Laschet’s Inn

I thoroughly enjoyed my meal and experience at Laschet’s Inn! I was visiting my brother in Chicago from NW Indiana and chose Laschet’s for dinner. JoJo our waitress was so welcoming, helpful, and fun! She kept calling me «shotzi» (not sure of the spelling, sorry). We both opted for the Wednesday special of beef stroganoff, spaetzle, and red cabbage. Yum! The upgrade to the goulash soup was an excellent choice, and we enjoyed the apple strudel later in the evening for dessert. The portion was so large that I brought home half the entrée for my husband. If you like German food and hospitality, try Laschet’s. It’s a Chicago gem. It was also enjoyable to watch the weekly «beer club» beat the table and toast with «Probst!»

My favorite German place. I’ve celebrated 2 great birthday’s here. The food is always spot on and the same each time, no surprises ever. Some places I go to the food is different each time I go, depending upon the cook. Not so here. You can expect the same thing each time you go. I truly love this place and crave the food from here.

I like beer, but I’m tired of beer snobbery. You want a good beer? Drink a German beer that’s been in production for centuries. The beer on tap at Laschet’s is so good it makes me want to cry. All the craft-​brew ballyhoo seems silly after a stein of this. The servers at Laschet’s are knowledgeable and friendly and they pour three different sizes, so you can enjoy a small glass of a couple different kinds. I love the food here too, but it’s definitely not low-​cal or vegan. I’ve been dining out in Chicago for 35 years, and Laschet’s is one of my all-​time favorite places.

Truly excellent, authentic German food!

Erin, the bartender, was our server and she is fantastic. She recommended their signature goulash soup. It was delicious, albeit a little heavy on the chunks of beef. I know, who doesn’t appreciate a lot of meat in their soup? It’s simple really — The broth was so crazy good that the meat was secondary, hanging out filling up the bowl unnecessarily, damn it.
Ordered the steak tartare, which was served spread very thinly on dense bread. Took us four pieces of choking dry bread down before I suggested we scrape the tartare off the bread with a spoon and scrap the bread entirely. Much better.
The sauerbraten — one of my all time favorite German dishes — was disappointing. Unlike traditional sauerbraten, the gravy was light in color and not very rich. The meat was cut thicker than I’m accustomed to and it was really dry, despite being covered in gravy. The spaetzle wasn’t soft, it was pan fried and crispy, not lightly sautéed. It was hard to find anything I like there, and after two bites, I gave up and set my plate to, the side in defeat.
Sausage plate appetizer wasn’t even that flavorful. Too bad really.

Great beer, amazingly delicious fresh food, very nice staff, and perfectly German décor. While places like Hofbrauhaus are corporate and feel very fake-​German, this place is nothing like that and is truly a little piece of Germany here in Chicago. I say that as someone who has spent some time in Germany eating and drinking at a lot of local bars in Munich, Stuttgart, and Fussen. This place feels as close to the real thing as it gets, minus the German speaking waiters. The food is always good with a great selection of sausage dishes and a wonderful soft pretzel. The prices for food are always higher than I’d expect them to be, but I guess that’s due to fresh and high quality ingredients. On the other hand, the beer has always been affordable and there is of course an amazing selection of German beers. Please avoid the fake chains and go to a real German Inn like Laschet’s.

Went for my birthday and had a wonderful time. Had wienner schnitzel with fried speatzel that was freaking fantastic. Prices were very reasonable. Hostess was wonderful, I hope we didn’t talk her ear off. We will be back very soon.

Time for an update. Still love this place. Had the chicken paprikash – it was creamy and delicious. The cucumber onion salad is really good. The spaetzle is always good. I like the red cabbage but it may be too sweet for some tastes. The sauerkraut is mild with bacon in it – really good. Potato pancakes are well done. Goulash is the best.
We had great service.
The free shot at the end of the meal makes it even more fun.
Not very handicapped accessible. Great old time bar feel. great selection of German beers – fresh on tap.

The real deal. Goulash tastes like eating spicy pot roast. Amazing. Spätzle: amazing. Schnitzel: amazing. Strudel: amazing. Kara the server: amazing. Go here. Just replaced the Brauhaus as my go to place.

The appetizer of hackepeeter hit the spot and the service was good. Regrettably the main dish was subpar. The spetzels were clearly reheated in a pan after being boiled prior. The beef rouladin was prepared in a similar fashion, precooked and then seemed to be microwaved. Masking the dish behind a tasty gravy fell short. Regrettably the old school German kitchen staff has been replaced by others that really do not have the ability to cook as the German chefs and restaurants of the area have for so many years. This restaurant maintains its charm but needs to realize that preparing authentic German food requires skilled chefs or cooks. If the kitchen is managed like a short order restaurant or even McDonalds, the results will be apparent.

