LagerHaus Grill & Brewery

LagerHaus Grill & BreweryLagerHaus Grill & Brewery
LagerHaus Grill & BreweryLagerHaus Grill & Brewery
Brewery, Bar, Eatery

3438 East Lake Business
Palm Harbor, Florida, 34685
United States

(813) 343-2449 | map
lagerhausbrewery.com
BEER STATS
Average:
3.64
Beers:
29
Ratings:
55
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.82
Reviews:
16
Ratings:
20
pDev:
17.02%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
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Ratings by aaudette:
Photo of aaudette
Reviewed by aaudette from Rhode Island

2.5/5  rDev -34.6%
Went there for lunch with 2 other people. Each of us thought the food (brats, fish and chips, Weiner schnitzel sandwich) were marginal at best.

Same for the beer - we tried several of the house brewed beers (and some of the guest taps) and thought all of them had an inappropriate sour-tinge to them, maybe some line cleaning is in order.

Also, a pet peeve - no prices on any of the beers. And I wasn't surprised when I got the check why - $6.50 for a .5 liter Hefweizen seemed rather high.

Maybe we caught the on an off day, but if so it was a pretty off day.

Also, while everyone has the right to their own views, I am not sure the pro-second amendment stickers in the bar encourage me to come back for a second try.
Nov 17, 2014
More User Ratings:
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Reviewed by clayrock81 from Florida

3.83/5  rDev +0.3%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4 | service: 3.75 | selection: 3.75 | food: 3.75
Located in a strip mall and borders on cozy/too small. Sat at the bar so no real complaints as was not too busy. The bartender was nice and knowledgeable, and chatty when he had the chance, but kind of slow and certainly didn't mind showing his disdain when he got pummeled (a slew of drink tickets came in at once). Food is ok (Mr. Dunderbak's the other side from me is better), the beer selection and quality is ok, and basically I just don't have a real review other than this place is OK. It is worth checking out but I can't say that this is the best beer bar or brewery I've been to in this area.
Dec 03, 2019
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Reviewed by macrosmatic from Florida

3.59/5  rDev -6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.75 | service: 4 | selection: 3.25 | food: 3
Visited for the first time on a Saturday, mid-afternoon. The place was quiet, but not expected to be busy at that time. Restaurant area was clean and inviting enough.

Fairly good selection of beers on the menu. It was difficult to ascertain which of the beers on the menu were brewed at LagerHaus though; I ended up needing to ask the server. They had only two available when I was there, and I picked one of those - the tangerine hefeweizen, which was good enough but nothing outstanding.

The server we had was prompt and attentive. No real complaints there.

The food was a bit of a disappointment. Jagerschnitzel was only passable, and a warm potato salad that left me wishing I'd picked a different side. Mr. Dunderbak's food offerings have been much better in my experience.
Apr 26, 2017
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Reviewed by slander from New York

3.76/5  rDev -1.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.75 | food: 4.25
Seldom on vacation and even less so am I not in the driver’s seat. As such, I’m out of my element and little more than a hostage. On the road now, dropping in another strip mall in another Flowida town called Palm Harbor. They seemed pretty excited about doin’ din here and they have beer so you’ve got my attention. I’m easy like that…

I saw some brewing equipment as we entered and the place does have the word ‘Brewery’ in its name, but it wasn’t easy to discern if and what they made here out of the gate, and only got cloudier (I’ll get to that). Well, it’s rustic. Up front, they’ve got a hook shaped marble topped bar with a vertical wood slat base and foot rail; seating for 16ish on hightop chairs. And roughly a dozen and a half tables & booths adjacent and down and around the bend.

Yellowy stucco walls over vertical wood slat lowers of the same color, wood slat floors and a drop ceiling. Copper pan lamps over the seating and cool metal mug light bulb covers on the wall mounts. Peekaboo kitchen behind the bar (I can see you). Flatscreens above the taps on the barback and in the rear corner. Brewery mirrors and then a bunch more mix & match, like lots of them, Euro and not, and a collection of brewery tin tacks in the corner. German flaggings across the room, and brewery shirts a-dangling over the bar (a ‘Farfrompukin’ shirt amongst them, stay classy Florida).

