For my 22nd birthday my generous parents took me to the Oktoberfest in Leavenworth WA. I had been hinting around the fact that I wanted to go this year for a while but I think they made the final decision while I was in Austria and Germany in May.
If you have never been to Leavenworth, you must go! It is a small Bavarian themed town with plenty things to do, eat, drink and see. I've been to Bavaria (a state in Germany) and I can honestly say that Leavenworth does remind me a lot of it. Even the beautiful mountains behind Leavenworth are reminiscent of the Alps.
Before we left for Leavenworth I packed the latest copy of Northwest Palate in my bag because they had just done a feature on Leavenworth and all the great destinations and restaurants one has to visit.
Our first meal was at the very popular Munchen Haus Bavarian Grill and Beer Garden. Despite the usually long line, this place is a must on your dining schedule. The outdoor Beer Garden is a loud place full of German charm and they serve up a mean bratwurst.
The sausages are prepared right in front of you and once you get your sausage you then have to make the very difficult decision of which mustard you are going to use (they have over 20 options!). After much thought I settled on garlic Dijon and honey and champagne mustard. They also have fabulous homemade apple cider sauerkraut which I personally think is a condiment no sausage should go without.
The Oktoberfest itself was actually a letdown. I expected a much better selection of German foods, but what I found was a disgrace to Germany itself. There were about ten different food booths inside the festival but they all had the same drab menu: bratwurst, polish dog, hot dog and some sort of pulled pork dog. That was it!
One only had to be in the festival a few minutes to realize it really was all about the beer. Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against beer, especially German beer, but I didn't go all the way to Leavenworth for beer. I was there for the food!
Take my suggestion, if you are going to Leavenworth for the Oktoberfest don't eat all your meals in the tents. Venture out into the charming town and discover all the wonderful foods Leavenworth has to offer.
Guava and raspberry gelato at Via Dolce Gelato
With that said I still did enjoy the Oktoberfest, and if anyone reading this wants to go it is still going on next Friday and Saturday October 15th and 16th.
Here is a list of other great places to eat in Leavenworth:
3 comments:
That was a great write up of Oktoberfest in Leavenworth. I've never thought of the main attraction being food. What German foods do you think the tents need to add to make it more authentic? I think that in addition to the beer, Oktoberfest is about celebrating with German music, dancing and costumes - none of which seemed to catch your attention.
Next time you are going to Leavenworth, drop by our site first to see what is happening in town. We've built a site with a whimsical tone from a tourist's point of view. We have a blog of our travels and things we've found there that we like.
Visit us at Accidental Bavarian
Pretzels! You should have returned to Munchen Haus for one of their terrific pretzels! I always order a pretzel to nibble on while I wait for my favorite kielbassi. The ciderkraut is great & the champagne mustard is also my favorite! The reason there's a long line at The Munch is that they are the best; great food, beer, wine, relaxed outdoor atmosphere, beautiful flowers & great staff! WELL worth the wait!
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