Gustav's Bier Stube

the headline says it all! I used to be a huge Gustav's fan, but the last few trips and especially this one (tonight) were awful. The service is laughable as usual but now the quality of food or lack thereof is a worthy rival! The rotisserie chicken was small and kind of moist (more dry, so maybe small portion is better). The fondue was gloppy, yes gloppy! Gross! Someone ordered crab cakes ( not my choice) but they were pathetically bready. The brat I ordered was served cold! Yes cold! Unreal. We ordered beer with dinner and it showed up almost at the end....and it was the highlight of the meal. I USED to be a fan....now, not so much. Prost...I think not. more

horrible, horrible. wait staff. the waiter even stole $20.00 and put it in his pocket. we had to call him back and said, uhh wears the change? he pretended he forgot, yeah right. the cesar salad was the worst i've ever seen, we waited 1/2 hr for the sausage trio and beef tips. we will never go back. the only reason it gets good reviews is all the alcoholics in the neighborhood like it. it ought to be put out of business. more

We all go to Gustavs for lunch. It's changed through out the years but it's still one of the best restaurants in the neighborhood. more

I'll start off by saying I have held the Rhinelander as ""My"" favorite place to eat for decades. But the staff in Gustav's side were beyond wrong and service is as important as the food in my opinion. I took friends for a treat but left feeling embarrassed of the service we had. My friend who is deaf in one ear, speaks loudly and she is a outgoing person, full of life. We had one beer each at the bar during our 30 minute wait at the bar. The bartender picked up the change glass, with $17 in it and my friend thought he took it as a tip. She explained it to him which he took offense to. After we were seated by a gracious host, our waiter took our orders for drink and food. We ordered beers with our food and a nervous assistant manager came by our table and said he wouldn't serve my friend due to ""certain signs"" of her being intoxicated. Before it had sunk in, he hurried away. She felt embarrassed and refused to stay even though we had ordered already. Being her friend is more important to me than eating at my favorite place. We left and I'm not sure I will return. The food has always been great and the service was outstanding but if this is the level of service they want to deliver in the future, I will not return. I lived in Germany for 3 years and this not how it was there. Very disappointed in their people. more

Whenever I need a sausage and sauerkraut fix I head over to Gustavs! Yum- Yum! Try the trio sausage plate. Pros: great food more

We had dinner the other night at Gustav's and it was great! It had been a while since we had been in but we had such a great time that we will be going back soon. We sat at the bar so we could watch the Blazer game and the bar tender was great, talk about service with a smile!\r I ordered the kraut roulade and my boyfriend got the chicken schnitzel. The only problem was that I wish I would have ordered the large size so we had left overs, the cheese fondue was amazing just as I remember and great beers on tab!\r All in all we had a great time and will be back soon, maybe for Happy Hour, looks like they have a great HH menu.\r Thanks for a great night!!!\r Pros: Great food, good service, busy Cons: hard to find parking more

One of my girlfriends and I decided to visit Gustav's this last weekend - it had been a while - what great choice! We ordered from both the happy hour menu and small plates menu - it was such a great variety, we couldn't have been happier. The fondue was awesome as always, but we also tried a cheese plate - the fig jam with the creamy cheese made me a happy girl! I'll be back too-soon for some more. It was great to have a nice selection of items to share so we could try a bit of a lot. I can't wait to round up our next girls night and head to Gustav's. (Mmmmm fondue....) Pros: Food glorious food! (And great service) Cons: Not a thing more

I'm not a German food expert, but I have eaten at a few of the German restaurants in Portland and Gustav's stands out as having the best food. Our group ordered a family style platter, which includes chicken schnitzel, pork loin, bratwurst, sauerkraut and red cabbage. Each of these items are dynamite. The chicken schnitzel is my favorite item and the kraut is absolutely dynamite. Additionally, I recommend starting with the cheese fondue with sausage and a big stein of beer. Our server was very friendly and had beer suggestions that we were all pleased with. I'll be back soon. Pros: Fondue, Schnitzel, and Kraut more

I just tried the Salmon Pommels (sp?), on the Happy Hour Menu. Wow and double Wow are they terrific! Great portion for HR menu. Dip is Ranch dressing with Cajun (lightly) spice. Wonderful, as always, service, by the Bartender Vicki too! Pros: Gustav's has added to it's Happy Hour menu more

Went here with my coworkers and had just the greatest time. Server was quick and attentive. Beer selection on tap was great. Cocktails were also surprisingly delicious and unique (hot spiced wine was incredible, so was the pomegranate margarita... yum!)\r \r The food was not disappointing either! Our Pesto Fondue was amazing, we were tempted to buy a second order. Server recommended Pumpkin Mousse for dessert, which was delicious! \r \r We can't say enough about how great of a time we had. Keep up the good work!! Pros: Awesome beer selection and cocktails! more

My boyfriend and I came here for lunch recently and were very impressed! I ordered a sandwich from the lunch menu and he had a sandwich from the regular menu. Both were very good, high quality. Service was a little slow, but not a huge deal. Pros: Good lunch specials, food was great! Cons: slow service more

