Excellent | Worth a Detour
Schmankerl Stube Bavarian Restaurant
Review by: Roadfood Team
If you are looking for authentic German food such as roast pork shank or wiener schnitzel with spaetzel on the side and beer served by the stein, Schmankerl Stube Bavarian Restaurant is the place.
If you are looking for delicious, authentic German food, and beer served in steins, this is the place. Schmankerl Stube Bavarian Restaurant is on a very quaint street in this old Maryland community. The proprietor, Charles Sekula, is most likely in the house overseeing the excellent staff in traditional German dress; they are always friendly and attentive.
This, coupled with the hundreds of beer steins hanging from the ceiling in the bar, give you plenty of atmosphere to soak up when the sun isn’t available outside. Sometimes the owner wears his lederhosen as well, and then you really feel as if you went on a quick trip to Germany for a couple of hours.
What to eat at Schmankerl Stube Bavarian Restaurant
This may sound like a “tourist-trap” restaurant, but Schmankerl Stube is a serious restaurant serving serious Bavarian-style food. Our favorite, the roast pork shank, has to be ordered 24 hours in advance because of the long, slow cooking involved in this masterpiece.
As far as prices go, we consider Schmankerl Stube to be very reasonably priced. Appetizers run between $6 and $11 and entrees $14 to $24. Schmankerl Stube serves alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks. They have a wine list, but we haven’t studied it as we always get a pint of unfiltered beer to sip as we chat and relax savoring the food and drink for a good hour or so.
They have regular-sized beer steins, and sizes go all the way up to a beer stein so big it has two handles in order to lift it off the table. The last time we were there, a hearty, young man was all smiles at the table next to us he accepted the challenge to handle one of those big babies for his birthday celebration.
Check out their website where you can see the regular menu and also another menu with their weekly specials as well as read about the restaurant’s history. We drive an hour and a half from our home to Hagerstown when the craving for German food hits us. We recommend the fried Camembert with cranberry sauce, the wurst sampler, and the roast pork shank (ordered in advance).
Original Post by Sherry Connor
Directions & Hours
Information
| Price | $$$$ |
| Seasons | All |
| Meals Served | Lunch, Dinner |
| Credit Cards Accepted | Yes |
| Alcohol Served | Yes |
| Outdoor Seating | Yes |
What To Eat
Schmankerl Stube Bavarian Restaurant Recipes
Discuss
What do you think of Schmankerl Stube Bavarian Restaurant?
One Response to “Schmankerl Stube Bavarian Restaurant”
Pennie Stringer
January 23rd, 2010
Stopped here on the way home to Ohio from Virginia over the holidays, as it was the only Roadfood restaurant on our route. It was a little pricier than I expected. I guess I forgot that part of the review. My Wiener schnitzel was $24, I believe, or I could have ordered the chicken version instead of the veal for $20.
I did not order the pork shank in advance. It does look beautiful in this picture. The Wiener schnitzel was tender and flavorful, with a hunter’s sauce that was pretty good. It came with a choice of one side dish: either spaetzle, noodles, potato salad, or one other thing which I forget. After hearing that the potato salad was not German, but cold potatoes with a mayonnaise dressing, I ordered the spaetzle which were very good. It did not come with salad. My son ordered a sausage meal which he enjoyed tremendously. I had a cup of goulash soup to start which was good, but could have been a bit more flavorful.
This was sort of a mixed bag. It is a white tablecloth restaurant and I felt a little underdressed wearing travelling clothes. The proprietor was very charming and accommodating. The bar and the steins looked like fun, but beer and driving on the PA turnpike is not a good combo.
Pluses: Homemade German food, friendly staff, attractive inside.
Minuses (from a Roadfood point of view): expensive, formal.