East Side Restaurant

Had a great time. Very fun place to be yourself at. Good food and drinks. Would have been 5 stars if we didn’t have to wait a half hour after our reservation time to be seated and if they had every food listed on the menu. They were out of a couple things. But besides that a great experience and will definitely be back with more friends for a fun evening.

We went there last night with a party of 8 total. Going into the night we knew exactly what to expect. A great time with friends in a loud lively German beer hall. The owners and staff do a great job interacting with the patrons.
We got there a little early and owner suggested we take a look at upstairs and outside patio area. It’s a seasonal patio. A beautiful space and beer garden. Will defiantly come back in the spring to check out.
The table had an app of their Wurst sampler which which came with a German sausage, a bratwurst and a knock wurst served with a mustard. It was done well. I also tried my friends chicken pâté app, served with chopped onions. I ate it with the crackers that are on the table. It was the best thing I tried all night. Me and my wife split the winer schnitzel, which is a fried pork cutlet served with a lemon wedge and a fried egg on top. It was good but a little dry. We also had potato pancakes that were spot on.
For foodies that want top notch German food in a quite restaurant. This is not for you. The place is a loud interactive experience. The price point is a little high. It’s a place that is def enjoyed by groups who like to drink big beers and loud fun time

Went there last night and had the prime rib cooked medium, it was excellent. The service was phenomenal too. We brought our friends here for their first time, they had their two children. The children loved the accordion player who played all of their requests. Always a little pricier but you definitely get what you pay for at this place.

Ever since the most recent owners took over a little over a decade ago, the food quality here has gone drastically downhill. What used to be a quiet, cozy restaurant with top notch food and reasonable prices is now a rowdy party place that prides itself on its beer and their loud, extravagant serving techniques, such as the chanting of «ticky tocky, ticky tocky, hoy hoy hoy!» and their public paddlings — bend over!
I mean, I suppose this is okay if that’s what you’re looking for.
However, the food is not at all worth what they charge. The least expensive meal on the menu is $ 28 and everything else is $ 32 and up. The cost of the meal includes soup, salad, and dessert, which is nice, but it doesn’t justify the mediocre food. Tack on a few mixed drinks or beers and you’re probably looking at around $ 50 per person, at least.
Food favorites among my family have included the Roast Stuffed Turkey, Braised Short Ribs, Hunter Schnitzel, and Jäger Schnitzel, but recently the meat has consistently come out very dry and/​or loaded with fat and gristle, and the potato pancakes are tiny. Very disappointing.
Another thing I’m not particularly fond of is the goofy hats (viking helmets, beer mug shaped hats, etc.) that the servers sneak onto your head — most of the time without warning. If you’re conscious about hygiene or paranoid about contracting lice, this could be an issue.
Oh, and they have LED screens displaying advertisements… on the faucets… in the bathroom.
…Really?
On the plus side, the traditional german outfits the servers wear are cute, and the accordion player is entertaining (he takes song requests).
I guess I would recommend this place for a one-​time experience or a group outing/​company holiday party, but be prepared to pay an ungodly bill at the end of your night.

I’m giving this review 4 stars. My experience was fantastic here, and not because of the food. You come here when you want to have a good time.
This is not a gourmet restaurant. It’s not even the most awesome food. The dinner is average, the desserts are slightly better than average. I had the sauerbraten and basically it’s a cut of meat you can’t mess up, so it was good. My dad had the short ribs and said the same — you can’t really mess up short ribs. My mom’s fish was bland, she said. My mother-​in-​law and husband had the prime rib and they said it was not the best they’d eaten.
The atmosphere is hokey and dated, but that’s okay. It’s been this way since the 1970’s and that gives it an off-​beat charm. This is a good place to drink! Order a big beer, and the waiters/​waitresses will chant, «Tikki tokki, tikki tokki, hoy hoy hoy!» They make a big show of it. And it’s a German restaurant, so of course people are drinking, so on a busy night, the entire restaurant is chanting loudly every 5 minutes!
The star here is the accordion player. This man had already reached star status with my 3 year old son thanks to a YouTube video we uploaded from 4 years ago, so when he saw him come out, my son was awestruck. The man can play pretty much anything you want. He brought the house down (for my 3 year old and my 9 month old) when he played «Old MacDonald» and «C is for Cookie.»
We had such a great time, in fact, that my son asks almost every day when we can go back.

What more is there to say about this place that hasn’t already been said?
re: Vegans — there are a few items on the ‘sides’ menu that can be put together to make a «meal». All beers follow the German purity laws, so are vegan.
The location is a little strange — smack dab in the middle of a residential neighborhood — and let’s just say I wouldn’t leave anything valuable in my car.
Price: yeah, it’s a bit expensive — we spent $ 240 for 4 people, and only had one (LARGE) beer each. Think of it as a trip to Epcot without the airfare.
Highly recommended.

My wife and and I have brought many friends with us to East Side over the years, but Never Again! The Das Boot deal was never explained to us, so the bill was a huge shock to our entire party.
In addition, the table of people next to us told us that they just spent $ 300 on beer and appetizers upstairs and now they were going to have dinner.
Furthermore, I went into the men’s room and there was another man who said that he just paid $ 699 for dinner and that it would have been cheaper if he had gone to a strip club.
East Side has always been rather expensive, but not this bad. Beware of Das Boot, it will kick you in the wallet!

