Where To Find The Best German Beer In Syracuse
What makes German restaurants authentic? Apparently, it’s the fact that they sell a lot of beer. In this article, my German friends and I found the best of this iconic German beverage in Syracuse.
THE CONTENDERS: WOLFF’S BIERGARTEN VS. GORDON BIERSCH
If you are looking for German restaurants in Syracuse, you will find two. The first one, Wolff’s Biergarten, imports German Beer and sells it at its locations. It has four locations in the state of New York: Albany, Troy, Schenectady and Syracuse. It started in 2009 with its first restaurant in Albany. Its theme is “Soccer. Bier. Peanuts.” which makes sense when you first enter: there are TVs hanging on the wall streaming soccer games, the floor is covered with peanut shells and there is a huge menu with diverse German Beer. The customers in this restaurant have one specific goal: go there and drink beer while watching soccer games.
The second one, Gordon Biersch, is located in Destiny Mall, the sixth biggest shopping mall in the United States. Many drop-in customers enjoy their home-brewed beer.
Gordon Biersch was first opened in Palo Alto in 1988. The theme of this brewery is to brew its beer following the Reinheitsgebot, German brewing law. That means they brew it only with four ingredients: Hallertauer hops, two-row malted barley, a special yeast strain imported directly from Germany, and water. They sell the beer within a restaurant which also offers warm “German” food.
THE ATMOSPHERE
The main difference between both restaurants is the atmosphere. Wolff’s Biergarten is a German-style outdoor Biergarten equipped with benches and a large bar. When we entered the bar, we felt relaxed and excited: people were watching the soccer games and talking loudly with each other, while shelling peanuts and drinking beer. We ordered at the bar, choosing from a huge variety of beer. Everybody in our group said this was a cozy place to hang out with friends, have fun, watch sports, or drink beer.
Gordon Biersch was more formal. We sat down at a dark wooden table and got our menu. The open-style restaurant with its kitchen behind glass made me feel like sitting outdoor and looking at shopping windows. Many families and smaller groups were enjoying their beer in this restaurant. We agreed that we would come here to have a family reunion or after shopping.
TOE TO TOE (T2T)
Asking for the signature beer in both restaurants, we wanted to give them the chance to impress us.
At Wolff’s Biergarten we ordered a beer mixed with grapefruit juice. It has a sweet but dangerous taste. Dangerous, because someone could underestimate the amount of alcohol beer while drinking it. Everybody in our group loved the taste.
At Gordon Biersch, we again had a hard time deciding which beer we should get. After asking for their signature beer, the waitress brought two samples. The first one was a so-called Märzen, which is unique for its malty flavor. The other one we tried was a beer from their category “light & refreshing.” It was a Golden Export. All of us did not like either of these beers. The Märzen was too malty and the Golden Export tasted too much of hops. So we didn’t order a large glass of either of the two samples.
This round goes to Wolff’s Biergarten.
“DISH”
In addition to the beer, we also ordered something to eat at both restaurants.
At Gordon Biersch we had the opportunity to order from a variety of food. But Wolff’s Biergarten didn’t have many choices: we could choose between hotdog and pretzel. We decided to get a pretzel. The pretzel surprised all of us, lightly baked and served with a lot of salt and melted butter on top. My German friends said they had never seen a pretzel like this. In Germany, pretzels are dark brown, crusty and certainly not topped with melted butter. But still, we tried it. And it did taste very good.
At Gordon Biersch we had to choose out of a big variety of dishes. We chose the Brewers Combo which was an Oktoberfest special. It contained a grilled Märzen-simmered bratwurst, a soft pretzel and their legendary garlic fries accompanied by Märzen mustard. We also ordered the side dish of Spaetzle, which are traditional German noodles. We all agreed the first pretzel was better because this one was very hard to chew. But we all liked the bratwurst. And while the wooden plate it was served on was authentic, the dish at Gordon Biersch was not.
Again, this round also goes to Wolff’s Biergarten.
Wolff’s Biergarten, in our hearts, has the best German beer in Syracuse. However, beer lovers and beer connoisseurs may like both places. Being open for new styles of beer and trying them is not only interesting, but also fascinating. I learned a lot about the huge variety of tastes. With only four ingredients, I believe it can still create flavors suited to every palate around the world.
