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Rudi Lechner's German-American Restaurant

Express Lunches - Happy Hour - German Food & More!
Oktoberfest Every Wednesday - $15.95 buffet

MY REVIEW: Well, Rudi Lechner always knew who my husband and I were. On our last visit, however, we were greeted by a new owner/manager who informed us that Mr. Lechner retired at the end of 2011, and sold the restaurant allowing the new owners to keep his name on it as long as they continued to use the same recipes and waitstaff. Greta was the only server we recognized from the past. We both ordered the bratwurst plate with sauerkraut. The kraut had a funky sweet taste to it, which it never had before. The bratwurst was just terrible! Always before, they had been big, fat sausages which were juicy all the way through. These were much skinnier, and dry as can be. Even the mustard they served with the sausages was different, more grainy with a slight sweet taste; not at all like the smooth Dusseldorf-style which was used in the past. The cheese spread on the salad buffet tasted different as well. About the only things we noticed that were as good as we remembered were the zucchini bread and the Austrian potatoes. We might give them one more try in hopes that the new owners haven't ruined what was once the best German restaurant in Houston, but we have our doubts. We wish Mr. Lechner a happy and relaxing retirement, but we miss him!!

NAME: Rebecca
SUBMITTED: 9/4/2012   LAST VISIT WAS: 8/25/12
FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name...

MY REVIEW: Ordinarily very good, but on our last visit we tried the Sauerbraten which turned out to be way too sweet and was off-putting. Meat was tender enough and sauce was smooth, just too sweet. Their potato soup is always top-notch. It was also nice to see that they now have the Warsteiner non-alchoholic beer, which I have found to be the only drinkable non-alcoholic beer.

NAME: The Doctor
SUBMITTED: 11/21/2011   LAST VISIT WAS: 11/2011
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: I Just wanted to mention the one entree on the menu that my wife and I always order. The Idaho pan fried trout. I am not sure if this is actually "German" food or not but it is delicious! Tender and flavorful, always cooked to perfection and this dish includes the salad buffet and dessert. We have voted between ourselves many times and Rudi Lechner's ALWAYS wins our "Best Restaurant in Houston" award!

NAME: Gene Sandefur
SUBMITTED: 11/17/2011   LAST VISIT WAS: 11/2011
FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name...

MY REVIEW: WUNDERBAR!!! I was visiting in Houston and ate here. I am glad we did! We went on a Wednesday which is buffet night and Oktober Fest. The buffet is not cheap BUT it is well worth it! The food was excellent! And so many choices! I am German born and American raised. My mother cooked a lot of German food. Rudi's food is as good as Mom's. I saw a man walking around talking with customers and guessed it was Rudi. I introduced myself and we talked in German for awhile. Then I introduced him to my wife and we spoke American for awhile. Rudi is a great person. His restaurant is fantastic. I will eat here again when visiting Houston. 5 Stars *****

NAME: Kuam Rehtneug
SUBMITTED: 6/15/2011   LAST VISIT WAS: 06/2011
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: Just came back from a very good lunch at Rudi's. I had the Hungarian Goulash and it was delicious. What made this lunch awesome was Rudi.

My boss was on an 'experimenting trip'. He wanted to know what would best pair with his chosen Austrian wine (for his wine tasting group). Rudi came by and spent some time talking about the wine and what works best etc. He then brought out samples for us to try. The Kaiser schnitzel was awesome. He later brought out bread with a liver dip and cheese dip to try. Overall, Rudi made the experience enjoyable. Will be back again soon!

NAME: max_pwr
SUBMITTED: 3/25/2011   LAST VISIT WAS: 03/2011
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: Great german food, fun atmosphere. We've been for birthdays, many dinners with friends and we had our rehearsal dinner here. We always order potato pancakes, white wine cheese soup, and some of their fantastic red cabbage - those should not be missed. Nice german beer selection and fun live music - accordion & brass. The kids like it too - they munch on the zucchini bread that is served when you sit down at the table and watch the musicians.

NAME: karamash
SUBMITTED: 1/3/2011   LAST VISIT WAS: October/2010
FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name...

MY REVIEW: If I had to grade Rudi Lechner's restaurant I would give it a B-. I went on a Wednesday night and had the buffet. (As I had done the last 4 times before throughout the years.) The food is of German persuasion but has been Americanized so that more American clientele would prefer it. (For example not so much vinegar in the German potato salad and is not hot etc.). The restaurant advertises Wiener schnitzel on the buffet, but it is really Pork schnitzel. Don’t expect the food to be as good as the German restaurants in Fredericksburg or other Texas German towns. The ambiance is very German and there is a great live band. The owner Rudi himself can always be seen running around every where doing everything with a smile on his face. Other than Rudi and the band, all the wait staff and the hostess seem to have an attitude like “This is just a paycheck for me, what the heck do you want?

If you like sitting about 6 inches from the table to your left and right and cannot even whisper without 4 tables hearing what you say this is your spot!

Pros: Best German restaurant in Houston.

Great German band.

Buffet on Wednesday night lets you try German food so you can see what you like without ordering just an entree.

Prices are reasonable.

Great zucchini bread given to you at the table when you get there.

Cons: Only about 3 German restaurants in Houston so saying Rudi’s is the best isn’t saying much.

