July 15, 2001
All night long I’ve been craving a fresh pretzel and a beer. I decided that tonight’s destination would have to feature both. So naturally I thought of a German restaurant and/or bar and briefly considered returning to Zum Schneider in the East Village. But then I realized it’s Thursday night and it’ll probably be a zoo in there and I hate crowded bars. And then I thought of another stop from last year's bar crawl, a German place called, Lederhosen. I really liked it there and it was a little more laid back, the night I went, so hopefully it won’t be packed. Only one way to find out!
And through the magic of the internet, we're magically transported to Grove Street in the West Village. It's a perfect summer night out. Summer in the city!
And here we are, they're working on the block, so a metal awning is obscuring the sign a bit, but this is the place.
There's a familiar face behind the bar...
It's Uli, the pretty bartender who was on duty when I came in here for the 365 bars night. She remembered me and it was fun to catch up with her on what we've both been up to.
A birds-eye-view from my perch at the bar.
A long shot of the dark wooden bar.
Some of the beers on tap and the Lederhosen logo logged in wood.
Bottled beers and German mugs decorate the back of the bar.
Here's Selma with a beautiful smile behind the bar.
Gisbert was seated next to me at the bar and he was in town from Fort Worth, Texas. He's a true German though and was born and bred in Karlsruhe, Germany. I asked him how he rated Lederhosen as a German restaurant and bar and he said it's the best he's been to. Cheers to that!
He got the apple strudel for dessert, which looks great and makes me think of Sgt. Schultz.
My mouth was watering watch Gisbert eat the strudel and in the nick of time Uli shows up with my pretzel.
Here it is in all its salted glory. It's freshly baked with homemade mustard. Köstlich!
Ladies and gentlemen, The Coasters!
Great vintage cash register in here.
There's a cozy front room up here at the front of Lederhosen.
Let's go check out the back room of the bar. The wall opposite of the bar is adorned with lots of pictures and fun memorabilia.
The back room really feels like you're in a German beer hall with its wooden tables and chairs and the colorful mountains on the walls. It's closing time, so it's emptied out.
Fans spin overhead from the wooden arched ceilings.
Framed vintage beer ads decorate the walls back here.
Closing time and a parting shot with the lovely and friendly Uli.
I appreciate the "watch your step" warning on the wall, but I'm fine, I don't trip anymore. I stopped doing acid in the '80's. (Rimshot) Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
Lederhosen
39 Grove St
(Between Bedford and Bleecker St.)
(212) 206-7691
Further reading: New York Magazine, Beer Advocate, MenuPages and Trip Advisor.
You also might like: Fish Balls, Chicken Lips and Horse Talk.
Four Pretzel Places
New York Pretzel
Wetzel’s Pretzels
Philly Pretzel Factory
Pretzel’s Place
I'd like to see you do just fine,
But look at what you wear,
And the way you cut your hair.
24 Comments
Reader Comments (24)
Awesome ! ........ but .... I'd have to have more mustard .... I probably would have used about 4 of those little cups on my pretzel .... I like the mustard dripping off ------ and maybe some hot sauce mixed in would have been bliss ....
Really good video's today to complement your Pretzel adventure. I saw DAB and Paulaner on tap, so that would be my choice. The Spoonful's song always reminds me of NYC,,,,and to end the night with Uli and a shot of Jagermeister was perfect. Hogan's Heroes clip with the Beatles playing was very nostalgic for me,,,big fan of both.
PS ...... the picture of the Pope with a pretzel & beer is great ! brilliant !!!
Since we have a German theme to today's post, I thought I'd treat you all to a bizzare little history lesson involving the town where I was stationed in Germany when I was in the army, the quaint Bavarian town of Crailsheim. First, a brief bit of history copied from the Wikipedia concerning the 1379-1380 seige of Crailsheim by some of the neighboring towns:
"Crailsheim prides itself with the tale of it successfully withstanding a siege by the three imperial cities Schwäbisch Hall, Dinkelsbühl, and Rothenburg ob der Tauber forces lasting from 1379 until 1380, a feat which is annually celebrated. In conclusion of the siege, Crailsheim became possession of the Burgrave of Nuremberg. In 1791 it became part of the Prussian administrative region, in 1806 Crailsheim returned to Bavaria and finally became a part of Württemberg in 1810."
It was during this seige that the invaders attempted to starve out the citizens of Crailsheim (which was a walled city at the time of the seige) by waiting them out just outside the city walls. It almost worked, but the ever recourceful citizens of Crailsheim came up with an ingenious plan. They scraped up the last of their flour, (which wasn't much) and baked it into little pastries. They threw the pastries over the wall at the invaders, and then the burgermeister's wife who was shall we say a somewhat corpulent lady to be sure, parked her large economy sized keister on the top of the wall, rucked up her skirt and bent over low, so that all the invaders could see of her was her bare fanny. From a distance, it looked like a chubby, well fed face smiling down at them. The invaders shrugged, gave up and went away and the city was saved. To this day, the people of Crailsheim bake little pastries and treat one another to the delicacies to commemorate the event. There is even a little brass plaque in the middle of town that honors and pays hommage to the event. True story, cross my heart and hope to die! It was the town legend and a never ending source of amusement to everybody I was stationed there with. Nyuck.
