Grüner

Please don’t close. Please don’t close. Please don’t close. I’m begging! Please don’t close!

Fun place, but for some reason it always seems empty when I’m there!
It’s really a beautiful place and thoughtfully designed. Dark and cool but not overly romantic (if that makes sense). I’ve gone here a few times just to enjoy a cocktail, but I haven’t had the chance to eat yet.
The drinks are good, so for now I’ll keep enjoying the vibe.

We have dined at Gruner a handful of times and really enjoy «das» German cooking, north of the Alps, european cuisine infused with duck fat and celebrating Germany, Northern France, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. Everything we tried was excellent.
A bartender in a Pearl restaurant we go for grass-​fed burgers told us we should also try the burger at Gruner. They said, it is the best! So, we sat at the intimate bar on a bustling and rainy night (Friday) and ordered «das» burger! «Das» burger comes with smoky bacon on a potato bun, cheddar or fontina, house made pickles & pickled red onions, aïoli, arugula and house-​made ketchup. The potato bun was crispy hot on each side and fluffy inside. «Das» meat (medium) nicely seared and sealing in the juices that squirted out at the first bite to the last bite. So, is it the best burger in town? I guess you should try it and decide for yourself.
With such a diverse menu of great cuisine to try – we are glad we tried «das» burger! Idid not ask if it was grass-​fed so I withheld 1 star, but it is a 5 star bite! Note: «Das» other times we’ve gone to Gruner definitely got the 5 stars for its German cuisine!

My gal friend and I chose Grüner for my belated birthday dinner; last chance before they close for good.
As east-​coasters, we found the beet-​pickled deviled egg to be sorta sad and under-​pickled. Excellent sauerkraut kroketten with bier mustard. Pretty good maultaschen: the meat was a tad bland (let’s say «subtle»), but the broth was great.
For entrees we had lamb shank with mash, and venison steak with venison sausage, purple potatoes, squash, ‘ricotta’ croquette, and Swiss chard. The lamb dish tasted wonderful. It was exactly the kind of lamb dish you expect. The venison steak was immaculate, but the venison sausage was… gross. Weirdly– and too-​strongly-​spiced. I wished for a nice bratwurst instead, but we already had too much food in our bellies to ask for a replacement! The «ricotta» croquette, as it was listed in the menu, was clearly not ricotta — I don’t know what it was. It was strong-​flavored and delicious. We also asked for a side of the cabbage rolls that usually come with Idaho trout. We were both drawn to the trout dish by the cabbage rolls, but we knew we could get Idaho trout anywhere. We asked our waiter about the dish, and he said, «only if you REALLY like cabbage…» LOL! #SillyWaiter — these two Polnisch Hausfrauen müssen die haben! And we did.
Two bottles of wildly different wine: a Roter Veltliner by one of the only female vintners in Austria and a Gewürztraminer. The food is normal-​priced, but the wine prices are astronomical. The wine is really very good, but not $ 100-​per-​bottle-​good. We were looking for white wine and I did not look at the reds, but I honestly believe I chose the two best white wine choices on the menu, considering that they were both imports, the Roter Veltliner being one you likely can’t get anywhere else in Portland; and they were on the (relatively) «reasonable» side of the price list.
For dessert, they were out of the «best-​ever bread pudding» but we had fried donuts with apricot jam and a birthday candle, and pears poached in red wine with lemon oat sponge cake and panna cotta. They knew well ahead that it was my birthday and my friend asked for a candle when we saw someone else get a candle, but they didn’t sing «Happy Birthday» to me, and they sang it to the other guy! We’d only had a tiny two-​person table, but we annexed the table next to us toward the end of the meal (#Lebensraum), and the group had left a very old hardcover copy of Shakespeare’s Sonnets behind, so my friend read me sonnets while we drank coffee and ate our dessert and were drunk on the gustatorial memories of eastern Europe.

About ten minutes into our meal my dinner companion stated, «This has the be the most in-​German looking German restaurant I’ve ever visited. He was right. You’ll find no lederhosen and metal capped beer mugs. What you will find is well executed food served by a professional waitstaff that understands the food and comfortably makes recommendations and easily answers questions.
The Swabian ravioli was remarkable. The venison was excellent and the chocolate dessert was a winning coda.
I often forget and America does not typically think about the food found in Germany. Too bad. The few places that treat this fare with respect (and not like an oompah oompah bier festival) are certainly filling a much needed void in our culinarily landscape. Gruner measures as one of the best practitioners.

