Amazing food. Nice bistro in downtown galena. Service excellent too. German / French cuisine.

Okay, I've been convinced. Fritz and Frites is the BEST dinner restaurant in Galena! Not only is the food incredible, the service is out of this world and the vibes are truly *chef's kiss.* I came here for my birthday with some friends and our young kids (two 4 year olds and an infant.) From the moment we made our reservation, the staff was incredibly accommodating. By no means is this a typical "bring the kids" type of dining establishment, but sometimes parents just gotta do what they gotta do... and the staff at Fritz and Frites were truly so kind and accepting. The kids drew with crayons on the table paper cover and ate some delicious mac and cheese from the sides menu. They were as content as the adults were with their meals! Speaking of our meals, I ordered the Poulet Roti. An absolutely delicious roasted chicken dish, which I believe is the best chicken I've ever tasted! I can't wait for our next trip to Galena, just for another dinner at this wonderful place. read more

Fritz and Frites - Poulet Roti - French Near Me - Galena, Illinois

Tremendous food and service, highly recommend!!!!! Add Fritz and Frites to your to do list next time you come to Galena! The steak and frites are excellent read more

Significantly exceeded my expectations. Bravo! The pate was excellent with the appropriate stoneground Dijon mustard, toasted baguettes and Cornichons. The hanger steak seemed a bit small in size, but was far more tender than usual, perfectly cooked medium rare. The skinny frites were the perfect accompaniment as expected in Paris. I inquired about the provenance of the Pinot and Cabernet. the server presented the physical bottles and gave me a taste of each, $14. The Pinot was very good, and the Cabernet was excellent, value significantly exceeding the price in my opinion, My dining neighbor received a gigantic piece of German chocolate cake, prompting my audible gasp. Then ordered - Excellent also. I'm coming back tomorrow Don't need to try another restaurant in Galena. read more

My wife and I came here to celebrate one week since we were married. We took a little pre-honeymoon to Galena, and after reviewing several options, we decided to eat here. We were not disappointed. The service at the very outset was excellent. The staff made sure to make us feel welcome and quickly understood this was a special moment for us. The meal itself was excellent. The steak was perfectly done, and the special duck wienerschnitzel was truly impressive. The decor felt like a bistro in France! It was a great evening, and the service there ensured it was a night to remember. We would definitely recommend coming here for any special occassions. read more

10/10 we have been here multiple times. It's my favorite restaurant in Galena. Ambiance - makes you feel like you are in a cute lil European bistro Food - 10/10. Small, but mighty menu with French and German cuisine. Wine and beer menu are also great. Service - always great. Even when we were there during Covid and they were behind, they kept us informed and even gave us a free dessert. read more

We had a group of 9 and had a private room for seating, which was lovely. Lisa, our server, was friendly and attentive. A variety of foods were ordered and folks really enjoyed the French onion soup and Brie cheese appetizers. The trout presentation was appealing and tasty. read more

Fritz and Frites - Trout almondine - French Near Me - Galena, Illinois

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My husband and I had dinner here about a month ago when we spent a lovely weekend in Galena! This bistro is the perfect cozy spot for a delicious meal. I love the concept of a French/german restaurant, and their menu does a great job offering menu items from both cuisines. The French onion soup is definitely a must have! We also shared the Choucroute Garnie! The sausages were all delicious and we ordered a side of red cabbage and spaetzle to share. We can't wait to come back and try more off the menu next time we are in Galena! read more

Great food and great service. Me and my husband went on a date night and will definitely be coming back! read more

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Soup was good Very nice esthetics on every meal They have no idea what is Schnitzel and how it taste, 4 times more bread crumbs on it then meat , Veal taste the same like duck and the same like pork, I guess it was the same meat. Flowerless chocolate cake with block cherries was outstanding. Two days after I posted this review the restaurant owner called me with anger and very unpleasant and rude tone of his voice that I gave them only 3 stars ratings. So becouse of his behavior I am changing it to 1 star Beware there !!! They will come after you if you don't like what they serve If you ever eat here you can only have good opinion even if the food is not good. That's the type of business this is.... read more