Seats are way too close together.

Wait staff can be rude.

Needs a bigger variety of sausage on the buffet.

Needs to have the salad bar as part of the buffet. (Would be willing to pay more for the buffet if they included that)

NAME: mrhouston
SUBMITTED: 8/12/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: 08/2010
FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name...

MY REVIEW: We love Lechner's. We have been going there at least once a week for 30 years. We love the Lechners and there wait staff. We are especially fond of Jose. He is the best. He takes very good care of us

NAME: Gayle STOUT
SUBMITTED: 4/12/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: April, 2010
FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name...

MY REVIEW: We started out with the onion soup and german potato soup and though the onion soup was excellent, the german potato soup had an over powering amount of herbs that took away from the flavor of the soup overall. Luckily, it was a small bowl so we didn't have to endure the herb flavor too long. We will not be ordering that soup again though. We also had the escargots which were absolutely wonderful!

We ordered the Sampler platter which was good with the exception of the purple cabbage which had some sort of small hard bits in it undetectable with taste but texture was off putting. Everything else on the sampler platter was great! We also had the chicken schnitzel which was also wonderful! I would highly recommend this plate, the hunters sauce on the chicken schnitzel was wonderful and the potatoes nice and fluffy.

For dessert we had the black forest cake which was horrible! Do not order this at all, the cake was excessively dry and seemed old. There was no flavor to it and they tried to cover up the fact that the cake was horrible by adding excessive amounts of cream to it. Not worth the money and the children with us wouldn't even eat the cake it was so bad. Definitely try something else for dessert.

The waitress was alright, she was a little bothered by having to actually work for a living it seemed but she saved us a bunch on gratuity. We will be back to try some different things.

NAME: Giovanna
SUBMITTED: 3/1/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: 2/10
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

MY REVIEW: We have been eating at Rudi's since we moved to Houston in 1989. Now that we live further north, we don't get to eat there very often. Our children always pick Rudi's as the place to celebrate birthdays, graduations, etc. Anyone that has visited us in Houston has made the trip to Rudi's. We reserved the Terrace for our last visit and had a marvelous time. We could hear the band and had plenty of privacy to visit with each other. The food was just marvelous. The service was exceptional. Thank you, Rudi!

NAME: N.E.R.
SUBMITTED: 12/11/2009   LAST VISIT WAS: 11/09
FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name...

MY REVIEW: First visit to Rudi Lechner's. German potato soup and white wine & Swiss cheese soup were excellent. We ordered the German sampler plate and curry wurst (recommended by a friend in Germany). I'm not a big sausage eater but the curry wurst was very good. I know it's a German tradition to serve it with French fries, but they were lukewarm and not very good. Schnitzel, pork loin and sauerkraut were all good but we didn't like the red cabbage that much. Service was OK - waiter didn't say much at all but warmed up a bit towards the end of our meal. Unfortunately we had to listen to a woman at the next table chew out the hostess for clearing plates or something. Not sure exactly what the problem was but we felt bad for the hostess - from what we witnessed she was only trying to be helpful. Some people just have to nitpick over little things that really aren't that important.

NAME: LB
SUBMITTED: 10/16/2009   LAST VISIT WAS: 10/09
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: I had heard about this place, but never been. We stumbled across it this weekend, and I was craving an Oktoberfest kind of meal. The restaurant is festive, with the polka band playing, a small dance floor, and tables crowded closely together. The food was awesome. We had the sausage plate and the beer schnitzel - both excellent. I love sauerkraut, but the red cabbage was the best I've ever had. I'm looking forward to trying it again soon.

NAME: jerry 123
SUBMITTED: 10/5/2009   LAST VISIT WAS: 10/2009
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: This is still the best Restaurant of it's kind in the Houston area. The ambiance is wonderful,the live music adds to the guests having a good time,

it is all about Gemuetlichkeit. The food is authentic and it is great. We had the Bier Schnitzel and the Jaeger Schnitzel, the Spaetzle and Red Cabbage were perfect and the bread was hot. I also enjoyed a big glass of Spaten Bier.

The service was A-One. All in all I highly recommend this restaurant.

NAME: Rolf Strauss
SUBMITTED: 8/30/2009   LAST VISIT WAS: 08-29-2009
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

MY REVIEW: I had not been here in years. I came again today with a friend and LOVED it.

It was great before and great now. The people are wonderful, the food is delicious, and even my husband loved the leftovers I took to him.I would like more vegetable choice, but it is not that vital to me.

The restaurant is a little dark, but who cares! I don't want it lit up like the outside anyway.

The food is really good!!!!! (I had chicken schnitzel).

NAME: copperfielder
SUBMITTED: 8/5/2009   LAST VISIT WAS: August 4, 2009
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

MY REVIEW: This is one of my favorite restaurants. The food is always very well prepared and delicious, with very generous portions. On my last visit, I had the special, a grilled salmon, and it was wonderful. Over the years, I've had all the Schnitzels, the heritage platter (and pretty much everything on the menu), and I have never been disappointed. FYI - you can buy a round loaf of their wonderfun zuchini bread to take home -- just ask your waiter. Food and service are both way above average at this restaurant!

NAME: SueS
SUBMITTED: 7/14/2009   LAST VISIT WAS: 6/26/09
FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name...

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