Sudwerk

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sudwerk.jpgA view of Sudwerk on dollar drink night, 2005.

Location
2001 2nd Street, Behind the Post Office at Second St., under the Pole Line Road Overpass
Hours
Thurs-Sun 11:30AM-11:00PM
Mon-Wed 11:30AM-10:00PM
Wed (Dollar Pint Night)- 9:00PM-12:30AM
Phone
(530)758-8700
Web site
[WWW]http://www.sudwerk.com

dollar_drinks.jpgSudwerk's dollar "pint" night makes for cheaper fun.

Sudwerk, short for Sudwerk Privatbrauerei Hübsch [Sudwerk Private Brewery Hübsch (family name)], is Davis' local microbrewery. Popular among UCD students is the Dollar "Pint" Night which is on Wednesday nights. Every night there is a "Late Night Happy Hour" during the last hour-and-a-half before closing.

On July 1, 2006, the restaurant portion of Sudwerk changed ownership.1 Live music was suspended during the ownership transition. The new owner is Tim McDonnell, the restaurateur who owns [WWW]The Spinnaker in Sausalito and Tarantino's in San Francisco on Fisherman's Wharf. The menu has had a major reworking. The ingredients are fresher and almost everything is made in-house now. For example, the restaurant now uses spring mix instead of cheaper lettuce in its house salads, buns are now served instead of bread, and the specials have been more varied and different. Plans to update the menu, resurface the bar, get new kitchen equipment, and install plasma screen TVs have been implemented. Ron Broward, a local developer and designer/builder of Sudwerk, still owns the brewery. The restaurant now buys its beer from the brewery more formally than before. Tim McDonnell will be focusing on increasing the volume of people visiting Sudwerk and intends to move away from (though not eliminate) German food and move more toward seafood and sautees, which is what he specializes in.

Some German beer snobs say that this is the only beer that they will drink in California.

Be sure to check out the [wikipedia]Doppelbock, a seasonal Sudwerk holiday brew. This is the best beer I've ever tasted. - KenjiYamada

Good $$ to Alcohol ratio: The Sampler. 5 types (4*5=20 oz) of Sudwerk's own brew for a very low price (~$5.50).

Good$$ to Alcohol ratio: Wednesday Night Dollar Pint Nights. $3 Cover starting at 9:00PM. Most common location to sight beeramids.

[WWW]Read a feature story about Sudwerk in Davis Life Magazine.[WWW]Read a restaurant review in Davis Life Magazine.
[WWW]Read all about the beer in Davis Life Magazine.

Beer Fest 2007
A Celebration of All Things Beer
On June 2, 2007 from 2 - 5 PM Sudwerk Brewery hosted a beer fest.
Tickets were $25 at the door and included unlimited tastings.
For more information goto [WWW]http://citizenswhocare.us/Beer.html

Truck.jpgThe Sudwerk truck parked on the side of I 80, visible as you come into town over the Yolo Causeway (circa 2003)

Beware: the beer served during Pint Nights is from the bottom of the barrel—literally. According to someone who used to work there, they use Wed. nights to get rid of the beer they would otherwise deem unworthy to sell.... That explains the worse-than-normal hangovers, eh? —ss

Do you also think that Natty and Keystone are from the bottom of Bud and Coors Barrels? There is no way that's true, the beers come straight from kegs and besides...the bottom of a barrel of beer is not "bad beer" it may have more yeast but in no way is it bad. Also, if anything it would give you LESS of a hangover since yeast at the bottom of the barrel have vitamins that help cure hangovers. —kegman

Food is mainly pub food: Good snack-type food items: Garlic Parmesan Fries, Buffalo Wings ("drumstick" part only), and Avocado Egg Rolls, Fried Calamari, Onion Rings, etc.

They have live music on select Fri & Sat, 7PM-10PM.

As of February 4, 2005, the Sudwerk Restaurant and Brewery was for sale for $7 million. Prices since have fluctuated. See [WWW]http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2005/02/07/story2.html. Presently, though, Sudwerk is undergoing a transition into new ownership from Ron Broward to a new owner. The transaction occurred on July 1, 2006. Reportedly, Mr. Broward had trouble finding someone who would buy both the brewery and the restaurant together, not separately.

fountain.jpgSudwerk has a big patio and frog fountain. twolitersavage.jpgA thirsty patron enjoys two liter-sized steins on the patio.

