizers were equally delicious. We all unintentionally got the same plate, the Hühnerbrüstchen Baden-Baden. The food was served with a flower of some sort to the side and beautifully presented in the center of the plate to cut up. Food was excellent and even some to take home. It was worth the trip to visit, a little pricy in the end but then again it was expected (I dressed casually though would have felt better dressed up). I would recommend this place for anybody in the area or for anyone who has a love for German culture as do I. Its a great place for a family, for a date, or just alone to read a paper and relax with a small meal.

DO

Don Shaffer

Well, after reading a couple of the more recent reviews, my advice to Natasha would be - dont go to an authentic GERMAN RESTAURANT and order FRENCH ONION SOUP and a CAESAR SALAD!! That might be -- no, actually it is - the dumbest review Ive ever read. After all, everyone knows if you want great pizza you should go to a Chinese buffet and if you want great sushi you should try a coffee shop. But I digress. - The Bavarian Chef is authentic german food. The menu is filled with a variety of excellent dishes including steaks, schnitzels, chicken and all the delicious GERMAN sides you could want. The appetizers are excellent too. They serve several varieties of fresh baked breads and the German beers are actually German! Who would have thought? It is all very authentic, all delicious and all served in very large portions!! We went for Fathers Day and had an exceptional meal. It is a lot of food and its all fantastic - so go hungry but be ready to take home some leftovers!! This was our third trip and we will definitely be going back.