Tower of double 6 on the bar back on a copper panel over glassware shelved below, plus a 4 tap upright and 2 iced cylinder trios on the bar. Seemingly 22 taps in all. But the beer menu shows 31 taps, and they’re saying there’s something like 28 taps up, but that doesn’t include the 3 that kicked? So where are the other taps? They’re in the back? In the back of what? Hmmmn.

So the printed beer list is a mix of house beer, (mostly German) imports, a few ciders, and American craft beer, but having seen the beer list, I’m totally in the confusion hole over what’s what here and am left to ask, “So which are the house beers?” Wait! You’re saying that the beers written in ALL CAPS are yours? WTF? How about putting that shit in another color or oh, I don’t know, maybe under a header that reads ‘house beers’ or something cutesy like that? (You’re a brewpub. Shine a bright goddamn light on your wares. Should you really have to ask a brewpub which beers are theirs?) Not transparent = suspect. Seems there are all of 3 house beers up now. Madame Pompadour (Flanders Oud Bruin, 9%), was just all booze, as was the Imperial Framboise at (like) 11%. Didn’t get to the El Dorado Hoppy Sour Apple. German beers and big alcohol sours, interesting.

And in the dinner hours, such as they are. We app’d with a bier pretzel which was exactly that, and the jerk wings deemed ‘yummy’. Entrée, I opted for the wienerschnitzel because, duh. It came with a house salad mushroomed, oh, French please, thank you, and sided wisely with the Kaese spaetzl as recommended strong! The schnitzel was no fucking around good. I had to take it down (Had to). Jed ate only ½ of his Jagerschnitzel (‘deliciousness’, said he) and boxed to go. No, I don’t look like a total glutton, piss off.

Lack of an easily discernable beer list and where are these other tap lines makes for a somewhat disjointed experience. But the food was very good, and the server was fun, anyway. I’d like another visit here, now that I know what I know what I know.
Oct 25, 2016
 
Rated: 3.4 by Dannofett from Florida

Aug 22, 2016
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Reviewed by PapaGoose03 from Michigan

3.99/5  rDev +4.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 3.75 | food: 4.25
This was stop #1 on a Florida vacation for my wife and me. The pub is located in a complex of strip malls in a busy retail corridor. A small bar is along one wall, and a number of tables and booths allow ample room for a crowd. A beer garden is located to the rear of the pub, but we didn't look back there to see how inviting it might be since it was a hot day.

The brewery had 4 of their own beers and one cider on tap, and they also have ample taps to have 26 other craft beers or imports available plus another cider. Many of the beers are German, but some offerings were from other European countries in addition to American craft beers. Some bottled beers are also offered.) We ordered a sampler flight of their 4 beers plus one American beer to fill the paddle. Although the brewery does not have many of their own beers, what they do offer all have high quality to them. We rated their beers at a B+ grade, with the standout beer being the Imperial Framboise, although followed closely by Madame Pompadour, a sour brown ale.

The food is also very good quality, and many of the menu dishes were European in their style. The owner/brewer is Austrian and he appears to be trying to keep his background culture active in this place. I hope the locals realize what a gem they have here; we sure did. Although this was the first stop (of 10 breweries) in our week-long vacation, it ended up receiving the highest score of all of them. We have family in the area who we visit annually, so we'll be back again.
Nov 05, 2015
 
Rated: 3.48 by Jfishe13313 from Florida

Jan 17, 2015
 
Rated: 4.44 by KensWorld from Florida

Jan 15, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by beernads from Florida

Oct 18, 2013
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Reviewed by basscram from Maine

5/5  rDev +30.9%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5
Went here on August 16, 2013 after I had gone to Copp Winery and Brewery in Crystal River.
Hit the happy hour between 3-6pm. 20% off entire check is the deal. Great Hofbrauhaus offerings there. Had the Helles. Now I wanted something light cause I wanted to try their quad and it was good! I will go back to try their other ones but their food is awesome! I ordered a reuben and my woman ordered a chicken breast sandwich. Awesome. German'ish type music playing in the background almost like Mr. Dunderbak's. Great service with a smile! We sat at the bar, Not very crowded but they were having a cuban pig roast in the back at 6pm so I'm sure it would get there! Nice and clean. Nice big outside area, I was impressed I'll just say that. Their brewery equipment is not hidden and you can view their work area.

