Landbrot Bakery & Bar

Only truly German food in the US. Thoroughly excellent. Very traditional — if you don’t like German food, don’t go.

It was that first cold week we had and I wanted something warm and filling for dinner. I had some sausage and bread with sauerkraut and god, it was delicious. It comes with mustards and ketchup and yum yum yum.
I wasn’t too thrilled with the service. It’s a little confusing. There is table service and counter service. I was in pretty early, there were two other tables eating when I arrived (a two top and a single diner). The counter girl was doin her thing and the floor server seemed a little lost. She was nice but I had to press her for the check and then get up to finally pay.
So I would totally come back for the food, but the service is something I would probably be aware of.

I’ve come here a few more times, mostly after 6 PM to get pastries to go at half-​price and later toast or microwave them up to crispy/​heated perfection.
I once sat down on early seating again, again sans any large crowds or groups of people, and had the privilege to watch them bringing down trays of fresh pretzels, rolls and pastries. I had a gouda pretzel with assorted mustards that I really liked. Bready pretzel texture, flavorful cheese melted and slightly caramelized, and different flavors of spicy yellowish condiments. I had a slice of the apple strudel, which I thought would’ve been a little crisper, fruit– or pastry-​wise, and then a slightly dense but nicely chewy Linzer torte, alongside a big cup of coffee with a tiny cookie on the side. Once again, it was pleasant to sit in there. Mind you, I’m still only talking about sitting there before there’re afternoon traffic and evening crowds.

My visiting buddy had a friend nearby who suggested this place. We should up already half in the bag. We sat down, I ordered a Doppel-​Hirsch which was explained to me by the bartender it’s like a Doppelbock, when it is in fact a doppelbock.
Wait, let me back up. We walked in and then I asked our bartender/​server to charge my rapidly dying phone for me. She agreed and for the rest of the time while we were drinking my phone went from zero to hero.
In the meanwhile, I had the lager which was exactly what I expected of a German lager. A light, crisp sightly crystal lager Reinheitsgebot is good, sometimes.
A pretzel wasn’t enough so I ordered the Farmer’s brat, which according to our bartender/​server was the ‘traditional’ brat. The mustard and ketchup was a tasty add on as well.
I had the weisse beer to cap off the trip and then when it came time to close out our bartender was nowhere to be found. I needed my phone charger back so I patiently waited for someone to notice me. What I got was my friend telling me that I should just take the phone so I reached under the counter broke one glass then another before a staff member came by and asked if I needed any help.
My friend dropped a 20 then said, «I’m just going to leave this, and we’re going to leave,» so an extra half star to them for that.

They were down a server the night we came and they were very confused. There were some happy hour prices written on the wall and those were actually more expensive than getting the items individually off the menu. The guy who helped us out did not know which was the canonical source of information. They were out of a whole lot of things in the kitchen but did not tell us in advance. Friends got the pork wienerschnitzel and, while tasty, it quizzically came as a sandwich and was not quite as expansive as I thought it would be.
Brats were super good and probably the best deal in the place. The brat bun was superlative. Pretzels were great, too, with the sweet mustard.
They have an unusual brand of German draft beer, Höss. You can check out their website here.
This is certainly distinctive within NYC.
They seem to have an identity crisis about whether they are a café or a restaurant. We would have been happy to treat it as the former, and order beers and pretzels at the counter. But they insisted on service, which they failed at (probably just on that particular night.) So, I’ll be back on what hopefully is a better day, and make another call at that time!

Excellent beer selection as you’d expect. The pretzel was fantastic (much better than more fancy ones I’ve had e.g. Sable in Chicago).
Brat was big and tasty (heh heh).
The single bathroom situation is odd for a beer focused venue though.

I have to say the pretzels here really are delicious. I am a huge huge soft pretzel (and hard pretzel for that matter) fan and they have a great variety. When I went this past weekend on a Sunday they had these options: gouda, salt/​plain, poppy, sunflower seed, and I think another. We got two of the salt and they brushed all the salt off at our request. It’s served with a trio of mustards: sweet, spicy, and grain — although I will say the spicy is definitely not spicy.
They also have a whole bunch of other breads, rolls, pastries, etc… and a full German menu if you’d like an actual meal. If you want a salt pretzel, but with a lot more dough, you should get the pretzel roll instead. It’s shaped like a roll, so it’s fluffy, but it uses the same dough.
The staff is nice and patient with questions.
My only problem with this place is that the sanitation grade is low. It’s a bakery with lots of bread, so I feel you really have to have some unsanitary practices in the preparation of those items to not be rated an A. I know not everyone feels strongly about sanitation grades, but I hope they raise the bar more in the future.

