Black Forest Inn

Couldn't Have Had a More Delightful Evening. I shared dinner with six of my relatives on 12/23/11, and we had an absolutely wonderful meal. My husband had the pork shank, which was fall-off-the-bone tender; I enjoyed the bratwurst dinner. Others in our party had the seasonal sausages and sauerbraten. We drank gluhwein and beers that our waitress suggested, shared appetizers, and shared desserts. Even though the place got busy, our waitress was attentive and professional.

Since it was a weekend (Friday) night, a couple in German dress played violins in the entryway. The man even played a saw! Truly the crowning touch to a delightful evening.…

Great old world atmosphere and food.. My husband and I went to the Black Forest Inn this last weekend and we very much enjoyed the atmosphere and food. We have been going there for over 25 years, usually only a couple of times each year. It has always been a good experience. Although most of the meals have been in the patio area, which I adore, our last meal was inside. I had forgotten how warm and fuzzy it feels, very relaxing. The food was a delight, we had hasenpfeffer which we had not tasted in years, so good! Also, there was a new dish (to us) that we tried, spinach cheese maultachen, it was delicious! Lastly, the black forest cherry torte was wonderful. We are going to make sure we get back there soon.…

This Place Sucks. (Note: The only reason this place gets one star is because a rating is required to post a review! Otherwise there would be no stars.) Last night I was joining my friends for dinner at Black Forest Inn in Minneapolis. They wanted to try the food and we had never been there before.

I arrived and went to join them on the "famous" courtyard patio. The chairs are old dingy flimsy wire contraptions and the floor is old half rotten bricks (installed in 1971 probably) that are badly in need of some maintenance (the whole place needs a serious remodel and cleaning and a little building maintenance and paint would not hurt either).

As I sat down, the leg of the chair went into a hole in the floor (probably created by years of frost heaves below the brick) where a brick was supposed to be and I fell very hard backwards into the table behind me, knocking over everyone's drinks, and my leg hit the table where my friends were sitting, knocking over their drinks.

I was stunned and scared by the fall and had to catch my breath for a second. One waitress asked if I was OK, and I replied no, I was not OK. She then disappeared and never came back.

I got up after a few moments and made my way out of the restaurant and back to my car and I went to urgent care to get checked out. I was shaking so badly I almost could not drive.

When I called the restaurant to find out who the owner was, the manager, Gina, was rude and snotty. She didn't apologize or ask if I was OK or anything. Nor did she ever manage to ask my friends if they were OK, or if the restaurant could replace their drinks or even if I had been hurt. She never came out of the back of the restaurant.

When I called the owner this morning, she was a bit more gracious and did apologize and gave me their insurance company's information (for my medical bills). She explained that the staff had not even told the manager that a patron had fallen until after I called (say what?). She also had to ask me if the manager had made it right with my friends, or had offered to pay for my meal (I was only in the restaurant for less than five minutes, so there was no meal to pay for).

My friends stayed for the meal and reported that both Gasthof Zur Gemutlichkeit in Northeast Minneapolis and Glockenspiel in St. Paul have much better food.

My roommate, who has eaten at Black Forest many times before, said that this place has lost it in the past few years. He said that twenty-five or thirty years ago, it was the best in the business, but now the staff, the building and the food are all a bit tired and decrepit. The building even looks run down and shabby.

You can bet I'll never go back (I don't want to die) and I highly recommend that anyone who values their personal safety at least stay off the courtyard until their insurance company forces them to put in a new floor that's safe and replace the flimsy wire chairs with ones that are stable and safe.

I feel like crap today (sore all over) and I need to go back to the doctor because my leg is bothering me. This whole experience sucks big time!!!!!!!!!!…

Black Forest Inn. An oasis in Minneapolis.. This is one of my favorite restaurants in the Twin Cities. The Schnitzel is amazing. Where else can you find Sauerkraut so sweet and delicious. If you have a drop of German in you or perhaps just the stomach of one, this restaurant is an EASY decision.…