Richard's Restaurant, Brunswick, ME

We have been to a few restaurants recently and had good food and good service, a huge improvement from the peak of the pandemic where many restaurants had inexperienced cooks and inadequate service staff. Many of the restaurants I’ve eaten at recently have overcome many of those challenges. With that in mind, I decided to restart doing my food blog.

My wife mentioned that it had been a long time since she had had good German food. She particularly missed schnitzel. So, I thought I’d take her somewhere that specialized in German food for our wedding anniversary.

A Google Search “German Food Restaurants Near Me” didn’t help. The first three it recommended were:

• Schulte & Herr in Portland. Their website indicated they are “Take Out Only,” so I skipped it. 
• Ruski’s Tavern in Portland. They didn’t have a website. They had a page on Facebook that included their menu. Nothing German on their menu.
• Blast from the Past Too Diner. We go there often and love them, but they have nothing on the menu that I’d call “German.”
• Looking further down the list, I didn’t see anything I’d call German 

A look at Trip Advisor brought up two restaurants, 

• Schulte & Herr (see above)
• Jager in Portland. They didn’t have a website (it is “parked”), and I couldn’t find a Facebook page for them. The most recent Trip Advisor review was in 2019, so I expect they no longer exist. I wish Trip Advisor allowed expanding a search to a broader range from the search center. 

Next, I looked at Yelp. After Schulte & Herr was Richard’s Restaurant in Brunswick. A review of their menu showed what appeared to be an excellent selection of authentic German food. Just what I was looking for. 

So, to find a restaurant serving the specific cuisine I was looking for, Yelp was the best.

Restaurant Review – Richard’s Restaurant, Brunswick, ME

Reservations

They aren’t open on Sunday (my anniversary). I called during the day at a time outside their regular hours and reached a person who took my reservation for Saturday evening.

Arrival 

Celebrator Double-Bock

We arrived a few minutes early, found parking “for Richard’s Restaurant Only” in the back, and entered the back door. A person met us immediately, found our reservation, and walked us to a lovely table. We ordered drinks as we looked over the menu. I ordered a Celebrator Double-Bock. It was a nice touch that the bottle and the glass to drink it from matched. The bartender made my wife a proper extra-dry martini—well done! The waitress was amiable. She went over the specials, “blue-cheese mashed potatoes, vegetable of the day, etc. She also helped me decide which of several German sausages to choose from. I selected the Nürnberger Bratwurst, with Spätzle and Weinkraut as my sides; my wife decided on the Jägerschnitzel with the blue-cheese mashed potatoes and the vegetable of the day (carrots and zucchini). 

A small plate with butter and German mustard arrived, and shortly after, a basket with some bread and pretzels. I don’t think I’ve ever had better-tasting mustard. It was so good on the pretzel. The roll tasted like a “Parker House roll”, it was so soft and buttery. 

The strudel appetizer—ham, asparagus, & cheddar—arrived in a few minutes. The strudel was delicious. It had just the right amount of ingredients. None of the components overpowered the other, making for a delightful taste treat.

Entrées 

My Nürnberger bratwurst was tasty and filling. The spätzle (hand-pressed egg noodles) was among the best I’ve ever had. The weinkraut was so good that we ordered an extra pint to take home.

 My wife’s Jägerschnitzel was uniformly thin, had an excellent crust that was crunchy, yet allowed the pork tenderloin to remain flavorful. My wife loves mushrooms and indicated the mushroom-herb sauce (I’d call it gravy) was truly amazing. 

Misc. Comments

The dining room was lovely; the tables were set a reasonable distance from each other. 

Ratings

• Ambiance: 5 (Clean and open, excellent for conversations.)
• Food: 5 (Every item was cooked perfectly.)
• Service: 5 (Server was friendly and attentive.)
• Price: 4 (Dinners ran about $21 to $25 each, plus appetizers and drinks. It seems a little expensive, but post-pandemic, eating out is a lot more expensive than dining was pre-pandemic. I guess this is getting to be the “new normal.”)
• Value: 5 (Civilized and worth the drive.) 

Conclusion

We loved the food, loved the service, and had a great time. Richard’s Restaurant in Brunswick was definitely worth the 45-minute drive. We’ll go back anytime we have a hankering for great German food. 

Location