Oh dear Hans and Franz...This is "The Wife" writing your review. And I am sorry to inform you that you have FAILED!! First of all, your website says that you are a "family-friendly" restaurant. What part of "family-friendly" does not include high-chairs? My 14 month-old had to sit on my lap during the duration of dinner! How is that "family-friendly?" Second of all, your food stinks! Your pork schnitzel is anything but. It is a crispy, over-fried mess of dried up pork that cannot even be chewed or swallowed without any type of dipping sauce. Which, by the way, is mustard that was specifically requested by yours truly. We ordered the Vienna Sausage for our two girls (they have no kids menu...which again, by the way, is not "family-friendly") but they just so happened to be "all out" of that so we subbed a Bratwurst. I will say they ate it up like they had never eaten in their lives. But...this was after a lengthy wait. So I would assume that they were just really hungry. Now, let's move on to what you call Spaetzle. Ummmm...REAL Spaetzle is a boiled noodle of sorts. LEFTOVER Spaetzle is fried with onions. So...based on the fact that what we had was regurgitated, fried, chewy crap with onions mixed in...I would say we got the leftovers. NOT GOOD.
So we've established that the food is not authentically German (which they do advertise). BUT...also your decor is anything but German, having Scottish and English accents (such as Golfers in knickers) all over the place. So what do you want to be? Do you want to be European in general or do you want to be a German Restaurant? Your German Beer Menu stinks...when I order an Oktoberfest and I am served a bottle of Beck's, something is WAYYYY off from the German roots.
Bottom Line: You are no Gasthof's. I was really hoping to eat some fabulous and authentic German food. But you have disappointed. I am nearly 80% German, my dear Husband...who typically writes this Blog, is nearly 100% German (but somehow HATES sauerkraut???), were in total shock at how terrible this supposedly "German" joint ended up to be.
On the plus side, we did have excellent service, the restaurant was clean and organized and we did enjoy our stay (less the 14 month old not confined in a high chair). BUT...I can see if you were on "date-night" or if you were single how this could be a good place to go for a couple of brewski's and unwind after work. It is not the "family-friendly" place we hoped it would be and it is certainly not Authentically German. But for European Beer joints...it is a damn good "American" version.
have u tried riveras in greer they have a juci luci with 3 slices of american hand cut fries and they make their on ketchup 2 bro bake their own buns also
ReplyDeleteThis is the best news I have heard. Thank you, I will check them out this week for lunch. Much appreciated!
ReplyDeletetry royal thai off augusta rd bro from juci luci anonymus dude u will thank me later i promise no bs that good paul will hook u up
ReplyDeleteno post for the new stuff on urbanspoon ????
ReplyDeleteThanks Bro. I owe you a beer or 10. Urbanspoon takes up to a week to post so they have appropriate time to review the posts and highlight what they feel fit.
ReplyDeleteWe nowhere advertise we are a German Restaurant; we have no German flag hanging it doesn't say outside or on the advertising German Restaurant. We stated that we are Southern Hospitality with a German flair. My father was from Germany, I worked in Germany. My Chef is from Germany finished one of the best chef schools in Germany and has been cooking for over 35 Years. Last 20 years he trained chefs and cooked in over 300 Restaurants all over the world. All our cold cuts, brats and wieners are made by a German butchery who won several awards. Spaetzel we make every day fresh and is finished pan seared in butter. Becks beer is a 140 old German brewery from the Town Bremen. Yes that’s Germany !!! Lots of our German customers are from that region. I’m regularly in Germany as is my Chef too and so far the German customers had no complains but are happy and satisfied with their meal special when we make our schweinehaxe or sauerbraten ( which are always sold out ) It seems a sailor who thinks he is a captain wrote this article. We are proud of our product and pleased that we can offer more then German food. Next time learn to walk before you run..
ReplyDelete“Beer garden (a loan translation from the German "Biergarten") is an open-air area where beer, other drinks and local food are served, no fast food!”
ReplyDeleteThe building of Hans & Franz Biergarten is 150 Years old. In the civil war it was used to make uniforms. It’s one of the oldest buildings left in the Upstate. The bar we build is made of wood from 120 years old which came from local textile mills. We planted the Palm trees in Honor of the South Carolina Flag (Palm tree) South Carolina used the Palm tree in honor of the battle with the English in Charleston. Charlestoniers cut the palm trees to protect Charleston from the cannon balls which saved the town.
