Jagerhaus Authentic German Restaurant

My wife Jeri and I went to Jagerhaus, in Anaheim, yesterday, on the recommendation of some acquaintances. We went for an early dinner.  I had been searching for a good German restaurant in the local area and was anxious to give it a try.

A soon a we walked in it was like jumping back in time, with it's somewhat kitschy 60's and 70's old school décor. Mugs, plates and other German paraphernalia on the wall. It was all good though. There  was a very comfortable feeling about the place. I was a little concerned  when I saw the place was almost empty. There was one large crowd there but other than that it was empty. To be fair it was about 2:45 pm, so were were between lunch and dinner crowd.

When we first walked in I didn't think anyone had seen us. We waited for a few moments but still no one showed up to the front. I was considering leaving when I saw an old cast iron bell and I assumed it was a “ring for service” bell. It wasn't. It was extraordinarily loud. The maitre'd/waiter came running and shot me a look. “Sorry but nobody came and I thought I was supposed to ring the bell”.  He mumbled something under his breath that sounded like “I knew you were here”. I just shrugged my shoulders.

He sat us in a comfortable corner near a window and gave us our menus.  We went through the menu made our choices and we were ready by the time the waiter came back to take our order. He was a lot friendlier this time around. Jeri ordered the saurbraten  (a German pot roast) and I ordered the German combo, which consisted of a polish sausage, a bratwurst sausage, a knockwurst sausage and a (small boneless smoked pork chop. The dinner came with two sides. Jeri and I both chose mashed potatoes with gravy and creamed spinach.

At $18.95 I had high expectations for the German combo. I was envisioning handmade sausages and a fairly good sized pork chop. The saurbraten, at $16.95 also seemed a little steep but again, we had high expectations so I didn't mind. Good food is always worth the price. We ordered shrimp stuffed appetizers  to start off our meal. These were absolutely delicious with a very earthy taste. The dinner rolls were also very good, hot, soft and tasty.

German Combo; Knockwurst, Bratwurst and polish sausages , and a boneless smoked pork chop. Served with mashed potatoes and gravy and creamed spinach.

Saurbraten (German Pot roast), served with mashed potatoes and gravy and creamed spinach

 A while later the waiter brought us our food – by this time he was in a smiling mood, the bell incident forgiven and forgotten -  and as soon as I saw my plate I was disappointed. Three sausages that looked liked they could have been bought at the corner supermarket. The same with the smoked pork chop. It was served with some good grainy mustard, which I'm assuming was a German mustard. The mashed potatoes and gravy were good but the one saving grace in my meal was the creamed spinach. It was excellent. I'm a big fan of creamed spinach and this one was done right. Overall, it was a good meal but certainly nowhere near worth the price. Later I regretted not ordering the braised rabbit or the weinersnitzel plate, something more ethnically German. Especially considering that I'm really watching what I'm eating now and it's going to be a while before I can eat like this again. Live and learn.

Jeri, on the other hand, enjoyed her saurbraten, along with the mashed potatoes and creamed spinach. She mentioned that it was a little bland but it was more of an observation than a complaint.

After dinner, we ordered desert. I had the bread pudding  with vanilla sauce  and Jeri ordered the apple strudel. I was happy with mine, Jeri not so much.

Will I go back? I might but I'll order something else and If I'm left standing too long when I get there I'm going to ring the bell again, only louder.

Jagerhaus Menu

Jagehaus is located at:

2525 East Ball Road at 57 Fwy
Anaheim, CA 92806

714-520-9500
Fax 714-520-9597


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