Prices are great. oh. Every night they have 8 dollar liter nights from 10pm-close.
highly recommended to go here if you get a chance.
Aug 17, 2013
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Reviewed by ckollias from Maryland

4/5  rDev +4.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
My wife and I have now visited this place twice and both have mixed feeling about it. The beers they have are awesome - but they really should label the beers the actually brew - we had to ask the first time. They have a ton of great craft beers on tap and a variety of beers from around the country. The best thing we would out is that for $10 you can get a sampler of 6 beers - and since at the time they only had 8 of their own beers on tap it was a great way to sample most of them. The samples were half glasses too - so bascially you get 6 half beers for a minimal price.

The food was good also. I got a burger that was huge and my wife got a pizza that was very tasty. They had a lot of German food on the menu - but since we didn't know exactly what most of it was - we decided to play it safe.

Everything was awesome about this place except the service. The place was pretty busy and they only had 2 waitresses. They screwed up my wife order - but they can happen anywhere. After we finsihed our dinner and beers we wanted to order a couple of more brews - but our waitress forget about us!! She didn't even realize we will still there until she was cleaning a nearby table.

So overall - it is an awesome place - hopefully the service can improve.
Oct 25, 2011
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Reviewed by TheFightfan1 from Pennsylvania

4.01/5  rDev +5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5
The family and I were in the neighborhood so we thought to swing by for lunch. Five people total in the bar after about 10 mins we were the only ones in there until checkout time. Our waitress was very informative and quick to help. Very warm and inviting atmosphere the family and I were very happy with the service and food. A tad bit pricey in the food aspect. I thought the pretzel was a bit expensive when it looked and tasted like a super pretzel. The beers were solid and plenty of them on tap. The sampler was of great proportion and tasted great. I will certainly be back if I am in the area.
Oct 15, 2011
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Reviewed by ktrillionaire from Florida

4.05/5  rDev +6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
This place is situated in the former Hoppers Bar & Grill, which was a very important spot for the development of a craft/import beer market in the neighboring vicinity, and arguably helped shape the culture that allowed a fledging Dunedin Brewery to thrive way back in the mid-90s. The new owner has made it into a bit of a brewpub, with delicious German fare to grub on. It is not what Hopper's was, but it still does the property's legacy justice. The Berliner Weiss is particularly amazing, as is the Spaetzle. A must-stop for me, if I am in the hood.
Oct 11, 2011
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Reviewed by tfsimpkins from Florida

3.55/5  rDev -7.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 2 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
The food: I like the food. Seems like no matter what I order its always abundant & delicious.

The beers: Abundant as well. A little pricey but wonderfully delicious all the same.

The service: I have yet to come here & get the service I would expect. My first visit, the beer list handed to me was not up to date. I think for every other beer I initially asked for, they were either out of it or it wasn't ready yet. The waitresses were not attentive. My beer vessel remained empty for long periods of time. I almost felt each booth needed a flag so we could wave down the waitresses when needed.

Overall: Good food & beer but overall, the dining & brew experience for the customer needs work.

For a brewery, I expect more focus on the details about the beer. The Lagerhaus beer list is very basic. It offers a few details about the ABV's of each brew & it's origin, but it would be nice to see an excessive explanation of the beers in more detail. Like, how it was made, what made them come to give the brew it's title? Such as their CatTail IPA. The list states that it is an IPA & in parentheses (Florida Gold).Sorry, but this one is far from an American IPA. Pale ale agreed, but who are you trying to kid? Why did you consider this an IPA? I expected an IPA & I didn't get one. This was deceiving & I was dissapointed. I wanted more information. And what does "Florida Gold" mean?
Following the uneventful IPA experience, I ordered, what was titled on the beer list, Guava Saison, that was brewed locally at the wonderful brewers of Cigar City Brewing Co. But which Guava was it? They've had two offerings. Was this their Guava Grove or their Guava Grove Scuppernong & Peppercorn Aged? Were they bottled or kegged offerings?