Sudwerk also sells their beer in kegs and has large banquet rooms that can be rented for business meetings, banquets, parties, etc. Parties of 25 or more are usually recommended to make reservations for these rooms ahead of time and have to pay a deposit and cleaning fee.

Size (gallons) Price
5.5 $42+tax
7.75 $58+tax
15.5 $89+tax

Keg prices are current as of September 2008, not including a $100 deposit (plus $40 for a tap).

There have been rumors that the "Pints" on "Dollar Pint Night" aren't actually pints; that they are 12 ounces instead of 16 ounces. This is debatable. If filled to the brim, they are a full 16 ounces. They easily become 12 ounces if the head on the beer is big enough or if your cup isn't completely full, though. Note that the confusion may result from the fact that a UK pint or "beer pint" starts out being larger (about 20%, 568ml vs. 473ml), plus the standard pub glasses allow for a head. In fact, UK law has a "head line" on glasses. Therefore, a Sudwerk pint is a US pint including head, while a traditional pint of beer is a 20% larger imperial pint and does not include the head.

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Current Reviews

2006-09-19 21:43:11   I really don't care for their food, but I really, really care for their marzen and doppel bock. Mmm...doppel bock... —SteveKent

2006-09-27 12:41:69   The food menu here has changed dramatically in the past month. When I was here for a job interview on 8/13/06, there were lots of German plates and cuisine. When I went back about a week ago, there was only 1 german item on the menu which was the sausage and German potato pancakes (very tasty!!). Unfortunately, the sausage sampler platter I had when I was here in Mid-August is no longer on the menu. The German cuisine has been replaced with your typical Applebee's/TGIFriday's pub grub. Also, dollar pint night is definitely an interesting event. When I was there last week, they seemed to be strictly enforcing the fact that you can't show up early and buy food and be exempt from paying the $3 cover. All in all, a good place with solid beer. For those of you who like their doppelbock, I would highly recommend [WWW]Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock. I am unsure of its availability, but your best bet would be one of the Nugget stores (both have a different selection of beer) or Aggie Liquor —CaseyBarc

2006-09-27 13:48:28   I did a blind taste test with Sudwerk Doppel Bock, Spaten Optimator and Ayinger Celebrator and ended up picking Sudwerk's. —KenjiYamada

2006-10-17 23:27:17   My Girlfriend and I found out about this place shortly after we moved here a little over a year ago. We have been eating here on and off since then, always impressed with the great food and excellent beer. Myself and her parents (former restaurant owners) were chatting with one of the staff when he told us that the restaurant was under new ownership and that changes would happen. He assured us that the only changes were going to be better tv's and other cosmetic upgrades, thats it. We were quite excited by this assurance that the overall experience would remain the same ie. German food matching German beer. Tonight, me and my gf went back and we found that the menu has essentially been destroyed. There is almost 0 German food. This is a German brewery, right? Part of the charm going here was getting German food as Sudwerk was the ONLY German restaurant in Davis. The menu now is essentially TGI Friday food. Many people who just came for the beer (Understandable as it IS some of the best beer anywhere), probably wont care, but for those that came for the whole authentic experience, they will be sorely disappointed. Please, tell others, we want a unique experience, not some generic one we can find anywhere!! Bring back the authentic food!!! —JustusBranscomb

2006-10-23 12:39:40   We are also very disappointed with the menu changes. This started at the Roseville location. Why go to the restaurant when you can get the Marzen at the store? I'll just come in to pick up the Doppelbock and go now. —MyaBrn

"2006-10-29 9:23:12 I decided to go to Sudwerk's after reading the German menu online. I was sorely disappointed to arrive at the restaurant and see NO German food on the menu. I can get a club sandwich at IHOP if I so pleased. Boo :(—EricaMacGregor

2006-10-30 22:39:33   I'm indifferent to the menu change. However, I ate there tonight and was quite pleased. The butter lettuce salad with walnuts and bleu cheese was tasty enough for me to eat nearly the whole thing, a rare occurance for a light eater such as myself. —AnnaJones

