The Lion. Who doesn’t like The Lion? The place has been serving up beer and sausage since the early 1960s (the place was opened as an English Pub in 1959) and it hasn’t looked back since.
What’s Nearby
The restaurant is divided into three sections with the downstairs bar, the upstairs bar, and the beer garden in back. Although the beer garden part was added in the early 1990s, the whole establishment feels much older due in part to the classic styling (dark wood, green vinyl booths, beer maidens in dirndls, etc., etc.) and conspicuous lack of televisions. Yes you’ll actually have to make conversation at this place(!), but it certainly comes easily over platters of potato pancakes, bratwurst and half-liters. If you are concerned about running out of beer, liter mugs and 2.5 liter glass boots (!!), are also available for consumption.
The food is rather hearty, probably not up to the level of that certain individual who “just came back from Germany” and now knows all about the subtle vagaries of traditional deutsche Küche, but that being said the potato pancakes are fantastic, the large soft pretzel = awesome, currywürst = also awesome, and the fish and chips, though not traditionally German per se, taste great all the same. Don’t forget to skip to the back of the menu where there are listed “Beer Garden Specialties” which translates roughly to “cheaper and smaller portioned options than the rest of the menu.” Nothing here is really all that “light”. Plan accordingly.
Beers skew heavily German/Austrian (natch) with Kostrizer, Hofbrau, Franziskaner, Spaten, and Stigel on regular rotation. Domestic bottles are available as are a limited selection of other imports…but why wander? The wine list could stand to be improved with the large number of quality German wines now available but the place bills itself as a beer-centric restaurant and that’s what they do best. A selection of liqueurs and krauterlikors are also available to wash down that hearty meal and prepare you for that damn trip to Cha Cha Lounge that sometimes happens afterward…better yet just stay at the Red Lion, place is way cooler. Prost!
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