So in Honor of the English we have some items from England on display like the old authentic Shakespeare costumes and English golfer (lots of golf courses here) we even have Fish and chips on the menu and Guinness. Stone ground grits and blackened shrimp is an extreme popular dish in the South and represent the South very well for our German/ European customers. Our Beer list we have beers from South Germany, middle and North Germany and we have beers from the US (Where we are located) and a great Belgium beer selection.
The name Hans & Franz came from the Saturday Night Live show (American comedy show)
Wiener schnitzel is an Austrian dish made of veal, Wiener style Schnitzel is made with pork which most Biergarten serve in Germany. The most common sauce you can order with your Schnitzel is the Jaeger sauce (It’s on the menu) Holstein is a fried egg on top of your schnitzel. The cheapest version we have is the schnitzel without these toppings which was your choice.
For all you who have read this I hope you have a wonderful experience at Hans & Franz and understand we are not a total dedicated German Restaurant but have several other options too. (We have a pasta dish on the menu too, which doesn’t make us a Italian Restaurant.)
Oh Dear Resident, I don't even know where to begin with your complete nonsense of emotional spattering, but I was anticipating a comment from "YOU". On a positive note (and we had plenty of those if you open your narrow minded self and read again), I give you credit for being passionate about your establishment. On the other twenty-two thousand and nineteen that I will only go into fine details now on a few. If you cannot even look at your own food and realize what I ordered (note the lovely bowl of what you call Jaeger sauce on my plate? I call it a bowl of left over mush with some nasty, overcooked mushrooms), you proved your ignorance already. Secondly, I never said you were a German Restaurant, I made a clear statement that your food was nowhere near authentic. And the last point I will make before wasting anymore of my time, you somehow missed the main point of my review (and I am entitled to my opinion as you are yours, we may never agree, but we are entitled as we live in this wonderful place called America as you so stated), and probably on purpose as you can not defend that as we all know it is not true. You clearly state that you are a "Family Friendly" restaurant. You are the furthest thing from "Family Friendly" in this bloggers opinion. Plus your food is no good, in fact I specificly told your waitress that the food tasted horrible and she walked away (maybe she has heard this once before). You seem to take a lot of time (not just my review) in defending bad reviews of your restaurant, rather than look like a fool, do something about it like make better tasting food!
ReplyDeleteThis rambling looks a lot like the response from Hans & Franz the last time someone dared to tell them the food sucked!
ReplyDeleteCourtesy of our friends over at Urbanspoon.com
http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/158/1526829/restaurant/Hans-Franz-Biergarten-Greenville
By AddySC,
"Hans & Franz Biergarten never stated that it is a full German Restaurant but a restaurant with a German flair !!! Which means that we serve other items then only German food. Fish and Chips was a big request for as a entrée, but you can order the entrée also at lunch if you have a big appetite, just like every entrée.. We have a special lunch menu with items from $ 4.50 - $ 7.50 Which is extremely reasonable special for the quality you get. Our fries are daily fresh cut and pre fried on low temperature, which is very common in Europe. Our bread is from Eurobaker. The corned beef is fresh cooked for 4 Hrs with the spices and then thin sliced. Our dressing are made in the house. The wings are overnight marinated then slow oven cooked. Our cold cuts and sausages are made by German butchers. New York strip cut to order. Meatloafs are fresh made. I have been in many Biergarten and compare to them we are even cheap !! You could of course google it and see it for your self."
Again, do something about it rather than look like an idiot! We can hear you talking about how wonderful your food, ambiance, chef and how German you are (but not your restaurant), but the simple fact is, your food is less than desirable.
This is too funny! I love it. The first thing a business owner should learn is how to take criticism. You have to listen to the customer and be thankful for negative feedback because this gives you the opportunity to improve (if you can!!) But if you are new to the business, like this owner seems to be, you get hurt by negative feed back and you start arguing the evidence. I hope they will learn how to run a business like pros.
ReplyDeleteWait a second..... I had to read that again. "has been cooking for over 35 Years. Last 20 years he trained chefs and cooked in over 300 Restaurants"
ReplyDeleteThat is 8.6 Restaurants per year = almost one restaurant per month where he cooked????? Are you serious??? No wonder the food sucks, H&F probably kept him the longest....
