Hofbrauhaus House

          My friends birthday was a few weeks ago and he wanted to go to Hofbrauhaus, so we all went out on a Saturday night.  We arrived around 6 PM and we were told it would be an hour and a half wait for the table, I thought it was a bit much but what could we do about it.  We were sitting in the entry way trying to figure out what we were going to do while waiting when my friends phone went off.  This was about 15 minutes after we put our name in.  I was glad we didn't have to wait around but how does it go from 90 minutes to 25?  Doesn't make sense to me.
          Anyways, we got seated in the main hall and got their February beer, the Adulterator.  This beer tasted like someone took a dark beer and poured vodka in it.  I didn't like it at all but the alcohol content was 8% so I have to admit on an empty stomach it didn't take long to start feeling it.  Our waitress came back and took our food orders and brought us more beers.  My wife got the Hot Brown and I got the Worstlplatte.  I also changed my beers to whatever they had that tasted like a Boston Lager (it didn't but it was better than the February beer).
          About 15 minutes later our food came out, it looked good and simple.  My wives Hot Brown was a potato pancake topped with turkey, ham and melted swiss cheese.  It was good, it was pretty much an open face sandwich but the potato pancake made the texture a little different.  My Wrstlplatte was a variety of the wursts they offer at the restaurant.  The plate had a bierwurst, bratwurst and a frankfurter with a side of mashed potatoes and brown gravy, it also comes with sauerkraut but I substituted it for a soft pretzel instead. I was not impressed with this dish at all, once the wursts hit that gravy they were placed on it all tasted the same.  Thy were nice and juicy but they all just tasted of gravy.  The pretzel I got on the side was cold and tasted stale.  I would have to say this was one of the most tasteless meals I have had.  All I could taste the whole time was the gravy.
         After we finished our meals we stayed and had more beer and had fun with all the singing and entertaining they did there.  The played Sweet Caroline and I knew I would be back down, I am a Red Sox fan and when the whole bar started singing it I knew that must be kinda like what it must be like at Fenway.  After everything was over in our drunken state Cheesecake Factory sounded great, so I got the red velvet cheesecake and I know this has nothing to do with Hofbrauhaus but that was some of the best cheesecake I have had lately.
          Would I go back?  Sure, just not to eat.  I had lots of fun there but the food was average at best and the beer was overpriced.  You are paying for the atmosphere there not for the quality of the food.  There are plenty of other places in the south side that you can get a better meal.

Overall 5 of 10

Service 6 of 10

Food 4 of 10 

Price 5 of 10

Hofbrauhaus House

2705 South Water St.

Pittsburgh, PA 15203