We got the pork schnitzel which came with some mac ‘n cheeese. It was just ok, nothing special about it. We also got some drinks (I had some white wine) as we sat outside with our puppy. Chill spot, ok food, but you can kick back and relax outside as the weather gets warmer!

Came early to grab a pastry and coffee. Ended up getting a bearpaw– kind of like a more bread-​y, less flaky croissant. It’s filled with ground almonds and filbert nut (hazelnut-​like thing). Delicious, because the bread had a bite to it and the filling wasn’t overly sweet. Pastries are baked at this location.
Service is very friendly, and they have table service as well.

Brats and Bier — music to my ears, had to try it.
Good German bier selection as you would find at a biergarten, but without the Lederhosen. Service was good but the place was near-​empty on a Sat afternoon.
Ordered the beer sampler (a trio of German beers 0.2L a piece), and the old-​fashioned frankfurter. Beer was good, different tastes that would go well with different dishes — unfortunately as one man I couldn’t order everything. The brat was actually okay, good meat but the roll was dry and the mustard was too potent for me. Stuck to the house ketchup.
Wish I could have had the pretzel and some baked goods as well but couldn’t stomach all of it. Also the bathroom is a bit tiny and one person use only, so there could be a wait.

I can’t wait to visit this place again. It’s ultra cool with a unique layout and fabulous décor. We went for dessert and I was crazy about my Wild Berry Tart. Beneath the berries was a surprising and tasty layer of thick chocolate custard. You should have seen my knees give out on me when I tasted this puppy.

I ordered what I thought was going to be Kasekuchen aka German cheesecake for our Christmas feast and disappointingly it was not it at all.
Their cheesecake was just a light NY style cheesecake with a very hard shortbread like crust bottom. This is not a kasekuchen!

More like 3.5 star.
My hubby likes this place for lunch. Landbort proved that they are trying, slow but definitely getting better each time.
Schnitzel sandwich — it was tasty! Lightly breaded pork (?) had good buttery taste and seasoned perfectly and was nice with on a grill marked roll that came with. Green salad on the roll did nothing but nice to have some greens and texture. Oh! The boiled potato mash was really tasty this time. It wasn’t bland like last. It was light, sour and well seasoned.
Ham and cheese sandwich was okay. I liked surprised touch of sweetness and texture of pear. Mustard on both side, upper and bottom part of the bread, found it to be overpowering. Still outer layer of the bread was super dry and I couldn’t enjoy it but kept inside the bread soft but nothing special about it.
The sandwich also came with a simple green salad. What I liked about this salad was the dressing. It was simple oil and vinegar (white) dressing but it was tasty.

old fashioned frankfurter
brezeln — salted and cheesy
Höss Neuschwansteiner
Höss Weisse Hirsch
Höss Doppel-​Hirsch
cool yet modern décor
highlighted by the changing
rainbow of lights.
cold german beers on tap
served in iced glass mugs.
helped cut through
the equally good, heavy bar food.
either this place is a hidden gem
or people prefer the other trendy places around.
personally, i like that it’s never crowded.

Definitely worth a visit if you want to have some coffee and cake or beer and a sausage. Haven’t tried everything, but definitely enjoyed myself.
Captures the essence and flavors of germany.
Ich empfehle dieser Bäckerei für alle, die vernünftiges Brot vermissen. Die Küchen sind lecker und sehr verschiedene sind vorhanden. Man kann draußen sitzen und die Straßenszene gucken.

