Biergarten Haus

One of my favorite places on H Street. Although some may disagree, it really reminds me of Munich. Everything down to the music is just fun and entertaining. The food’s pretty good and obviously the beer!

I came here on a weeknight with a group of friends during happy hour (4−7pm). The weather was perfect that day so we sat outside. Unfortunately the roof top deck was closed off because a party was going on, but I would have loved to have checked it out. The ambience had the feel of your usual beer garden and with the nice weather it was great! The happy hour specials were great — discounted liters and half liters of beer and half off appetizers. I had a grapefruit beer (oops forgot the name) and it was delicious. It wasn’t very busy when we were there so our drinks and food came out immediately. The pretzel rolls came with a yummy beer cheese and the loaded fries came with a yummy curry ketchup. Wings came with two different flavors — didn’t expect them to be breaded wings with the sauces on the side to dip, thought the wings would come covered in the sauce. The wings were still pretty good regardless. Overall great experience, and I would highly recommend this place to others!

Good beer but just ok service. Trivia night on Tuesdays is ok but needs improvement.

This is a pretty awesome Biergarten, love the atmosphere. Beer was good, in nice mugs. We also liked the pretzels and cheese/​mustard. Very cool place.

My friends and I came here after a day of walking around DC on a HOT HOT day. Completely quenched, we found the closest place to us for a drink and to relax. Unexpectedly huge backyard, where the beer garden was with lots of seating and thank god for the big umbrellas! We were there in time for happy hour and the deals for beer were great! All appetizers were 50% off as well. Beer was great, food was decent; typical beer garden food. Great ambiance and chill spot to hang with a bunch of friends!

I will not spend a great deal of time on this review because Biergarten Haus can be summarized very briefly, overpriced and mediocre.
Having traveled extensively in Germany, I know good German bier and food when I taste it. A ½ liter of draft German beer (less than 17 ounces) was $ 8, so I did not taste it and drank water instead. We ordered three pretzel rolls ($ 5) and even though they looked appetizing, they had obviously been «nuked» (microwaved) because the outside was soft and warm, but the inside was as hard as a rock. The accompanying «homemade» mustard was good and spicy.
My wife ordered the Brauernwurst ($ 14), coming with a single sausage, a potato pancake, and sauerkraut. Everything tasted OK, but you normally get some bread and a salad or soup with German food. That was not the case and my wife, who is rather petite and not a big eater, was still hungry when we returned to our room, eating a yogurt from the fridge.
I had the Jägerschnitzel ($ 20), a breaded pork cutlet with hunter sauce (a brown, mushroom gravy). The cutlet was of decent proportion, but the breading was soft, not crispy as it should have been, obviously nuked like the pretzels. The hunter sauce was watery and bland, adding little taste to the dish. The fries were the decent, nothing special. I was also a bit hungry afterward, so I also had a snack in our room because we were not about to pay $ 8 for a nuked apple strüdel.
Coming in at $ 50 (for two), including tip, this meal was not a good value and an overall disappointment. The only reason they get 4 bombs instead of 3 was the service. The bartender who took and served our order was extremely kind and efficient, and for that we were grateful.
CombatCritic Gives Biergarten Haus 4 Bombs Out Of 10 … More Bombs Are Better!

My only problem with this place is that I’m so keen on the pork shank that I never try anything else on the menu, even though lots of things look good!
Next time, on to the sausages. .. or the schnitzels!

Great spot to spend a sunny Spring or Summer day outside drinking a stein of beer. They have a nice sized list of beers to choose from and you can choose to get a normal or very large sized mug. The offer typical German pub food including wurst, hamburgers and an amazing Reuben!
The tables outside are large, and perfect for groups. I recommend ordering at the outside bats rather than waiting for a waiter to come by (because they seem to be under staffed).

The stereotype of Germans as a formal and reserved people isn’t entirely untrue, but you have to admit they pretty much invented the social drinking space in the form of the beer garden. What could be more social than sitting outside with your pals and a gaggle of other happy folks enjoying some beers? At Biergarten Haus they’ve tried to replicate the experience, but with mixed success.
The back patio, the actual beer garden itself, is indeed a big social space for drinking, with a mix of big and small tables and no roof for an al fresco feel. The beer list is exclusively German as you’d expect, but don’t expect an overwhelming variety, as they’ve stuck to a few of the basic (and frankly down market) brands and styles. Seriously, with so much good German beer like Schneider and Ayinger available in the US, they’re actually serving Warsteiner, which is basically the Miller Lite of Germany? The food is solid if nothing special, your basic German bar fare, which isn’t gourmet but still pairs will with a stein of suds. I was gratified to see they have currywurst, which is to Berlin what Jumbo Slice is to DC, classic late night drunk food, but still very tasty. The service can be very hit or miss, on my most recent visit they were badly understaffed and our waiter came back after several minutes to admit he had completely forgotten our beer order. In fairness, a different waiter started serving us after the food came and comped my first beer due to the wait, so that was a nice gesture.
All in all, in nice weather this can be a very pleasant spot to pass a few hours drinking some golden hefeweizen and chomping on a tasty wurst, but don’t expect the full on gemütlichkeit of a real German beer hall. If they upgraded the beer menu and nailed down the service a little more, this could really be a premier spot on H Street.

