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    East Side Restaurant

    3.4 (268 reviews)
    Open • 12:00 pm - 8:30 PM
    Updated 3 weeks ago

    East Side Restaurant Photos

    EAST SIDE RESTAURANT ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Loud
    Live music
    Good for kids
    Dogs allowed

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    Recommended Reviews - East Side Restaurant

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    Dee O.

    My son's high school friend lives in Germany but graduated from a local private school. We took her along with another friend and both our kids to East Side for an authentic German meal. It was a BLAST! The food was excellent and authentic (according to the German girl!) and the ambience was perfect. I've never been to Germany but I felt like I was in EPCOT and my son's friend was thrilled. She said it was so much like her home city. We drove over an hour to go here and it was totally worth it. We will go again.

    Giant Bavarian Pretzel
    Christina S.

    It was such a cool experience checking out this restaurant! The staff is very energetic and you can tell they love their jobs! You have to order the big beers to get them to do the chanting and my god is it a blast! The sauce of the stuffed mushrooms were fantastic, we really enjoyed the pretzel with the mustards but weren't a fan of the liver pate with it. They always have specials so I tried the duck. But the star of the night was the Black Forest cake! It was moist and flavorful! Would definitely love to experience this place during their Oktoberfest!

    Pork schnitzel
    Amelia Z.

    Very very good food! We had the sausage sampler, highly recommend! I do like my sausage cooked a little more crispy so next time I go I'll definitely say well done. For dinner I had the pork schnitzel. It was good, sides were a little underwhelming with portion and seasoning. I did enjoy trying it however next time I think I'll get the sausage sampler as an entrée!

    Banana Cream
    Kellie R.

    To this day, my previous review remains the same! I love East Side and need to visit every time we come up to CT. The food and service are still top notch! The only difference between the review 7 years ago to today is that I now own two shirts (one for ordering the shots and getting smacked on the bum with the board and the other that says "I'm on my wurst behavior") and two bears from their gift shop. I love love LOVE East Side!!

    German Wedding Soup
    Mark W.

    "Ticky Tocky Ticky Tocky HOY HOY HOY!" Happy Thanksgiving 2024 Yelpers, and I hope you are all having a great time! Normally, I do not eat out for Thanksgiving, but I did have a brother visit from Florida for the day, so my mom made a reservation for us at this restaurant to have our Thanksgiving dinner. While I didn't quite remember the place at first, it turns out that I have actually been here once before. I know this because of the spanker they have here. Parking can be a pain, and the exterior don't look like much, but once you set foot it's another ball game. You will be asked if you prefer it to be quiet or loud; we ended up choosing loud. Right when you're seated in the loud section, you get a sense for how festive it is inside here. It's actually quite spectacular when you get to the chants. There is a lot of food and drink to get to for our Thanksgiving specials. We had the Hot Spiked Ciders that were special for the holiday. You can get a Das Boot for your beer which my mom got, and my brother and I each got a beer flight. The Wurst Platter was the Starter we went with, and we were also given saltines with sauerkraut and cottage cheese. For the main course, mom got the Thanksgiving turkey dinner with spaetzle and a German Wedding soup, my brother the Half Roast Long Island Duckling with the potato pancake, and then I had the Pork Tenderloin with potato pancake. For dessert, there was the pumpkin pie and the chocolate creme pie. To sum it all up, we all were impressed with what we ordered. Normally, I would not have gravy on food and that won't change in the future, but this time around the gravy was good. My brother is normally not one for mustard, but he thought it was good. All around everything was delicious. Their only blemish is the dunkel that was one of the drinks in my flight, but I will just chalk that up to the fact that dark, bitter beers are just not my thing. The lager and wheat ones were really good. Service was on-point too. We had our waitress check in on us as we were eating and was nice basically throughout. Wait time wasn't too bad given we were far from the only people who came here. Remember, when we got here, every parking space was taken and we had to wait for someone to pull out before we could park. And in here it did almost feel like a kind of party going on in the establishment. If you come here often enough, you can join their loyalty clubs. I didn't get a chance to see much of how they worked, but you can count hundreds of beer glasses hanging from the ceiling piece. There is also a mural you can look at from your table on the wall if you are more the kind of person to appreciate the artwork in this place. It's a great place for special occasions, and I hope those coming here find a lot to love about this spot like we did.

