Oktoberfest is a 16-day beer festival held in Munich, Germany. During the event, over 7 million liters of beer will be consumed. By the Reinheitsgebot guild guidelines, all official Oktoberfest beer has to be brewed within Munich and contain at least 6 percent alcohol. And this is all coming right off the special beer menu at Brü Haus, which is the closest thing most Westsiders will get to enjoy an Oktoberfest experience.
The mainstay at the Brü Haus, which is co-owned by Santa Monica native Wen Yeh, is beer, and perhaps dirndl-clad ladies, but without getting side-tracked it's quite literally about the beer. So celebrating Oktoberfest is pretty much a prerequisite for the German-themed bar. The main question is does Brü Haus do Oktoberfest justice? The short answer would be yes because of the beer.
Special Oktoberfest editions of German staples such as Weihenstephan, Spaten, Ayinger, Paulaner, Schneider and Hofbräu will be on tap. Furthermore, each week Brü Haus will be featuring a specific brewery and all their specialty beers to boot. For example, this weekend will be Weihenstephan and their specialty beers including Vitus, Korbinian, pale ale and Kristall Weiss. The list goes on and on. Plus a little insider info, since they will be ushering in new beers every Tuesday, on Monday there will be blowout specials at everything-must-go prices. It's kind of like the marked down meat section at the supermarket. But instead of half-rancid meat on the cheap, it's good beer.
Along with an overflowing beer list, Brü Haus offers a menu that compliments the suds well. The Sriracha chili chicken wings could be considered too sweet under regular wing eating circumstances, but paired up with one of their many bitter beers, they're the perfect offset. Wings and beer, who knew?
Pretzels and beer is not exactly a novel concept either. But the giant fresh-baked version that Brü Haus offers makes it almost impossible not to order, especially after a few Spatens down the hatch.
Brü Haus offers both German and American standards from burgers and salads to schnitzel and sausages, as well as a nice happy hour menu. The food is quite good and the menu is not overwhelming. Plus any place that does not use the word gastropub should be awarded the key to the city.
Situated between the drink-as-cheap-and-fast-as-possible Cabo Cantina and your run-of-the-mill sports bar Q's, Brü Haus takes top honors on the block. Beer wins out again. So if that hangover is starting to kick in, head over to Brü Haus and they'll set things right.
If you go
Brü Haus
11831 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, Calif.
www.bruhauspub.com
(310) 473-2337
MICHAEL can be seen riding around town on his bike burning calories so he can eat more food, or on CityTV hosting his own show, "Tour de Feast." To reach him visit his website at http://tourdefeast.blogspot.com/ or follow him on Twitter @greaseweek
