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Black Forest Cafe

3.9 (60 reviews)

Black Forest Cafe Photos

BLACK FOREST CAFE ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Moderate noise
Good for groups
Outdoor seating

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Recommended Reviews - Black Forest Cafe

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Reviews With Photos

Currywurst and the German sampler
Lisa W.

Great service, delicious food, friendly and helpful wait staff, in a cozy setting! The menu offers all of the traditional German favorites and other dishes too.

Menu
Jim E.

I'm not gunna lie, it's a little weird being on the German American Festival grounds when it's not the end of August. But where else would you go to have good German food?! The Black Forest Cafe is open year round (but NOT during the GAF), but check the hours as it varies. If you've got some German heritage in you, you'll feel right at home. The carved wooden bar and the giant coo-coo clock are IG-worthy. Likewise the giant Nutcracker. The menu is pretty vast with lots of traditional German dishes to chose from. And even some American fare for those less adventuresome in your group.

Fireplace
Irina G.

If you're looking for ambience and atmosphere- this is definitely the place to visit. Located in the forest, great in the summer time since they do have a patio and ambience inside is pretty cool. Staff is very friendly and the portions are large. However, the food was very blah...dry schnitzels and barely any flavor. Didn't really taste the difference between chicken and veal. Pretzel was big but nothing spectacular.

Gen.and Tim
Genevieve K.

The food was authentic, tasty and piping hot. The serving sizes were huge. We left with enough leftovers for another meal and the prices were reasonable. We love the back patio with comfy chairs. The sun was shining and the beer was quenching our thirst. Highly recommend doe family get togethers and meet ups with friends. Huhnerschnitzel

Black Forest Cafe Burger!!!
Dustin H.

GOOD LORD! Friday night dinners at the Black Forest Cafe are worth the effort. It's less than 10 miles from Toledo, though it does feel worlds apart. But GOOD LORD... the food is really really good. God almighty! It's also very very white. The Black Forest Cafe Burger is unreal. Seasoned 1/3 lb Hamburger (seems smaller) with your choice of sausage (I chose German Bratwurst) 2 pieces of bacon (good stuff) cheese (I rightly chose pepperjack) and 1 egg all awkwardly placed between a toasted lovely Pretzel Bun! Served with AMAZING German Potato Salad and Sauerkraut. Seriously. People.... the potato salad alone is worth another visit. Warm... porky... perfectly soft and smooth. I want more. A lot more. The whole dish is perfect. No store bought anything. The kraut was insane. Home style... rough... perfect. The burger is nuts. Impossible to eat but the challenge is wonderful. My wife was hoping to order the Weiner Schnitzel. But we showed up late... and it was sold out. THAT'S A GOOD THING. They make a limited amount of food, and sell out. That's awesome. It means it's fresh. So instead, my wife orders the Vollgestopftes Eichelsquash AKA Stuffed Acorn Squash. Goodness gracious great balls of fire! It's unbelieveable. A 1/2 a squash filled with a grapefruit sized sphere of sausage/beef/rice that is wonderfully seasoned and covered in a sweet glaze. It's so so so good. Everything is expertly seasoned. The dinner portions are HUGE. The service is lovely. The atmosphere is killer, and the drinks are strong. We had two huge entrees, sauerkraut ball entrees and 5 drinks. Dinner with a ten dollar tip was just shy of $50. That's an incredible deal for the quality of food. It's wonderful and worth twice the price. BFC is absolutely one of the best restaurants in NW Ohio.

Black Forest Cake
Brooke M.

What a great find! If you want authentic German food this is a must. Both adult and kid friendly. The kids chose the hot dogs and fries which they both enjoyed. We started with the shareable pretzel which is huge. It's very soft and was perfectly cooked. You get four dips which allow for lots of great combos. For dinners we enjoyed the jagerschnitzel and huhnerschnitzel. Both were perfectly cooked and super flavorful. The German potato salad was spot on. For dessert, we had both the carrot cake and Black Forest cake. While both were delicious, the carrot cake was the favorite (no nuts).

Walkway to entrance.
Rene M.