This charming little restaurant was surprisingly not busy on a Friday night with perfect fall weather when every other restaurant seemed to have an hour wait for a table. While the lack of a wait made me a bit nervous, the food we ordered was absolutely delicious and exceeded all our expectations for the restaurant. My husband ordered one of the German dishes, while I went with the daily special of a cassoulet. His food was good, but nothing to write home about. My cassoulet was fantastic, cozy, fresh and full of flavors. The staff were so warm and welcoming and this was a highlight during our weekend trip to Galena. read more

What a delightful place! Food amazing. Service wonderful! Decor quaint. Restaurant clean and comfortable. Sara was an AMAZING server and made an already wonderful experience even better! read more

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Came to Galena for a short mini moon with my husband and decided to have dinner here based on the great reviews I've seen at yelp, tiktok and google, and we were not disappointed. Service was great from start to finish, they have a good wine selection, prices are fair, and mostly, the food was amazing. The onion soup is the best I ever had, and the steak was so tender and well marinated. We also had the foix gras, and the chicken, both incredibly good as well. We ended the night with a shot of espresso, a capuccino and the profiteroles, which were the perfect balance of sweetness and freshness. Will be coming back for sure! read more

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I wished we were more hungry so we could try more food. We had the pate with toast points yum. Tomato soup that was huge and one of the best I've had. Then the frites. OMG a huge order of super thin crispy fries that we had to take home . The best. The wine selection is extensive if you want a bottle. Service was outstanding. read more

Fritz and Frites - Pate and toast points - French Near Me - Galena, Illinois

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I am not sure we got the full Fritz and Frites experience, because we had to sit outside (they were full inside), in a buggy patio. I did appreciate them making room for us and not just turning us away. It seemed like a very nice restaurant inside. The food was very good - Brie and baguette app, French onion soup, the special of the day (short rib), salmon - these are the things we tried that we liked a lot. And the waitress was very friendly. I think if you sat inside and had the whole experience, this would be a 15/10. read more

Visited once again and really enjoyed our meals but Lisa's service was extraordinary. My dad is blind and she took so much extra care to make sure he was comfortable and at ease. Items had: onion soup, choucroute, trout , steak frites and German chocolate cake. Cocktails and wine were top notch too! Can't wait to be back! read more

My wife & I had dinner here after a long day of work & travel. It was the perfect way to wind down and settle into town. I ordered the schweineschnitzel and it was fantastic. My wife had their special that night, the cassoulet, which she really enjoyed as well. The restaurant was pretty busy but we were able to get a table right away. Our waitress was very nice and attentive. We would absolutely come back when in Galena! read more

Service was amazing. Definitely get the schnitzel. The mussels hail from Prince Edward Island fresh and tasty. Spaetzle was bland and dry. Sauerkraut was very vinegary. read more

