Das Waldcafe

Unfortunately the owner passed away on December 8, 2015. Restaurant permanently closed on Sunday December 18, 2015. Big crowd the last day, sad day. The other German restaurant in the area closed several months ago.

Although the customer service from the German owner could have been a little friendlier, this was our first visit to a German restaurant in the area since having moved back to Virginia and we recently living in Germany. A few of the members in our large party met for lunch and among them were Germans that told us this was their favorite in comparison to other local German restaurants. I do wish they had apfel streusel mit eiscreme vanile!

After ordering it took over 1 hour to be served. Once food arrived it was good.

I have been coming here since i was a teen. I’m 52 now. Great German food, my mother is German amd this is one of her favorite spots. Other German restaurants just do not measure up. Mrs. Hollingsworth the owner is a gem. Ashame is up for sale. She’s ready to retire. The best cheescake ever, true German made. Cheese Cake Factory, haha can not even make a real German Cheesecake. It will be ashame if they ever close the doors.

I wish I could offer a fair review of this long standing German restaurant, but sadly we left after about 45 minutes of waiting for someone to take our order. We asked the owner 3 times for water and for someone to take our order. Apparently they are so very popular that they can afford to let a party of 5 walk out the door.
The menu looked appetizing and I’m sure I would have enjoyed my meal had I been given the opportunity to try something. There were 2 waitstaff passing us by as though we were absolutely invisible. There was a hostess that apparently can do absolutely nothing but seat you at a table. She stared at us as we tried in vain to attract the attention of anyone at all to take our order, bring us silverware and water.
As I said we were successful in getting the owner to come over to our table, he was friendly enough but each time we asked him to take our order he said, «Of course! Yes!» and wandered off to help someone else.
Needless to say, there are enough restaurants in Newport News that would like to take your money and serve you. We ended up at IHop on Jefferson and the staff could not have been nicer and our total bill was the price of one meal at the German place. And there is a good German place on Rt 17 but it was closed that day but we’ll just go there when we need a schnitzel fix.

I have been hungry for German food for a long time and could not interest my friends in giving it a try so I came here alone. The very first thing I noticed is how clean the carpet is. Restaurant flooring takes a beating and too often they don’t clean carpeting as often as they should. I can’t eat in a place with dirty carpeting. I always think if the public areas are dirty the kitchen is worse. I was greeted very warmly by several people and made to feel welcome. The daughter of the owner stopped by my table and so did one of the owners. They were so pleasant.
Now for the food. I ordered Jäger Schnitzel with spaetzle and German potato salad. YUMMO! The veal was perfectly prepared and the gravy was delectable. The potato salad was great. Sometimes it’s very vinegary but not here. It is perfect. The spaetzle is buttery and light. Some spaetzle can be heavy but this is great. The apple cake was so good but it was cold. I wish it had been heated to room temperature. It would have brought out the taste of the apples even more. All in all this was a real treat. I will definitely be back!

Hours. First of all they need to update. They are only open Fri, Sat, Sunday until further notice.
Atmosphere: This place reminds me of an old German Bakery I grew up going to. Wooden chairs and green and white tablecloths.
Service: I would rank it a 3 out of 5. She was ok. Going through the motions.
Food: I had the Knack worst plate with red cabbage and potato salad.
The Knacks were kinda bland 2 out of 5.
The cabbage was fantastic nice and seasoned 5 out of 5.
The potato salad is normally served warm at German restaurants and this was room temp but cold in spots. It was 3 out of 5.
Overall it was ok I would try them again.

I have never been the biggest fan of German food, but my partner loves it, so he talked me into stopping here for date night recently and boy, have I changed my mind! I don’t know how many times I’ve driven past this place and never stopped — it’s right on Warwick, but feels like a hole in the wall. The décor is nothing fancy, but the place feels homey and well loved.
We sampled a couple drinks from the menu — a light German beer that was quite tasty and the house white wine which was passable. For dinner, I ordered the bratwurst with potato dumplings and green beans — he had a jagerscnitzel with spatzle and kraut. The brat was perfectly cooked and served with a fantastic tangy mustard. Potato dumplings — OMG — delicious. Also managed to get a couple bites of my partner’s before he inhaled it, and boy was that something special. We also tried one of the homemade deserts — an apple strudel thing that was super yummy!
I think they’ve made me a convert to German cuisine. We’re already talking about trying to find a time to come back for seconds.