    Christine d.

    Restaurant is a lot of fun for everyone. Chants for beers of all sizes. An accordion player who takes requests which adds to atmosphere. Food is delicious and served hot. I've gone there several times with a group of friends. The servers are polite and courteous.

    Boots of beer!
    Michaela P.

    Oktoberfest energy year-round! East Side nails the lively beer hall atmosphere, complete with giant mugs, salty pretzels, and staff who chant every time you order something absurdly large. Bonus points for the paddle-spanking shot flight (don't ask, just watch). Food-wise, the jaeger schnitzel is my go-to: crispy, flavorful, and generously sauced. The spaetzle is a bit divisive; it's bland for some, but I find the soft, chewy texture oddly comforting and extra delicious when paired with a saucier entree. The Burger Meister is a solid pick for sausage lovers, and I always order the pretzel, which comes nicely salted. The potato pancakes are tasty and satisfying, and the beer selection is reliably great. Bonus points for the staff's sense of humor and for the owners who go the extra mile to keep fussy kids entertained with toys. A gentle note: the food can be a bit inconsistent depending on the day. I'd probably skip the pot roast next time, but there's plenty else on the menu to enjoy.

    Menu
    Matthew L.

    East Side Restaurant is a German restaurant and biergarten that opened in New Britain, Connecticut in 1934. It was founded by Steffi and Eddie Walters. The location was formerly a grocery store. It was transformed into a German restaurant at a time when trolley cars still ran down Dwight Street. The restaurant was later sold to Bill and Ruth Bloethe. Steffi and Eddie relocated to Old Saybrook where they successfully ran the Dock and Dine for several years afterwards. The Bloethes ran East Side for over 40 years while they raised their children. They expanded the dining room and commissioned a beautiful mural inside. Just prior to 2000, East Side was purchased by Nick, Barbara and Shari Augustino. They worked closely with the Bloethes to ensure that the important East Side traditions would continue for decades to come. The Augustinos have made two renovations and expansions to the restaurant in order to capture the look of the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, Germany. My wife and I have enjoyed visits to East Side a number of times over the years. It's always nice to get an authentic taste of Germany. We stopped in for dinner with our two sons this past weekend in honor of Oktoberfest. Of course, at East Side it is Oktoberfest everyday! I own my very own East Side beer boot which the staff are happy to fill every time I visit. On this occasion I filled my boot with Spaten's "Oktoberfest" while my wife had a "Mango Tango Martini" (Tito's Homemade Vodka, Absolut Mango, Fruja Mango). For appetizers, we all shared a plate of "German Potato Pancakes" (side of applesauce and sour cream) and a "Giant Bavarian Pretzel" (side of Bavarian Obatzda Cheese, zen mustard and liver pâté). For entrees, I had the "Wiener Schnitzel" (breaded cutlet topped with a sunny side egg and a wedge of lemon), my wife had the "East Side Reuben" (slices of corned beef layered with homemade sauerkraut, melted cheese, tangy Thousand Island dressing, grilled marble rye bread), our older son had the "Burgermeister Plate" (knockwurst served over sauerkraut and topped with demi-glaze) and our younger son had "Spätzle" (with marinara sauce). Everything was so delicious! We also love how festive the dining room always gets with chants of "Ticki Tocki Ticki Tocki! Hoy Hoy Hoy!" Good food, good beer, good people, good times! We'll continue to come to East Side for years to come!

    Emily G.

    Fun and unique experience. The food was good, but it was really for the space and staff. We went for my fiancés birthday and it was a great way to celebrate. The beer glasses were HUGE and so were the flight portions. There is a call and answer the staff does when they bring them out. I liked the beer they offered in the flight. My fiancé also got the paddle of shots which came with a t-shirt and a spanking. Yes...I said a spanking lol. It was pretty funny. One major downfall in my book is the fact that they would not/could not do separate checks. I asked at the beginning because we had such a large group. It was a hassle to break up the check and pay on all the cards and cash. It would be great if they were able to update that system. It looks like big groups are extremely common. Otherwise, we had a great experience!

    Turkey dinner

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    Food is very authentic and the atmosphere brings it all together! All the sides are delish and just keep coming. Ticky tok ticky tok

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    East Side Restaurant Reviews in Other Languages

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    East Side Restaurant - german - Updated October 2026

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