Hildegard’s Biergarten

Hildegard’s Biergarten in Huntsville, Alabama was the second stop for the Rocket City Food Blogger Tour this past weekend.

I arrived early to take in the atmosphere of the restaurant. I had never been to Hildegard’s and was excited to try the German fare here. I’d been looking for a good German restaurant and it had been a while since I had had truly good, authentic German food. Being of German heritage, and having lived in Germany, I’m am a hard customer to please.

The scenery reminded me of a Gasthaus in Germany. I loved the quaint garden feel of the restaurant, from the long community table to the little private nooks.

And of course, being a Biergarten, you know there had to be a good selection of German beers…and Hildegard’s has it.

Meet Sabina and her husband, Jeff. They are the owners, and run this Hildegard’s location off of University in Huntsville. There is a second Hildegard’s in Huntsville which is run by Sabina’s own mother! They share traditional German cuisine with recipes brought straight from the northern region of Germany.

One of the things that I loved about this stop, was that we weren’t just told to pick something off of the menu. Sabina brought out a variety of dishes and allowed us to try them all family-style.

We were served Zigeuner Pork Schnitzel, topped with a spicy bell pepper sauce, fried potatoes and amazing red cabbage.

Now this behemoth of a cabbage roll and mashed potatoes isn’t a regular item on the menu, but I would seriously beg Sabina to consider adding it – or at the very least – make it a regular special. It was to die for. I brought half of one home with me in a “doggie bag” for supper that evening.

Oh how I love bratwurst! This one was paired with a polish sausage and more potatoes and red cabbage.

The fourth offering that she shared was a dish that I often make myself – though I serve it with egg noodles rather than spaetzel – but this is definitely not the same recipe I make. I love my Goulash, but this was swoon-worthy. Rich, warm and delicious!

I think we were all impressed with everything we had been served, but Sabina wasn’t done yet …

Then she brought out the desserts…

Excuse me while I have a moment.

She brought out apple strudel, black forest cake, cheesecake and German chocolate cake – which by the way doesn’t actually have coconut.

Coconuts don’t grow in Germany.

Sabina’s mother makes all of these wonderful desserts herself. I have to say, I loved each and every one of them. For me, one of the greatest things about German desserts is that they don’t go overboard with the sugar. You can taste the chocolate. You can taste the apples. You can taste the fresh blueberries in the cheesecake as they “pop” in your mouth!

There was a table of “regulars” next to us, and they told us that in their opinion, it was the best restaurant in town. One of the gentlemen even mentioned the same thing about the desserts and their moderation with the sugar. He shared with us that he is diabetic and that eating these lovely desserts doesn’t make his blood sugar go crazy like other places’ desserts would do.

I was in heaven. Absolute heaven.

I took home a copy of the menu and Jeff immediately scoured it for his favorite German dish, Rahm Schnitzel, which he successfully found.

I seriously can’t wait to go back with him for a date night. Soon!

Hildegard’s Biergarten
1010 Heathland Drive, Huntsville, Alabama 35816
Located off of University Drive behind the Subaru Dealership
256.513.8260

Stay tuned for the next segment of the Rocket City Food Blogger Tour …

For more information about the bloggers, visit HERE. For more information about Restaurant Week and all of the events surrounding it, visit HERE.

The Restaurant Week specials from Hildegard’s Biergarten are:

$15.00 Lunch: The Sausage Platter with Polish And Bratwurst (shown above) and served With Sauerkraut & home cooked Mashed Potatoes and their wonderful homemade Apple Strudel with vanilla ice cream.

$30.00 Dinner:  Start with a sampler of German cold cuts with Swiss and bread, for dinner you get the amazing homemade Cabbage Roll you saw above (Stuffed with seasoned ground sirloin) and served mashed potatoes and gravy. And the dinner also includes the Apple Strudel and ice cream for dessert.

The vlog that included this visit…

This event was hosted by the Huntsville-Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau and the restaurant mentioned. All opinions are my own.