According to All Recipes.com, German cuisine places an emphasis on meat and potatoes that is different from traditional American-style food. Instead, German food often emphasizes both sweet and sour flavors by utilizing vinegars, sugars and fruits. Potatoes are common in German dishes, as are roasted meats and sausage. For those traveling through central Illinois, there are some restaurants specializing in German-style food that reflect the tastes of the large German populations that emigrated there.
Founded in 1984, the Peoria Hofbrau Restaurant offers several German delicacies to please diners with a taste for German cuisine. Lunch items include rotating soups such as goulash and potato and bacon, German sausage platters and deli sandwiches served with side orders of homemade German-style potato salad or homemade cooked red cabbage. The dinner menu offers wine herring, sauerbraten, schnitzels, wurst platters, roast duckling, smoked ham shank platters and other German specialties. A full bar offers a large selection of German beers in addition to wines and other spirits. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday.
Peoria Hofbrau
2210 NE Jefferson Ave.
Peoria, IL 61603
309-686-9739
peoriahofbrau.com
Located in Peotone, Illinois, the Peotone Bierstube restaurant boasts an authentic German biergarten and a bar decorated with authentic German war memorabilia, photographs and other items. According to its website, the restaurant is famous for its giant Schnitzels offered in twelve different flavor combinations. Other menu items include beef stroganoff, sauteed calf's liver, pork chops with cabbage and sausage platters. A vegetarian and a kids' menu are also available. The restaurant offers live music Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights that feature Bavarian musicians. The Peotone Bierstube is open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday and for dinner Tuesday through Sunday. A late-night lounge offers drinks Tuesday through Saturday as well.
Peotone Bierstube
306 N. Harlem Rd.
Peotone, IL 60468
708-258-0800
peotonebierstube.com
Der Kaffee Kuchen is a combination restaurant, deli and bakery offering catering services and carryout foods in addition to meals served table side. The restaurant offers a wide array of European entrees, special German dishes, sandwiches and salads. Specialties-of-the-house include beef goulash, sauerbraten, rinderroulade and smoked pork loin. A full bar offers drinks including German wines and beers to accompany dishes. Several specialty coffee drinks and after-dinner drinks are also offered alongside apple strudels and other sweet European baked goods. The restaurant is open Monday through Saturday for both lunch and dinner. Der Kaffee Kuchen also offers a special German buffet with samplings of many dishes on holidays throughout the year such as Mother's Day, Father's Day and Easter.
Der Kaffee Kuchen
9814 Arrowhead Mall
Peoria, IL 85345
623-933-0650
derkaffeekuchen.com
