Heidelberg Restaurant
German restaurant · Upper East Side ·
Authentic German fare: huge pretzels, pork shank, schnitzel
Authentic German fare: huge pretzels, pork shank, schnitzel
"This cavernous restaurant with ceramic steins on the walls looks like somewhere you might wander into if you were a side character in a Grimm Brothers fairytale. The kitsch is earned though: Heidelberg has been in its current Second Avenue location on the Upper East Side since 1939. Come with a group, split a wurst platter with, and leave a trail of pretzel crumbs on your way out.Oktoberfest:The annualGerman-American Steuben Paradetakes place down 5th Avenue on Saturday, September 20, with anOktoberfest celebrationin Central Park. Heidelberg will have a set menu that day to celebrate—call them for details." - Willa Moore, Will Hartman, Sonal Shah, Molly Fitzpatrick, Bryan Kim
"Heidelberg is a great place to go out for fondue when you're not looking for peak date vibes. This Upper East Side German restaurant has been around forever, and between the beer hall aesthetic and soft rock playlist, you won't have to worry about giving off the wrong impression if you come here for fondue with a friend. We highly recommend getting one of their giant soft pretzels to go with your melted cheese, which also comes with an assortment of bread, sausages, apples, and veggies." - willa moore, neha talreja, carina finn koeppicus
"If you're on the Upper East Side and you want good, unfussy food and a great selection of beer, get yourself to Heidelberg. This spot is one of New York's oldest German restaurants, and it's filled with dark wood, kitschy decor, and servers carrying giant freshly-baked soft pretzels around the dining room. Yeah, you're going to want one of those. You can easily have a great time here with nothing more than beer, pretzels, and good company, but the food overall is pretty solid, and they also make great fondue that gets a little extra kick from a shot of kirsch. It also comes with an assortment of cold German sausages, which might just be our favorite fondue accompaniment in the city." - Carina Finn
"This 83-year-old restaurant is a relic of the days when Yorkville was known as Germantown, and the name Heidelberg commemorates a university that was the setting for the wildly popular operetta “The Student Prince.” Drink beer from a glass stein shaped like a boot, and sample apps like liver dumplings and pickled beef tongue. The mains are super-substantial, running from jaeger spätzle (squiggly fresh pasta topped with a creamy mushroom sauce), to schweinshaxe (gargantuan oven-roasted pork shank)." - Robert Sietsema, Viktoria Muench
"For the more historically-inclined, explore New York’s oldest German taverns, like Heidelberg on the Upper East Side (open since 1936)." - Marguerite Imbert