Brats Brothers Field Trip

 

"We're so glad we were brat together, it brat the wurst out of us!" Yes, this phrase was actually uttered by the charming Mr. Rob Coonrod on the Uber ride home from Brats Brothers, our first Oktoberfest excursion. Perhaps the puns began when Jen said she was "in the 3rd drei-mester with a German food baby", and once you start it's hard to stop.  Needless to say, we had a super fun time at this cute, festive little Bavarian restaurant in Sherman Oaks.

We made a reservation in time to take advantage of their awesome happy hour specials: $5 half-liters, half off appetizers, and four of their most popular brats for $4.95. They had a stellar German draught beer selection, which made choosing a bit difficult. Rob picked the house Orange Blossom Lager, which he described as an "aromatic amber lager, a delicious sweet beer". Tara chose the Paulaner Weiss-bier after enjoying the Paulaner Oktoberfest so much at the previous tasting, and though it was not her favorite of the German wheat beers it did not disappoint. Jen had the Warsteiner Oktoberfest, which everyone agreed was fantastic. GK ordered the Warsteiner Premium Verum, which he described as "light and smooth, like Stella but better". Other beers sampled included the Franziskaner Dunkel-Weiss (always amazing) and the Spaten Optimator (very high alcohol, drink with caution, but really good, smooth flavor with hints of fennel and anise).

We went a bit overboard with the food, Jen & Rob both ordering the hot Hungarian brat (it really was quite hot) while GK & Tara opted for the Black Forest. Jen & Tara added Grandma's Sauerkraut and each couple got a side of cheese spaetzle, as well as the Kartoffelpuffer (potato pancakes and sour cream) for the table. Our server Chelsea, who was absolutely delightful, also brought over a surprise Giant Pretzel "in honor of Oktoberfest"! It was just what a pretzel should be.

In fact, everything was delicious! According to the clip on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (Oh, did we forget to mention Brats Brothers was featured on that show? We were actually not aware of this until after we made reservations and were doing research on the place...), the sausages are all made locally by European butchers. According to us they're juicy and full of flavor, served on buns that are "stamped" (hot iron?) with Brats Brothers. Nice touch. There were 4 kinds of ketchup and 6 kinds of mustard, with the wasabi honey mustard getting all kinds of love (Rob's favorite, described by Jen as "a delightful juxtaposition of flavors"). The smoked ketchup, horseradish, and beer mustards were pretty killer too and all received honorable mentions. Jen and Tara both loved the sauerkraut, which Jen felt had "deep, dark, and mysterious" qualities. 

Now, did we mention the decor?! Weiner chandelier. Enough said?

Not quite. There was also a cool stein collection as well as baby lederhosen and pretzels hanging from the ceiling everywhere! The sinks and (according to the boys) the urinal are made out of kegs, and there was boisterous German beer hall music playing, including a fun German version of Edith Piaf's "Milord".

Oh, and did we mention mini kegs? Yes, if your table can all agree on the same beer you can have a 3L wooden keg sit right on your table to pour at will.

 

As if we weren't impressed enough, the owner came over and introduced himself as Vadim - he looked like a swarthier version of Robin Williams, no joke, with a kind smile and a twinkle in his eyes - and then offered us this brilliant, awesome, amazing and HUGE dessert on the house! Yum.

So, needless to say,  by the time we left we were all impressed... and a bit buzzed... and incredibly full. All of which contributed to some pretty impressive pun dropping. 

We all agreed we will be going back to this gem.

Oh, and if you miss happy hour they have an Oktoberfest special where you can buy a brat and a half liter for $11.95, which is basically like getting your beer for half off.

Prost!