Have you tried Haus Edelweiss on Wade Hampton BLVD? Their food is marvelous. They just remodeled the place and it's beautiful. The food, service, prices, and atmosphere are out of this world! I HIGHLY recommend!
ReplyDeleteOh, and they have a kids menu! ;)
-DH
Isn't this great, I can't even make this shit up. This is a bloggers dream come true. If they would have contacted me like a normal restaurant owner would do with an open mind (and try to be somewhat professional), and try to make it "right" by inviting me back for a second visit, who knows. I have written a lot of bad reviews in the past and been personally contacted by the owners to make it right. 100% of the time I have returned and on some occasion, my opinion has changed for the better. But in this case, they decided to take the "Stubborn German" way of dealing with constructive criticisms. From one stubborn German to another, you will never convince me that your food is worth feeding to my neighbors cat!
ReplyDeleteOne last comment for Dear Hans, since we seem to spend so much time and focus about history and other random crap, rather than the food, like your 120 year old wood, I have a suggestion for you. Shut down the kitchen and turn the place into a museum. You seem to know an awful lot more about the history side of the business than you do food.
As for the Haus Edelweiss, this is on my radar along with Schwaben House over on Pelham. I cannot wait to try both. Heck, I even plan on visiting the Bavarian Pretzel Factory, I'm sure their Schnitzel sticks have more flavor than what I was served at Hans and Franz! Any other suggestions on where I can find good German food? If they have creamed herring, that is a plus.
I just cannot resist posting this. Here are some more classics from Dear Hans.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.examiner.com/restaurant-bars-in-greenville/hans-franz-biergarten-a-place-with-an-identity-crisis#comments
"As we stated to the patrons and friends of Hans & Franz Biergarten we are not official open, which will be mid may. The menu books are coming in this week, the menu stated very clearly “Temporary Menu” We didn’t advertise that we were open, just told some friends for some feedback. With other words what you saw was just a glimpse of the restaurant. Outside chairs just came in this week, specials meats provided by German Butchers from New York and Chicago also just came in. Rare beers like Grieskircher Hefe just came in. Next time when you read “ We are open” try it again."
"Another fact is that we are not a German Restaurant! Nowhere is that stated. Hans & Franz came from SNL and biergartens can be found everywhere. It just has a German Flair. ! I would highly suggest the next time when you come in to ask for me and ask what kind of restaurant we are and when we will be open. A good "Examiner" would have done that so it can provide more accurate information to their readers."
"Strange the Europeans who are from there love it, the one who is not from there and has been there once has the critics.
on greenville.metromix.com you can find the real review done by a professional who took the time and ask us questions about the place and did it when we where official open."
Haus Edelweiss has a pickled herring sandwich. Fish isn't my thing, so I've never tried it, but to each his own!
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is that you are a blog writer in Greenville, South Carolina. Which probably translates to "I'm sick of my boring job and my bratty kids and my nagging wife so I'll try to delve into something I think people will care to read my opinions about so I can feel more important and have an excuse to become a reclusive parent." Grow up and find something useful to do with your time. Bashing others' business endeavors really doesn't count. Go out and make mistakes of your own. I'm not defending Resident. But at least his business is actually trying to do something. You hide behind your computer pretending to be an expert on something you probably aren't. Also, to the wife: you are not 80% German. You are American. Where were you born? Unless you are a first or second generation family member in this country, you are an American. And as such, I'd be willing to bet the German chef and owner probably know more about "authentic" German food than you do. And no one told you you had to stay when you were informed there were no high chairs or booster seats. If you don't like the way a restaurant presents itself, then don't go there again. And if you happen to realize you don't like it before you even sit down and order anything, you are free to leave.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the revelations by Anonymous and amusing assumptions about my life. I enjoyed reading your opinions about me. Although a bit spotty and not exactly hitting the nail on the head, it was a good read. Rather than sit behind the "Anonymous" tag and rant about why you hate my opinions or what I do (you also can choose to leave my blog if you don't like the way it presents itself as well), try to justify your words and elaborate on how oneself (you) came to such bold assumptions from a simple restaurant review (I would love to hear). You are probably that good close friend of the owner trying to make him look like an even bigger ass as he has on other bad reviews about his establishment (and trust me, I'm not the only one bashing his food))? Thanks for the post, and I look forward to "Anonymous" becoming a regular contributor to my blog. Please come back and visit often and see what other opinions I have to share with the 1,000+ visitors each day.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree. It's embarrassing for the owner to act this way. He sounds like a self-righteous asshole. I've been there, and yes, it is very unpredictable. The service is up and down, the food is not good (unless you order something that can't possibly be messed up, ie. fish & chips or wings), and everytime the music is way too loud. After reading this guy's blatant disrespect and bad attitude towards his customers, I will never be back.
