Oktoberfest

Kay and Chris came up from Mankato Saturday night to celebrate Oktoberfest with dinner at Gasthof in NE Minneapolis. Although I had been to the Mario Keller bar downstairs many times I had never actually eaten at the restaurant, and Josh had never been there at all.

We were glad we had reservations because the place was a zoo! We got seated quickly and started on several large beers and ginormous platters of German food. I was drinking Hacker-Pschorr Alt, Josh was drinking hefeweizen and Chris was drinking Murphy’s Irish Stout. Kay, oddly enough, was drinking diet Coke.

We all got salads and ordered a cheese and cracker platter, so had plenty to eat even before our food arrived. Kay and Chris got a multi-food platter to share, and had enough left over for probably a couple of more meals, Josh ordered a single platter and managed to finish most things except for the spaetzel, and I – not being a big fan of German “cuisine” (as I learned when I was in Munich back in 1999) – ordered steak (which, I have to say, was awesome). I ate some off of everyone’s platter, though, so still got the meat and beet experience.

Gasthof is always a blast, because in addition to eating and drinking until you burst, the other general goal is simply to have a lot of fun. This is accomplished by drinking bier, clinking your glasses, doing apfelkorn shots, maybe trying snuff for the first time (Josh!), listening to “Sesame Street” on the accordion or yelling Ziggy Zaggy Zicke Zaki hoi hoi hoi whenever you get a new round of shots and/or someone – anyone – finishes a boot of bier. The waitresses are dressed in dirndls and you always see a few customers decked out in lederhosen. Downstairs and occasionally outside, you polka.

After dinner we went outside to the tent since they were celebrating Oktoberfest. It was darn cold but we played a round of Hammerschlagen (where you try to pound a nail into a piece of wood with the narrow end of a hammer in one stroke) before we bailed for the tent and warmth. Although we had several biers in the restaurant, we hardly drank outside because we were so full from dinner.

Stayed for a while but eventually decided to bail. Checked out Donnie Dirk’s Zombie Bar since it was close by and on our way out of NE. It’s a little off the beaten path from the other NE bars but has fun decor inside. I actually got talked into ordering a gin drink that, while it smelled like gin, was creamy and had no pine tree taste whatsoever. All in all, probably not a place I would go out of my way to hang out at, but I’m glad we stopped by. It was opened recently by the woman who owns Psycho Suzi’s Motor Lounge (tiki hut kitsch bar) in NE and Saint Sabrina’s Parlor in Purgatory (tattoo/goth shop) in Uptown.

The four of us drove back to our place where we popped the cork on a bottle of Kuleto, kicked back and chatted. A good night with good friends!