Since not everyone is fortunate enough to make their way to Germany for Oktoberfest, Yard House has brought Oktoberfest to you! I had the awesome opportunity to check out their special menu and I am here to tell you all about it!
The Oktoberfest menu includes 4 food items and 5 Oktoberfest brews!
The first of many difficult decisions I faced was what beer to have. Unfortunately this decision was made easier by some of the beers being unavailable :( But I guess that just speaks to how good they are! It was just bad timing with keg day being the next day, but hey what are you going to do?! I decided on one of my old favorites, Weihenstephen's Festbier. Weihenstephen is the oldest brewery in the world so needless to say, they have mastered their craft. It also came in this awesome stein!
Speaking of steins, I really don't understand how the servers at Oktoberfest carry all of those full steins...I was struggling with these 3 empty ones!
I was really interested in the difference in color between the traditional Weihenstephen Festbier and Goose Island Oktoberfest. The Festbier was much lighter in color and malty flavor. I preferred the Festbier but that's just personal preference. After a quick google search, I realized why this is. Festbier and Oktoberfest are apparently different styles (don't yell at me, I'm oblivious sometimes!) The Festbier is more similar to what is currently being served at Oktoberfests in Germany while the Oktoberfest style is a Marzen. Marzens used to be served at Oktoberfest, until 1990 when it switched to Festbier. Enough of me blabbering on about beer history! Here is a list of the other beers they had!
Sam Adams- Octoberfest
Paulaner- Oktoberfest Wiesn (Out)
Ayinger- Oktoberfest (Out)
Weihenstephen- Festbier
Goose Island- Oktoberfest
For appetizers, they have a giant pretzel and currywurst poutine. After a very long deliberation, I chose the giant pretzel. I was NOT disappointed! First of all, look at how huge this thing is! It is definitely meant to share so bring a buddy! It comes with beer cheese and traditional mustard. I'm not a big mustard fan so I ate literally all of the beer cheese. It was delicious, not overly heavy but still packed with flavor. My favorite part was the little pepper chunks! So tasty!
The main course was even more delicious than the appetizers! They had a Chicken Schnitzel and a Double Pork Burger. We obviously tried both! The burger had pork patties with tomato bacon jam, arugula, tomato, red onion, white Cheddar and Dijon mustard. The tomato bacon jam was divine! Until recently, I hadn't heard of putting jam on burgers, but it has been life-changing! The pork patties were juicy and perfectly seasoned. This was my first experience with a pork burger but after how good this one was, I wouldn't hesitate to try one again!
The Chicken was panko breaded and crispy. I loved how thin it was, made it super easy to eat. Somehow they managed to keep the meat juicy...it was amazing! The sides were the perfect complement to the chicken, ripped potatoes and brussel sprouts drizzled with malt vinegar aioli. I have never been so sad that my leftovers didn't return from being packed up. I almost shed a tear.
So the final verdict is that if you like German food and Oktoberfest beers, Yard House is the place for you! The special menu runs now through October 28th. Even after Oktoberfest is over, they have awesome happy hour specials that I frequently take advantage of!
I was compensated by Yard House for my meal in exchange for an honest opinion of my experience. As always, all opinions are solely my own.
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