2006-11-09 16:29:49   I've eaten here twice since the change in ownership. The first time was shortly after the change, and although I was really disappointed that the German food and the wonderful pub-grub was gone (goodbye, luscious onion rings), I thought that the menu was much more unified than the traditional Sudwerk menu, which seemed to be torn between bar food and german cuisine. I ate here last week, though, and it completely changed my opinion of the menu being more unified. It's all over the place. Four things that *really* bugged me last week: 1) the server preceded the description of four separate items with "this is from the new owner's other restaurant". Great, so this is some other restaurant's food? Am I supposed to care? It completely turned me off. 2) Too many of the dishes seem like they have no chance of standing up to the beer being served. Maybe the Hefe or the Lager, but certainly not the Dunkelweizen, Doppelbock or others. The high number of seafood items just reinforces this. These beers (which I love) can't just go with anything, and I think the menu needs to reflect that. 3) They appear to have shorten their hours, essentially removing the 'bar' aspect. 10 or 11pm? Those are clearly restaurant hours. This is supposed to be a brewpub as well. 4) What *is* the theme? We were given a dessert menu, and half of it was Italian-influenced. Can eating crab cakes followed by tiramisu while enjoying a dunkelweizen work? I'm not convinced. The absolute best change I've seen is the additional beers on tap. Prior to the new owners I was never able to go there and choose between the standard beers and four others. The beers are still heaven, so I'm still going, but I hope they continue to rework the menu. It's struggling both for an identity and a way to match the beer. If the name wasn't Sudwerk, I'd bet the owner would ditch the beers completely. —MattCzarnowski

2006-12-12 12:40:05   We went to Sudwerk last week. Overall, the atmosphere was quite nice, the beer was spectacular, and the service was great. The food, however, was less than ideal. Some items were OK (the skinny onion rings I liked, my pasta was fine). Other items were disappointing (my sister had a salad that she basically refused to eat, which is rare for her). They clearly are not overly concerned with the quality of the food. But I would go back, if just for the beer. —JonathanEisen

2007-01-09 21:45:10   I'm drinking one of their doppel bocks right now. Definitely good stuff, nice and flavorful. I tend to have a respectable quantity of Spaten Optimator on hand as my "generic" beer, but the Sudwerk packs more punch. I think I prefer the Spaten overall, not that the flavor is any better, but because I am not always in the mood for the rich bite of the Sudwerk, as good as it may be (and doppels are supposed to be hearty!). I've tried a number of doppelbocks and so far my fave is definitely Weihenstephaner Korbinian. I like to have a bunch of them on hand at home at all times if at all possible. —DireDeparra

2007-01-09 21:47:45   As for the food at Sudwerk, it used to be pretty good, with some generous portions. I love German cuisine, and I was horrified to hear they pretty much eliminated it when the new owner took over. Now it serves rather generic, if competant pub fare. Completely redundant. It's this sort of thing that makes me depressed about life around here. Now the ONLY place I know of that serves German (and Austrian) cuisine is Cafe Vienna in West Sacramento. They have a fairly decent lunch buffet at a good price. I haven't eaten dinner there yet though. I wish there was at least one other restaurant nearby that serves German food. If there is one, I hope someone would let me know so I can rejoice and treat them to dinner for sharing the good news! Alas, the only place I can get schnitzel on a whim is in my own kitchen. —DireDeparra

2007-02-06 20:02:00   i just logged on to the website. it says new hours: 11:30am to 10pm Mon-Wed. does this mean no more 1$ pint night?!?!? i'm saddened, now instead of drinking 6 beers until the wee hours i have to pound a couple and bounce... LAME —EightFishies

2006-03-02 20:47:00   In town for the weekend a tried out Sudwerk's my first night in town based on the recommendation on this wiki. The beer is very good, authentic german lager style. I wanted to clear up a bit of stuff in the comments about weissbier in the W/NW US. Yes, Widmer is distributed by Anheuser Busch and they have a 40% ownership. The quality of all of their beers has gone down since. However, if you get a chance to goto the Widmer brewery in Portland, and try the Hefeweisen at the source, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. At any rate, comparing Widmer Hefeweisen to Sudwerk is like comparing apples and oranges - Widmer is a simple slightly sweet and yeasty weiss beer, but it is not authentically german - the Sudwerks beer has the authentic weisbier flavor. Pyramid, well, just sucks. As do the other breweries they have bought up (Mac's for instance, was good before Pyramid bought them).—CalebPhillips

2007-03-15 23:30:14   The BBQ burger is fantastic, but the appetizer platter if way too monotonous and greasy. Every item is fried, and the onion shreds work better as a side dish than an appetizer. The BBQ tri tip sandwich is really good, but the bread is a bit overpowering— it would be improved by giving more meat or making the bun smaller. The mushroom burger is pretty good. I had the $2.50 nachos on Thursday fiesta night, and I'd recommend you ask for chips with no toppings instead— I enjoyed the chips, but the "cheese" was watery and conformed to no known dairy, non-dairy, velveeta, or aerosol based cheese food product. It was supposedly made from an asiago, jack, and cheddar mix, but it was whey gross. —CraigBrozinsky

