Adam & Eats: Emmy’s German Restaurant

Editor’s note: Adam Brandt is a graduate from the Cobra Kai School of Culinary Callousness, where he received their highest award, the Red Apron of Merciless Eating. Aside from eating and talking about eating, he makes pots, paintings, prints, books, photographs, and generally, a big mess. He has been the studio assistant at Mudpuppy Pottery for almost nine years and is attending a local university in a desperate attempt to earn a biology degree. Feel free to give him a hard time.

Sometimes it is the Wurst of times, that makes for the best of times. Someone had to say it. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk sausages, shall we?

Emmy’s German Restaurant’s new location in the former Hall at Taliano’s has not hurt their dining experience at all. For a while, they were finding their galley legs again, but they have fully recovered from the move and are even better than they were before.

If you show up on a Friday night, reservations or not, you’ll find the wait is not bad and the Polka coming from the dining room makes the wait strangely more bearable by subconsciously making you dance a little. Once seated, your server — if you’re lucky you’ll get Doreen (yeah, I remembered her name) — will begin your very enjoyable dinner experience by taking your drink orders. It’s German so you should probably go for a beer.

What you did not notice is that while your server was taking your drink order, they stealthily filled the water glass in front of you, a service that that they will continue to do for you throughout the course of the meal, relatively unseen. That is a sign of a great server, stealth. They are like the Ninjas of the food industry. They are seen when they choose to be seen and not seen the rest of the time.

Beers are delivered, appetizers and entrees are ordered and now we wait. This is the part that will make or break your experience here at Emmy’s. If you go into the restaurant expecting fast food service speed, you’ll be disappointed. If you go into the restaurant expecting a European dinner, you’ll be pleased by how quickly food shows up to your table. The beauty of the European dinner table is that food is the icing on the good fellowship cake. Dinner should be filled with good friends, good conversation, and, sometimes, good drinks. Emmy’s does not disappoint in the Euro meal experience. The appetizers, soup, salad, bread, and entrees are all timed perfectly for allowing the slow eating and long conversations typical of a big German family meal.

If you are the type of person who typically does not order an appetizer, make an exception at Emmy’s. No dinner at Emmy’s is complete with The Board. The Board is just that, a wooden cutting board. On top of the cutting board are two types of sausage, Emmy’s German Eggroll, and the most amazing piece of fried cheese you will ever experience. Oh, and don’t forget both the spicy and the honey mustards. A recommendation that was passed on to me and I will pass it on to you is this: dip the fried cheese in the honey mustard. Amazing!

The Veal Cordon Bleu with a fried egg on top is great, as well as the Beef Rouladen Mit Kartoffel Klosse, and the Sauerbraten Mit Kartoffel Klosse. The Reuben Chicken comes highly recommended as well.

The whole experience at Emmy’s is great. The ambience is cozy, the waitstaff are friendly, the food is spectacular, and the prices won’t kill you either. The prices are a little higher than typical Fort Smith fare, but as far as fine dining goes they could be much higher, so count it as a blessing that it is not. The price is the only thing making Emmy’s a special occasion restaurant instead of, to my personal disappointment, a daily dining experience.

You could probably make the cynical joke that Emmy’s is the best German food in town and you’d be right. What you did not mention is that you’d be hard pressed to find a better German Restaurant in a 50-mile radius. If you haven’t eaten there, you should. Well, what are you waiting for? Oh, and tell them Adam says “Hello and keep up the good work.” That will leave your poor server wondering who the Hell Adam is.

Until next week, Zum Wohl!

Feedback
When he’s not beating his eggs, Adam makes time to respond to e-mails that get past his hard-ass spam filter. You can try to reach him at [email protected]

Adam also has this thing called Sandwich Control.