It’s October, and among the fall pleasures in Los Angeles is Oktoberfest, that German celebration of the harvest or beer or who knows what. The point is that I have Germany on the mind, which means this is a great opportunity to revisit a restaurant my friends and I dropped by over the summer: Berlin Currywurst.
Ardent readers of this blog may remember that I happily visited the Silver Lake location of “Berlin Currywurst” on its opening day two and a half years ago. Since then, the plucky sausage shop has expanded into fresh new digs in Hollywood, taking over an old BBQ joint on Cahuenga and adding on a biergarten. There really aren’t enough outdoor biergartens in this city, and so it was with high hopes that I assembled a crew of people to head to Berlin Currywurst for an afternoon of beer, sausage, and outdoorsiness.
This new location has more or less the same menu, but of course with a plentiful beer selection too. If you want to know when Happy Hour is, good luck. There were separate hours for weekdays, Saturdays, and Sunday. The people behind the counter could barely remember. Just go and hope for the best.
The biergarten. It’s surprisingly serene; although, almost too serene for a biergarten. The benches were also not the most comfortable… But pleasant enough.
A well received sauerkraut.
Currywurst. Over the years I’ve settled on a winning combination: paprikawurst sausage, Charlottenburg flavoring (orange-ginger), and heat level 3.
Is the Berlin Currywurst biergarten the best al fresca drinking spot in Hollywood? Not really. I love a place where I can comfortably pass away the hours with friends, pitchers of beer magically replenished by an ever-attentive server. Unfortunately, the hard (and oddly shallow) benches at Berlin Currywurst were unkind to the buttocks and back, and the service was spotty. This is not a lost-afternoon place. But despite all that, the beer is great and so is the currywurst. It’s a perfectly solid addition to a pub crawl or afternoon jaunt.
And just for shits and giggles, here’s a little bonus:
Later, we wound up at 25 Degrees to enjoy their milkshakes. A positive experience all around. (But be warned that their chocolate milkshake is made with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup, not chocolate ice cream all the way through. BIG difference)
Berlin Currywurst
1620 N Cahuenga Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 467-7593
berlincurrywurst.com