2007-03-29 23:22:07   Sudwerk has gone really down, the food is not good, service is not good, beer is just ok. New owners do not seem to care about the food or service. over 45 minutes to receive any food, which was over cooked and under cooked. we will pass the place till new owners take over, or it improves. —JamesMorton

2007-03-30 08:56:53   my favorite part about sudwerk was their onion rings, but now, with the new menu, they are like little tiny peices of onion, battered and fried and served...I don't want FANCY onion rings, I want real onion rings. —RohiniJasavala

2007-05-31 18:38:38   Go to [WWW]http://theshamelessfoodies.blogspot.com/2007/03/sudwerk-shmoodwerk.html for Brooks and Kristen's opinion on Sudwerk food and beer. —BrooksHayes

2007-07-07 22:49:04   The food isn't so great but the beer is good. Dollar Pint Nights are great, especially if you want to get out and you're low on funds. —intangible

2007-07-16 22:21:04   Me like beer me like it good me caveman me like beer very good, food not so good but me like beer, me caveman —dickjones

2007-08-01 13:34:55   Sudwerks was a dissappointment in the long run, I ordered the combo appetizer, not tasty(only thing worth eating was the crab cakes) For my entree I ordered the mussels they were advertising as a special. I could not believe how small they were and the lack of seasoning and such. I had to order a seperate plate of pasta. The beer here was good!!!! would not go back anytime soon —ElizabethBarthel

2007-08-03 12:57:42   Food is not that good, beer is great —Brians

2007-08-26 15:58:12   Food was never that great here. New Menu? I think it's a year old now?? It still sucks gentlemen. Taco pizza? what the hell is that? who ever is behind the kitchen show is a moron. Will not eat here again. great beer. love the marzen —heyman

2007-09-02 05:34:22   I think I am love with the Märzen from the tap. Sadly from the bottle it doesn't taste quite as good to me. —JayJ

2007-09-15 08:33:21   Went there last night to discover that the German restaurant has sold out and removed most of its German items!! So disappointed. What the hell is the point of a German restaurant that sells American food??? Then they charge me $6.25 for two three inch lon sausages. I won't be back. Thanks for ruining it for me. —DavisLurker

2007-09-26 22:36:36   Why the hell does this place close so early? —bordiga

2007-10-10 09:39:58   I never thought Sudwerk's German food was that good, so I wasn't really disappointed that the menu has been more Americanized. The Sausage plate is not what it used to be; I'm not crazy about the little sausages they're using now. However, I've never had a Sudwerk pizza I didn't like, and their various burgers are excellent. The beer continues to bring me through the doors. —AdamSchneider

2007-11-11 00:16:03   Rob's a doll. The pizza was great. And there's that really cute waiter kid... Wish I could think of his name. Doesn't matter. Nice kid! :-) I don't care for the scene in there alone, frankly. Much more fun if you bring company. —Casey

2007-11-13 20:35:50   I took my boyfriend here for his birthday tonight. Great service, great food- but no birthday dessert! The new owner stopped having birthday desserts to cut back costs! So sad! —Idunitt

2007-11-15 08:24:27   I went with a large group last night (a professional crowd—we do this every month or so) to Sudwerk for dinner and drinks. We showed up at 7pm and ordered about $200 in food and drinks. After spending nearly $200 there, we learned that they wanted to charge us an additional $3 each ($27) so we could get more beer at dollar pint. RIDICULOUS!!!! They even tried to kick us out at 10pm since we weren't there for dollar pint (but I was certainly not going to let them do that without giving me the rest of my liter of Marzen to go...) and they kept coming back to ask us when we were leaving.

The owner's new policy is insulting! We would've likely spent another $50 in drinks that night (even with $1 pints) in addition to whatever we would've spent on future visits. We aren't going to make that mistake again. Next time we'll go to Woodstock's where they know how to measure a pint and serve up the kind of food they advertise.

