Wolff's Biergarten und Wurst Haus

Who would've thought a little slice of Germany would come to downtown Albany? Just that has happened though with the opening of Wolff's Biergarten und Wurst Haus. If you are looking for a fine-dining restaurant, this is not your place, if you are looking for a casual fun place with great beer and good food, then this is your place.

Opened by the owners of Bomber's Burrito, Wolf's offers 14 draft beers (Spaten Optimator being a personal favorite) and 23 bottles beers, and not a one of them is Budweiser you know that American brewery umm no longer owned by an American company. These are German, Belgian, and Czech beers which are all high quality beers, many of which are hard to find.

The seating here is communal at a number of picnic tables, set-up to be like a biergarten might look in Germany. I'm not usually a fan of communal seating at large tables, but it seems to be a popular trend. To the back of the room there are a number of dart boards, I hear a dart league has been formed, and up in front is a ping pong table to keep you busy while downing your beer and food. In the summer it looks like a large garage door will be opened, which is the front of the bar/restaurant, which will bring some fresh air into the place, and I'm sure big crowds as well. A number of televisions play futball, or soccer to us underclass Americans, check out the televised schedule here.

If you are coming to Wolff's for food, be ready to serve yourself. You order your food at the back of the main room, either by telling the person behind the counter your order from a menu hung behind them on the wall, or for inebriated with poor vocal skills, little cards similar to a sushi bar are available to check off what you like. You then go sit down where you like, wait for your name to be called and go pick up your food. This all lends to the casual nature of the place, and also cuts down on the cost of waitstaff I am sure which in a time of rough economy makes sense.

The food is pretty good, and are all dishes you might expect from a casual biergarten. Schnitzel in three forms make their way to the menu, no weinerschnitzel though, which a visitor from Germany might protest as a few of my German friends have stated that schnitzel should only be made with veal and not pork. I tried the pork schnitzel however, and it was very tasty. The spatzle which accompanied it was very good as well.

The offer a variety of wurst (sausages), which are not prepared in house, but they are a high-quality sausage from a local purveyor, and I always love a local business supporting another local business. I tried the weisswurst, it was very good. Other dishes include a Currywurst, traditionally done with a curry infused sausage with a tomato based curry sauce, this one was done with a bratwurst with the sauce on top. A good rendition of the dish, and likely there was no location to attain the curry sausage. The french fires that accompany the dish are quite good as well.

There are a number of other options, including a traditional Bavarian meatloaf, rouladen, and a number of other tasty traditional dishes. You can even just order a pretzel, some french fries, onion rings or even a hamburger, perhaps accompanied by some roasted Brussels sprouts.

I will certainly be back again to Wolff's, especially when they lift up the garage door. So many more dishes to try, and so many more beers to go with them. Make sure you go check this place out.


Wolff's Biergarten und Wurst Haus
895 Broadway
Albany, NY 12207

518-427-2461
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