The Hofbrau

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Idahorn2

250+ Posts
Another survey on a surviving Old-Timey Austin restaurant.

This place has to have been around since the '30's at least. They may have listened to radio reports on Lindbergh's flight when the griddle was new. Not sure when they added chicken breasts to the menu, but it was pretty recently. Yuck.

"You can have anything you want as long as it is steak and fries; we even have some salad stuff around here somewhere."

Do they use olive oil on the grill? Wish I knew. Doubt they have a cookbook!!! It would be only two pages long--with lots of photos.

Steaks so thin that if they are browned at all, they have to be at least medium-well. Tasty; I suspect they are not seasoned at all, but could easily be wrong on this point. What do they offer these days? --T bones, ribeyes, and strips. Anything else?

Grease so distinctive it deserves being labeled as a varietal. " I'll have a '98 Hofbrau with a little ketchup and some doughball white bread."

How can a soggy lettuce/oil and lemon juice salad be delicious? Is it the simplicity? Do they simmer the lettuce to make it limp, or does it just sit around for a long, long time?

My first time there may have been with my Dad in '59. We were in Austin so my sister could get her braces torqued; I had multiple reasons for enjoying those trips. I vaguely recall a bowl of chili, but I don't remember it being on the menu at any time since then, so I could be wrong.
 
When I was growing up in Travis Heights, my neighbor was a long, long time cook at the Hofbrau. He still lives next to my mom and he's over 90 now. He's full of old time Austin stories - like when they had a trough for horses at Live Oak and South Congress....
 
i eat there maybe 2-3 times a year, and no one will tell you its a great steak, but i absolutely freaking love that place.
 
The Hoffbrau is one of those places that truly makes Austin special. It's like El Patio or Dirty's. These are places, and moreover flavors, that I've grown up with. They transcend the classification of steak, mexican, and hamburger joints. They are flavors that remind me of home. I don't try to take my friends that grew up outside of Austin to these places anymore. They are almost holy places and I can't stand to have them criticized.
 
rtchorn, your post choked me up. My parents met at Dirty's in the Spring of '40; i.e., I owe my existence to that place.

The problem is you should take folks to these culinary museums, so they can pass on the same appreciation, or whatever, to their kids. Pardon me, I've had a few.
 
Hoffbrau just got air conditioning a few yrs ago if i remember correctly.

I remember going as a kid and they had three sizes of steaks: small, medium, and large
 
Before this thread fades into Bolivia, I'd like to ask if anyone knows how they cook the steaks at the Hofbrau. I suspect they just pour some olive oil on the griddle and salt and pepper. Maybe its simply the antique griddle.

We have a cookbook, Cooking Texas Style, by Marquez and Wagner, which has a recipe for hofbrau steaks that involves lots of margarine and garlic salt and lemon juice. I am absolutely sure this is not how they do it.
 
Horrible place.

They rest on their "historic label" at that place.

Too much money for a piece of meat so tough they would not sell in the bulk section of Costco.

Old dusty potato wedges and that sauce is horrid.

Place is a blight.
 
I LOVE the Hoffbrau INCLUDING the sauce and potato wedges.
They HAVE become a bit expensive.
How about that for a difference of opinion?
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We will definitely try it with just margarine and lemon juice. The cookbook recipe has like a half a peck of garlic salt which was way, way, too much. I cut it back by 2/3 and it was still too much. No more garlic salt at all. Great.

Some of us plan to come to Austin for a game next fall and the Hofbrau is already penned in as one of our stops.
 
there are times on hornfans when I want to throw my keyboard across the room.

I think this is the second or third time in a week it's been from a Mr Wizard post
 
My dad's been going there since he went to UT Law in the 60's. I've been going since the 70's. Haven't been in a while, but I have always enjoyed the classic simplicity and unhealthiness of Hoffbrau food.

I wish the G/M Steakhouse on the Drag was still open....
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I do like me a steak though, at Austin Land and Cattle, not the TX L and C.

I just bring my own margarine/lemon sauce to dunk it in
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Yes, another true Austin original. They cook the steaks in butter and lemon juice, and a little pepper, and the home cut fries are greasy, and the only other item they ever had was a lettuce and tomato salad swimming in oil. But it was all good.
I remember when you had to call ahead, not to reserve a table, but to reserve a steak. They only bought so many each day, and when they were gone, that was it.
My grandmother started going there in the 30's, I believe, and my dad went many times.
In college in the late '60's I called for a steak reservation, giving my last name, and the when we showed up, the owner was irritated because he thought the reservation was for my grandmother or father.
I know it is different from Ruth Chris steaks, but it is a unique Austin spot that won't be there forever. I have read they have been offered a lot of money for the property several times from developers. I need to go again before the inevitable occurs.
 
The last time i was there, the steak was so thin it curled up into a bowl like shape which allowed the margarine/lemon elixer to pool on top of the steak.
 
lived in austin 18 yrs and never went, but respect it for its uniqueness and quirkiness. i make the best steak ive ever tasted, so when i go to restaraunts i order something i cant make. i believe it was run by brothers at one point.
 
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