I sure hate to rate this place so low as the service was great and the ambiance was super, but I can't justify a higher rating due to the lackluster food. The schnitzel was crisp and tasty, but the gravy was cold and the spaetzel was so bland I couldn't eat it. The sauerkraut was ok, but nothing that stood out as homemade or authentic German. The beer was good and the outdoor seating area was a nice option, but nothing special. The interior reminded me of an inviting hunting lodge (minus animal heads) or a German-like pub. A brick fireplace highlights one end of the room and a giant cuckoo clock is at the other. I'm sure the clock is loud, but I would have loved to have heard it. A small bar area is within the main seating area. The location is a bit hard to find. It's within a park at the rear. Follow the signs. Parking is expansive. There is a decent walking distance to the main entrance but it's flat and handicapped can use walker or scooter without too much trouble. Hours on Yelp differ from posted hours. Currently they are open w-f 11a-9p. Based on location I doubt it gets very busy. We were the only people there at 2:30. Sure wish the food had been better as I live the quaintness and uniqueness of this place.

Erin E.

Ok, so I would have given this place 3-4 stars if it hadn't been for the drunken labile owner ruining the entire dining experience. Food: Better than average. Our potato pancakes were a tad soggy (needed strained better), and our pork shank lacked the delicious crispy skin, but overall it's good German food, exactly what you'd expect with a great and I mean GREAT beer selection. Staff: Top notch, especially our waiter Garrett. He was fast, funny, polite, informative and attentive. He KNEW that menu and made great food and drink recommendations. Our bartender was a peach! Ambience: DUSTY, like a THICK sneeze your way through dinner crust of dust. You could see LAYERS of dust on the "roof" over the bar and the coocoo clock was encloaked with the same. The whole place needs a good scrub. The music was LOUD and weird... thriller, then top gun sound track, eye of the tiger, then oasis. Forget conversation. Now for the "fun" part: There was a drunken LOUD disruptive man in a hawiian shirt at the bar, still being served. Now it started off funny- dancing to thriller, "sucking brains" out of small children, loud laughter, and then it escalated to intrusive and slightly creepy dancing as he gyrated his way around the room slurring and stumbling, dancing with uncomfortable guests. I couldn't believe he was still being served, and said as much to the bartender. Come to find out he's an OWNER!!! As we were sitting having a drink and finishing dinner we hear a string of explotives coming from the men's bathroom. And with that comes the real fun. It was a Jeckyl and Hyde situation. Into the bathroom a jovial drunk, out of the bathroom an A$$HOLE. He was SWEARING at staff, who from what we had observed had done nothing to provoke said a$$hole. As he continued reaming them for seemingly nothing, we hurredly paid our check and bolted. I was mortified for the staff who were clearly doing their best to accomodate guests while being berrated and belittled. Over all sad, we love the GAF and German food/drink. It's hard to support a business that treats staff so poorly and treats their business like a frat house.

Stuffed Green Pepper Soup

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3 years ago

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4 months ago

This restaurant is now closed. They had really good food. The community is sorry to lose them.

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6 years ago

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3 years ago

Authentic German cuisine in a wonderful atmosphere. The service is top notch. I highly recommend.

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7 years ago

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6 years ago

Best German food in town. Can be hard to find. Not open on weekends but worth the wiggles.

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Ask the Community - Black Forest Cafe

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Stopped in here on a wednesday with some friends that live in the area. We were seated right away…read moreand they had a decent crowd but not packed. They had a special for a smash burger and fries for $10 bucks that looked good but what caught my eye was the beef sandwiches. I ended up ordering the Blue Cheese Beef which consisted of shredded beef topped with melted blue cheese, bacon and tomatoes. One of my friends ordered the smash burger deal and my wife ordered the Cheesy Spinach flatbreads. We were also there early enough for the happy hour drink specials and ordered some draft beer. Our first drinks came pretty quickly and the food wasn't too far behind. My beef sandwich came with an au jus sauce and a side of tater tots. This sandwich was amazing and I will probably order it again the next time we are there. The beef was tender and flavorful and the blue cheese with bacon stepped up the flavors. My wife really enjoyed her flatbread as it had the perfect amount of cheese and crispy crust. My friend liked her smash burger as well which looked like a generous size for the special. The only thing that could have been improved is for our waitress to check on us more frequently. Our drinks had run dry and we were almost done eating before she came back. Besides that, the food was great and I recommend you to stop in here for one of their daily specials or get yourself a beef sandwich.

