Best Gemütlichkeit

If you get a group of friends together and share stories and laugh and drink beer and play music and snack on lots of hearty, tasty food, you've got yourself some gemütlichkeit, an evocative German noun that roughly translated means "warm congeniality." Some of the most gemütlich gemütlichkeitin the city can be found at Schnitzelhaus, a happy little Austrian-German restaurant South of Market. A trio of accordion players squeezes out the oompah, while a friendly mix of neighborhood types tap their feet, quaff their Schneiderweisse, and schmooze over platters of the best potato pancakes in town. A wide selection of beers is served in an eclectic array of beakers, tankards, and mugs, and besides the pancakes the kitchen offers smoky Nürnberger bratwurst, excellent sauerkraut, and several varieties of schnitzel. With its peaked roof, antler chandeliers, knotty-pine walls, and wood-plank tables, the place looks like a Tirolean hideaway right on down to the evergreen boughs and beer steins, and the welcome is warm indeed. It's a fine place to eat, drink, and make merry.