Jagerhouse
Is Home
To Fine Food
Jaegerhouse: 97-11 Queens Blvd., Rego Park,
897-3035 or 897-3036
Cuisine: German, Irish & Continental
Hours: open 7 days for lunch & dinner, 11:30
a.m.-11 p.m. Late night bar hours.
Credit Cards: all major cards accepted
Parking: validates for the Sears/Marshall’s
parking lot; street parking
As the weather took one of its dips into the icy this week,
my parents and I marched briskly up to the outstretched awning of what we believed was
going to be a big bar, small restaurant kind of place.
There was a big bar – the friendly kind you go to to
enjoy the spirits of life – but beyond that a large yet cozy dining room, complete
with inviting, velvet-lined booths, Bavarian-style paintings on the white-washed walls,
and the knowledge that you have escaped the cold for something good.
Pop had the Wiener Schnitzel, I tried the Roast Loin of
Pork (both complete dinners with appetizer, homemade salad bar, soup, entrée, potato,
vegetable, coffee and dessert for just $15.95 – no, that’s not a typo) and Mom
ordered the Veal Cordon Bleu (stuffed with ham & cheese, $15.95). We all went home
with leftovers to fight over the next day.
The day’s soup was a very fresh and very homemade
chicken corn chowder with chunks of potato. The salad bar was complete with the cold
cucumber salad and hot German potato salad that are part of any good German meal.
And although my family has long had our own favorite German
restaurant in Queens (for serving Saurbraten almost as good as Nana’s), I had to
admit it. Jaegerhouse’s Roast Loin of Pork was the best I had ever had in Queens,
with apologies to Nana.
Then the sweetest Irish woman from Maspeth sat down next to
my German-American Pop, and, with a hint of the brogue in her voice, told us she owned the
place.
Anna Walsh, who owns Jaegerhouse with her brother Brendan
Buggy, came to the establishment in 1975 as a waitress. She bartended for 13 years, and
has been in charge now for over six years. It was clear to us that her knowledge of the
place and her warm welcoming ways were what made Jaegerhouse outstanding, but she
disagreed. She credits the chef.
And that too is true, of course. Chef Cicello – a
resident of Elmhurst – has been at Jaegerhouse three years and brings a tremendous
array of culinary experience to this local restaurant, including Luchow’s, the Four
Seasons, and Tavern on the Green.
And let’s not forget the graciousness of our server
– Vera – who knew just what to say and when to say it.
Not ready for a German meal? Try some of their Irish
specialties. Though Time Out New York’s new annual guide "Eating &
Drinking 2000" featured them as one of the best spots for German food in the city,
they added with heavy emphasis that you should try their Irish dishes as well.
Jaegerhouse is the old-fashioned kind of place that warms
your spirits and your dinner conversation as well as your appetite. Stop by and make sure
to say "hi" to Anna for us. She’s waiting with a Jaegerhouse Special Coffee
that will melt away all of that Queens cold.
—Tamara Hartman |