The beer list, waiters & waitresses should be chock full of knowledge about the beers & vareties. It is a house of beer afterall.

About the waitresses, I noticed that the tables with more people received better attention. Was my money not as green? Again, it is a house of beer afterall. My glass should have not gone dry. The beer maid outfits are a nice traditional touch but what you are selling is great beer & food, not tradition.

I will be back for the food & beer but I may just sit at the bar next time.
Jul 01, 2011
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Reviewed by NeroFiddled from Pennsylvania

4.15/5  rDev +8.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
Previous reviews have pretty much covered everything completely, but let me add my two cents:

- There's a German club in Tampa and they prefer the food at LagerHaus. (The Spaetzel is quite good; and although the wurst are not quite authentic they're quite tasty as well).
- I like the way they've used glassware and coasters from their other places in Austria.
- The beers have changed, and they're doing some more interesting stuff these days. Well, more than lagers anyway. The lambics remain.
- My family enjoys it quite a bit.
Dec 25, 2010
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Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +17.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4
A wide storefront with a good bit of neon signage and the bewhouse in the far right window. "J"-shaped, polished brown marble bar to left oblique with kitchen as part of back bar. Booth seating down right side, high tables and chairs center, and standard restaurant tables and chairs along the wall. Breweriana peeps, rejoice! The back wall was festooned with pressed tin signage and mirrors of a German and English stripe. Are they brewing? Indeed! It's a slow start, apparently, but the initial offering was a Wildberry Lambic ?!? 13%. Man, it was not wildly tart, but it had a slightly pinkish head with decent retention. Taste was a sourish raspberry. Mouth feel was medium with a tart, sorbet-like flavor. Finish just lingered with raspberry. That's a first?!? Yoi and double yoi!

Exposed ducting corrugated ceiling, flat black paint. It all added up to my kind of place. A glass cabinet with logo items to left of entryway. Lots and lots of guest beers - both BT and draft.

Edit: Fritz has really gotten things moving since our visit and is now primarily making German-style lager beers! Lagers in Florida?!? Wow!
Dec 17, 2009
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Reviewed by sls0210 from Florida

3.8/5  rDev -0.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
Tucked away strip mall, so it's easy to pass by if you don't know about it. Nice space and good seating throughout, but seems pretty empty often. The wait staff didn't seem too knowledgeable about what they were serving, but the selection was pretty good and very straight-forward. Emphasis on Hofbraus with about 5 of the taps coming from them. They did have 4 Stone offerings as well as DFH 120 and St. Bern 12. The prices can't be beat around here at $4 a pint for Ruination, etc. and I don't think that's a timed special. IMO the place will definitely be a destination once they get their brewing up and going b/c as of now their only house brews are a Wild Berry Lambic and a Hefe. Food is great, wide selection with a German focus. Overall nice selection in a location that's really covenient to the suburban area of East Lake.
Jun 19, 2009
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Reviewed by Brewskers from Florida

4.83/5  rDev +26.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 5
I have found the Lagerhaus to be a unique beer pub. It is true that there are other brew pubs in the area that have a larger beer selection but the owner 'Franz' has assembled a choice selection of tap beers that will surely satisfy. From dark stouts and hoppy reds to IPA and wild berry Lambic. I personally do not rate a pub by the number of beers they have on tap. I am easily satisfied with 8 or 10 choice brews. Many times pubs that boast a large tap selection have their favorites and many of the other taps get slow usage and are not fresh. I simply don't need all those choices and have found that I prefer my beer fresh and the Lagerhaus has never disappointed. I have been told that after many months, Franz now has the needed approvals to begin brewing his own brews. Keep an eye out for this. His own brews are fantastic and set him apart from the rest of the crowd.

