Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Gasthaus Bar in Cherokee & the Wholly Pig

I went into The Gasthaus expecting an authentic German restaurant, or guest house, tucked into Western Iowa. Its turned out to be more of just a small town bar and grill. I was really hoping to get a chance to practice sprechen zie Deutsch, but it just wasn't meant to be. The Gasthaus won an Honorable Mention in the 2010 IPPA Pork Tenderloin Sandwich Contest.

Location: 214 W. Main St in Cherokee, Western Iowa.

Directions: Its right on Main St. in Cherokee and just half a block West of Highway 59.

Online at: Facebook page is HERE.


The Wholly Pig: This is described on the menu as their award winning tenderloin topped with sliced ham, bacon, American cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion.The tenderloin and breading was already salty enough before the ham and cheese were piled on top. Juice from the pork loin combined with the bacon added a decent richness and fattiness that most breaded loins don't have. The cheese was just regular sandwich topping.

Price: $12.49 with a side of fries, the regular tenderloin with fries is $8.29

Also on the menu: No real German food but there are eclectic choices like German titled burgers named Heidelburger, Wurzburger, Burgermeister, Duesenburger or Hindenburger, seafood and steaks, even Mexican food.


Service: It was seat yourself and table service when I stopped in. Not much else to say here.


Ambiance: This is a small town main street bar with walls filled with old signs and antiques. There is a bar area and small booths for seating.


Final Thoughts: I always have to think about whether its worth loading up on the toppings and whether I will ever make it back to try the basic sandwich. So many places are putting the same thing on top of their tenderloins, I just wish someone would put something a little more interesting.
The Gasthaus Bar & Grille on Urbanspoon

4 comments:

  1. No rating because it's non-standard, with all the toppings?

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  2. Hey Pooter,

    Tenderloins have a subtle flavor, the toppings kinda overwhelm the loin even if its just simple stuff like ham and cheese.

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  3. Hope you try us again sometime! We have a lot of other delicious selections on our menu; our Wholly Pig is one of our customer created concoctions. Thanks for the mention, hope you're more impressed with your next stop through! :)
    --The Gasthaus Bar & Grille

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  4. The food was edible, but I was very disappointed by the unexpected add-ons. We went to the Gasthaus with a vegetarian and ordered a beef burritos, with broccoli instead of beef - $2.00 extra. Two burgers with onion rings instead of chips - $11.00 extra - the price of two full appetizers and more than the cost of the hamburger. On the positive side the beer was a good deal. At $4.00 it was just twice as much as the onion add-on for my burger.

    Normally I love this sort of place, but price gouging changed that. As luck would have it, our server took a break when it was time to pay. We won't be going back.

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