Pleasantly surprising good food (I wasn’t sure what expectations to have since the menu seemed a bit boring)
Entering the store was a bit awkward. They only had 1 table of customers and too many people working behind the bakery counter all staring at you and seemingly putting pressure on as you walk in. It made me uncomfortable so I didn’t even want to approach the bakery counter to see the offerings. I eventually found a seat and did a mad dash across the glass to get a quick peek all the while avoiding all of the eye (s) contact. They really shouldn’t all stand there and stare at you like that. Odd. Our server was super nice. Felt like this place was new and people were learning the ropes a bit and settling in. As mentioned, the menu didn’t look that interesting, so I didn’t have high hopes. I am soooo happy that the food was way better than it looked on paper. Everything was delicious and eating it actually relaxed me.
Farmers brat — 4.5 stars — apparently their most popular. It had really good seasoning and a nice snap. The bread was crispier than I liked but not to the point where it crumbled everywhere. I loved the condiments and sauerkraut that came on the side. The plum ketchup was unique and interesting and paired well with the fresh horseradish and spicy mustard sides. I don’t even like sausages much but I really enjoyed this brat especially due to the condiments.
Pretzel — 4 stars — it wasn’t the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen (see photo), so they really should pay attention to the way they roll the dough. The top ²⁄₃ was super skinny to the point where it was crunchy (this was a soft pretzel btw). My favorite part of a soft pretzel is the twist, and I didn’t even want to touch it, ‘cos it was crunchy like a bagged pretzel. However, the bottom portion was super fat, soft, yeasty and delicious. If they just rolled it properly to have the whole thing be relatively even in thickness, it would have been a glorious soft pretzel. It looked pretty funny though.
Chocolate chip sweet bun– 4.5 stars — I expected a drier brioche-​type soft roll but their bun was super soft on the inside and had a thin lovely unexpected crispy exterior. Loved breaking into that roll and finding the specs of mini dark chocolate chips. So good.
Apple strudel — 3 stars– The filling had a very extremely pureed/​minced texture so it was a bit mushy. Thank heavens for some chopped nuts to add texture to it. It tasted pretty good overall though. The phyllo pastry wasn’t greasy and held it’s form well (not mushy). Heavy cinnamon so don’t order if you’re not a cinnamon person. Nuts helped cut the sweetness as well.
I’m very happy that the food is far more enjoyable and interesting than the menu or space look. Enjoyed pretty much every bite. Beers are small btw.

Landbrot has a decent sized menu, limited seating room (on the main floor, and upstairs — but upstairs is kind of cramped) and is hot as a sauna.
Since I can’t drink, I’m not yet able to comment on the quality of the beers that are served here, but we did try two of the desserts. I ordered the Apple Strudel, served with whipped cream and berries (which made me feel like I was in that scene from «Inglorious Basterds, tapping away at the pastry with my spoon), while my husband got the marble cake, which, when we saw the portion that was served to him, could have easily fed three people.
I’d like to return to try some of the lunch and dinner items, but while the bakery foods we sampled were good, I’ve had better elsewhere in the city.

The beer is awesome! It apparently is an exclusive stash imported from Germany. The lager was terrific and carbonated out the wahzoo.
Food not so much. Note that no brats offered here are beef (or veal) free…
The purportedly spicy andouille falls flat. The light colored sausage is tasteless.
Pretzels are very similar to what you find in Germany. Crunchy on the thin part, chewy on the thick.
The spicy mustard is über-​hot. I would come here for the beers and maybe a salted pretzel. That is all. Sausages are WAY better at Lederhosen around the corner.
Finally, my tip to the owners: The concept here is too casual for waiter-​service. The tables should be used for quick eating after counter service. This is more a place in which to be in and out within 20 minutes. Not to lounge for longer.

3.5 stars.
German bar & bakery! Looks more like a café with half a dozen tables, definitely very casual. I did a double take at the menu: GOUDA PRETZELS!
.face. The hipster bro behind the counter assured me all foodstuffs were «german made» (so you KNOW it’s good, right Sham Wow fans?). Some of the pastries didn’t look particularly moist, but I don’t think Germany is known for its croissant anyway. Stick to pretzels and breads and beers.

A German wave has hit our shores… Bakery plus food plus good German beers some on tap and a nice selection of wines, most by the glass too.
The space is very cool, well thought out industrial design elements, a gorgeous bathroom and an interesting loft overlooking the bakery itself.
The breads are lovely, some classic stuff like bretzel brot (pretzel bread) a few darker breads, Berliner jelly donuts, a gorgeous darkly baked strudel.
I had the Weiner shnitzel sandwich– $ 10,25
Served on a Kaiser with rocket… very tasty-​Kaiser roll makes this sandy. I asked for lemon and though they were low on the potato salad, I tried the kraut with pieces of pork is tasty.
The Berliner had only a small shot of raspberry jelly– nice texture, want more…
Can’t wait to try the breakfast (fruchstuck) as Landbrot is a welcome additon to GV.