Lagerhaus menu would best be classified as casual with an Austrian flare. If burgers and Pizza are your thing no problem. (Try the sweet potato fries.) The chicken wings are hands down the best I have ever had ANYWHERE! (My favorite is the garlic Parmesan.)

The unique thing that sets the Lagerhaus apart is the Austrian/German items on the menu.
My wife and I had never had Wienerschnitzel or the unique and delicate flavor of spaetzle. (try the cheese spaetzle, yum). Franz also makes his own authentic Brats that are excellent. I can get burgers and fries anywhere so I strongly suggest trying something new and different from Austria.

If you have any questions about the food or beer selection just ask Franz. He is one of the most friendly, enthusiastic fellows you're likely to ever meet.

As I stated earlier you can find pubs with more taps on the wall BUT...for a good blend of beer, unique food, and genuine Austrian hospitality you'll be hard pressed to find much better than the Lagerhaus!
Jan 22, 2009
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Reviewed by Au5lander from Florida

2.25/5  rDev -41.1%
vibe: 3 | quality: 2 | service: 2 | selection: 3 | food: 1
I had heard about this place from a friend of mine who had driven by one day. Apparently it had been open for several month, so I don't know why I hadn't heard about it. I guess they haven't done much advertising.

Stopped in tonight because my friend had been there last week and said the food was great, specifically the schnitzel. I had the speclal, which was "german" pork chops and spaetzle. The wife had the Jaegerschnitzel, as our friends said it was "almost as good as The Schnitzelhaus."

I was not impressed with the pork chop. It was overcooked, a bit dry and not much flavor. The spaetzle was also overcooked and oversalted. The waitress even commented when she came to remove my plate that the chop was "well done". The jaegerschnitzel was huge and completely smothered in sauce. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however, the sauce was not good at all. Also, the salads were served with a side cup of straight basalmic vinegar, which by itself is a little strong. It's not hard to make your own vinaigrette.

They still don't have their own beer on tap. I asked the waitress about this and she could not give me any answer as to when it might be available. They did have a decent selection, although, it wasn't anything I couldn't get anywhere else. Some of the more high end beers were a bit pricey ($8 for St. Bernardus).

Overall, I probably won't go back until I hear they get their own brews on tap. And even then, I won't be ordering any food.

Looking over the menu, it seemed that most of the food was bar style food, as opposed to dinner food. Just my opinion, but they may need to hire (or replace?) someone to create a better dinner menu. Personally, the atmosphere of the place is more bar then restaurant, but they seem to be wanting to straddle the line between the two. My suggestion would be to lose the dinner menu, trim down the selection of food items to a few good ones and open up the selection of beer.
Aug 02, 2008
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Reviewed by marksto from Florida

3.33/5  rDev -12.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3
Lagerhaus occupies the same space that used to hold Hoppers Bar and Grill, and the layout is essentially the same even though Hoppers closed long ago. It's owned and operated by Franz Rothschadl who used to brew at the other Hoppers and another partner from the Fischer family (remember the old Fischer beer they used to sell at Winn Dixie in the 70's? - same family...)

I visited in the first week it opened. Unfortunately, the house beers had not yet been brewed, so unable to review their own products. Apparently the brewery is soon to become operational in the space right next door. They did however have a pretty good selection of commercial beers on tap including a full line-up from Hoffbrau, several other Germans, and some American micros as well. Food wise things were ok, I had a burger and ended up regretting not ordering something more German as the sandwich was nothing special. Service was spotty, but that could be expected with a place so new. The server was very personable but the food order was messed up at first. I also thought that the prices were fairly steep. Beers were approaching $6 pint and $10 something a litre.

Overall, I think I'll need to revisit once they've been up and running for a while, but this place holds promise as a welcome addition as a German beer destination for the Tampa Bay area.
Jan 03, 2008
LagerHaus Grill & Brewery in Palm Harbor, FL
Brewery rating: 3.64 out of 5 with 55 ratings