Review is for bartender upstairs. Young male. Saturday Feb 13 2016. Went with my girlfriend to grab a drink (1^st snd last time).
Place looked ok. Ordered 2 shots and a beer for both of us. It was $ 27 and I paid $ 40 (2 $ 20 bills).
Enjoyed company as I told a couple of jokes. As I was preparing to leave 30 min later, lady friend reminded me of my change. I was smitten and totally forgot.
It was not busy and THE BARTENDER TRIED TO STEAL MY MONEY. $ 13.
He didnt apologize. I got my money back, but I could tell he was hoping I would forget my change.
I don’t frequent any establishment that hires criminals.

Biergarten Haus is the SPOT.
Great place to go before dancing your booty off at Rock and Roll Hotel or Red Rocks or getting belligerent at The Pug or H Street Country Club. Biergarten Haus is cozy and comfortable and also authentic! Or at least it seems so, but the only time I was in Germany I was 20 and studying abroad and the only goal was to drink as much as possible.
My friends and I like going here after boozy brunches and before we make the worst decisions because the beer is delicious, the staff is friendly, and the crowd is cool and not douchey like a few bars on H. I’m a really big fan of their Cristalweiss– it’s like a wheat beer but it’s filtered so it’s incredibly crisp, like biting into a Honeycrisp but without the apple taste. They do a cool spinner sampler that’s pricey but worth it for the Instagram. The patio is perfect and the fire pits are great. Service is usually kinda slow but always friendly. The prices aren’t great but either is a plane ticket to Munich.
If you’re a beer drinker (and if you’re not, why are you reading this?) this is a great spot to check out on H. Pröst, Unilocal fam.

In the fairness of Unilocal reviews, I feel like I need to give this place a four. As a non-​beer fan, I want to give it a three, but I can’t fault them for not liking beer so four stars it is. Here’s why:
1) This place was the first beer garden type restaurant in DC so props to that.
2) If you like beer, they have a very extensive beer list that comes in all sizes of glasses.
3) They have good German style food like freshly baked pretzels and mustard.
4) They have a great back patio that can seat tons of people making it a great place for groups.
If you like beer, go here. If you do not, don’t. There are no alternatives to beer if you can’t stomach it (Where’s the hard cider, people?!).

I was in the area yesterday afternoon, and stumbled upon this quaint pub, with a sign outside that said happy hour specials from 1 – 7.
My friend and I walked in and didn’t see a sign to wait to be seated, so we sat ourselves at the bottom of the stairs at a table by the bar, what seemed like a cocktail area. It didn’t seem very busy, but our server seemed disgruntled that we were there, threw menus onto our table, and walked away before we could even say «hello» to her.
My friend and I were turned off by this, and left promptly, since there are so many other nicer bars in the area. We will not be returning.

The portions!
We ordered German food (what you should do in a German restaurant — not the American food which they also have). The jäger schnitzel was delicious! My dad ordered the veal schnitzel which was also to die for. The spaetzle was good, but cold pretty quickly. The coleslaw was really delicious too. And the beer. And soccer on the screens. What is not to love?!?

**** 3 ½ Stars****
Biergarten Haus is many things. They are creative in the space they have. They are able to make multiple bar areas– up to 5 different bars given the space. They embrace the essence of the biergarten from the décor to the menu, just not the clothing. They have helpful staff who make great beer recommendations. They also have beers in ½ and full liters so you can really get your beer on. They are also centrally located on H street so relatively easy to get to if you have a car/​über/​not the infamous streetcar. They also are aware that they make money off sports and had multiple TVs showing multiple games. The TVs surprised me– not what I expected to find.
I did like their beer selections and menu. The beers on tap were all German and I was able to try new beers. I can’t remember the name but I know it was a lighter beer. We also ordered pretzels rolls to share that came with mustard and beer cheese. The rolls were hot delicious and paired with the beer cheese… it took the rolls to a whole other level. I probably could have eaten the cheese by itself– I do love cheese.
We chose to sat outside and given it was a chilly Sunday afternoon, we were grateful they had some heat lamps. It would have been helpful to have more heat lamps but that’s a small thing. It is pricy for beer but still a good experience overall.

