Germany!

I'm going to start off by saying that German food is not my favorite, but I am true to my mission and sucked it up for the sake of the project. Enter: Das Schnitzel Haus! 

Das Schnizel Haus is located in Parma and offers all the traditional German food and drink that you could ask for. Why I didn't get the giant Bavarian soft pretzel with bacon cheese sauce and German mustard is still something I'm struggling with because it looks and sounds amazing. 

I was trying to stay on task (hard for me to do!) and not order the giant Bavarian pretzel with cheese and mustard or the sauerkraut balls or the potato pancakes. Since moving to Cleveland, I have eaten SO MANY SAUSAGES AND SCHNITZELS so I skipped those and went straight for the Sauerbraten, literally translated to "sour beef" - uhhh. It was a beef roast that is marinated for three days and then broiled in a sweet and tangy gravy, and it came with two sides from a long list of options: spatzle, cabbage & noodles, German potato salad, sauerkraut, red cabbage, etc. etc. etc. I opted for the German potato salad and red cabbage. 

German food is not pretty, okay? 

This was actually pretty tasty, though! The sauerbraten was tender and the gravy really was sweet and tangy as described. The potato salad was my favorite - served warm and more vinegary than its American counterpart. I always love cooked cabbage and will order it almost any time it's an option, so I was happy to try their version. This was sweeter than expected - balsamic vinegar maybe? 

I was there at lunchtime so I skipped the giant beers, but I would definitely try them next time. Germans take their beer seriously! And these are brewed at the Schnitz Brewery right across the street. 

Das Schnitzel House felt very, very Cleveland-y. It was packed on a Tuesday afternoon and full of regular folks who were very chatty and eating huge plates of food. The décor inside is probably the same that it's been since at least the 70s - vinyl booths with vinyl tablecloths, beer steins lining the walls, wood paneling. They have a large covered beer garden in the front of the building that I'm sure gets pretty rowdy at times!

From Case Western's excellent Encyclopedia of Cleveland History: Germans formed one of Cleveland's largest nationality groups in the 19th and 20th centuries. Although not as large as the German communities in some northern cities, the local community had an important influence on the city's economic, educational, and cultural life. Cleveland and other lake cities lagged a few years behind Cincinnati and St. Louis in the influx of Germans who used rivers and the National Road to reach those destinations. Cleveland's Germans were chiefly those of German descent from Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland whose forebears had generally come to America before the Revolutionary War.


Germans began arriving in Cleveland in substantial numbers during the 1830s, first settling along Lorain St. in Brooklyn, and along Superior and Garden (Central Ave.) streets on the east side. They worked as jewelers, tailors, makers of musical instruments (e.g., pianos, such as those built by the Dreher Piano Co.), cabinetmakers, and machinists. The Germans' introduction of beer as a popular beverage perhaps aided in tempering the drinking habits of Cleveland natives by diminishing the consumption of hard liquors. Initially, the German brewing industry in Cleveland consisted of small breweries, each intended to serve only the brewer's own tavern. The breweries later expanded to become wholesale suppliers—notably Leisy Brewing Co., Gund Brewing Co., Schlather, and Pilsener Brewing Co.


Unlike most other nationality groups that came to Cleveland, the Germans came from a variety of religious backgrounds. The total number of churches with services in German reached 120 or more in Greater Cleveland. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church introduced the Christmas tree and other German Christmas customs to Cleveland.

The German Cultural Garden is an open lawn, called the Goethe-Schiller Square, surrounded by low wall with statues and linden trees. Goethe and Schiller were world renown philosophers and writers. The Goethe -Schiller bronze statue was dedicated in 1907 at Wade Park and rededicated 1927 at 1036 East Boulevard. It was designed by artist Ernst Rietschelcast in 1857 and the design used again for the Cleveland statue.

There are also busts of notable Germans: 

Father Friedrich Jahn founder of calisthenics exercises and designer of all gymnastic apparatuses of modern day (such as the horse, rings, parallel bars and balance beam.), Johann Sebastian Bach, composer, Alexander Humboldt, described as the “last universal scholar in the field of natural sciences, Heinrich Heine, poet, Ludwig van Beethoven, composer.

Das Schnitzel Haus

5728 Pearl Road

Parma, OH 44129

Website

Hours:

MON- THURS | 11am-9:30pm

FRI | 11am - 10:30pm

SAT | 12pm-10:30pm

SUN| 12pm-8pm