Portland's best kept secret! I've never had a single bad experience. The manager came out and introduced himself to us, and all the staff was running around making sure everyone's needs were met. Love it!!! Pros: Great prices, great food, great service Cons: Not enough locations more

We used to go to Gustav's for years. It is just down the street, so we would be there once or twice a month. Not anymore. The service has always been slow (but friendly). Now the quality of the food no longer makes up for it. Everything seems to be overheated and dried out, as though they cooked it all many hours before and kept it under a heat lamp. The chefs also started over-salting terribly. We didn't just give up on our favorite neighborhood place after one bad experience, we kept going back all throughout 2008--always coming away very disappointed. I don't know what they did around last Feb/March, cost-cutting or something?, but these former regulars are looking for someplace else. more

Seriously, if 10 bucks is spendy for a sandwich, then you may need to go to Jack in the Box. Yes, they are spendy in that aspect, but the service is awesome! The beer selection and price is great, and the lentil soup is my favorite!!!\r \r If someone wants the ""German"" experience for cheap, they ought to catch the early bird dinner next door. The stube, is just that, a stube, bar food is served there, oddly enough. more

I really can't believe this restaurant has 5 stars so far. This was quite honestly one of the worst meals I've had in my life. It wasn't even an issue of it not geting good 'german' food, which it wasn't, but it wasn't good food in general. I had something floating in my drink, my spatzle was hard, crunchy (yes crunchy!) and gummy, my sauerbraten was not recognizeable. sort of a burnt mystery meat with funny sauce ... icky. Pros: the service was decent, if a bit rushed Cons: awful, awful food more

Gustav's Bier Stube appears to be a very popular eatery as there was a constant small crowd waiting to be seated. Luckily for us the wait was not too long and we were seated in one half of the restaurant after a few minutes. Apparently, the restaurant is split in two, one half seemed to be a family style restaurant with a roaming band of musicians and the other half had more of an upscale bar/steakhouse vibe to it.\r \r The employees were all friendly and the food was excellent Germanic fare. And, as expected from a restaurant called Gustav's Bier Stube, the beer selection was also quite good. Anyone looking for some great German food and some great beer to go with it can not do wrong going to Gustav's. Pros: Great Food, Good Beer Cons: The Wait, Not Enough Parking more

I just went to Gustav's for the first time about a month ago. Our server was very knowledgable about their beers, many of which I'd never had, and was able to make very good suggestions on what to try. We started with two fondue's as appetizers; the crab fondue (pretty good) and the pesto fondue (excellent). Next, I tried a brat sandwich (good), with spicy coleslaw. (not much of a slaw fan, but I really enjoyed it) Everyone else I went with had nothing but good things to say about their meals. We came with a toddler, and it was nice that they had toys and crayons for kids to use at the table, although I'd say this is a better place to enjoy with other adults than with your kids. It was a good experience, and I will return!\r Pros: Good food, good beer, neat atmosphere more

I normally don't write reviews about the places I've been to. However, my significant other and I had been waiting for a good night to frequent Gustav's, and last night seemed to be the night; we were hungry, and we had a lot of extra money to spare for some excellent food and drink. \r \r The service was excellent; the hostess and waitress were very friendly and accommodating and gave us just the right amount of attention. They were also fast with the drinks and food (though we did go when the place was nearly empty, so that's no help for you if you're going when it's busy; it could be different). We had fish and chips, which were quite good (but not as good as I've had) and an excellent Waldorf salad, probably the best salad I've ever had. My cocktail, however, hardly had any gin and it was far too sweet for how it was depicted on the menu. The Hefeweizen was excellent though; spicy and full of flavor. \r \r The real disappointment came when they brought out the dessert. We really wanted cheesecake, but they only had banana cheesecake, so we decided to go with bread pudding. I've had some really excellent bread pudding in my life (mainly at the Moon and Sixpence) and this was terrible. It had obviously been heated in a microwave because some spots were hot and others weren't, and overall it was stale and far too sweet. It also had a piece of paper on the bottom, which proves my point that it wasn't made on the spot. When I'm paying this much for my food, I expect things to be made right when I get there. I'm not paying for atmosphere and service when I go out nearly as much as I'm paying for the actual food. So, regardless of the salad and the service, I will not go back to Gustav's. Pros: service, salad skills, beer Cons: cocktails, reheated desserts, overpriced based on the latter more

We checked out Gustav's last night for the second time in the last few months. I must say that since the chain has exploded, the food has gone the other way. I had the spatzle and meatballs, which happens to be my favorite dish. Some of the spatzle was hard and was bland. \r \r The meatballs, however, were very good, as was the service.\r \r Gustav's is a staple of Portland dining and I'd hate to see another legend fall (Gustav's neighbor Sylvia's Class Act closed not too long ago). I hope the down turn is just a temporary thing. Pros: service, ambience Cons: Food is starting on a downturn more

Never had a bad meal or bad service here in all my experience. Great atmosphere and classic german food. Pros: Great Food Cons: Expensive more