CLT Eats – A Charlotte Restaurant Review

Main Dining Area

When I think of German food I don’t exactly get excited. All that comes to mind is bratwursts which are good and sauerkraut which isn’t. My most memorable experience with German food previously was at Epcot when I was a kid. We went to the little German section for lunch and it wasn’t very good and I got a little sick.

The only German restaurant that comes to mind in the area is Waldhorn which is a fairly nice place on the edge of Pineville, right next to the James K. Polk home site. My girlfriend was born in Germany and spent some time there later so I figured she’d like to go and it’s one of those places you here about from time to time that’s been around forever so I wanted to check it out. When we walked it it didn’t scream German to me but I’m not sure what I expected. Maybe drunk people dancing around and yelling farfegnugen and wienerschnitzel with women in milk-maid dresses dancing on the bar. None of that was going on unfortunately but it definitely does have a bit of a German vibe, just not the over-the-top scenario I had in my head. It was fairly quiet and not very busy but it was a pretty stormy night and raining very hard so that probably thinned the herd a bit.

As I scanned the menu and was struggling to lock in on something that tripped my trigger my girlfriend began explaining to me that German food is fairly bland in general. That was very disappointing to hear but bratwursts are good so I wasn’t too discouraged. There had to be something good. I ended up playing it safe and ordered pasta pillows. Sounded decent but ended up being pretty bland, just as explained. Fortunately we’d ordered the sausage appetizer and that was pretty darn good. I could’ve ordered one of those as my meal. Good stuff! I should go back again and try to be a little more adventurous. It’s an interesting restaurant for sure.

Service wasn’t exactly stellar but I can’t say it was necessarily bad either. It was just fairly average to bordering on sluggish. The meal wasn’t fast paced and we had several courses which made the meal drag on a bit. Bread served when you’re seated, appetizer, salad, meal and then dessert (forgot to take a pic before I ate it!). Like I said, it wasn’t busy but there was a large group celebrating something at a table near by and I think that distracted the staff from us a bit. It also seems like when things are slow there’s just not enough to keep waitstaff engaged and I think this was one of those times.

Bang for the buck was fairly low. The menu is pretty expensive for what you get in my opinion. Bear in mind my previous German food experience and don’t weigh my opinion too heavy. This kind of stuff just isn’t my favorite. It’s good but not the kind of thing I crave. If you’re in the mood for German food with out the fuss of dancing milk-maids and drunken sing-a-longs then this just might be the place for you. Otherwise you might want to look elsewhere. I can’t speak too poorly of Waldhorn but I can’t give it high praise either. You’ll have to judge this one for yourself but I’ll give it a passing grade.

Pros

• Decent Food
• Decent Atmosphere
• Decent Service
• German Food without all the fuss of drunken sing-a-longs and dancing milk-maids

Cons

• Expensive for what you get
• Didn’t find it particularly compelling . . . just decent

Rating: Recommended