On a side note, I really doubt the owner's new policy helps him rake in a large amount of extra income. During the 7-9pm transition, we noticed very few people stayed (now we know why) and the majority of the restaurant patrons were families anyway. As my friend put it, the new policy is penny wise, pound foolish. —CherieWilliams

2007-11-29 19:24:46   They let me and my friends get food, drink beer, and play cards for hours on end. We mostly go because it's the only place we can do this without it being too loud, at and the beer is delicious. The food is alright. —ChristyMarsden

2007-12-17 02:00:36   Dollar pint night still goes on during school breaks, right? A very student-centered question, yes, but I'm not sure if they don't have dollar pint nights when all the kids are back home. —BrianMac

2007-12-21 Little late, but yeah, they're still doing pint night on Wednesdays for break. —ClaytonRehmus

2008-02-09 09:15:27   this place has HORRIBLE service. on a thursday night, my friends and i just left. beforehand, we ordered appetizers (good kalamari), but this waitress with a red shirt and blond, ponytail hair was walking over and rolled her eyes at us. it seemed like she was irritated by us, even though it took forever just to find her in the bar. my friend actually had to walk around the entire place to find a waitress who knows NOTHING ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE. Her tone didn't help either. —mikam

2008-02-15 17:46:37   The atmosphere is good, but I've been a few times and the food hasn't ever been too remarkable. Everyone seems to like the beer but the food (and appetizers are mediocre at best). —jglovicz

2008-04-06 13:33:04   Went there with my family over spring break. I had the santa fe sandwich which was amazing. My Grandma ordered shrimp pasta. They neglected to put the shrimp on the pasta the first time, so it got sent back. Only 2 minutes later and it was back on the table. You could definitely tell that they had put frozen shrimp on top and microwaved it. Nonetheless it tasted like crap, so she got a burger instead. I would suggest their burgers and sandwiches, with the amazing fries. I would avoid the other entrees. I will be returning, especially to try more beer, its nice to have a local brewery in town. —BrandonBarrette

2008-04-08 20:44:51   Mai Bock is back, my heart weeps with joy. —ArmyDecoy

2008-04-23 19:34:25   for those of you who didn't like the food before the menu has changed a while ago and is much much better than before, and of course the beer is awesome. try it! interesting fact: when the head brewer gave a talk in my beer class at UCD he said that they import all of their hops from Bavaria —JeffKreis

2008-05-21 20:29:20   Last year I discovered their barbecue ribs, and came back repeatedly for them until one time when I brought my parents. Apparently they changed meat distributors, and the ribs were disgusting, along with the hamburger my mother ordered. Beer was still good though. —carlaisnt

2008-06-23 13:40:40   My boyfriend and I have not experienced the Sudwerks previous owner, but the current one is not the best. We both orders hambugers with the side of fries because there was not much else on the menu. We literally got 5 potato wedge with our ok burger. I think Applebees is better then here. It is sad to hear that our local brewery is less preferred to Abblebees or TGIF. —fayeweezer

2008-06-25 20:37:11   I gotta say, I'm a sucker for their 'beermaster's schnitzel'. It's always delicious, so I don't bother trying to get anything else. —JoePomidor

"2008-09-27 23:30:30"   I haven't been here in maybe 8 years because of terrible service I got here. Since I haven't been back since the change in the menu I decided I would give it a try. For some reason, we had to wait half an hour for a seat for our party of 4 when there were no less than 13 tables available inside and half a dozen outside as well. These tables remained open for our entire wait and the entire time we were dining as well. I ordered the chicken and when I finally got it (the rest of my party was done eating) it was completely undercooked. Parts of it were still pink and raw and bloody. Since i'm not a fan of salmonella, I sent it back (which I have never had to do). After we left everyone felt sick to their stomach and one of my guests threw up shortly after. It's safe to say I will not be eating here at least for the next 8 years. Love the beer, but it's not worth it. —Cole

2008-11-07 23:10:30   The place is worth going to for the beer, but not much else I'm afraid. Service isn't that great and the food is a major disappointment. They really skimp on both the preparation and the portion. For beer+Euro food combination I would go to Little Prague instead. —Xenophon

2008-11-10 15:46:36   I found this place to be poorly decorated and the food was mediocre at best I will not be returning to sudwerks if I want there bier I will get it from the store but I would rather have actual German bier instead —Smashduc

2008-11-10 23:04:25   If you are a vegetarian...yeah don't go here. Luckily I am a pesco-ovo-lacto, so I got the crab-cake burger (is this what it is called?)...but that ended up being a miscalculated mess. It was greasy, and totally inappropriate for the work dinner I was attending. Ugh. Maybe I'll end up loving this place when I am old enough to order my own beers...Aree Rating (w/o alcohol): 6.5/10 —ArianeMetz