Think fancier German food. I usually think of beers & brats (most people probably do) when they think of German food, but this restaurant takes it to another level. I came here with two friends, and we ordered the charcuterie plate to share as an appetizer. It was interesting and nothing I’ve tried before — I enjoyed some of it, but I did not particularly enjoy the rabbit (I think?) that was on the plate. Not your typical charcuterie, but definitely creative with a German twist. I got the spaetzle because I thought it was a good go-​to since I’ve never tried most of the things on the menu before. It’s basically a pasta-​like dish with egg noodles. It had black forest ham, mushrooms, chives, thyme, and a pretty buttery sauce. I thought it was average honestly — and not worth the $ 25 because the entrée was pretty small. I wish I got the house-​made bratwurst entrée instead.
The restaurant is really beautiful — super minimal décor, big space, high ceilings, good service.

I had the lamb shoulder. Amazing. Cooked absolutely spot on. I don’t think I’ve had lamb prepared that perfectly before.
She had the trout with rice and it was amazing.
Sat on the patio and enjoyed the people watching. Went on a Thursday and was able to be seated without wait at about 8pm.
Great selection of German beers and little bites. Everything is really just done perfectly here. Will be back and sorry it to me so long to finally go.

Definitely agree with most others that the burger here is top-​notch. This place had a cool vibe and pretty good service. I like the theme and the menu looked great all around.
Try some appetizers as they hit the spot as well. The green bean salad and beet pickled deviled eggs really stood out. Oh and that pretzel… deluxe

Great atmosphere, great food. I had the burger which I hesitated to order at first because I wanted something more cultured at this German/​Austrian restaurant but I’m glad I did because it was the best burger I’ve had in a long time!

A solid 4 stars for one of the few places that does Central European food right. There’s a handful things that could be considered authentic on the menu, and they don’t overbearingly try to impress upon patrons their Bavarian credibility by cheesy décor or dirndl-​wearing waitstaff. Rather, they let the food do the talking: from the lamb shank (rare, and very tasty) to the sausage brought to the slightest crisp.
Would have liked to see more variety and taking more chances with the menu, but it is well-​composed as is.
Will return.

Tip: Sit in the bar area where you can choose from the full menu AND the bar menu.
The Grüner burger keeps making the list as one of the best burgers in Portland. I brought one of my burger-​loving buddies here who is the type to say «that wasn’t bad» after a fantastic meal, and he placed this burger in his top 5 ever.
More than just their burger, though, Grüner has a fun take on traditional dishes from Germany/​Austria/​Switzerland. I spent 8 years of my childhood in Switzerland so I miss this kind of food. I really liked the spaetzle a lot — the texture and sauciness was just perfect. The chicken in there was tender and flavorful cooked up in leeks and onion and spices. If I had any criticism, it would be to add just a punch more salt. The fried raclette rolled in polenta needed just a bit of something, too, perhaps a salty/​tangy dip. Smashed fingerling potatoes are good and accompanied with a good dip.
Again, the burger — it’s fantastic. Great flavors and super juicy if you order it medium rare.
Wine selections are great — includes some of my favorites from that region. Desserts sound good, although I’ve only had the berliners which were tasty but not what I’d consider traditional.
Service is friendly. While the atmosphere and price points of the regular menu lean toward upscale, I find this place a bit more welcoming and relaxed in the bar area where I prefer to sit rather than the dining room. There is that James Beard Award nomination that hangs on the wall too — a nod to the chef’s recognition for innovation and quality.

We traveled down from Seattle for my bachelor party and went to Gruner specifically for their burger, which consistently appeared #1 for best burger on several Best-​Of lists for Portland.
Unfortunately, unknown to us, you have to sit at the bar to order the burger despite it being the same kitchen, even during lunch. When I inquired about this and informed them that we came all the way from Seattle for the burger, our waiter was sympathetic and revealed (in a somewhat hushed tone) that this policy came from the chefs. Evidently, the chef (s) feel that after they won a James Beard award, they did not want to be known as a «burger restaurant» and only wanted to focus on their main entrees during dinner.
The fallacy of this philosophy is that if your entrees are great, then they’ll speak for themselves and people will order them as well as the burger. However, the entrees weren’t great. They were barely good. I had their chicken and sampled the halibut and green onion potato soup. The under-​seasoned, overpriced, and small portions along with the bougier-​than-​thou attitude lead to a very disappointing dining experience.
The highlight of the evening was a double-​edged sword. We were allowed to order the burger after getting entrees, but only to-​go and we were not allowed to eat it in the main restaurant. Really? I asked myself, was this burger worth all this effort? Was it worth the humiliation and shame of eating it outside in a dark alley just to let Gruner create the perceived illusion to foodies & hipsters that this was not a Five Guys burger joint? You better believe it.
The burger was amazing, easily in the top five I ever had. I think the pretzel bun may be the key to it all. The dark side of the burger experience was not being allowed to eat it inside and having to do it in the front of the restaurant as pedestrians gawked. I felt that we were a couple of notches above warming our hands in front of an oil drum fire and using an old newspaper as a blanket.
The irony of this restaurant is that while trying to «avoid becoming a burger restaurant,» their best item on the menu is their burger. Go there for that and nothing else. But make sure to sit at the bar. If you can’t, then join us outside with the common folk.