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There are a lot of places in the world to get food. It is always fun to see if there are hidden gems when going to destinations. Is Fritz and Frites one of those hidden gems (stars kind of gave that answer away...) here is my review: Ambiance Fritz and Frites is a cozy bistro that has out door seating. The place is well lit and the colors of the place was light which gave it a bright feel. There was a lot of noise but that was due to how busy they were with patrons. It is slightly small but I never felt like I was packed in with everyone else. Service Our server, Sara, did a tremendous job. She was friendly and not over bearing. She gave us recommendations and always checked on us to see if everything was going well. Not only did Sara do a great jo, the rest of the staff also did a wonderful job. It was to a point where the other staff member kept my drink full and had Sara feeling bad thinking that she did not check on my water. A nice little thing as well was that did give us 2 forks (one each for me and my significant other) without me asking for it. Food There is so much that I wanted to try. The food is of both the French and German faire. Here is what was ordered: Escargot The escargot was cooked with butter, garlic, and brandy. These little morsels were very tasty, and the hint of brandy gave a little sweetness to the escargot. We were recommend to order some bread, which was definitely the right choice because the butter, garlic and brandy sauce was delicious. It was also a milestone for my girlfriend since she has not had escargot before. I am glad she got to try this as her first. Chicken jaeger-schnitzel with red cabbage and speztel. - I got the chicken schnitzel. I was recommended to get the Jäegerschnitzel which was the breaded cutlet with a mushroom gravy. It was delicious. The gravy added to the whole dish and gave more depth of flavor. The red cabbage gave a nice acidity but had some sweetness to it. The spetzel was there to help with any over the top flavors, similar to what rice or noodles usually do. Everything worked together and very nice dish. Steak and frites - My girlfriend got the steak and frites. She let me try some and she definitely won with this dish. The streak she had was so tender that it melted in your mouth. They gave a lot of shoe string potatoes which she told me it what they do in France. What was also nice was that the steak dripping soaked up into the potatoes, which sacred like a sauce/dressing. Profiteroles - These little puff pastries are cut in half and has ice cream in them. They are also drizzled with chocolate sauce. These were a light dessert which were pleasantly ending for the end of the meal. My girlfriend got this... 7-layer German chocolate cake - Not sure what I was think here. Always a specifically when this large piece of cake comes toward you. The cake is delicious. It was moist and flavorful, but not too chocolate that it got you tired. The icing was nice and gave a good accent to the cake itself. The coconut gave a nice flavor and texture difference. I ate most of it but took the rest back to your living quarters because we had a magic show to visit and I did not want to pass out form too much food. Overall Food was great, Service was spectacular. We are definitely going here when we visit Galena again. We had a wonderful experience which leaves us with a problem. Do we venture to try something new or do we get the items that we throughly enjoyed? read more

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Outstanding dinner of Baked Brie, Pork Shank, Trout Almondine, with attentive and friendly table service by our server Wendi, on Friday evening July 18. Owner and chef Fred greeted us at the door of this quiet and elegant restaurant. Would absolutely recommend for a wonderful evening when in Galena. read more

Fritz and Frites - French Near Me - Galena, Illinois

We had a delicious meal - schnitzel and cabbage, good wine and excellent service. We ate early and snagged a table by the window. A great experience! read more

We had a wonderful dinner here last night. A very intimate, European style restaurant with an outstanding menu. Both traditional French and German dishes are available on a relatively small but outstanding menu. The staff were attentive and friendly, and no one was rushed. The restaurant was packed. Great to see this place succeeding! read more

Great food that will feed your cravings for German food in the beautiful little town. This is one you don't want to miss

French AND German together‽ It's a great idea! I'm always on the lookout for sauerbraten and French food is the best, so there was really no question about coming here. The service was fine, and although the table arrangements are a little crowded, that's just part of the authentic European vibe. read more

There's not too many elevated dining experiences in Galena. Fritz and Frites, although in the pricier side, is a lovely dinner option while you're visiting! This is definitely a heavier meal so reservations are more readily available in the hotter months. It's elevated comfort food. We did not have room for dessert even! Our server could not have been lovelier! She actually bartends down the block on weekends so we're planning on popping by to see her there too! We loved her recommendations and history about the town. This is a must stop at some point during your trip! read more

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Just yum. Went here this week after watching the 4th parade and it was one of the better meals I've had in a long time. Cool little place. Was nicer than I expected but not snooty. Combo German and French place? yes! We started with the Brie and Calvados. It was excellent. I thought it might be sweet. It was not. Very different. Very good. I had the Sauerbraten for dinner. My wife had the Schweineschnitzel. Both were really tasty. Just excellent flavor. When our server brought out the platter with our dinners, the smell was amazing. It tasted even better. The only downside to the night was that we didn't have room for dessert, which sounded amazing. Service was excellent. Ambiance of the place was really nice. Fun music playing (which I have to admit reminded me of ratatouille). read more

My husband and I ate here on a Sunday night and the food was fantastic. The French onion soup was literally the best I've had in my life (we recently went on a trip to Paris, so I've had a few good French onion soups!). The baked Brie was great and the freshly baked baguette was awesome! I got the chicken schnitzel and my husband got the Wiener schnitzel - both were great. Our waiter suggested getting half of each the cabbage and kraut as sides - would definitely recommend. The service was great as well! I would eat here again in a heartbeat! read more