@GENE: You'd love that mustard, I'm pretty sure it's homemade and delicious, nice and spicy! Glad you liked the Pope and Pretzel picture, it cracked me up too!
@Al: "Summer in the City" was the song that turned me on to New York as a young kid and I was obsessed with it ever since. And there is no other city like New York in the summertime!
@Jaws: That's one hell of a story! Thanks for sharing it with us, great stuff!
I'm usually not a big fan of soft pretzels, but that one looks delish! Love the vintage cash register - it was the perfect backdrop for the Marty After Dark card!! All in all, Lederhosen seems like a great place, filled with friendly people. I'll have to visit them on my next trip. After all, I'm not only a quarter German, I'm also a leader in hosedness.
I love that place - there is something great about a bar that just kinda pops up in the middle of a residential street. Sat in the back area there a couple of times, always loved the vibe.
(Ain't nothing wrong with that Uli either)
@Biff: "I'm also a leader in hosedness." Ha ha ha! You still gots it, Bifferoonie!
@JAZ: It's a nice little hideaway and a real friendly place too. And I agree with your thoughts on Uli, a great smile and a great everything else!
First off - mustard=good. I'd expect any true New Yorker to embrace the mustard... Do you hear that you mustard-haters out there?
Second - Summer in the City, that song always makes my day, and it's one that the Lovin' Spoonful got right even though it's been covered so many times over the years. I'll say that the Eels did a fantastic rocking cover of it on their tour last year, worth a watch IMO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXDTDBS3dt4&feature=youtube_gdata_player . (And the beards are a nice touch I think.)
Lastly - I just spent a week in Vegas and gotta say the New York hotel and Casino made me a little sad. You can't just "pretend" you're in NYC!
I don't remember this bar from the crawl. This place is cool. I had a horrible pretzel experience....I don't want to talk about it. I dig the Steely Dan time line!
@Jaws: Nice history lesson!
Clacky .... was your pretzel worse than those hot dogs we got at that one place ?
man this looks like such a great place...don't understand all the "zagat" like negative reviews...MAD & 365 seem to have a great time there...
jaws...one hella of a piece of history...surprised there isn't a "moon over the wall" hanin' in the Louvre....
I tried yoga once but took off for the mall halfway through class, as I had a sudden craving for a soft pretzel and world peace. ~Terri Guillemets
@ Clacky; When I first got to Germany and somebody told me that story, I was positive the guy was trying to wank me. Then he took me to the park and showed me the brass plaque set in stone in the center of town. My God, if they don't teach that particular military tactic in places like West Point and Annapolis Naval Academy, they absolutely should. It's a fucking classic....phfhahaha!
clacky...281 sometime in october...
rr
@raginrr: October....then I should remember it. I was getting pretty excited about visiting NY by that point. I like that quote...here's one ...."I used to go jogging but the ice cubes kept falling out of my glass"-David Lee Roth.
@Gene: I didn't try the Chicago dog at the Jack Russell....but the pretzel I had was shit house. It was from a stand near the Hudson on 42nd st near the circle line cruise port. Apparently it was "fresh" but I know it was a week old. And the server gave us a shit attitude and bad coffee as well.
the pigeons loved the pretzel.
@Tomatic: 1. Total agreement about mustard. You must have to hide it in your house! 2. Years ago my brother bought the 45 of "Summer in the City" by the Spoonful and I asked him what city they were singing about and he told me it was New York City. Then he said they in some part of the city called Greenwich Village. And last night I was drinking there! Thanks for the link, very cool! 3. I'm curious to see what Las Vegas' interpretation of NYC is like!
@Clacky: I went there for a Sunday dinner last year and had a great dinner and a good time. Uli's a great bartender and there's always nice people in there. And here's another good David Lee Roth line: "I used to have a drug problem, now I make enough money."
@rr: Anybody who would give this place a bad review is nuts! Perfect quote, who's the author of it though? I don't recognize the name.
If loving mustard is a quality a true New Yorker has to have then I guess I'll always be an outsider! I was the German Club President so give me a brat, pretzel and beer any day! Wunderbar!
I love me some soft pretzels! I'll skip the extra surprisingly. And since Britta is out here visiting she just told me after Tomatic's comment that he has at least 6 kinds of mustard right now. He must be trying to make a point or something. Love the surprise link, pretzels do make me thirsty.
MAD...hell if i know...just dug the quote... then i found out: http://www.quotegarden.com/terri-guillemets.htm...didn't even know that the USA had such an animal or the world for that matter...i must be a sub species 'cause between the wrok machines and the evil home one i have over 400 pages of qoutes...i try to use only ones that don't touch religion politics or sexual orientation....although some are very apropos and funny IMHO...
rr
@Britta: I have to talk to Mayor Bloomberg about this, but since you were the German Club President, New York may give you a pass on the whole mustard thing.
@kari: Tell Tomatic I am proud of his mustard collection!
@rr: That's cool that you collect quotes and I always love your quote of the day and I"m sure everyone else does too.
MAD...you are too fuckin' kind...
rr
@rr: Not always, sometimes I can be a real asshole! Ha ha ha!
Nice place. I love pretzels and have a friend who likes German Restaurants--sounds like a plan in the works. Thanks Marty for the tip.
@Melanie: It's really nice in there and everyone's super friendly. You should definitely check it out!