German in South Florida

3016 E. Commercial Blvd. Fort Lauderdale

954-771-7342

German, American, Bars and Clubs, Recommended, Best Of, Menu

Despite its diminutive appearance, the Ambry has a maze of tables and booths and a healthy-sized bar from which to consume the thickest, frothiest brews in town. Beer steins adorn shelves, shadow boxes contain trinkets, and numerous woodwind instruments dangle from the ceiling. The crowded bar boasts a row of topped-off steins, and soccer team flags and fake flowers decorate the little alcohol-vending alcove. Dark and packed with more tchotchkes than your grandma's apartment, the Ambry looks every bit of its 30 year pedigree. From the outside, it looks like a medieval castle with German and American flags on the ramparts. Inside, the dark, winding corridors reveal private rooms anchored by warm hearths. Up front is a bar that's covered with so much German soccer memorabilia you'd half expect to find World Cup hero Bastian Schweinsteiger chilling there with a pint of Tucher Hefeweizen in hand. Instead you'll find plenty of regulars hoisting decorative steins, eating ruby-hued prime rib specials, and noshing on supple, house-made sausages with rustic mustard sauce. A great place to drink, and good for a bite, too.

8 articles

Checkers Old Munchen

2209 E. Atlantic Blvd. Pompano Beach

954-785-7565

Austrian, German, American, Best Of, Menu

Munchen, as in Old-Munchen, is German for Munich. But it's also a signifier of the spirited good times cooked up at this Pompano Beach eatery in that the place feels just like a beer bar set in the historic Bavarian capital. The small restaurant is lined with beer bottles and decorative steins and anchored by a worn, copper-topped bar. Working there is a friendly staff eager to pour you a pint of the good stuff, be it hoppy Spaten Pilsner or dark Franziskaner Dunkel. All around the bar, people share plates of Germanic food like sauerkraut, bratwurst, and spaetzle, all re-created brilliantly. Meanwhile, those same folks belt out German toasts together. (The toast made famous by The Man Show - "Zicke, Zacke, Zicke, Zacke, Hoi, Hoi, Hoi!" - is especially popular.) The wait staff -- sweet, efficient -- gets a kick out of joking around with the sizable crowd that packs the place on weekends too. With a beer selection that runs more than 60 deep and a kitchen turning out authentic grub, Checkers succeeds in transporting you back to Old-Munchen.

7 articles

Cypress Nook Restaurant

201 E. McNab Rd. Pompano Beach

954-781-3464

Austrian, German, Recommended, Best Of, Menu

This cozy cottage restaurant hidden in Pompano Beach has been serving German-style breakfast and lunch since 1979. As the long lines suggest, it's just about the perfect breakfast joint. On any given day, the whiteboard tacked on the tiny cottage's far wall is filled with intriguing specials. There are eggs accompanied by all manner of meat, from big ol' pork chops and New York strip steaks ($9.45) to juicy brats and griddled kielbasa - the bratwurst in particular is sausage at its finest, sourced locally and bursting with flavor. Banana and chocolate chip pancakes are as big as vinyl records and full of melting soft fruit. And asparagus omelets with creamy Swiss cheese are as bright as the sun filtering in through the cottage's windows. Everything, from the homemade mustard with horseradish and hot sauce to the superlative home fries flecked with onions, is near flawless. Cash only.

8 articles

Fin & Claw

2476 N. Federal Highway, Lighthouse Point Pompano Beach

954-782-1060

Seafood, American, Austrian, German, Recommended, Menu

Hardly anybody beyond Willie and Donna Schlager seems to want to run a cozy little seafood café anymore, the kind of place where you order blackened dolphin or broiled yellowtail; where oysters are sautéed to order for a cream-rich stew and waitresses stagger under the weight of bristling platters of Alaskan King crab legs; where your only fish-related fear is that you probably don't have the intestinal fortitude to put away a whole bucket of steamed clams and the Baltimore crab cake and the flounder Ponchartrain. Fin & Claw II is such a place, the outpost of a dwindling tribe that once flourished in Broward and Palm Beach, now a band on the run. Still, the pace here is unhurried, the catch fresh and well-prepared, and the entrées a bargain when you factor in the price of soup, salad, potatoes, and creamed spinach that comes along for free.