If you want German food this is the spot hands down. And for the people that complain they need to go back to a chain restaurant and stay there.

Great spot for traditional German fare. The brown butter on the spatzle is a wonderful touch. The jäger schnitzle was great as well as the roulade. I’m really looking forward to coming back to try more of the menu. The desserts are top notch also, made on premises by a sweet little Oma. If you are looking for German, look no further. It is on the smaller side so reservations are recommended, especially on weekends.

Cool little spot. Discovered I’m not a huge fan of German food in general but a cool spot to check out. Liked the spatzel side and would have voted for some hot sauce. Service was friendly. Desserts were good and so was the spicy beef soup!

The food was excellent and the wait staff was very kind but the service was a little on the slow side. That being said the owners are two ladies from Germany and the food is absolutely what you are looking for when you need a taste of Deutschland in Newport News Va. We had the Schnitzel, Spatzel and German Kartoffel Salat and my tummy was very happy!!!

The only reason this is not a 5 star review is because it took over 10 minutes for anyone to come to our table and take our drink order. They were clearly understaffed that day but the service was good once we got it and the food was amazingly good! I got the wiener schnitzel with a salad and potato dumplings and I would probably eat it multiple times a week if I could! For people who are sick of the chain restaurants in HR this is well worth checking out.

Absolutely love this place. Been coming for a few years now. Family owned restaurant with homemade food. «Just like my grandma used to make» feeling. Homemade potato salad, red cabbage, spaetzle. I usually order jegerschnitzel (mushroom gravy). Also love goulash. Or just stop in for a quick snack of German sausage and a beer.

Ausgezeichnet! Had the special sauerbraten with spaezel and buttered brusselsprouts finished with their delicious hazelnut cake with chocolate frosting and homemade whipped cream. Great service, quick and responsive. The wait-​staff dressed in dirndl were attentive, especially Samantha. Danke schon!

Considering its been years since I’ve visited Germany and quite honestly this is one of the few German places in the HR… one of the few I resigned on giving it a 3 star review.
First, location is nice. Midtown NN near the college area of CNU. I’ve driven past here a thousand times and always wondered what it was like. The entrance set up is weird, I think there are two entrances and the majority of the parking is in the back, so I parked out back and circled the building to enter. My friend whom I had dinner with totally just parked at another business because he was confused. No biggie though.
The exterior screams cookie cutter German stereotypes with cream walls and dark brown designs. But it’s charming, I think. The inside is definitely a small business type of place. It’s stuffy and minimalistic, the owner is an old lady assuming German by her accent but could be Austrian for all I know. Surprisingly she was nice. The staff here is was nice, our waiter was a sweetheart and very informative about the small menu option.
The menu like I said was small and it is not vegetarian/​vegan friendly! I ended up ordering sides. My friend ordered Wiener Schnitzel with red cabbage and potato dumplings. He didn’t finish half of his plate but said it was because he was full. I did like the red cabbage it wasn’t overly sweet like I usually had it before so thats a plus. I ordered the same dumplings, sauerkraut, and potato salad. Potato dumplings were oh so bland. I’m not a fan of sauerkraut but this one was pretty spot on, not super vinegary. The potato salad was warm which is okay but also bland and had slivers of ham/​bacon hiding inside.
I know it is a café but when I think Germany I think two things. Beer and good desserts. Unfortunately, I didn’t want to stick around long enough to try desserts but I was sad that I didn’t see a beer menu… I found a later they actually serve beer,
Overall? I’m not the biggest fan of German food period but this place I know doesn’t do it justice. I wouldn’t go here again but I am happy to have tried it.