Awesome German beers and food! I’ve been the last two years during Octoberfest and a other times. Some other worthwhile beer gardens are Dacha (7^th Street in Shaw) and Garden District (14^th and S by U Street). Their patios are nice to sit on and they are easier to find on public transit but, IMHO, the best ambience and food for a beer garden will be found at the Biergarten Haus.
A pub/​bar setting awaits you at the entrance and you will find a massive patio area out back. There are two bars and multiple «nooks» to grab a seat along with large picnic tables meant to encourage you to hang out with others. There is even a second floor patio for times when it gets super packet (like for big soccer/​football games).
To gauge the level of «authenticity», we went to the Biergarten Haus with an eclectic version of Germans who were studying in DC. All of them gave it several thumbs up — both for food and drink! A few had actually even been there before and were looking for an excuse to go back. They especially recommended the spaetzle, which I have gotten since and enjoyed. I usually go with a one wurst platter or a pretzel, too. For the beers, I have found all of them to be pretty good. There is something about German beers that make them especially tasty. I wish we could swap them out in the DC area to replace some of the hoppy craft beers that have been surfacing lately! If you aren’t sure which type to get, grab a flight to taste them all… Prost!

Biergarten Haus is one of those places that I am always excited about having so close to my house. As Germany is way too far away for me to fly to and try the imbibe in Oktoberfest drinks, Biergarten Haus is a nice consolation prize to have on H Street. You know, sometimes you just need to order a pretzel and a schnitzel and wash it down with a nice liter of German beer after a stressful week at work.
Their hefeweizens here are awesome and I personally really enjoy the Vitus (you can taste a ton of the banana). Although there are no boots of beer like there are at Dacha Beer Garden, I would say the outdoor patio and ambiance of the entire place (think hipster Christmas lights hung on trees with tons of TVs, picnic tables, and oddly shaped wooden barrels to sit on) makes it my favorite beer garden. Food is quite a bit overpriced, but who doesn’t like pretzels with mustard and butter. And with half liters being only $ 8 and $ 16 for a full liter (some other specialty beers are a bit more expensive), you’ll have a good night.
*Pro Tip* — Just stay away from the area near the speakers where ex-​frat bros who have obviously imbibed a bit too much and are starting to get air grind to all the Euro club music.

I came here for happy hour with some friends and really enjoyed it. There is tons of outdoor seating so it’s perfect for a nice day. Beers are about $ 10-​$ 12 for a draft liter during HH which is actually an awesome deal. And the loaded fries. Holy crud, those were delicious. They were covered in goat cheese, scallions, and the curry ketchup was just a magical combination. Definitely get some of them to snack on while having beer!

My date and I went in the afternoon on a weekday so it wasn’t crowded at all. We decided to eat outside since it was a nice day, and the server allowed us to choose any table we liked. The table was actually a huge, glossy barrel, and the stools were the chairs. The dishes on the menu were listed in German, but with a brief description of each item in English. We didn’t know what to order, but the waitress suggested some dishes and we ended up really liking it!
Of course going to a German restaurant for the first time, I HAD to try their beer. The drink menu listed the beers from lightest to darkest, and I chose one of the darkest, mostly because it had a bit of a coffee «kick» to it. I also ordered the Jägerschnizel with potato salad and their egg noodles, and for the price that it was, it was worth it because of the portions. The pork was well-​cooked, and the toppings really made a difference in how dry pork usually tastes. The topping consisted of some [I think] caramelized onions and mushrooms? Egg noodles were my favorite as a side dish cause it was thick and plentiful (paired great with the pork). Potato salad was okay to me, nothing that really blew me away, and I didn’t like how it tasted paired with the pork. If anything, it was more like an appetizer for me, since it was a cold side dish.
The service was great too, our waitress made conversation with us and she checked up on us at appropriate times to make sure everything was alright. Great experience, and I would definitely come back. I agree with some of the reviews saying that the place provided meals that seem «home-​cooked», so if you’re into that or beer, I highly suggest you check this place out!

I really enjoyed Biergarten Haus. It’s not cheap eats, but really is not bad at all. For the same price as chain restaurants this tastes like a home cooked meal!
My friend and I split the pretzels for an appetizer. The cheese was delicious and the mustard was VERY pungent and spicy, just the way we like it.
Beer selection was very good, prices really not bad either. A lot of places charge $ 6 – 7 for pints of craft beer, so for half liter steins of premium Deutsches Bieren, it’s really pretty reasonable.
The pork cutlet in the Jägerschnizel was HUGE. It literally covered half the plate, was cooked properly and the sauce was amazing. The Spätzle and Sauerkraut were also very good, and tasted fresh and homemade.
My friend had the Gemüsespätzle and ate every bite. She lived in Berlin for a little while and said it (the Spätzle) was pretty close to what she remembered, although she never saw a vegetarian version there.
Anyway, this place was quite good and I’ll be back, as I want to try everything on die Spiesekarte! And I HATE going to DC! It’s worth the aggravating drive and risking speed camera tickets.