1 article

German Bread Haus

311 E. Commercial Blvd. Oakland Park

954-491-4464

Austrian, Bakery, German, Best Of

Willkommen to the German Bread Haus, an authentic German bakery and retail store built in an over-the-top cute theme. The structure looks like a gingerbread house oddly located on a nondescript block on Commercial Boulevard. The inspiration behind the Haus came from owner Dieter Dauer. Before he left Germany, Dauer used to tell his two kids at bedtime the story of Hansel and Gretel, so the Haus represents this magical experience he shared with his children. Dauer and his wife, Norma, have owned and operated the bakery since 1986. They bake German favorites like Bavaria Farmer Rye, Dresdner stollen, and apple strudel. There's also a back house that was converted into a certified organic facility, where the healthier breads are made with what the owners refer to as "Flour Power."

2 articles

International House of Schnitzel

4820 N. Dixie Highway Oakland Park

954-626-0723

American, Breakfast, Cafe, German, Sandwiches, Recommended

It's safe to say the thin, breaded meat cutlet known as schnitzel is not quite as buzzworthy as pancakes, the specialty of another, well-known international house. But even if it doesn't always get the respect it deserves, schnitzel is undoubtedly more popular worldwide, whether it goes by the name "milanesa" in Italy and Latin America or simply "chicken cutlet" here at home. The International House of Schnitzel - a quirky restaurant next door to the Fox and Hound Pub - specializes in the chicken version of the dish (not pork or more expensive veal). The tiny lunch spot pounds its schnitzel to a perfect quarter-inch thickness, coats it in breadcrumbs, and bakes it until a luscious, crisp coating forms on the surface. IHOS completes the working-class dish with amazing, German-style red cabbage and a side of mashed potatoes for just $5.95. The same thing stuffed on a Kaiser roll and served with lettuce, tomato, and homemade garlic mayonnaise costs less than $5. The entire menu is made from scratch daily by owners Rudi Pollak and Eli Herschkovich, two 30-year industry vets who have an undying love for the feel-good dish. IHOS serves breakfast all day, as well as subs, soups, burgers, salads, knishes, and some of the flakiest, freshest homemade apple strudel you'll find.

1 article

Old Heidelberg

900 W. SR-84 Fort Lauderdale

954-463-6747

German, Bars and Clubs, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Menu

This German chalet-themed restaurant been open since 1991 and sports an adjacent deli next door where the original owners, Dieter Doerrenberg and Heidi Brueggeman, make sausages, schnitzel, and all sorts of German baked goods daily. Old Heidelberg's menu is almost as big as the cavernous restaurant itself. There's plenty of meaty German fare like schnitzel and duck, plus a variety of roasted pork and beef dishes ladled with rich sauces. You'll also find more European-inspired dishes like steaks, seafood, and chicken cordon bleu. Go for the house potato soup; chunky and flavorful and loaded with bits of aromatic vegetables and crumbled sausage. Finger-size sausages made at the deli next door included fatty knockwurst and bratwurst, plus a rich and garlicky link of keilbasa.

6 articles

Organic Brewery

209 N. Broadwalk Hollywood

305-414-4757

American, Bar Food, German, Best Of, Menu

Get drunk while doing some grade-A people-watching, or just contemplate the world’s vastness over a pint and a dramatic view of the ocean. Pull up a seat on the porch of Organic Brewery along Hollywood's Broadwalk for both. Four great beers are brewed on-site, and they don't carry the pretentious price tags often associated with microbrews. If your boozy sweet tooth takes over, just flip to the dessert menu and order the beer cake, a blend of hazelnut, raisins, dark beer, and two types of cheese. Have fun digesting that one!

4 articles

German in South Florida

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