ReplyDeleteI love to read your self absorbed ponitifations. Someone who thinks the pita house has the best food, surely doesn't have an idea about good food. You might know beer, but food you don't. I understand that most poeple like you enjoy the fact that you can write something and not be accountable as you are on the internet hiding at your house or office. You know nothing about running a business. As you have nothiing else in your life that gratifies you, so you like getting this attention. Jerry
ReplyDeletePita House? Never been and don't plan on it anytime soon. Jerry, you may want to double check your ignorance at the door along with the emotions and your sadly biased perceptions. I take full accountability for everything published on this site and if you have an opinion about my opinion, lets have a "Big Boy" conversation about it rather than type make-believe words that are not part of the American Language. If you meant to type "pontifications", then yes, you would be correct in calling me a pompous ass when it comes to dealing with one.
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow homebrewer with German ancestory in Greenville, I would very highly recommend Schwaben House on Pelham Rd. It is truly authentic German food, and the spaetzle is excellent. The service is awesome and the family that owns it only moved here from Germany 3 or 4 years ago.
ReplyDeleteThe Pita House is really good, by the way--I can only say great things about their gyro sandwich, hummus, red sauce, and falafels though. If you like Greek food at all, try Cuzina Grill in Spartanburg. Their lamb is rotisserie cooked domestic, USDA choice leg of lamb, and it is carved off the bone. They also do USDA choice hanger steak as their beef and fry their french fries in duck fat.-- it's rockin!
Cheers!
Thanks Dan, I have been getting that a lot. Seems that most people are torn between Schwaben House or Haus Edelweiss for great food. One or the other, but never the same place by the same person. I plan to try out both of these restaurants at least twice before making my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAs a local homebrewer, where do you get your ingredients from? Grapes and Grains, Thomas Creek or online?
Thanks for the tip on Cuzina Grill, I'm heading there right now to check them out.
I shop at G&G, Ken is a great guy and has been more help than Tom Davis was to me.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever been to the third Thursday event at G&G?
ReplyDeleteGood call on Cuzina Grill, the Roasted Leg of Lamb Pita with Duck Fat fries and Tzatziki was out of this world.
Every third Thursday! The crowd last week was pretty huge.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked Cuzina Grill, they are one of my customers. I have attended every Third Thursday at G&G, last week was pretty crazy. If you've been to any of them, I am sure I've met you at some point.
ReplyDeleteI need to go Saturday, after I get back from Foothills' Sexual Chocolate release- I'm brewing up a big Imp. Stout on Sunday.
ive been to both schwaben house and haus edelweiss. both were good, but i think haus edelweiss takes a lead by far. food is delicious! as for hans and franz, never been, but uh dont think i will be going there anytime soon haha!
ReplyDeleteHaus Edelweiss = BEST IN TOWN
DeleteDon't neglect that the Bavarian Pretzel also has a nice menu for such a small place that's more a bakery than a restaurant. Really worth stopping in to check out.
ReplyDeleteI've tried to hit up Bavarian three times, but my timing and luck haven't proved to be any success. I seem to always be in the area on a Sunday or Monday when they are closed. I will continue to try as I really want to check them out.
ReplyDeleteThe Pita House is amazing. Who can knock a restaurant that is always busy during lunch and dinner to where you can barely place an order, nevertheless grab a table? On Urbanspoon, they are always listed as the #1 restaurant in Greenville, and almost 600 people have voted giving them a good response. I absolutely love it, the gyro plate and lamb kabobs are to die for. Shame on a business owner that will put down another restaurant's success! Tisk Tisk!
ReplyDelete