Joey and I waited in line about half an hour. Everyone waiting in line with us was very chatty and cheerful. The doorman talked about how over the weekend, there were waits of over two hours. We were seated at a table against a far wall; cozy but not crowded. Across from us was a glass case with Chicago Liquor License No. 1 (the Berghoff was the first establishment awarded a license at the end of Prohibition). The interior of the restuarant has beautiful wood paneling and old-fashioned light fixtures. I don’t know if the place has an “Old World” charm but it certainly has an “Old Chicago” charm.

As has been written elsewhere, our waiter was polite but brusque. He had an enormous potbelly. We started off with steins of Berghoff Dark, very hearty and refreshing, and then as an appetizer had the Mushroom Strudel. Almost anything with puff pastry and onion gravy is good, and this certainly was.

For the main course I had Weiner Snitzel (how could I not?) with a side of sauerkraut. Now, when I was growing up, my Mom and Dad occasionally had sauerkraut and it was always from a can. The sauerkraut tonight was pretty darn good, and as a garnish was perfect. Just a little tang to compliment the buttery snitzel. It also came with german potatoes, which as far as I could taste were more or less home fries. But damned if they weren’t tasty.

We took our time eating but the food was gone fast. We were both ravenous for some reason. Then came dessert. I chose Black Forest Cake. Joey went for apple strudel with ice cream. And (to make it a proper, full-course dinner) coffee. The cake was moist but not overly rich. By the time it was gone and I was on cup of coffee No. 2 I didn’t feel like moving much. But it was time to go. When we got outside, the line was about the same length as when we had gone in.

Anyway it was fantastic, wistful meal. The food was good, solid German comfort food. Not innovative, just hearty and well-prepared. In a modern world filled with expensive nouvelle cuisine and hoity-toity dining fads, there’s something sad about seeing a resturant about to close that has been serving straight-forward GOOD FOOD since 1898. It’s great I was able to eat there at least once.