This past Sunday I tried Das Waldcafe with 18 other friends for the first time. (This was our first big «Sunday Afternoon Supper Club» event, and it was a success.) This was everyone’s first time going to this place, but based off of the other reviews, this looked like a good place to go. My German friend was very excited about trying this place.
I called Das Waldcafe on Saturday to make a reservation for the next day. Amanda took my reservation, and I reserved a table for 20 people. When I arrived to the restaurant, I parked behind the restaurant. There are some areas where you can’t really see the paint for the parking lines, and apparently my brother-​in-​law told me that I parked crooked! My excuse is because I could not see the parking lines… it doesn’t help that i’m an Asian woman. haha
The exterior of the building is not flashy, and could easily be missed. I walked into the restaurant with my niece. We were the first out of our party to arrive. When we walked into the restaurant, I was greeted by a young friendly gentleman and what I believe to be one of the owners, who was an older woman. She didn’t seem very friendly at first, but she did complement me on my blouse.
The interior is very clean and has wall to wall carpet. Fresh flowers were in clear vases on the tables and even in the bathroom. When you walk into the restaurant, it feels like you can see the whole restaurant; however, there’s actually a back room when you walk down the hall and pass the restrooms. In the back room is a full bar more tables, a t.v. in the corner with sofas and kids’ toys. The lighting was a little dim, and there are no windows in the back room. There was of German décor throughout the restaurant, and it was nice being exposed to that.
It took a while for my whole party to arrive, but our waiter was good at getting all of our drink orders.
I ordered the pork Jäger Snitchzel with spätzle and the German style salad. It took a while for our food to arrive, but that was expected since there were 18 mouths to feed. Our food came out one by one starting with the end of the table closest to the door and the food slowly worked it’s way around. Our waiter had his hands full that day… literally. He was our only waiter and he brought us our food by himself. I’m glad our food came out at the same time and nobody’s food was cold.
This was my first time having Jäger Schnitzel with spätzle, and it was AWEsome! The spätzle tasted so wonderfully buttery, and the Jäger Schnitzel with the mushroom sauce was soooo good… If I could compare it to something, it’s like a better version of Country fried steak, and I love country fried steak. The salad was light and vinegary, I’m glad I actually ate the salad last because the main dish was very hearty and filling. I had to ask the waiter for some water refills because I noticed some of my friends had no water in their glasses, and he brought a pitcher or water for us.
There was one point where one of the little kids was playing with the toys, and when the lady I met (the owner?) came by to bring someone a soda refill, she mentioned to the little girl’s mother that the toys had to be cleaned up. It got a little awkward at that moment because of the way she said it. It was a bit stern, but some Germans can come across as very stern sometimes. So just beware of the culture difference if something like this happens to you. After speaking with her before we left, she said that there have been times where children would play with the toys and not clean up. Another woman (who might have been another owner?) visited us at the table to see if everything was ok. She was very friendly, and I like when restaurant managers/​staff check to see if their customers are doing alright and enjoying the food.
Anyway, for dessert I ordered a slice of hazelnut cake, and it came with a dollop or whip cream on top. I think it takes like a cake version of Ferrero Rocher candy, and the cake was great with that bit of whipped cream on top!
At the end of the meal, we all received our checks and walked up to the front of the restaurant to pay at the register.
All in all here are my basic points:
1. If one of the women who works there seems «mean» don’t worry about it. It’s just a little culture difference. She’s very nice when you get to talk to her. :)
2. The food is DELICIOUS
3. Service was good.
4. Make a reservation if you have a large group coming. I don’t know when the restaurant is busy, but for large groups, it seems like going there when they open is a good idea.
5. My 2 German friends who were part of this party said that this restaurant beats all the other German restaurants in Hampton Roads! I trust their tip, and am not even going to bother trying the other German restaurants…
. If you want great German food, go to Das Waldcafe!

I have loved this restaurant for many a year. I grew up in Zweibrücken, Germany and I know authentic German cuisine intimately. Their Jägerschnitzel is better than at some places that I have eaten in Germany. If you love German food please do yourself a favor and indulge in a unique experience in Newport News. Don’t forget to get some Spätzle, sauerkraut, and try a delicious homemade piece of hazelnut cake.

This place was great!
They had awesome german wine! Our service was very prompt. We were not there more than 15 minutes before our dinner came out.
The Jäger Snitchzel was great and the spätzel was made by hand there. It was fantastic. My boyfriend liked the veal jäger Snitchzel and their bratwurst was very good too. We’ll be going back for sure!

Went here for dinner tonight, there were six of us in our party, we had reservations and were seated immediately. We were the only diners in the restaurant at the time, the waitress was nice and tried her best to keep up with us. We ordered the hefeweissen?(spelling) and it was one of the best beers I’ve had the pleasure to drink. We all ordered various schnitzels and sides, the best of which was the jagerschnitzel, the German potato salad, and the red cabbage, also the apple cake and the hazelnut cake were delicious. Overall a very lovely experience and I will return in the future.