Gruner serves the absolute best burger you will find in this city, but you can only order it if you are seated in the bar section. My burger was cooked perfectly and served with the most delicious pickled onions. We ordered the pickled deviled eggs and they were good. The cheese plate though… I would really call it a cheese sample. We ordered 3 cheeses ($ 13) and each cheese was the size of the samples they give you at the deli. It was almost laughable. My boyfriend got the Trunken Aprikose bourbon drink and absolutely loved it. He also got the brat, sausage, and saurkraut meal, but at $ 19 he wasn’t too impressed.
The décor was pleasant to look at and the service was excellent. I just had to take 1 star off because I think the prices are just a little too high for Portland.

Wundebar! I had my first meal at Grüner this afternoon. Instead of one of the menu items, I went for the special,“lamb sausage with fried polenta.” I am happy to report that was very delicious. It was flavorful without being too salty or spicy. Plus and most importantly, it was cooked to where you get that nice SNAP when you bite into it.
Grüner, the good:
1. Nice location, relatively easy to find parking within a few blocks.
2. Comfortable seating and atmosphere
3. Nice menu selection including an inviting dessert menu.
Grüner, the not so great
1. While comfortable, the seating is rather close to other customers so the people at the next table will most certainly hear your conversation.
2. Portion size was a little lacking. I am all for healthy meals with health conscious portion sizes but my polenta was the size of a baby’s teething biscuit. It’s never good to leave a restaurant hungry.
Altogether, Grüner was a lovely experience and I will definitely come back.

I will be rating the burger.
the meat was excellent and cooked to a perfect medium rare. the bun was a bit hard for me. I couldn’t quite get a normal bit out of the burger because how stiff it was.
The overall flavor was there. but it doesn’t deserve the #1 spot.
trifecta and le pigeon burger beat this thing. anyday

Good but really salty.
We ordered the foie gras torchon, the lamb grill and choucroute garnie house-​made bratwurst & saucisson, braised pork belly, house-​cured pork tenderloin. They served house made bread with plain butter. Good but very dense. The entrees were a great size, but very salty. The pork tenderloin was incredible! The mixed drinks were fantastic. Had to skip desserts because almost all of them were made with nut products.

Oh jeez. This place was so good that I ate more than I should have. (3 course lunch on a weekday? Whoops.)
Came here for lunch on a Friday. Showed up right when they opened at 11:30 AM. It’s a small restaurant so I kept expecting it to fill up around noon-​ish, but that never happened. They got busy but never ran out of tables.
You walk past a bar area when you come in, and then the dining area is set up with the tables against a long booth against the wall with chairs on the opposite side, so you get to draw straws to see who ends up with the chair v. booth seat. At the end of the dining area, you can see the chefs preparing food — while I was there they were making sausage, and it was pretty neat to watch.
We started with some beet-​pickled deviled eggs, and they were really good. The filling was light and fluffy. For my main dish, I had the Quark Spatzle with Braised Chicken. I think the chicken was dark meat, which usually isn’t my favorite, but the flavor of everything was so good that I ended up noshing every single noodle. For dessert, my friend and I decided to split the Ricotta-​Cream Cheese Crostata. The meringue sticks on the top seemed a little out of place (in terms of flavor — in terms of plating, they definitely made the dessert look quite fancy), but they were pretty mild tasting, and everything else was delectable.
I’d definitely come back here. The service was good. The check came out in a German novel, which was a cute touch.

Came here on a weekday dinner and didn’t need a reservation.
Loved the seasonal chilled cherry soup — the color reminded me of the color of the ambrosia salad in Edward Scissorhands.
Their famed burger lived up to the hype. It was flavorful and still juicy, even though it was not even close to medium rare.
Sausages were delicious and with that amazing house mustard – I could smoother that with anything.
Foie Gras was decent– the texture was not as buttery as I would have hoped.
It seemed the kitchen was backed up and there was a slight delay in our food, the staff decided to give us some free fried smashed potatoes and potato cheese balls. They were okay and I’m glad I didn’t have to pay for them.
Overall, it was a good meal. Will definitely be back sometime if I want some German food.

