Mountain Brauhaus, Gardiner, NY

Grass fed, local beef burger on a pretzel

The Mountain Brauhaus in Gardiner has been around for 58 years, they opened the year I was born, and has been run by the same family for all of that time. I say this because when you enter the restaurant you might just feel like you've stepped back in time, in a good way. It is full of dark wood, the waitresses all wear German dresses, German music is playing on the sound system and people are friendly. Old World charm is how I'd describe it best. I haven't been there since I was little and I don't think it has changed a bit since then. Now that can be a bad thing when a restaurant doesn't change and gets stale, and the third generation runs it into the ground. Not the case here as they have taken what works well and kept it up. They didn't try to fix what wasn't broken.

Rueben strudel

We were seated and our excellent waitress, Alisha, brought us water and gave us time to look over the menus. There were too many good choices and we decided to start with the Rueben Strudel appetizer. It was quite good with some quality corned beef wrapped in a strudel and covered with Swiss cheese and sauerkraut. Around the edges were circles on dressing and horseradish. 

I ordered the local grass fed burger on a pretzel at $13.00. It had gouda, balsamic roasted red onion, spinach and a side of fries. There were other options. I ordered it medium and it was darn near medium, just a tad over. The beef was good and the flavors blended well. The pretzel was a bit much though and I left a bit of that behind. The fries were good too. Overall it was a good burger and I will certainly be back for another one (or another variation) soon.

Veggie burger

Theresa got the veggie burger after Alisha told her it was house made. She said that it was good, as good as one she'd make herself (Teresa said this). She had the salad and it was quite large. She originally had the onion dressing but she didn't like the dill in it (I did) and asked Alisha for a different one. The citrus dressing she brought was excellent.

Of course I had to have a beer and I chose a dark beer, a small Köstritzer Schwarzbier. It was good and I liked the way the bubble broke the head just as I took the picture. 

Two good burgers, a beer and an appetizer for under $36, tax included. Not bad at all. Overall, a very nice dining experience and we will certainly be going back again. There were quite a few things on that menu that interested us and we want to try them. I'd highly recommend you pay them a visit and experience Old World dining at its best.