Get a reservation!!! We didn’t have one but were luckily dining early enough to grab a table in the bar area. Portions were huge and tasty. My mom, who lived in Germany for several years, enjoyed the food immensely. This is not a great spot for vegetarians but I enjoyed my potato pancakes, spaetzle, bier, etc! Good ambience and incredible service. It was my mother’s birthday and the server went out of his way to help her celebrate. We were so glad we went here instead of that famous German restaurant in the loop! We will definitely be back!

If you want to step back into a time machine that skirts the era in Chicago (during the 50s to the 80s) when pro-​German unity neo-​Deutsche-​Reich-​ers would meet and drink then this is the place. It has since been remodeled and upgraded and mostly neutralized — but every once in a while you can smell the German-​ness — and I don’t mean the touristy German-​ness of a good Bavarian restaurant — I mean the German-​ness of mid-​19^th Century German community that belonged to the Lincoln-​Turners and maybe even the 3^rd Reich Supporters prior to the War — who continued to meet here for decades after in order to be with some like minded members or one or another private groups of secret believers.
The first half dozen times I came here it was on the invitation of some very pro-​German friends of mine — and I don’t mean pro-​DDR or pro-​BRD. I mean that there was an old map on the wall of Germany including Pomerania and Silesia and a Frederick the Great map of United Germany — and this map was still up in 1983. Once I came her to meet my pro-​German-​unification friends and I found out that we were there because it was Hitler’s birthday. This has nothing to do with Laschet’s itself (it had to do with my friends) — but I have to tell you — the place had a lot of people in it — and most of them were pretty darned old. So — back then at least — «this weren’t no tourist joint».
That said — I came here — even under those circumstances — because it is a great authentic German Bar with real Germans in it — and it serves good German Bar Food (not only plates but you can buy a meat stick, aka. «Landsjager» from behind the bar. Of ya — and has good German Beer too ;-) .
Another good thing is that there is always someone here to practice my German with. And German is a language that will pour out of your brain onto the floor if you don’t pratice it (unlike Spanish which will stick with you forever pretty easily).
I love German food & drink — and like Germans (despite their history — because they have good history too — and we have bad history too — so we just don’t talk about it) — and I love the German language (it expresses ideas and concepts and sensations more clearly than any other language that I know) — and I love Germany (traveling there and being there and seeing the great art and hearing the amazing music — from Bach to Rammstein). Yes — I love all this — and I really like going to Laschet’s — (even if I am not-​a Neo-​N).
Come here and try it. Eat — drink — and be merry — or should I say «Du must einen grossen Bier jetz in Laschet’s trinken, dann du glucklich habst»

For German food it was just average but the beer choices were amazing! JoJo, our waitress was phenomenal and really good at what she does!

Took my husband here for his birthday because we both love traditional German fare and old-​school dining. This spot sort of delivers. The atmosphere is on point if you are looking for throwback tavern experience. My husband ordered a pilsner on draught and it was crisp and delicious. i had a nice dry white wine. We started with bismarck herring, which I highly recommend if you are into pickled fish. You get 3 giant fillets, dill pickles, onions and a little loaf of pumpenickle bread.
For billing itself as a traditional German spot, our dinners were less than traditional. My husband went the Wednesday special of beef stroganoff which he raved about. I am not a huge fan of the dish, but I sampled some of his and it was really good! The dark brown gravy came out with a tiny dallop of sour cream on it, which surprised me, as most stroganoffs I’ve tried are much light in color due to the large amount of sour cream mixed in. Conversely, I ordered the sauerbraten. I am obsessed with sauerbraten, so I was super excited to try it here. Unfortunately, when it came out, the gravy was very light looked like it had a good amount of cream in it – so much so I thought it was beef stroganoff. I asked our server (who was very nice) if there was cream in the sauce and she said, yes, they added sour cream to it.
A traditional German sauerbraten doesn’t include sour cream — I’ve never seen or tasted a version that has it. I wish they would have noted that it contained sour cream on the menu, especially for those who are lactose intolerant. While I typically do ask if unfamiliar dishes have cream in them, it wasn’t even on my radar to ask if this dish had it because it typically doesn’t include it. The red cabbage was delicious though while the spatezles were greasy and sort of tasted like mini donuts. Sadly, I was disappointed with my meal.
Like I said though, service was great and we were offered a shot of schnapps at the end of our meal to digest. In the future, I hope they consider noting that the sauerbraten gravy had sour cream in it, since it’s not a traditional take.