One of the things I love about German food is the fact that it’s not very elegant. It’s pretty unpretentious, as it’s hard to church up sausage and sauerkraut. The flavors are powerful, but simple. So when we waltzed up to Gruner, I was a little concerned about the upscale look of both the menu and interior (especially because I was wearing hammer pants and a tee shirt– a story for another time), but Gruner did not disappoint.
We started with the beet-​pickled deviled eggs, followed by the polenta croquettes, stuffed with raclette cheese, and the zucchini fritters, served with yogurt and pesto. I’m not the world’s biggest beet fan, so I was skeptical of beet-​pickled deviled eggs, but they were fantastic – I loved the zest of the spicy mustard. The zucchini fritters were yummy — but I could have used a little more of that yogurt and pesto. My least favorite starter was the polenta croquettes, but they weren’t bad – I just thought the cheese was a bit much. Oh, and all of these small bites were under $ 10. You can’t beat that with a bat!
Gruner served our entrees expediently. For me, I ordered the bratwurst, house-​made saucisson, served with sauerkraut and Yukon gold potatoes, as well as a sweet and spicy mustard. My boyfriend ordered the spatzle. Sweet Jesus, his dish was delicious – all hammy and buttery. It was all I could do to not inhale his entire dish.
My dish was also crazy delicious, but so filling. I liked the saucisson better than the bratwurst. The sauerkraut was also pretty tasty. I loved the spicy mustard — it was on point, although you know it could have been a little spicier for my tastes. Some like it hot.
We had a landslide of the cocktails on the cocktail menu. I ordered the sommer gastehaus, slivovitz mist, and the art haus spritz. My boyfriend ordered the center of the universe, the trunken aprikose and some other after dinner liqueur that was so strong, I was worried what might happen if he breathed on the candle at our table. My favorite drink was the slivovitz mitz – it was delicious and so cute! It was Mailbu Barbi pink, served with a pink umbrella, and the excess was served in a little beaker from Breaking Bad. I loved it! My boyfriend’s choices were super stiff-​if you have any of those, be prepared to leave with new hair on your chest, and to go to bed at 9:00 p.m. (PDT).
Despite by boyfriend’s protestations, we ordered the cinnamon sugar donuts for dessert. They were served with crème anglaise and a summer fruit compote. It was insane – I recommend them with enthusiasm. After attacking that bad boy, we were very, very full.
The service was excellent – everything arrived at our table in a timely fashion. Our server was extremely knowledgable about all of the menu items. He gave us a taste of a rare dessert wine before we left, just to be kind.
Overall, Gruner was one of the best dining experiences I’ve had. We loved it. Highly recommend!

We were sitting across the street from Gruner at Tasty n Alder and we were randomly browsing photos of restaurants around our area on our nifty Unilocal mobile app, and that’s when we came across their foie gras torchon. The picture we saw came with jelly cubes and we thought — we must give it a try!
We visited the restaurant and sat at the bar. The restaurant has a quiet buzz about it. The décor is modern and has strong lines. We ordered their foie gras torchon, with pickled victoria & crimson king rhubard, red currant jelly, watercress and brioche toast.
Our waiter brought us house-​made pretzel with delicious and creamy butter. I love the lightly salted exterior and the robust flavor. We also had slices of multigrain with our bread plate but those are not anything to rave about (and they are not house-​made)
Finally we received the foie gras torchon — it was really delicious. Without any jelly or rhubarb, you can taste the fattiness of the foie gras and that distinctive smell of innards, but it went down quite smoothly. After lathering the torchon onto the brioche bread and topped it with pickled rhubarb to cut the richness of the foie gras, the flavor was very well balanced. I loved the crunchy rhubarb and the sweet jelly, we also had a few clear grapes on the side to go with the dish and they all paired very well.
This small plate ended up being only $ 14 and I think it is worth trying!

Oof! Yes. Sure, Grüner is expensive; as in, very expensive for what it is, but the uniqueness of a contemporary twist on German cuisine is enough to make it a must visit in Portland.
Star 1: How was the service and atmosphere?
Cool. Contemporary — but not overdone. I like fine dining as much as the next guy, but Grüner knows what it is, and newsflash, as someone who lived in Germany for five years? German food ain’t fancy. Service is knowledgeable and friendly, and you won’t age much between the time you order and are digging in. Star Granted.
Star 2: How were the portions relative to the cost?
As I mentioned — Grüner is expensive, and while I strongly recommend a visit, it’s understandable that many will be displeased with the price to portion ratio. Have a look:
maultaschen: $ 13.00
that’s $ 2.60 per piece of ravioli. ouch
Mustard Spätzle: $ 22.00
another ouch. First and foremost, spätzle is often a side dish in german cuisine, and while this was fancier than your standard butter noodle dish, it wasn’t $ 22 fancy. No Star Granted.
Stars 3 and 4: How was the food?
While expensive, it was marvelous. The maultaschen was an excellent starter and the broth was out of this world. The spätzle? not unlike the best risotto I’ve ever had, with flavors that complimented and a texture that was smooth and creamy. Wonderful. Of special note was the pretzel bread that was served (complimentary thank goodness) as an appetizer. wow. Dual Stars Granted.
Star 5: Would you eat here every day if you could?
It’s expensive, but Grüner is so unique and refreshing that I honestly would if I could. Star Granted.