If you ever end up at East Side, I’m hoping it was against your will. Kicking and screaming. The place is shall I say «dated». Gross feels more appropriate. Old dark wood, beat up tables and chairs, cracked urinals, and a bunch of dusty mugs swinging over your head. But that’s supposed to give it the authentic German feel right?
So the food? 33 $ for a meal. Yup. You will get a dessert and a starter wether you want them or not. And a plate of our own cutlet, or our own chicken cutlet, or you get the picture. Old dated recipes poorly executed from an old dated theme restaurant. I cringe to think what the kitchen looks like.
My poor sweet wife said «our friends are going, they say it’s fun.» My wife is a bigger food snob then me so imagine her surprise. She was elated when she saw how dirty the silly hat they put on her head was. If I can offer any advice it would be save your money and go to grants. It will cost about they same but the two are very different.
If you have to go, get the meal with the choices of sausages and brauts. And FYI the onion soup is a bowl of broth.

I will no doubt be back! It’s old but been here for 70 years. Authentic as the day is long. Had the pork cutlet. The bomb.

Took German relative there. She enjoyed the food and atmosphere. As for myself, Das Boot is the way to go! Beer selection was good, food was good. Def go back with a larger crowd… seems like rowdy is good at this place.
As far as the menu, some traditional German items and def some American. Chicken Parm, German meatballs? However I heard the waitress telling another party the owners are actually Italian so maybe that explains the menu variety?

The food was always delicious, but their beer selection is great. All of their food is excellent, though I’m not sure how «authentic» it is.
The atmosphere is loud and a lot of fun to be around. Just be prepared to pay for it.

Stopped by for a weekday lunch and by the time we left at 2:00 no one else remained and we know why! The slaw and bread were still good, and the (pricey) beer still properly chilled, but while sides of spaetzle and potato pancake were nicely done the main dishes just didn’t cut it, in fact, they were extremely difficult to cut! The special «Swedish meatballs» lacked flavor and were all rock-​hard (we only ate two, but fork-​tested the entire batch!), and the lamb shank, which has been good a couple of times at dinner in years past needed to be cooked at least until dinner before it would be ready to be plated; it seemed more mutton than lamb! We explained these issues after declining the waiter’s offer to wrap our uneaten main plates. His response was to tell us that we should have told him (!), after which he quickly ran our credit card and hurried off to join the rest of the staff lounging at the hostess station. The live accordionist is still a nice touch, but the music can’t make up for the continuing poor quality food, so especially at these prices, we have no plans to return.

I wasn’t sure about this place in the beginning, but it is so much fun and so worth a trip here. There is so much entertainment when they bring drinks out and the accordian player. They do chants and skits to bring out the German beer. It really gets the customers involved and makes dinning fun! They have a very large menu It is tricky to settle on one things. As soon as you are seated they have cottage cheese and cracker ready for you to eat. The prices are a bit high, but you get so much food! You will be stuffed when you leave. Soup or salad, mixed vegetable, bread and butter, red cabbage, a potato, your meat of choice and a dessert. There are also appetizers their pretzels are very big and tasty. They have funny hats to wear. They sing and dance and make the whole experience worth it. You wont be disappointed when you come here!

I’ve been going to this place for awhile, and I’ve always found the food to be good and the beer to be excellent. My favorite meal is the Prime Rib with the Au Gratin potatoes, and the Coconut Cream pie for dessert. You can only get it during the weekend, though.
The accordion player also plays an excellent rendition of the Spongebob Squarepants theme song if you’re feeling cocky enough to request it after a few beers.

What a fun place! They do have a large beer! The theme is great and they play music. I sat there waiting for someone to order a large beer, just to say hoy hoy. But I was disappointed in the food. I had the shrimp scampi, not good. They put a red sauce on it. The banana cream pie was good. I suggest if your looking to have fun this is the place, but if your looking for a great meal, not the place.

Pros: cute accordion player, silly beer songs, great lederhosen, «Get Lucky» in German, and a great Alpine schnitzel.
Cons: Butter-​saturated, low-​shelf booze, hella pricy for New Britain, hit or miss on food.

Really great authentic german fare.

We went here today for late lunch/​early dinner after skiing. It was absolutely AWESOME! The inside décor was absolutely charming like something you wold see in an old mountain lodge or restaurant in Germany or Austria. There are so many cool things to see when looking around. It is just a «feast for your eyes».
We gobbled up the German Cole Slaw and some type of horseradish/​cottage cheese that you eat with crackers, and my husband ate a quarter of the huge pretzel they brought him (and hoarded the rest for later on tonight). Two of us ordered schnitzel and I had the Swedish meatballs with gravy and spaetzle. Everything was delicious and our server was wonderful and accommodating. I am excited to invite our friends here as it is so fun and the food and service is absolutely yummy!
I know at nighttime and during Oktoberfest this place is supposed to be much busier and much louder. All I can say is, I CAN“T WAIT!

It’s all about the beer and A person was vomiting at the front door!
We had a huge problem with our meal delivery (they forgot) and then took forever to correct it! Worse than that, the hostess made excuses for everybody but the East Side
Although we have been there many times, highly unlikely that we will go back after tonight

Sorry East Side — your Novelty and ethnic gimmicks have worn thin. For the price of admission — Mark C and I were very disappointed during our last visit.
You were cool several years ago when I was younger and looking to get «paddled» but having developed a more «worldly» pallet over the past couple of years, I did not leave satisfied.
All of the entrees are roughly the same price (about $ 28 for a dinner entrée) and you get a variety of courses before your main meal. I use the term «courses» roughly as they are more tasters then anything. I have no problem paying $ 28 for a meal — what I have a problem with is paying that price for mediocre food. Most all of the entrees come covered in some thick sauce that tried to (and failed) to hide the dry meat beneath. About the only item that was good was the sauerkraut (canned???) and the potato pancake (which was fried within an inch of its life)
We were there for a birthday and the birthday girl had a good time, which was the most important thing. However — I will not suggest this restaurant to my friends unless they are looking for overpriced mediocre food.