Anyone been to J. Betski's in Raleigh or the Bavarian Brathaus in Cary Durham? Never been to either and I want some German vittles for my bday dinner this weekend. Other Triangle suggestions welcome of course

9/11/2012 8:24:42 PM

Bavarian Brathaus



is off da chain baby

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

9/11/2012 8:26:07 PM

What in particular are you looking for?

9/11/2012 8:31:17 PM

J.Betski's is one of my favorite restaurants in Raleigh. Make sure to get pierogies. The Bavarian Brathaus in Cary was always good. I imagine the one in Durham is similar. If you go there, get the sauerkraut, bacon, phyllo dough appetizer thing.

9/11/2012 8:54:18 PM

i've had j betski's for lunch a few times, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

9/11/2012 8:55:59 PM

lol krallum, well done

9/11/2012 9:03:22 PM

I can't go to Bavarian Brathaus due to the terrible radio ads

9/11/2012 9:21:06 PM

There's also Klara's in downtown Cary, which is technically Czech, but that's pretty much covered under the German cuisine umbrella. I haven't been there, but their menu looks good.

9/11/2012 9:27:59 PM

also there is now a klara's on hillsborough st where frazier's used to be

9/11/2012 9:39:37 PM

I had j betskis once and thought it was amazingly overrated

Or maybe their schnitzel is just terrible, like fast food quality

9/11/2012 9:46:44 PM

^^Oh really? I'm seriously not paying attention when I'm on Hboro apparently.

9/11/2012 9:59:50 PM

this thread has been enlichtening

9/11/2012 11:22:17 PM

J. Betski's is good, but it's not cheap.

9/12/2012 12:50:53 AM

shooooo y'all think i'm payin for my own bday dinner y'all crazy

9/12/2012 12:51:41 AM

this thread is going to make me go here

http://www.klarasrestaurant.com/menu/Dinner.pdf

I love me some Czech food
dankest goulash - sorry Hungary!

9/12/2012 2:29:24 AM

Quote :

"Or maybe their schnitzel is just terrible, like fast food quality"

What's your favorite fast food place to get schnitzel?? Mine is _________

9/12/2012 6:34:31 AM

J. Betski's has really good pierogies. Guglhupf in Durham is also tasty and has more variety.

9/12/2012 6:51:45 AM

Quote :

"There's also Klara's in downtown Cary, which is technically Czech, but that's pretty much covered under the German cuisine umbrella. I haven't been there, but their menu looks good. "

Last year we brought my mother in law there because she's Polish and loves some Eastern European food. Place was seriously disappointing. Everything was bland and it was overpriced imo. I was kind of embarrassed we brought her there. But we made up for it later by bringing her to J.Betski's which she enjoyed much more.

She keeps telling me there's a Polish place in RTP that gets shipments of sausage from Chicago every Monday. One day I'm going to have to try to find it on Google lol.

9/12/2012 8:46:16 AM

Quote :

"Bavarian Brathaus"

without a doubt the best authentic german food in Raleigh/Cary area, IMO

Quote :

"I had j betskis once and thought it was amazingly overrated Or maybe their schnitzel is just terrible, like fast food quality"

I've eaten at J Betskis about 4 times now and could not agree more. Their schnitzel is just not good. They used to have a paprikash entree (which isn't german, I think it's Hungarian) that was pretty good but other than that, their "german" food is average at best.

9/12/2012 8:52:55 AM

[Edited on September 12, 2012 at 9:05 AM. Reason : .]

9/12/2012 9:05:27 AM

^^ The owner is Polish so stick with that and you can't go wrong. Then again when we go for dinner we usually just do a bunch of small plates and pierogies

9/12/2012 9:14:45 AM

J. Betski's old chef was heavy-handed with salt when it came to cooking. The breading on the schnitzel was always overly salty. Now that they have a new chef, the food is amazing. Went there a couple weeks ago and was blown away. Its back to the way it was when it first opened.

The old chef is now the sous chef at Vin Rouge in Durham...now that food is overly salty too

9/12/2012 9:20:44 AM

Ooh good to know! I always skipped the main dishes there because of the saltiness. Maybe we'll go there for lunch after the Greek Festival.

9/12/2012 9:23:14 AM

We went to Vin Rouge for morning-after-prom brunch

I remember having some fresh fruit, among other things

That was good

9/12/2012 9:27:04 AM

Quote :

"Guglhupf in Durham is also tasty and has more variety."

I never think of Guglhupf as a dinner place. I've always gone there on the weekends for brunch.

If someone else is paying, go to J. Betskis.

9/12/2012 9:32:05 AM

If you're feeling ethiopian, theres a restaurant for that in mission valley. i hear they make a mean dorowat

9/12/2012 9:34:35 AM

Quote :

"without a doubt the best authentic german food in Raleigh/Cary area, IMO"

And sadly they closed. Now if you want to get that damn good German food you have to go to their Durham location

Never been to J. Betski's but based on what I hear and their prices it's a tough sell.

