Zicke, Zacke, Zicke, Zacke, Hoi, Hoi, Hoi...

Oktoberfest celebration

718 South Street

Philadelphia, PA 19147 

http://www.brauhausschmitz.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/BS_Oktbrfst_PCfrnt_LO44.pdf

www.brauhausschmitz.com/

   

During September, my girlfriend and I went down to South Street on a Saturday to meet up with some friends from college that we had not seen in a while. She had been looking for an Oktoberfest celebration somewhere in the city because she had not been to Oktoberfest in quite some time because she had not lived in Munich since she was 6. We went down to the best known German restaurant in the city called Brauhaus Schmitz for their 3^rd annual Oktoberfest celebration. They shut down the entire block from 8^th to 7^th on South Street. They had tents set up like they do at the real Oktoberfest celebration. There were people in lederhosen everywhere. There were German beers everywhere; Spaten, Hofbrau, and Franziskaner. 

We walked into the celebration and it was incredible. It made me want to visit the real thing as soon as possible. The German folk music was awesome! They also played the famous German drinking song Ein Prosit over and over again with everyone chanting, "Zicke, zacke, zicke, zacke, hoi, hoi, hoi". You have probably heard this song in movies before. 

We enjoyed a few pints of beer and some really incredible German food. They had all the typical Oktoberfest fare; all kinds of homemade sausages, sauerkraut, German potato salad, and pretzels. The pretzels weren’t all that great, which I find very surprising because they had been voted the best in Philly. My girlfriend was very upset about this, but I think we will go back to Brauhaus and I bet they will be much better when they aren’t mass produced for thousands of people. The bratwurst was in another world! The taste and texture was so different than what I have come to know as bratwurst. There were no fat pieces in the meat at all. It was smooth, and the casing had an incredible snap to it in each and every bite! I am not a fan of sauerkraut, but this sauerkraut was delicious. The potato salad was fantastic as well. It was very rich and creamy, and the potatoes were cooked absolutely perfectly. They also had a pig roasting on the fire the entire day, so I am sure that that was delicious as well. 

I cannot wait to go back to the Oktoberfest celebration at Brauhaus Schmitz next year. It was so much fun and the food and beer were incredible. I loved every second of the celebration and I think that anyone would be able to have fun there. There were tons of people there, and yet I do not feel like a whole lot of people knew about it. So next year come on out and celebrate! Cheers!