Schmidt’s Sausage Haus, Columbus OH

2 November 2023

Ever since I discovered Schmidt’s in the German Village neighborhood of Columbus, I have to come here for a good German meal on every visit. After the annoyance of Wilkes-Barre the previous evening, I made this my first stop when I got to town. You’ll need to check other posts for additional photos of the place, but here’s my first beer, my go-to starter here, the Paulaner Oktoberfest that they have on draft all year long. And yes, if you’re wondering, that is a larger-than-normal glass — it’s 22oz.

They were sort of busy (they always are) so rather than take a booth or table I went to the (empty) bar. It wasn’t empty for long! But the interesting thing was that the guy waiting on the bar and filling drinks was my waiter from my first visit here and he remembered me. That was a nice moment. Dinner was the usual — I’m so predictable here — Wienerschnitzel with red cabbage and warm potato salad.

Their Schnitzel is made with veal and that’s hard to find many places, but it really makes this just a bit more special. They also serve a brown mushroom gravy on the side which is a really nice touch; normally, you only get that with a Jägerschnitzel but it pairs very well with this. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post somewhere, that potato salad is exactly like what I grew up eating at church pot luck suppers — it’s amazing what memories a taste can bring back.

Dessert was, as usual, in two parts, a 22oz “Schmidty Dark” (brewed by a local brewery for them) and their monstrous Cream Puff:

Yes, that Cream Puff is every bit as huge as it appears in the photo — it’s not just a camera trick! I’m sure it weighs close to half a pound but it’s worth every bite and calorie.