German Food in LA

Schnitzel with spaetzel at Wirtshaus

This summer, I was lucky enough to be able to visit Germany, which should be considered more of a food lover's destination (maybe I'll write something up about that but if you're interested, I covered it on Instagram).  Upon returning home, I was craving some traditional German food. There aren't a lot of options in LA, but here are two that I really liked.

Wirtshaus, on La Brea, has many traditional German dishes including sausages and schnitzel. I enjoyed the schnitzel and spaetzel (a German pasta) and they make a really great pretzel. Their strength, though, is really their beer and pretzels. They have a massive German beer selection and the pretzels are baked fresh, come out piping hot and have a great crusty outside and chewy inside.

Alpine Steinhaus, in Torrance, is located in the Alpine Village, a bizarre, cheesy recreation of an Alpine Village with a mix of German themed shops. It feels like a cross between Epcot Center and a horror movie set, but the food is great. There is a German market with a fantastic selection of salami and house-made sausages as well as German packaged food. The restaurant is also surprisingly good with some of the sausages offered at the market, very good schnitzel and a garlicky, pan fried spaetzel. The food is comparable to Wirtshaus though Alpine does a better spaetzel and Wirtshaus does better pretzels and has a much better beer selection.

Bratwurst with spaetzel at Alipine Steinhaus

If you know of any other good German food in LA, let me know (but no currywurst places please; I'm really not a fan of currywurst).

Wirtshaus

345 N La Brea Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90036 

(323) 931-9291

Alpine Steinhaus (Alpine Village)
833 W Torrance Blvd.

Torrance, CA 90502 

(310) 327-4384