9/12/2012 10:05:57 AM

This really makes me miss Mr. Dunderbak's... Even though I'm sure it was not the best German food around, their sandwich menu was epic and great selection of beer on tap/in the bottle. Especially considering it was in the mall, pretty good place all around.

9/12/2012 10:10:11 AM

^i was thinking about that place the other day (Mr. Dunderbak's). I definitely wouldn't consider it a real german restraunt, but the sandwiches were good, and tons of beer.

9/12/2012 10:13:13 AM

after just returning from an extended stay in Germany, i too, am craving pork and beer German food

the Brathaus in Durham looks surprisingly legit....

9/12/2012 10:59:04 AM

Quote :

"I never think of Guglhupf as a dinner place. I've always gone there on the weekends for brunch."

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

9/12/2012 12:25:01 PM

Quote :

"the Brathaus in Durham looks surprisingly legit.... "

if it's the same owners, same menu, same chefs as the one that used to be in Cary but closed down, then it is 100% legit and damn good

9/12/2012 12:32:03 PM

Except that durham is way cooler than cary and the staff in durham is way cooler than the staff in cary was

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

9/12/2012 12:35:57 PM

i just assumed that when it closed in Cary (due to the rent going up higher than they could afford) that they just moved the whole shop to Durham, same owners and stuff.

there was this old German lady with the coolest accent, and she had such great stories from when she was younger

9/12/2012 12:39:31 PM

J. Betski's. Go. You will not be disappoint. Went there for my birthday dinner a couple of weeks ago and it was amazing. I got the pork tenderloin dish--excellent. Family members ordered the schnitzel and the fish that was on special and both of those were high quality as well. And for dessert--get the chocolate hazelnut torte. With bacon. Yes, bacon in a dessert and yes, it's ridiculously good.

Plus they have a great selection of german beer. Only four on draft, which is less than I expected, but it's rare to find any german beer on tap. I had the Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest, which was a quality example of the style. And the bottle selection is good.

Make a reservation. It's not a big place. I'd be suprised if it seats 50.

[Edited on September 12, 2012 at 12:50 PM. Reason : b]

9/12/2012 12:49:34 PM

if you want the pork knuckle at the brathaus in durham, i'm told you need to order a day in advance

9/12/2012 12:57:57 PM

Any place in Raleigh that sells Schnitzel for < $20 a plate?

9/12/2012 1:00:29 PM

Capital Club 16 has some german food but not really a german restaurant

9/12/2012 1:26:35 PM

Quote :

"Except that durham is way cooler than cary and the staff in durham is way cooler than the staff in cary was"

I think the main issue with the restaurant being in Durham instead of Cary is that 5 miles 30 miles. Most people don't crave certain foods enough to drive that great a distance for it, let alone coordinate with friends (if going in a group).

hopefully i'll try it someday though.

9/12/2012 1:48:03 PM

Quote :

"Plus they have a great selection of german beer. Only four on draft, which is less than I expected , but it's rare to find any german beer on tap"

I can find German draft beer in a lot of places. Great selection does not equal 4 draft beers. If you are including bottled beer than I am just even more confused.

[Edited on September 12, 2012 at 1:52 PM. Reason : .]

9/12/2012 1:50:55 PM

I am including bottled beer in the "great selection". Yes, 4 taps is not a great draft selection. But a couple were beers I had never seen before on tap.

9/12/2012 4:17:14 PM

So I think I've decided on ze Brathaus


nothing against betski's, but BB seems to be more in line with what I'm looking for atm. everything I've read here and elsewhere online and heard from IRL friends says that I can't go wrong

Will update sometime this weekend

9/12/2012 6:22:48 PM

Quote :

"i just assumed that when it closed in Cary (due to the rent going up higher than they could afford) that they just moved the whole shop to Durham, same owners and stuff."

We ate at the Cary one on their last night and the bartender told us that it closed because of a dispute between the two owners. Durham location stayed open because the one guy sold his share of the Durham location to the other guy.

9/12/2012 7:02:19 PM

http://www.newraleigh.com/article/klaras-czech-restaurant-opening/!!!!!!!

In the old Frazier's spot.

9/14/2012 11:49:27 PM

go to capital club 16 on oct 11

9/15/2012 9:50:50 AM

went to bavarian brathaus last night. holy moly that was good, I can't wait to go back. Might try to hit them up on a friday night soon for some oktoberfest action

we were the only people in the entire restaurant, though. that was weird and kinda awkward but once the food came all was forgotten

i can see rolling up there with like 30 friends and getting loud and hammered on german bier, people dancing on tables n' shit

[Edited on September 17, 2012 at 10:52 PM. Reason : on a company credit card, of course]

9/17/2012 10:50:21 PM

J Betski's for lunch. Pierogi and sausage plate followed by the smoked salmon salad. It was goddamn awesome.

Diet cola pairing was equally good.

4/10/2013 4:15:00 PM

Damn I have got to get to Klara's for lunch one day. Will report back...

4/10/2013 5:00:06 PM

I'm a big fan of their goulash.

4/10/2013 5:01:25 PM