We tried Luckys for the 1st time. Seems to be very popular. It took 15 min for a waitress to take…read moreour drink order. Another 10 min to get the drinks. The food took another half hour and we didnt get napkins or asked if we needed silverware till after that. The waitress never checked in us and someone else had to bring my husband another beer. My order was not as I ordered it and my husband's fries were ice cold but there was zero chance we were sending it back. Over all the food was good but the service was horrendous.

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Luckie's Barn & Grill - Seating booth

Seating booth

Luckie's Barn & Grill - Dragon Burger.  Looks better than it tastes.  That seems to be a trend at Luckie's.

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Very nice experience for dinner tonight. Seated after a short wait, our waitress came over and took…read moreour drink order. Placed our entree order. Our waitress was very attentive polite and professional. After a short wait dinner was served which was outstanding. Prepared properly with a nice presentation.

Both of these stars are for our server! We had an excellent server, I can't remember his name now,…read morebut I think it was Carter or something like that. He looked very young, but he was obviously old enough to bring drinks. The food was mediocre and that's being generous, the drinks were nothing special, and the value just wasn't there. This was my birthday dinner and to be honest we were trying to go somewhere else, but they weren't open on a Monday. We came to J Alexander's, again not my first choice but a steak is a steak, right? Wrong. My sister-in-law ordered steak medallions, and they literally look like hamburgers. They were thin, slightly overcooked, underseasoned, and the overall cut just did not look good. My husband got a ribeye and again the sear on it was poor. The steak had a grayish cast to it. Not exactly appetizing! I ended up ordering the ribs, they come with a plum barbecue sauce and it was a generous portion but again they were nothing special. I got it with a baked potato. That was a bit dry and a bit hard. I think I brought home about 75% of my meal. We did get a very good appetizer. It was a raw tuna mince served on a crispy rice croquette. I got a gin and tonic that was not even really drinkable. They served it in a giant glass, the size you would get a soft drink in and it was almost entirely tonic. Way to ruin a nice shot of Hendricks. My sister-in-law had an espresso martini, and I don't think they use real espresso- but I could be wrong. M all four of us had something different and none of us had a good meal. If you are charging $50 for a stake medallion supper, the medallions should not look like hockey puck hamburgers. The atmosphere is beautiful, we waited a bit to be seated despite calling ahead of being told we didn't need a reservation or to be put on a waitlist. The bartender was slow and obviously inexperienced, but again both of these stars are really for our server. I got a free piece of carrot cake because it was my birthday meal and that was not good either. It came out and it tasted like it was still half frozen. I don't think I'll be back here anytime soon. It put a damper on my birthday a bit.

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J. Alexander's
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What an incredible experience! My husband and I are both foodies and this place was so very…read morespecial starting with the service. Our server Allison was very knowledgeable about the menu. And I was really struggling over the lobster bites and a special prosciutto burrata appetizer so guess what? She sent out a half order of the special on the house so we could try them both!!! The beef carpaccio was melt in your mouth and don't get me started on the fresh pasta. Everything was house made and DELICIOUS! And the filet was cooked perfectly, just like the al dente pasta. My husband's chicken parmigiana was yummy also. And the desserts were delicious. We will definitely be back!!! Best place we've eaten at in a long time. And the atmosphere was casual and inviting.

We had such a great dining experience here. Everything was so wonderful that I would make the three…read morehour and 45 minute trip back just to dine here again. We started with the whipped feta, lobster bites, and the garlic bread. The whipped feta is an absolute must have. I will be dreaming about this until I have it again. They give you toasted ciabatta and cucumbers on the side to dip. Even with the cucumbers, this dip is absolutely amazing. Very refreshing. We went with the miso glazed Chilean Sea bass & the chicken parm. My husband really enjoyed his Sea bass and I absolutely loved my chicken Parmesan. It had the best spaghetti I've ever had in my entire life. The sauce had a tiny bit of heat that really added to the flavor. I loved my meal!

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The Standard Restaurant - Bar area

Bar area

The Standard Restaurant - Lamb chops - the flavor was incredible

Lamb chops - the flavor was incredible

The Standard Restaurant - Adult beverages!

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Black Forest Cafe - german - Updated November 2026

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