2008-11-16 20:41:06   they stop serving food at NINE so they can serve bar purposes, and some nights service for dinner is stretched thin- food isn't really anything extraordinary but good —Chrissapher

2008-12-06 02:28:59   I don't know what everyone is complaining about. First of all, as a vegetarian, they have a quite few options (pizza, a pesto pasta dish, veggie burger, salads) to choose from. The portion sizes are generous, and the servers are friendly & efficient. The beer is delicious, and well priced (a LITER for only $6!). I LOVE going to Sudwerks with my friends for drinks after work or to grab a bite to eat on my lunch break. We usually have the same server, and she is always great! (I think her name is Shawnna or something close to that). Sudwerks is definitely a fun place to go. —JazzyJasmine

2008-12-14 19:54:06   Great food, excellent beer, all for a good price in an awesome facility. My favorite restaurant in Davis. —RichardNichols

2008-12-21 23:35:06   NEVER EVER AGAIN. I have been to sudwerks before on dates and once for a work meeting, but Friday night I had the worst service of my entire life. I made a reservation and we were seated and served drinks, and everything seemed honkey-dory. We were waiting on two other friends and so we asked our waitress if she could wait a few minutes before we ordered...she didn't seem to have anything to say to this and simply walked away. Our friends arrived and our waitress came by and asked if we were ready to order, we said we weren't because our friends had just sat down and didn't even have any menus, and then she ROLLED HER EYES and said "ugh, whatever." WHAT? We were kind of shocked at that response...was it really such an inconvenience that we needed an extra few minutes to wait for our friends and allow them to pick something to eat? When we were ready to order, we closed our menus and waited. 30 minutes (i am not kidding here) later we decided to stack our menus up at the end of the table to see if this would catch our waitress' attention, and it did. We ordered. Notice that the first girls to sit down had been sitting for 45 minutes already, and no drink refills. Another 30 minutes later (one of my friends was timing because she had to be home by a certain time) we received our food. One of my friends ordered a cheeseburger with cheddar, but the cheese on the burger was clearly swiss...still our waitress reassured us that it was cheddar and did not offer to verify this. My friend ate a few bites of her cheeseburger and decided not to finish it, we had already spent so much time in the restaurant that she didn't want us to wait for a new burger. After we had finished eating we waited another 20 minutes before my friend (the timer) decided to get up and ask for our check. After we handed our check and credit cards in, we finally were given our first refills of the night. Over 2 hours after first being seated, we were finally able to go (at this point all of the other couples and families who had been seated around us had already left). The service was painfully slow and sometimes outright rude, maybe they are understaffed...or maybe our waitress was having an off night (or she may have been hideously drunk)...still, we didn't tip (this is a first for me) and I will never return. —ArianeMetz

2009-02-05 19:03:16   Sudwerk has had a new head chef since Dec. 18, 2008. His name is Donovan Kelley. —DonovanKelley

2009-04-27 21:11:45   Great place to go on Super Bowl Sunday. They don't mind if you stay a bit longer just to watch the game. I had the polish sausage sandwich and fries, and wasn't able to finish it all. Very good, though. —BrookeB

2009-04-28 11:15:37   I really like the beers and the bartenders: Katrina, Shauna, Rob and Sean. All are friendly and offer good service. Mark, the manager, grew up in Davis with his brothers and knows a lot of the customers, me included. Among my favorite dishes are the Shrimp Louie Salad, Sauteed Chicken Piccata and the Grilled Salmon. The hamburgers are excellent. Go there on a Thursday night for karaoke. They have a great selection of songs and some of the staffers like Mark, Zach, and Mel will get up and sing along with the customers. —nowhereman

2009-05-31 05:30:26   I'm sad about the change in ownership, still. I'm half-German and do love German foods, so I was sad to see a lot of the traditional German and Slavic items go off the menu. They did keep a couple of good ones, though, so that is some comfort. One thing anyone that comes here should try is the sausage sampler. I LOVE the chicken apple, but the others are very tasty too. As I'm under 21, I can't really say much about the beer. ;D] My dad very much likes it, so I'll just have to take his word for it. Working at a hotel, though, whenever I'm asked by a guest where to find some good drinks, this is where I send people. —KBathory

2009-06-14 12:46:33   the food here was good but the service makes me not want to come back. they forgot one of our orders, the waitress almost never came to check up on us. we asked for some ketchup three times. it was never brought to us and we had to go to a table nearby and ask to borrow their ketchup. the waitress never even refilled our water, not once throughout the 2 hour experience. it sucked that there was a gratuity charge because she definitely did not deserve a tip that big. —skinnyfatgirl

2009-06-15 17:42:05   Went here recently for dinner. The food was mediocre for the price; I got the sausage plate and was underwhelmed, especially by the Bratwurst. My companions got a pizza and a burger, both were equally underwhelming. The beer however, was good as usual. I don't believe they serve a bad beer.