We came back on this trip to Galena. We were pleased to see more people dining this time around because the food really is good. We started out with the ratatouille tart, which comes with a side salad. It was very good albeit a bit messy to eat and even messier to split. For our mains, my husband got the cassoulet and I got the salmon. I was a bit disappointed that the special was the same as when we first went, trout almondine. While good, I wish there were a few more fish/seafood centered options or vegetarian for the main. For dessert we went with the strudel. Again the food and service didn't disappoint. My husband's portion of cassoulet was quite generous. This will remain on our shortlist when visiting town. read more

Nice beer and wine list, food menu was simple which is a nice thing for me as at times I can struggle if menu is too big. I ordered chicken dish based on server's recommendation which was excellent, juicy and flavorful. My husband got salmon which seemed to be over cooked for our taste as we are used to salmon cooked for medium and tasted blend unlike the chicken. Service was good but the tables on the right side of the restaurant were too close to each other as we felt we were having dinner with two other couples who sat left and right sides of our table, we heard their vacation plans and wedding plans in details.... read more

Somehow in all of our years of visiting Galena, my husband and I have missed this gem in the downtown area. But now that we've finally tried it, Fritz and Frites has become an instant 'must' for future visits! We were first enticed by the outdoor seating option with heaters! While the temperatures are getting colder, we still only want to sit outside with the COVID-19 spikes. Fritz & Frites was well prepared and accommodating! Our waitress was incredibly nice, assisting with all questions interpreting different things on the menu since the food is so authentically German and French. She helped us locate the best beers for our palates from the extensive imported list and we LOVED both suggestions! Yum! We started with the hericot vert (green beans) and spaetzle! Both were hearty and fresh, starting the meal out right! The crisp buttery brightness of the green beans help prep our stomach with healthy greens and the richness of the spaetzle got us into the right headspace of decadent german fare! My spouse got the Schnitzle and he devoured it! It was perfectly cooked and accompanied with hearty sides. I got the steak frites...and Oh My Goodness...it was the most melt in your mouth steak richness I've ever tasted. I literally took twice as long to eat as my husband because I had to stop and savor every bite! Plus the crisp and thin fries were perfectly seasoned with salty zippiness, perfectly accompanying the richness of the steak. As I write this, I'd give anything for that steak frites again. All that to say: Fritz & Frites is a gem! If you are like us and have passed it by...stop in your tracks and go back! This is a MUST! I promise that your palates and tummies will be beyond pleased that you did! read more

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If we lived in the area, this would be our favorite spot. Oh my. The tangy sauerbraten, the schnitzel, the German weitheusen beer, the profiteroles and cake were fabulous!. We love German food and this was SO authentic and wonderful. Wish we lived closer. It's almost worth the drive alone. And our servers, Wendy and Tara (two different evenings) were lovely: attentive, helpful, kind. The chef met us at the end of the evening and it was a treat to thank him. Well done. read more

Everything about our experience was fantastic. The ambiance of the restaurant is so warm and charming. We had a reservation for Friday night and the restaurant was very full as expected. We were immediately seated by a lovely hostess. Our server Sam came over and we loved him as well. He helped us with our wine selection in addition to discussing the menu and his favorites. We opted for the roast chicken and pork schnitzel (They allowed we to switch my side at no change as I wanted the frites). Both were delicious, well executed and amazing. I would say this is the best dining experience you can have in Galena. Prices are more than fair and the experience it wonderful. There were many larger groups enjoying the Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends. Come here and dine - you will be very pleased. We will be back. If you are lucky you will get Sam as your server. read more

Fritz and Frites - Roast Chicken - French Near Me - Galena, Illinois

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This is a lovely little bistro on the far end of Galena's downtown strip. We first ate here circa 2010, and always recalled it fondly because it introduced us to Domaine de Triennes vineyard in Provence, which makes a superb rose. Flash forward to our return in 2022 and very little has changed. The dining room is intimate with a lovely European bistro feel, and the service is friendly and laissez faire. The menu has more of an emphasis on German than French food, but there are excellent options available. I had the salmon seared in a lingonberry sauce, which was superb, and Kelly had the chicken schnitzel, which she enjoyed very much. Cocktails are excellent, and they have an extensive list of beers and very interesting French wines, so be sure to ask for the beer/wine list when you arrive. Bon Appetit! read more

