Disappointing experience at Schnitzlhaus

(9th and Folsom St., SF)

Finally after deciding to go to Schnitzlhaus two months ago we went last night. The place was full, and we arrived ahead of our friends who made reservations. The female manager said that we could not have reservations because they only take them for 5 and up and we were only four. I called my friend who said he had made them 2 months ago via the internet and got a confirmation - she said that was not possible. I quickly gave up as she seemed unwilling to help, and waited until my friend arrived. He talked to her, and although she insisted we could have never made reservations, we did get a seat about 30 minutes later. We started off with beer and bread - so far so good. Then some sausages with potatoes and sauerkraut - also good. After that course, we did not get our main meal until about an hour later - the place had half emptied, and I kept on looking around wondering when they would serve us - we waited way toooo long. One of my friends ordered one of the Schnitzels, which he claimed was good, my other friend had had othered the venison, and quickly determined that he was not eating venison but beef (his father owns a butcher business and he knows his meat - anyone who has eaten venisson a few times would know the difference between this gamy meet and beef). He called the waiter because he assumed that he had gotten the wrong dish altogether but the waiter insisted that it was the right dish and that he was eating venisson. We just let it go. My husband ordered the chicken in paprika sauce - that dish was okay. I ordered Kaesespaetzle which I had been looking forward to. I took one bite and was beyond disappointed - the dish was barely eatible and bore no resemblance to the real dish. The spaetzle themselves had no form but were overcooked and limp, and the cheese they used - who knows what it was - some white stuff with no flavor and taste - the whole dish was bland, boring and had a bad consistency. I would not have said anything but the female manager came up and asked how things were, and I told her that the spaetzle were not good. She got immediately defensive and asked why - I told her they were bland etc. She asks "where are you from?" I say, "Austria." She says: "I am Bavarian, and this is how we make Spaetzle in Bavaria." At that point I should have probably just let it go but it was total nonsense - some of the best Spaetzle I had were in Munich last year, and I am going there again in a few days. A good friend of mine from Munich makes Spaetzle, and they do not compare in any way what I ate (or really barely ate) last night. So, I told her this was not true, and then she got pissed and reprimanded me for having a bad tone. Maybe I was a bit harsh but she annoyed me with trying to tell me some nonsense.

I got turned on to this place when they served fresh pretzels during a fair but I found out that the don't make them there but order them from San Leandro - those pretzels were really good - my Schnitzlhaus experience was really BAD.