Bamberg Restaurants

I have always enjoyed the beers at the Brauerei Spezial and since it right across the street from Fassla Brauerei where I normally stay, I’ve been in there a fair amount. So, I was excited to finally get to their beer garden on top of Stephansburg. It is a part of town that locals flock to in the summer to escape the summer heat. There’s always a breeze blowing up there. Even better are the views. You can get a great panorama of the magnificent architecture of Bamberg while enjoying their house brews.

Favorite Dish: There are two areas, one with waitress service and one where you can serve yourself. You just go up to the food window and order your meal and then proceed to the beer window and grab a nice mug of their lightly smoked beer. We just had some cold local meats to stay cool and enjoyed the great views

This was a place that we just happened across when were visiting the nearby Spezialkeller. It was a great shady beer garden with lots of play areas for kids and a cheap no frills self service food/beer canteen. Lots of locals seemed to be enjoying themselves on this warm evening and taking advantage of the Bavarian tradition of bringing their own food.

Favorite Dish: There appeared to be lots of cheap Fanconian delicacies but having just eaten at Spezial, we opted for just trying their beer. It was a typically tasty vollbier popular throughout Franconia and not in the least bit infected with the city trademark smoked flavor.

It’s funny to me now that I never visited this great little place. I had been to Bamberg numerous times but for some odd reason, I had not given it a chance. What with so many other great breweries in town, I didn’t want to take the chance. And besides, Mahrs is right across the street. But I was glad I finally did walk through that old wooden door. It was summer so we sat outside in their lovely little courtyard and ordered up their much sought after Pils. What arrived surprised me as perhaps the best example of the style to be found in town. Rocky head, light bodied and marvelously hoppy

Favorite Dish: It was about two in the afternoon and as is the custom in this part of Bavaria, they do no serve food except at lunch and dinner times. We needed something to eat as we had a big day of drinking to do. The waitress was most helpful, telling us to go up the street to the butcher shop and bring back whatever we wanted. We had some local Franconian sausages that complimented the beers perfectly

Another 16th century gem of a pub with the typical dark wood interior and lots of local ambience.

Favorite Dish: Great food but overwelmed by the variety of beers all made on the premises, including the 'Achd Bamarcha Schwarzla,' a Bamberg dialect for 'real Bamberg black.' They also have one of the best bock beers in Germany as well as a tasty brown beer. All are worth trying and if you do, you will probably need some food to 'wash it all down.' ;>

This brewpub dates back to 1678 and little has changed in the dark wooden interior that will have you believing you stepped back in time. Beers are served by gravity dispense from wooden casks as they have for centuries.

Favorite Dish: My first visit I had a smoked meat platter that complimented the house brewed Rauchbier perfectly but it has since been removed from the menu. The second time I had the best haxen of my life, cooked in a Rauchbier sauce that was heavenly. I've been back numerous times since and have had some excellent snacks as well as beer. One great thing if you go when hot food is no longer available is a great spread made of goose and pork fat. It is generously slopped on dark bread with bits of crispy bacon sprinkled on as well. It goes very well with the rauchbier. Be sure also to try the rauch weizen, a smoked wheat beer that is more refeashing than the house beer.

Mahrs has given me many different impressions over the years. The first time I ventured there, my then girlfriend Ina was taking nap and break from all my beer hunting. I got there around five in the afternoon on a weekday and found the outside area near the pub packed with blue collar workers, swilling their nightly pints. I walked up to the cubby hole from which the bartender served the beers and nervously asked for a beer. It was one of the tastier brews in town and a nice change up from the smoky rauchbiers I had been drinking.

The second time I visited was for dinner and was surprised at how cozy the dinning area was. It was an old world affair full of wood and the friendly waitress was adept at getting her customers what they wanted. On the bar were two wooden casks of beer and the bartender was in a constant state to keep the beer flowing.

My third visit was in the summer and the beer garden was open. We sat there for about fifteen minutes without being approached and I was saddened to see a regular dispense tap for their great beers. I can only hope this is only for the outside portion of the restaurant and look forward to another meal there in winter to see if the wooden casks are still intact.

Favorite Dish: I’ve had cold plates of local meats as well as simple cooked meals and everything has been great, and cheap. Their beer lineup varies but be sure to try the Pils if you like a hoppy beer. It is generally only on tap after five. Otherwise, their Helles beer is a nice everyday drinking brew. Their bockbier is also great and one to be sure to try if there in the colder months. You might get lucky and get it on tap too. Prost.

This is a cosy bar restaurant right outside the Alte Rathaus, on the Cathedral side of town, with warm lighting and dark, half-timbered walls. When I entered I expected some kind of sausages and sauce kind of place, as it advertised itself as Franconian, but it actually took me a little by surprise. The first thing I noticed was that nearly every dish had Kurbis in, which is a German word I'd not seen before. I asked the waitress what it was, and she pointed to the oddly shaped green and yellow vegetables that were on every shelf: pumpkins. Strangely enough I'd never eaten pumpkin before in my life, but had dreamt about it the night before, because of a picture of my neice eating pumpkin soup from a carved out pumpkin bowl had set me thinking. Taking it as an omen I ordered the pumpkin ravioli, and was pleasantly surprised to discover how many different flavours they could pack into a dish that was mostly pasta and pumpkin. I think there was some pine nuts, garlic, basilica and strong parmesan cheese in there as well. Luciano had the rumpsteak, which he claimed was one of the leanest he had every had.

Overall a very nice restaurant, with staff who smile and speak some English, and not all that expensive for the quality of the food.

Opening Times*

Sunday to Friday 10.00 - 01.00
Samstag 10.00 - 02.00

It's a pretty nice place, noisy and lively. When I was there the crowd was of the middle-aged category.
The food consisted as the usual bavarian fare, which means plenty of sausages and roasted meat with potatoes.
The star is definitely the Rauchbier, a dark brew with a strong smoky taste. The restaurant is also a microbrewery - perfect combination!

Favorite Dish: Rauchbier :o)