Service was lax, it is a big place though and I imagine it's hard for one or two servers to efficiently cover the whole place. —JamesWaterhouse

2009-07-16 16:35:50   The Karaoke DJ here is really awful. No one could hear anyone singing the entire night, and he neither turned up the mic volume or told people to hold the microphone differently. —ScottRitchie

2009-07-24 02:30:05   WORST SERVICE EVER!!!!!!!!! I've lived in Davis my whole life and this is seriously the most horrible service I have ever experienced. They need to close this place down or get new owners. Our waitress was extremely rude. We needed ketchup, water, and soda refills and got none of the above. We probably got one drink refill at the end of our less than appetizing meal. And honestly, the potato wedges that are supposed to be french fries are tastier at KFC. That, in itself, says a lot about this place. I don't think I'll be returning here anytime soon. —sm0729

2009-08-08 13:46:50   Sudwerk is really a very sad story. They have what is probably some of the best tasting beer you could hope for in a local brewery. Authentic taste and well made. I love living in Davis and knowing that Sudwerk is our local brew. And then, there is the food and service. Seriously, I don't think the new owner really cares about the quality of the food they serve. Consistently since we relocated to Davis in 2007 every time we have gone to Sudwerk, lured by the excellent beer, we have had what can only be described as some of the worst food we could imagine. Our most recent visit included: a bacon avocado burger that was topped with completely brown, oxidized and totally unappetizing old guacamole—a least that's what we assume that it was supposed to be. What is amazing about that is that someone in the kitchen had to reach into the tub that was stored in and spread it on the bun. And it was not just brown and oxidized on top, it was brown through and through. So clearly, no one cared to even think about what was being served or was even concerned about putting a quality product up on the pass. The only thing to top that was the mysterious 'thing' in the fried potatoes. Was it a bone from a pork chop? Did one of the staff loose a finger when they were prepping the potatoes for service? I am not sure what the 'thing' was, but it was not particularly appetizing to bite into. Examining only enhanced the sense that I had just tried to take a bite out of something clearly not potato. My club sandwich was unremarkable. Sadly this is exemplary of every meal I have ever had there. I even tried to take a group of sales people there after a meeting one night. The comment from the entire party was, "Well, the beer was great; but the food sucks!" Unanimous opinion with no dissent. The sad thing is that given the limited depth of the all to familiar American pub grub menu, it is not food that takes particular skill to make well. But it does require at least the minimal interest of the kitchen staff to make it better than just barely edible which seems to be the standard to which Sudwerk's kitchen aspires. If I were the owner, I would fire the entire kitchen and seriously consider replacing the manager if that is the best that they can do. In summary, go for the beer, but unless you have absolutely no taste for decent food don't eat there. —ctotten

2009-08-15 22:33:07   Tonight we decided to take my son and his grandparents to Sudwerk for a “last meal” together before his heading off to college. We were hoping for a great night. Told the wait would be 20 minutes - reasonable. After 35 minutes, we were told that there were no tables outside, but we could have an inside table until something outside became available. Took the inside table and ordered immediately- with senior citizens long waits aren’t welcome. After 35 more minutes, we called the manager (and his trainee) to the table to express that “this wasn’t a good night for us at Sudwerk’s.” We then heard a LECTURE from the manager about how we should have made a reservation and delays such as what we experienced would not be unusual for evenings with music. We weren’t satisfied with this response. (To their credit, the manager and trainee then hustled back to the kitchen and brought the food to the table (thanks).) On the way out we again expressed our disappointment with the evening. Seemed to fall on deaf ears. I notice an entry on the Davis Wiki that patrons question if the manager really cares about customer satisfaction... hmm, based on tonight’s experience I wonder also. Not sure how fast we’ll be back, if at all. —clb2

