Von Trier Now Serving Great Food [REVIEW]

Von Trier’s food game has been lacking for the past half-decade or so. I’ve been going to Von Trier for drinks with friends ever since I reached 21, in fact, I even had a drink here on my 21^st birthday. Back then they had a sign on the side of the building that read:

“Great food coming soon!”

Nearly four years later, I finally get to sit down and order more than just popcorn with my wine or beer. That’s right, Von Trier’s kitchen is back in business serving up some classic German American food to fill your belly and soak up some of that Hofbräu you probably drank too much of. It seems the promise inscribed on the side of the building by past owners has finally been fulfilled by new owner Mark Zierath, who took over Von Trier in May of 2019.

Von Trier has been a staple of the east side for nearly half a century. They’ve been serving classic German beers and cuisine under a distinctly German roof since 1978. Immediately as you walk through the front door, you’re greeted by a bar in front of a wall of authentic German steins and other classically German decorations like bucks and boars on the walls, murals of the alps, stained glass and strange wooden dolls that look like they’re straight out of a horror movie, or my great-grandmother’s closet.  

My great grandmother, or oma as I called her, was born and raised in Germany where she ended up raising eight sons during WWII on her own. The dolls remind me of the hedgehog doll collection she bought me for Christmas and birthdays.  

Did I mention this place feels German?

The whole place has a cozy almost-hunting-retreat-like feeling to it where you could bring a few friends to have some drinks in a dark corner and lose yourself in the laughs you all share. Despite the fact that many of the tables in the front room and back room are quite close together, I always forget about the proximity of other groups until I have to get up to use the rather small main restroom. Luckily there are extra bathrooms in the back of the restaurant.  

Now to Von Trier’s food. This might not be the main reason people show up to Von Trier in the first place, but after being taunted by the sign on the side of their building for years, I had to know what this “great food” was like. Being a German bar in Milwaukee, they need to at least have good cheese and good beer.

That’s why I decided to order a grilled cheese ($9) sans onion as well as an order of cheese curds ($10). For my drink pairing, I chose the classic Weihenstephaner hefeweizen ($6). Since this establishment is mainly recognized as a bar, I took a seat at the waist height length of shining polished wood and asked the bartender for some drink and food menus.

The bartender kindly took my order after asking if I had any questions about the menu, and in less than 20 minutes my food was sitting in front of me atop blue and white checkered paper in a basket. Bar food might be basic by nature, but it’s not at all hard to mess up. The cooks making the food at Von Trier did not let my cravings for cheese down.  

The grilled cheese was oozing cheese out of its sides in such a perfect way. Not so much ooze that it becomes a mess to eat, but just enough for the sandwich to really taste and feel cheesy. Grilled cheese is supposed to be comfort food, and this sandwich made me feel like I was 4-years-old back in my oma’s living room floor in St. Louis.  

Von Trier’s grilled cheese consists of aged cheddar, havarti, muenster and swiss cheese served with Hofbräu braised onions on sourdough bread. Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen is a light wheat beer with hints of banana and served with a sliver of orange on the rim of the glass.

Throughout my meal, the bartender checked up on me a couple of times, but not so many times it became annoying. Being a popular bar on a popular corner of North Avenue, Von Trier receives its fair share of interesting guests.

While I was admiring the strings of cheese from my sandwich to my mouth, I noticed a commotion over my left shoulder. I looked to see a middle-aged man holding his hand out palm up at a man who was eating some popcorn by himself in a corner. The guy who was trying to enjoy his meal and drink was obviously doing his best to ignore his unwelcomed guest by simply turning away from him and explaining he didn’t know what the guy was talking about.

Before I knew it, one of the restaurant staff was politely asking the disgruntled patron to leave the premises as she escorted him out the front door. Nobody was hurt, nobody raised their voice and the whole mood of the place was hardly affected. It takes some serious customer service skills to handle a situation like that with such ease and swiftness.

I’ve lived in Wisconsin all my life, and I’ve loved cheese all my life. I think that first life fact makes me an inherent expert on cheese curds. The cheese curds at Von Trier were delicious overall, but I think there was some room for improvement. The breading was soft and golden, but it seemed like it was slightly too soft, making all the curds clump together at the bottom of the basket. The cheese also seemed to be slightly undercooked and gooier than other curds out there. I think the undercooked part is more due to the delicate breading used becoming more delicate the longer it sits in the fryer, meaning the cheese would start to ooze out of the breading more if they were cooked longer.

I didn’t get to try any of the items on Von Trier’s food menu that are more along the lines of a real dinner, but based on the grilled cheese and curds I had tonight, I’d bet anything you get here will satisfy the drunk hunger pains you have. Just don’t expect anything extraordinary because it is, after all, a bar first and foremost.

If you’re looking for somewhere to have a few drinks with some friends and share some laughs over quality bar food with a bit of Frank Sinatra playing in the background, Von Trier is by far one of my favorite places to go. The fact that they finally serve food here only makes me want to spend money I don’t have on alcohol I shouldn’t drink and cheese I most definitely should eat.

Cuisine type: German bar food

Price per entrée: $9-14

Attire: Casual

Reservations: No

Payment: Cash and Credit/debit cards

Von Trier

2235 N. Farwell Ave. Milwaukee, WI

(414) 272-1775

Hours:

Sunday –—— 4 p.m.-12 a.m.

Monday —— 4 p.m.-2 a.m.

Tuesday —— 4 p.m.-2 a.m.

Wednesday – 4 p.m.-2 a.m.

Thursday —- 6 p.m.-1 a.m.

Friday ——– 3 p.m.-2 a.m.

Saturday —- 3 p.m.-2 a.m.