It’s back!

A New Braunfels dining institution and gathering place since 1938, Krause’s Café was closed for a couple of years until this January when it reopened after significant remodeling.

“This was an institution and other notable German cafes were slipping away,” says owner Ron Snider. “We bought Krause’s for that reason. We needed a German gathering place.”

Ron has enlarged the old café significantly. The dining area is modern but rustic with stone walls and pillars, lots of wood, and huge windows on one wall. Another wall has several maps of German and German photographs and paintings. He has integrated the restaurant into the German traditions of the city by offering classic German meals in addition to Texas favorites.

Tastes of Germany include schnitzel and bratwurst with sauerkraut to pretzels and potato soup along with the best reuben sandwich ever. Have some popular Texas fare like chicken fried steak or catfish. Or a combination like bratwurst in a pita.

You’ll discover meals you might not ever have heard of before like Schweinshaxe, a slow roasted pork shank with sautéed kale and leeks on a cheesy potato pancake. Or the Kartoffels, house made chips with beer cheese dip and sausage chunks.

You’ll also love the pot roast, chicken and dumplings, roast turkey, and steak sandwiches.

The café also offers breakfast with items like house-made brioche French toast with an option of hot maple syrup, pork schnitzel and eggs, corned beef hash, and much more.

What makes the Krause menu unique is that everything is fresh and much of it—like the breads and biscuits and cookies and cinnamon rolls and croutons and desserts are made right here. And the juices are freshly squeezed.

Even the hamburger is special. It is ground in-house from prime steak. And put on a homemade bun. Can’t get any better than that.

Are you hungry yet? How about thirsty?

Ron is proud that Krause’s is the first Texas restaurant to import Sangria directly from Spain.

He’s also justifiably proud of one of the things that makes this Krause’s unique: its new bierhalle. It’s large and bright with long wooden tables and benches and is fronted by one of the longest bars in Texas with 80 taps offering a large variety of craft beers, wine and even margaritas. The bar itself was made from an ancient pecan tree that fell into the San Marcos River. It was a huge tree—six feet across.

Look up. See all those flags? Ron explains that they added them to showcase the banners of New Braunfels’ founding families.

Rafters and studs salvaged from the area where the bierhalle is now were used to construct the tables and booths in the dining room. The dining counter in the café was made from uprights salvaged from Comal County Fairgrounds’ stadium seats.

“We really didn’t know what the response would be,” says General Manager Jeremy Rader. “But on Mardi Gras we were packed. It was the first time we were really full and that was exciting.”

Residents of New Braunfels have returned and out-of-towners are discovering the café.

Those newcomers are thrilled to find Karuse’s. Ryder Gaffney of San Antonio recently brought his family here for the first time after reading great reviews on the internet. He says it won’t be their last visit.

“It surpassed our expectations,” he explains.

Also drawing people into Krause’s is the live music regularly scheduled in the bierhalle. That will be even better soon since a new stage is now being constructed in the biergarten outside.

Every Tuesday afternoon you can also enjoy a free sampling of craft beers, wines, and food.

And, yes, there’s even more—the parking lot is taken over every weekend by the New Braunfels Farmers Market. It’s a year-round event that features live music and more than 70 vendors each week. You will find fresh meats and produce, household items, health and skin care items, coffees, snacks, doughnuts, gifts, and face-painting.

Even Krause’s has a booth here, offering items they don’t sell in the dining room like pulled pork, roasted corn, and beer from tiny craft breweries.

“We’re now a destination restaurant,” Ron says with a large smile.

Krause’s Café is located at 148 S. Castell Avenue in New Braunfels.

For More Information

830-625-2807, krausescafe.com.