"My husband had been super excited to come to Stoudt's to sample more of their beer. While he wasn't disappointed with the beer, he did expect to be more excited by the beer than he was. There were a couple types he was hoping to sample that they didn't have. Now for the restaurant, the entrance is not well marked and we had a good laugh trying to figure out where exactly we should enter. It smelled a little stale inside and the restrooms need a good deep clean as it just had an odor of many years of patronage. Our server, Kate, was very sweet and attentive. The decor was interesting, the pub felt casual while the dining rooms seemed upscale. I felt a little under-dressed which is rare, but there was a wide range of attire and we were there for lunch. The food could have been a little better. My husband ordered the mussels appetizer which is large at 60 mussels but the actual meat inside was tiny. Like the size of a fingernail. I am picky about shellfish and didn't really care for the actual fish but the sauce was nice. It was served with a piece of rye bread which we felt was an odd choice. The bread in the bread basket was incredibly stale. My husband tried to pass this off as, this is what German bread is like but it was more than just the style of bread. The butter than came with it was delicious. Our side salads were good. I liked the dressing. My one complaint was the ring of red onion in mine had gone rancid. I think a little attention to detail would have helped here. For entrees many people were getting beef or burgers and maybe we should have followed suit. I ordered the small pork schnitzel with dill spaetzle. I actually enjoyed this pretty well. The pork could have been done a little less or pounded out a little more because the thickness and the cook on it together made it a little tough but tasty. The spaetzle my husband felt was a little greasy, I liked it that way. I think the description should have said garlic spaetzle though. I love garlic and I if I didn't I would have been taken aback by the the taste of it so strongly here. If I were to go back I would definitely get this again. Our server recommended the macaroni and cheese and brisket. I love fatty brisket but this was incredibly fatty and it added too much grease to the pasta. The combination of cheeses was a little off putting upon tasting and we asked what they were (cheddar, provolone, swiss and parmesan). My husband decided he wanted to try a different entree because while he mostly liked the dish he couldn't eat it in one sitting due to the richness. He opted to try the apple braised pork with mashed potatoes. They brought this out in a little dish like the mac and cheese and I realized that they have many of these dishes just made up ready to heat. The mashed potatoes were real but they are served on top of the pulled pork (which was very smoky tasting) and then broiled like a shepherd's pie. This was also just sort of fine. I think they could update some of the restaurant practices and potentially put out some good food but it all just felt old-fashioned and not in a quaint or authentic way. More of an 80s restaurant feel. If I had to come back I might try a pretzel or the sausage platter...or maybe the burger/beef instead. For the distance from us and how mediocre an experience we had I don't think we would be returning. I think if you are drinking enough maybe you would be ok with the food but I was not."