Fritz and Frites has consistently delicious food, lovely ambience, and wonderful service! We've enjoyed a variety of beverages and food over the years including: Kir Royale, French 75, the roasted chicken, trout, sausages with sides, both French onion and salmon soups, and the prunes soaked in brandy served with cinnamon ice cream. read more

Our waitress, Suzi, was incredibly sweet and attentive! She made the night memorable and enjoyable. I had one of their nightly specials, trout almandine. The fish was cooked very well although the entire plate was rather muted in flavor. I loved the energy in this restaurant, very intimate and cozy! We will definitely be back again. read more

First and foremost, the staff and atmosphere are fantastic. The way they created the feel of a European bistro was remarkable. We had the escargot, mussels, salmon, and schnitzel. Everything was delicious! A wide variety of wine and beer available, including non-alcoholic options. Our waitress was incredibly knowledgeable about the menu and helpful in picking out the perfect meal. We can't wait to go back next time we're in Galena! read more

Best restaurant in Galena, and we have done our work. On a mission to find the best restaurant, none top Fritz and Frites. At the risk of not being able to get a table, I want to shout far and wide how wonderful the food, staff, and Fritz himself (who often stands at the entrance and welcomes people in) are. Please, if you're in Galena, do yourself a favor and visit. Our favorite restaurant by far! Food is phenomenal! Staff are incredibly friendly. Cute decor and atmosphere. It has it all! read more

The best front of the house from the hostess to our waitress. The absolute no kidding absolute worst food i have ever had. My steak frites was small and could fill in as a puck at a hockey game except its too small the frites portion equally bad. My wifes dish was worse. The escargot and mussels were inedible. Do not eat here unless you are just drinking and get their fabulous staff. read more

Fritz and Frites - Steak Frites ugh Steak Frites - French Near Me - Galena, Illinois

When researching a place to have our 10th anniversary dinner, Fritz and Frites seemed like an obvious choice. I can't speak highly enough of our experience. We had a reservation, and were shown immediately upon arrival to a cute little table near the front, where the white paper covering the table was decorated with colorful hearts and a congratulatory message. I thought it was absolutely adorable. The food itself was incredible- the mussels are a MUST, and make sure you get plenty of bread to soak up the broth. I'm craving it even as I write this. My partner had the schweinshaxe (sp?) and I had the trout special. While I happily cleaned my plate, I have to admit that (for once!) my husband's meal was even better than mine. I don't even know how to describe the food... it exceeded my expectations in every way, and I had pretty high hopes! Overall, I'm very pleased with our choice. It was perfect for us, from the intimate setting to the attentive (but not intrusive) service. Would love to return again next time we're in the area! read more

We came here because this was the only restaurant with an open reservation on the Saturday evening which had high chairs for the baby. I'm so happy we ended up choosing this little restaurant. It was dark and intimate inside, having a nice ambiance. The food style is French-German, so I was excited to try some of their entrees. First, we started with the french baguette while I figured out what I wanted. The bread was super fluffy and warm. The butter melted just perfectly. For my entree, I ended up getting the cassoulet. It had duck confit, braised lamb, and rabbit sausage. It sounded so unique and delicious, I just had to try it. It was spectacular. The lamb was tender and delicious in the white bean mix. The duck was fatty adding a ton of flavor to the dish. The rabbit sausage was super unique and packed with flavor. I've never had anything like it. After our entrees, the baby was getting pretty fussy, so we decided not to get dessert. I would have loved to end the evening with a nice coffee and delicious cake though. For service, I was thoroughly impressed with everyone. From setting up the reservation to the dinner service, we were well taken care of. In fact, I was super impressed with our waitress. She was great with our baby when she started to get fussy and never made us feel unwelcome or a nuisance. They didn't even try to rush us out. We even were able to bond over our love of dogs. I would definitely come here the next time I am in Galena. read more

Fritz and Frites - Cassoulet - French Near Me - Galena, Illinois