So I’m not even a big German fan but my family is German and we were in town and decided to try Laschet’s. I was really impressed. The place doesn’t look that special but the service was great and the food was impressive. Definitely try a pretzel, they are authentic and awesome. Others in my party had more authentic german food and all said it was very good. The desert I had was a cake with white chocolate ganash with raspberry filling and it was quite possibly the best desert I have ever had. I would go back again just for that. SO good! Definitely try the place out and you won’t be disappointed.

The sausages are good here. The beer is great-​or should I type bier? The atmosphere is really great too. Old time German place-​Chicago style. Service is great and the people that habituate the place there are nice. The warm bacon dressing on the salad is authentic.
Here is my beef. I want them to raise the quality of the sauerkraut and potatoes. I’d like them to use something other than a Ritz cracker. I want better dill pickles on the sausage plate (and more of them) I’d appreciate high quality butter with the loaf of warm rye bread which tastes oh so good. I’d like the kitchen to have a bit more of a refined touch-​not high end, just refined.

Best paprikash I’ve had in a long time! Nice atmosphere. Easy to get to from downtown. I highly recommend this for good food.

This is one of my favorite places in the city. It feels like a neighborhood place and the people treat you like family. The food and beer are great, not to mention free liqueur shots after dinner. I would highly recommend!

This is my love letter review to Laschet’s.
Dear Laschet’s,
Your old school, boho, supper club atmosphere makes my heart flutter with the warm memories of my childhood and going to Bubbi’s house for Goulash & Dumplings. Though you have no dumplings, I couldn’t stop eating your Goulash. Thinking about it now, my heart tingles with delight. The Rouladen was delightful as well, and the cabbage could have been my whole meal. Sloshed back with some refreshing beers, ’twas a meal to remember. Your staff are wonderful and I can see myself making this a regular stop in my winter diet.
Keep up the good work so I can keep getting that delicious goodness from your kitchen.

I’m being a little generous with the rating, but given how unique this place is (not what I would have said 20 years ago when there were plenty of restaurants like these), I’ll give the benefit of the doubt.
Classic city tavern as one walks in — moving toward the restaurant, you can see it goes back away. Interesting decorations around the place — a deer head on the wall near the only 8 top I saw. Definitely an older place, but pretty well kept all in all.
But as I walked in to sit down and wait for the rest of my group, what I was noticing was the food. Large plates of good looking German food with generous portions. As I sit down and glance at the beer menu (didn’t have my reading glasses, so had to wait until my brother showed up for the rest), I see numerous draft options. I go with a Pilsner which was perfect for my taste that night. All arrive and we order — for appetizers we get potato pancakes and the hot sausage plate which included bratwurst, knackwurst and a third one (thuringer?) that is escaping me right now. All were outstanding — the sausages surrounded a pile of sauerkraut. Now about the only time I’ll eat kraut is when it’s on a Rueben — but this stuff was amazing.
Our table had two rouladens and two sauerbratens. Personally, I like the darker gravy version of sauerbraten, but this stuff still passed. Good red cabbage… GREAT spaetzle — some of the best I’ve ever had. Dinners come with soup or salad (I had a liver dumpling soup that was good). For dessert, we had an apple crisp and an apple strudel at the table. Outstanding — perfectly done. One came with ice cream that was really good — thought it was a homemade brand, but come to find out, they buy it from GFS in bulk. Gotta go there and get me some ice cream!
Finally, the dinner ended with an offer of complimentary schnaaps — which 3 of 4 of us accepted. We ended up taking half of our entrees home. And what was nice — no sticker shock with the check — all of this is reasonably priced.
After having driven by for years, I finally tried this spot — my only regret is that I didn’t try it sooner.

Delicious food, great beer and wonderful service. I would suggest calling ahead for reservations, they aren’t currently on Open Table. We arrived early on a Saturday evening and sat in the bar area
Our server was very attentive, chatting with us when he brought food or drink. I had the rouladen with spätzle and red cabbage-​so food. Unless you are a big eater, I would suggest a small portion, which is only one rouladen instead of two. On the flip side, I have delicious leftovers.
Someone else ordered the appetizer potato pancakes (2) for dinner — each pancake is the size of a dinner plate. Another person ordered sauer braten-​also delicious! We mentioned that it was my birthday and were served «free» apple crisp.
If you are only in Chicago for a short time, put this place on your list!

