Recommends

paulpackrat

Joined 7 years ago

our CHEERS, anytime. We live down the block from Steinhof, so of course there is the convenience factor, but this place has been a consistent pleasure for us over the many years that we've been going: drinking, chatting with the friendly neighbors - many of them musicians and writers - watching the mostly funny Sunday night movies, and thoroughly enjoying their Austrian/German/Hungarian dishes (which we are able to do now without a dictionary).

I highly recommend the chicken paprikash with spatzel and the seafood bowl, which is loaded with fish, mussels and seasonal vegetables. For dessert the Malakoff torte and the Linzer tart are my faves. My gf is partial to the salmon with spicy (jalapenos ?) spinach puree, and the salmon cake appetizer. Anything featuring salmon is likely to make her happy.

I don't know how they managed to keep their prices at the same level for 6 or 7 years now, as far as I know there has never been a price hike since they opened. And I almost never miss the 5 buck goulash mondays, can't beat it for value and fun. Nice special drink menu, which changes daily, as well.

The music can get a little loud, but the sidewalk eating is great people watching. We know almost everybody on staff by name, all very lovely individuals, and recognize many people from repeated visits. It is our Cheers indeed, but worth a trip from outside the hood as well, I would say.

I've been wanting to give them a positive shout out for a while, here it is.

Doesn't Recommend

cfuchs

Joined 7 years ago

A Gastronomic Tragedy. Cafe Steinhof is a big disappointment. I've been there three times. On the first visit, a Saturday, the service was friendly and prompt, the food was delicious and plentiful, and the bill was cheap. On the second visit, a Sunday, the service was unfriendly and lethargic and the food was bland -- if plentiful. In particular, the waitress, a middle-aged malcontent, had to be hailed down to get a beer -- after waiting for five minutes -- and a request for additional bread took another five minutes. She never bothered once to ask how the food was. On the third visit, also a Sunday, I encountered the same waitress and waited the same five minutes to have my drink order taken, even though there were very few customers. The mussels -- what all the hipsters eat as they dine al fresco next to the heaps of garbage on 7th Avenue -- were tough, the sauce bland. Apart from the food, on the second and third visits, the beer was warm, the restaurant was noisy and the temperature inside must have been close to 90 F. What a shame! Bottom Line: Don't waste your money here. Instead, try the Thai restaurant next door. It's BYOB, the waitstaff is polite, the food is delicious and the price is right.

Recommends

master_g

Joined 7 years ago

Great food, great service, great place. The food here is excellent, the drinks are excellent, and the staff is incredibly nice. They show movies on Sunday nights and treat the customers like they are actually glad they came. Go there--the place is fantastic.

Recommends

willywon

Joined 7 years ago

Great schnitzel. We went to Steinhof about a week ago and sat at the bar since the place was packed, but they have the full menu at the bar. We had the grilled sausage platter with spatzel and a weiner-schnitzel and both were excellent. Great selection of beers, especailly their german draft beers.

Recommends

abbeke

Joined 7 years ago

What's not to like?. Just don't go if you are hard-of-hearing - the noise level can get incredibly high. But great food, nice bar and atmosphere, child-friendly. Bar staff very nice but wait staff snooty as all hell. Fab Schnitzl, Goulash, tomato soup, cucumber salad, Bratwurst and Kielbasa. If you want cheap food with your drinks, you can't beat this place. Outside seating in the summer but be warned, it's literally just wobbly cafe tables on the sidewalk.

Recommends

babysladkaya

Joined 10 years ago

amazing!. I was there a few times with adults only and a few times with quite a few kids. I was pleasantly surprised by how great the service was despite the kids running around, knocking down glasses, etc. The waited was very friendly, very patient, and recommended chicken paprika which meat literally was falling off the bone. It was so good that my 2 kids ended up eating like 3/4 of the portion while I had to nibble on the other 25%. The drinks are one of the best I ever tasted, especially the martinis.

Recommends

munbery

Joined 8 years ago

big bang for the buck, great ambience. From a Park Sloper who has lived in Vienna, and his German roommates: this is the real deal, if you are looking for Austrian/German/Hungarian pub fare. The Wiener Schnitzel covers the whole plate, the Sauerbraten is tender and full of flavor, the salad platter way too big to finish, desserts excellent, all in all huge portions...extremely friendly staff, inventive drink menu, low prices, we are hooked.

Doesn't Recommend

rlmaris

Joined 8 years ago

Who's Running This Asylum?. Steinhof is an Austrian insane asylum and nowhere is that better reflected than here. We were hassled about seating by our waiter who seemed at the end of his pony-tail, so we opted for the bar, quaintly decorated with giant fly strips. The specialty drinks were good, when we could wrestle our bartendress' attention away from conversation. As far as the food, some was spectacular, some was wretched. The tomato soup and the keilbasa were tasty. The Beef Gulash was lacking beef, but had plenty of gristle and fat. The Weiner Schnitzel was tough and came cold. Still, we tried desert, the Topfen Cheese Crepes are fantastic. Worth a twenty minute wait? No. But very good. Still, the worst part was there was no one to voice our complaints to. Hopefully there's a manager present on weekends . As I said, it wasn't packed.

Recommends

picasso7776

Joined 8 years ago

Good Food, great place. Food was good, waiteress was very helpful with all our questions.

Recommends

janewithit

Joined 8 years ago

great bargain, charming place. We moved to Park Slope a year ago, and Cafe Steinhof is hands down our favorite place for friendly atmosphere and very satisfying food. The saurbraten and chicken paprika with spatzel are superb, and all main courses come with a tasty salad.

Love the chocolate custard and the malakof tort (reminds me of tiramisu). Kid friendly, and generally always very accomodating and nice staff. Great beer selection, and the Sunday movie nights are fun.