Back to Bamberg

You've commented on the less-than-hospitable staff at Schlenkerla before, I must have been in a good afternoon when I went because they, and the other customers, were very welcoming. We had lunch with a very friendly couple from Berlin on holiday in Franconia. Would have never tried the Bamberg Onion without their enthusiastic recommendation.

On the other hand, we could talk about the wait-staff at Schneider and have a few laughs!

 

German service is not anywhere near the standard of American service, but it's not just Schlenkerla and it's not just restaurants for that matter. I've been to Schlenkerla twice, once on an uncrowded afternoon and once during a busy Saturday evening. Both experiences were different but both were a little...well, let's say there is room for improvement on that front, I think. Take it for what it's worth, of course, and your mileage may vary; it's still a great place to get a drink.

 

Yes, they can be a bit gruff inside the rooms, but that is why I almost always just stay out in the Schwemme if I am only having beer. No one will try to kick you out of the Schwemme because you do self-service from the window.

 

Heh -- that honestly sounds like the Fräulein we had at Schneider (a couple times) -- maybe she's moved! For dinner we were sitting with a big group and she was being "tough" with us about ordering -- something to do with not being ready, if I recall correctly. I can't remember what I said to her, but I finally got her to crack a smile. Maybe the combo of my Irish charm and flawless Bavarian accent.

Be careful at the Augustiner Keller too -- don't go swapping out tables or anything untoward, it takes a lotta charm to sweet-talk those Fräulein!

 

The family at Faessla were the nicest people in the world, but that place always seemed to be filled with the solo all-day drinking types. They'd arrive pretty early in the morning and stay through the day. Either hanging out in the hallway or in the normal seating area - staring straight ahead and not saying a word. A younger crowd would arrive in the evenings, but those all-day guys would never budge. I stayed there for 2 nights and I saw the same half dozen guys loitering pretty much the whole time. I almost hesitate to call them alcoholics as they barely seemed to drink much. Maybe 4-5 beers over the course of the whole day. It's not good...but it's not like they were pounding drink after drink either.

 

I went to Bamberg with friends one Saturday - splitting the cost of a weekend ticket - and we ended up at Schlenkerla at an "in-between" hour in the afternoon. A few occupied tables, but not a lot. We were told to hurry up and decide what we wanted...the waitress explained that we were holding the only menu they had for the entire room and that other tables needed to see it. Trying (for some reason) to be accommodating, we figured out what we wanted and turned over the menu. Unfortunately my friend ordered something that was either only served in the morning or not sold until dinner, I forget which. Either way, he was told they weren't going to make it for him and he had to order something else. He asked to see the menu again and was told he would have to wait until the rest of the room was done with it. Needless to say, there were a lot of "they can't possibly have only one menu for the entire room" conversations that followed. Also needless to say, the group as a whole voted Mahr's Brau as their favorite stop.

 

Hah! Or Austrians, Italians, Czechs, Hungarians...

 

See, I liked Fässla, but I think it was Spezial where my friend and I were sitting and discussing the beer, checking out one of our guidebooks, and a table with 2 older gentlemen and one middle-aged guy start snickering and shaking their heads. I just gave them a glance and ignored them until the middle-aged guy starts asking questions in a really weird accented German. I turn to him and ask him (in German) where he was from, the U.S? Guy about fell off the bench.

Turns out he's an ex-army cook who stayed in Germany after he got out and cooked at one of the local restaurants. After we exchanged some jokes and pleasantries they pretty much left us alone. I'm not fluent, but I can definitely throw some people for a loop!

 

My German is pretty much non-existent (although I can order beers/food easily), so I doubt I would've had much luck in that encounter.
Luckily, in Bamberg, English was no big deal. One very cool encounter was when I was by myself at Keesman. I had already had a Herren Pils and decided to go for a Sternla for a change. An older guy with a growler said something to me and pointed at it, and I mentioned that I only spoke English. He said that he learned a little in school, but we got to talking about how Sternla wasn't very good, but Herren was like "drinking gold." I mentioned I'd be in Munich in a few days and he kept telling me that their beer was boring and poorly made down there. He was asking about American beers and if I liked Miller, too. Kind of a funny conversation, but we made it work and were the best of friends for about an hour.
The same sort of thing has happened to my wife an I at Andechs twice. People will sit down with us and after hearing us speak English, they'll strike up a conversation. I've run into 2 expats and a guy working for the German gov't tracking down deadbeat GI dads from WWII. Everyone has always been super nice to us over the years...which is one of the multitudes of reasons I always want to go back. The beer and food are great, but the people have been, too.

 

Best encounter: Sitting at one of the long tables in the music room at Stiegl, my 3 friends and me taking up one end and I see 3 people looking for spots to sit. I ask my friends to move down and, in German, offer up the extra seats to the other 3 -- thanks and pleasantries, then I continue conversation with my friends. One of the new people at the table taps me on the shoulder and with a shocked look says, "We thought you were German!" Made my evening and we sat and shared travel stories with our new friends.

Funniest encounter: Asking directions to the other side of a mountain range from the hotel clerk in Bad Gastein, Austria who kept telling me to drive our car to this point and get on the train (all in German), "No, we don't want to take the train, we want to drive." After must insistence that this was the only way to reach our destination, we relinquished and decided to follow the route to see if we could improvise. Turns out, we did have to get on the train, car and all! The train is a ferry that takes you through the mountains to the other side! We all laughed and I wanted to go back to the hotel and apologize to the clerk and tell her I know understand!

I've forgotten more German than I remember!

 

I have other friends who have met him and talked beer and brewing over a stein or two, he is supposed to be very hospitable.

 

Be sure to sneak in a few references to New Glarus!

 

Isn't much of the New Glarus stuff from Huppmanns?

 

Maybe, but the Two Women lager uses Weyermann malt -- it's a "team-up" of sorts:
http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/index.cfm/beers/ourbeers/beer/two-women

Try it alongside another micro-brewed light lager and you'll notice the flavor difference we often talk about.