Wow! We stopped in for an early meal and ended up eating at the bar. I went with the pork butt, my dining companion ordered the sauerbraten. Both were equally delicious and the portions were about double what we were able to consume. Truly, this is as good as it gets!

Great food, great service, great beer!
Personally I prefer Asian food any day over German food but there is something that intriguingly works well here. They were easy with substitutions and helpful. Since I wanted to try the sausages and goulash, my friend and I ordered the sausage plate and regular goulash to share. Note to self: thuringer and knockwusrt were better than bratwurst.
The pretzel cheese was pretty awesome too.

To give you an idea how much I love this place — I live in LA now, and this is 1 of maybe 3 places I have to eat at when I’m back in Chicago.
Our order is almost always the same:
— Giant Pretzel
— Delicious Beer
— Sourbraten with double spaetzel instead of red cabbage
— OR Rouladen, also with double spaetzel instead of red cabbage
— Wife usually gets the fish and chips
— We both go for the side salad with warm bacon vinaigrette
Was just back there last month and it was as good as always!

Wow, what a happen gem! I went here for dinner with my 22 year old son and really enjoyed it. We started with a couple draft beers, as it is a German! Lorises were responsible and select was solid.
As for the food, make sure you come hungry, as the portions are big! The food was really good and a nice treat, since I hadn’t had German fair in awhile. I ordered the roulade which was served with pickled red cabbage and homemade spatzel. It really was good and brought me back to my Mom’s homemade German food.
My son ordered the Goulash, which was served with the same sides. His was even better than mine, and would recommend it for anyone looking for a good creamy hearty stew with lots of meat and all the fixings. Oh, I almost forgot, their bread is awesome! It’s like a sweet pumpernickel, I think, but delish! They said a local south side baker makes it for them, yummy!
I’ll be back!

Mmmm! One of my favorite restaurants in the city! Every time I go here, it’s such a treat, and I overindulge… The food here is just amazing. We always start with some sausage, which is complimentary at the bar, so we ask for it at the table. Then, we order their Bavarian pretzel, which is pretty huge! You can definitely split one with 1 – 2 people. Top it with some of their cheese or spicy mustard. Or both. Yum! Next comes their delicious fresh-​from-​the-​oven rye bread! If you order an entrée, you’ll also get either a soup or salad. I typically get their yummy garden salad with their special bacon viniagrette dressing! For an entrée, I just LOVE their chicken schnitzel, which I get with the red cabbage and spaetzle. It’s a TON of food, but seriously, it’s all so good that you can’t help but devour it all! I usually take leftovers home, just so I can experience the goodness one more time. Don’t forget the beer, and the complimentary shot of a schnapps of your choosing!

Excellent authentic German brauhaus! Unique list of German beers on draft by the liter or half-​liter. Fried smelt and pickled herring appetizers are especially good with a nice hefewiessen!

Always always always have the spaetzle.
The thuringers are gold. The veal bratwurst I substitute with knackwurst. Potato pancakes — another draw. Start with the Bayreuth and sausages. Don’t listen to anyone and get the weiner schnitzel.
I swear the place is a bit addictive :).

Had a real feast at Laschet’s last October, it’s dark with an old-​school bar feel.
I love pumpernickel bread and was starving at the time, so I devoured a few slices of their pumpernickel with butter to start.
The complimentary goulash soup was incredible and loaded with tender beef. Rich, creamy, and perfect for a chilly night. Definitely get the Schneider Aventinus, it’s a dark, malty ale with hints of fruity flavors.
The Bavarian pretzel ($ 8) was enormous, and came with mustard and a delicious cheese dip/​sauce. The pretzel itself was the best I’ve ever had, warm and dense and fluffy, and we had to use the pumpernickel to clean out the little tub of cheese.
I highly, highly recommend the rouladen ($ 18) which I tried a few bites of and couldn’t stop eating. The beef was extremely tender and rolled around grilled onions and pickles, and the gravy and mustard were perfect with it. This was another rich, hearty dish and even the spaetzle was outstanding.
My fried pork shank ($ 18) was all right. It was the special of the day and the shank was expectedly huge. It was perfectly deep-​fried and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, but it was overwhelmingly fatty and I wished I had some sort of mustard-​based sauce instead of gravy to cut through all the richness. Definitely well executed, but not my cup of tea. The sauerkraut, like the spaetzle, was outstanding.
Dessert was a decadent German chocolate cake ($ 5). The two of us were stuffed by this point, but we still polished it off.
Service was warm, friendly, and attentive throughout. Highly recommend this place!