Heidelburg: Wings, Stain Glass Windows and 'German-ness'

Heidelberg is located at 215 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor

This one hurt.

I’ll just start out by saying it now, my visit to Heidelburg hurt.

But it’s important to discuss why it hurt. Being my last week in Ann Arbor, I wanted to end my bar experiences on high note. And I thought, ‘what better place to go than a German bar’ (located here).

Despite my Irish name, I’m three-fourths German, speak German and I am in love with German culture. So I was thinking this is going to be great. Turns out my sense of expectation was just setting up for disappointment. (Thanks, insert your least favorite politician here).

My visit did not get off to a great start. Walking into the place, nobody was in the bar except the wait staff. 

‘Crap, I either picked a shitty Friday night, or this place is about to go under’. Turns out the place is set up with a sit-down restaurant upstairs and a bar downstairs, and that was where all the action was.

OK, shaky start, but mostly on me. When I made my way downstairs things were starting to turn around. Good music was on, the place was packed and it seemed like a very cool spot.

It was just after 7 p.m. and the bartender told me for another hour there will be free chicken wings for people who will order at least two beers. Sweet! Best place ever. I grabbed some wings and a beer and off to the races, so to speak.

**You can either stop reading here and assume the place is awesome, or keep reading to figure out what I was talking about in the opening sentence.**

When I asked for a Weihenstephaner, and that’s when things turned south, quickly. The bartender looked at me and said I had to order that upstairs. I just ordered wings and was in no mood to go back upstairs, so I settled with a Sam Adams Boston Larger. Not a bad beer, but I’m in a German bar, the least you can do is offer me a Beck’s.

And that was the sticking point of my visit the Heidelberg. Despite the German name and the really cool stain glass windows of the German coat of arms (Mecklenburg gets my vote, it has a puppy on it), the place really failed at doing the little things right to give it the German feel.

The little things make everything in terms of how a bar feels. Does the server know the regular names, is there local paraphernalia on the walls and ceilings, do people have a ‘regular spot’.

If you are going to have a German feel, great. But you better make sure your server doesn’t look at you as if you were from Mars if you say ‘danke’ after you get your beer. (People who I know that don’t speak German knows what ‘danke’ means, it’s not that hard).

My server was nice enough, but she did border just little too much on the ditzy side. Turns out that she was a student at U-M but then picked up bartending. She did her job well enough but had no grasp on German culture or the language.

This is obviously not her fault, but she probably is better suited to work at a Buffalo Wild Wings or something of that nature. (Not that there is anything wrong with that, but we all need to know where we work best).

And that was the microcosm of my trip the Heidelberg. It had a great setup, all the buildup you can ask for. 

But it takes the perfect pass right to the center of the penalty area and blasts it off the side of the foot and shanks a 30-yard skyhook that ends up in Row 13.

The downstairs bar did have Weihenstephaner Dunkel on tap and another German beer, but nothing else that was German. On the board they were advertising a special for Bud Light and Coors Light. And when you are selling yourself as a German bar, I feel those two don’t go hand in hand with the theme.

My disappointment in the lack of ‘German-ness’ in a German bar did sour my experience at an otherwise cool place.

There was a good crowd on hand, I was with a bit of the older crowd at the bar, but some more people my age were at the tables having a good time. (No, I haven’t descended yet into sitting by myself at tables at bars, I draw a line—check back in a year to see if I’m still singing that same tune).

I ordered the sausage platter on the menu (to the place’s credit they also had sauerkraut on the menu), but overall the menu options were pretty scarce. I ordered another Dunkel and dug into the sausage platter, which was pretty small compared to some other places I have been, but good nonetheless.

After talking to the bar staff for a while I discovered that the place is very popular among the U-M crowd, but more of the book reading type and less of the party bro type. Students are expected to be back in a week or so, and the staff seemed to relish the ‘quiet’ night.

Next to me were some older gentlemen fixated on the Tigers game and talking about horses. They were from nearby Milan and just visiting Ann Arbor. Turns out the bartender also owned horses and that got them talking for the rest of my time there. (I don’t own horses, see, that’s where I messed up, rookie mistake).

Reflecting on my visit, I was not too sure if I should be more disappointed in the bar or myself. (After giving it a minute of thought I firmly decided it was the bar, not me).

I’ve been to Germany and tasted authentic German culture, so it is not fair to compare anything in America that tries to put a German spin on what they are doing to the actual Weihenstephan Abbey in Freising (place drop, I actually have been there. It’s totally cool and you need check it out, but I digress).

But at the same time, many other bars do a good job setting a theme without being culture experts (See an example right here).

You don’t have to sell out on the theme, but a little effort goes a long way.

Did I set the bar a little high—yep. Did they have it coming a little with name like Heidelburg –yep. It’s still was a good place, but if felt like a bit of a wasted opportunity. With just a few more details and a much improved beer selection, the place can really be something.

There’s a lot of potential, but you feel a little down about it because you know there is more there.

My visit was a lesson in setting expectations. Sometimes, you do expect too much, but the only reason why those expectations are there is because you believe they can be reached.

I’d go there again with a group of friends or catch them when the U-M crowd is there, but I still feel a sense of disappointment that I can seem to shake.

I mean seriously, ‘bitte shone’, it’s not that hard to say.