2009-08-28 16:42:01   I know people tend to write reviews more frequently when they've had a bad experience, so I'd like to add my 2 cents: i love sudwerks! I think the manager(s) are great and DO seem to take their job seriously, unlike some of the robots I've experienced (both while dining and working in the industry). I do agree with a couple of the negative comments, though - the service, i'm sorry to say, IS ALWAYS slow. I've had a few different servers, and regardless of how busy it is, I do not feel like they have ever been instructed on checking back once or twice throughout the meal (because, as I would hope you've recognized, servers are managed very differently in different restaurants). Once to see how everything is, twice for drinks/to see if it's still going ok and to give the diners an opportunity to ask for the check early if they're in a hurry. Secondly, the calamari!! It used to be my FAVORITE thing ever there! It was greasy before (which is not always a bad thing, everyone craves greasy food at some point), but now it's just teensy little pieces that I feel like i have to wipe off with a napkin...or maybe wring out. But they're so small there's not much I can do, they used to be huge and delicious. I have no complaints, other than that I have always had great experiences. If you're in a hurry - get In-N-Out. Or, HEY! Let your server know at the beginning of the meal! —dontworryaboutit

2009-09-04 20:40:03   By far the worst experience at the local brewery!!! Have been going to Sudwerks regularly for the past 12 years. Tonight was unbelievably terrible. The hostess was wonderful but following that our time was awful. Our server, if you could call her that, took 20 minutes to even acknowledge our existence. Finally she reluctantly spoke to us, clearly upset with the rest of the staff for not letting her know that they had seated people in her section. We paced our order quickly for fear that we may never see her again. When the food came out (all ordered off the appetizer menu) we were wishing our server had never acknowledged us in the first place. Ordered the app. sampler, fries, seared artichoke, and a cup of chowder. Not to difficult. Sampler cost us $12.75 for two halves of a chicken strip (I know that would equal 1 whole strip only the size of the 2 halves were less than 1 strip), 5 onion rings, 2 halves of an egg roll (same explanation as the chicken on the 2 halves bit), and a handful of calamari. Artichoke was not cooked and the fries were equivalent to the fires I would pull out of the freezzer for my kids on a busy night. All in all, if we didn't have our beer, it would have been a disastrous night. Thank god for beer, for it can mask just about anything! Horrible new owners...if your looking for a good burger and a great selection of beer check out Burgers and Brew downtown. —suebee

2009-09-16 14:29:47   My roommates and I went there last night. The beer is okay, but the service was terrible. It was a slow night there, but our waitress still took forever to serve us. We had already finished our meal by the time our beers came. We noticed that the bar tender had poured them about 10 minutes before the waitress finally served them to us. We had to ask her to bring new ones because they were already starting to get warm. We never even got a water refill during the meal. Terrible. We've decided never to go there again. —craiggilmore

2009-09-16 17:01:40   I like their Pilsner but I haven't had it on draft. Their beer costs a little bit less at the market than most other premium or microbrews, which is certainly nice. Coming from three years in Chico it is hard for me not to support the local brewery! Given the kind of food they serve at the restaurant, and its location, I likely won't go, but if I do, I'll review it. —RyanMikulovsky

2009-10-26 09:07:00   We were once long time patrons of Sudwerk for years, but the last few times we've dined there we've found the food to be marginal quality and the service to be merely acceptable. We brought out of town company in, and were so terribly embarrassed we won't likely be returning. I don't want to name her, but our server (or should I say 'Order Taker') was inattentive, absent and not even the slightest bit friendly. We had to ask numerous times for just about everything (napkins, ketchup, crackers for our fidgety toddler, water, bread that came with the salads). Our friendly blonde busperson ended up doing all of the work, so we slipped her a personal tip on our way out.

Also, the Santa Fe sandwich I ordered was kid sized, and I had to eat again when I got home (I'm a normal sized guy with a normal appetite). I wanted to order the wing side dish, but I was shocked at the $12.75 price tag for 12 wings. Exhorbitant.

So, I'm sure we'll end up in the restaurant again as nostalgia for the good ole days kicks in. I'm assuming as relatively new owners, there are still kinks to work out. I'll hope for the best. —skawt01

2009-11-11 10:49:53   I miss the old menu, especially the warm German potato salad. I had a burger here the other night. I asked for it to be done "Medium well". It was burnt on the edges. They do have some excellent beer and the best calamari (with chipotle mayo) I have ever tasted. Make sure you get a fresh batch of the calamari. It gets soft if it has been sitting under the warming lights for too long. —GJC02

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