Sauter's Inn Restaurant

I like the old atmosphere better but I still love the place, food and people. I have gone when ever I want that type of food for years when I have the time but its always well worth it to me! Yes I would recommend this place and have done so over the years too! :D

Service and Food below my expectations, placed my order and waiting for over 1/2 food. Should have brought my own drinks the staff is so slow do not go

Dirty, dirty, dirty!

Went for a team breakfast - worse place ever!!!! Lipstick marks on four glasses out of six, Leftover eggs on forks, big fat spiders in bathroom, and waitress was horrible!!! It took one and a half hours to get our food!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Awful place!!!!!!!!!!

Sauter's Inn, more like Sauter's Out!

For our first time we brought 2 Germans with us to experience Sauter's Inn. They were not that impressed and were unfamiliar with many of the spins that Sauter's takes on "authentic" German cuisine. My expectations were low on authenticity but I always expect, nay demand certain standards from any restaurant which were barely met at Sauter's Inn. Food was under-seasoned and some entrees were coolish in temperature. The homefries seemed an odd choice for a sidedish and proved to be pedestrian. The sort of homefries you eat at any greasy spoon breakfast diner. The spaetzle was bland and underwhelming. The apple strudel was chewy and way too hot inside from heating in a microwave. I wanted layers of flaky crust, instead I couldn't cut it with the side of my fork and nearly burnt the roof of my mouth on the filling. The service was adequate, speedy and personable enough but not exceptional or notable in anyway. The atmosphere is, in my humble opinion, dreadful. I get it, it's Bavarian, but does it need to be so tacky, dark and dirty. The place needs a really good cleaning at the very least. They need new lighting, new seating and could get rid of 95% of the dusty old kitsch that looms over you as you eat. The dirty plastic flower in a cheap vase on the middle of our table, in all of it's depressing dinginess captured the general feeling of the atmosphere.

An amazing experience

Beautiful atmosphere, wonderful staff and absolutely the best dinner. This restaurant, is a must try if you go once you will be back. An amazing experience.

We ate breakfast here. My poached egg arrived...

We ate breakfast here. My poached egg arrived swimming in water. Also, they seemed to have run out of the "German Rye" toast that was recommended to me. Argh! The service was extremely slow - one server for the whole place!!!! There are better places for breakfast. It's too bad, this place came recommended.

An unfortunate decline in ranking since my last...

An unfortunate decline in ranking since my last review a year ago... I've been back to this restaurant several times since my last review in 2007, all very positive, however I think this is the first visit I've been since the place found new owners. The experience was one of mixed feelings. We went in to celebrate a birthday Saturday night - well, 5pm actually. As expected, we were the first table to arrive and were promptly seated. We had reservations, and as expected, it's good that we did - during the course of our dinner the place filled up to capacity as usual. I'll cut to the chase... the waitress, while pleasant, didn't seem to know how to let the other wait staff do their jobs independently, so she ended up trying to serve the whole restaurant herself. It's a small place, but in the end, the result was still the same - our service was terribly slow. Not only that, but when we did get served, it was a bumbling affair where the "other waitress" served our main courses while our appetizer plates were still in front of us (imagine a waitress with two full plates trying to set them temporarily onto dirty plates while she tries to figure out how to clear the setting). On top of that, she got our orders wrong, even after asking "which did you order sir", "venison stew" I reply, after which she hands me a veal dish (remember, my dirty starter plates were still in front of me, so I had to hold the entree while she cleared them away). It's a shame, really. The kitchen had 5 working, the floor had at least 3 working - enough people to be effective --- but the place just wasn't in a groove. I could see that at least two other tables shared our disappointment. By the way, the food is still absolutely amazing... however the bad service was enough to convince us that our days of frequenting the place may be coming to an end. Side note: As I understand it, the new owner is actually the chef, so my hats off to him for his outstanding food. I do hope he has a chance to assess his current wait staff and perhaps consider making some changes to improve the service.

A very pleasant experience

My husband and I went to Sauter's Inn for the fist time on Friday night for dinner. We totally enjoyed our dinner. We both had an appetizer and the caesar salad was fab!! Both of our dinners were served in a timely manner and both were very tender. My potatoes were a bit on the cold side - perhaps I should have asked them to heat them up. The waitress was very friendly but not over the top (which I hate). The dining room is a bit small though and I find the tables are too close to each other - if it was busier, I would have felt a tad too crowded... overall, a great experience though and we'll be going back for sure!

Germans cook the best grub..

The restaurant is authentic European.. it even closes with the same hours. We love Germany and love the food here. Great portion sizes and home cooked. Its a family who owns it and we love it there. Nice and dark

Schnitzel was fantastic!

Simple but hearty and tasty food. Great serving portion for the schnitzel, but it was so good, I ate it all! Not too fond of the decor - very alpine, but the schnitzel was to die for!

Excellent food and service. Head waitress Monica...

Excellent food and service. Head waitress Monica is one of the best. Will plan to go back many times

Be quite particular when you get your food - - if...

Be quite particular when you get your food - - if it's not perfect-send it back(we SHOULD have). Otherwise - a nice place!!

I don't know where they found the chicken that...

I don't know where they found the chicken that provided this chunk of meat, but I wouldn't want to meet it in a dark alley, it was the size of a personal pizza! Cooked just right, and the sauce was flavourful without being too spicey. When my wife's aunt visits from Germany we will take her there to get a native's opinion on the German dishes offered.

Have been many times, very quiet and relaxing...

Have been many times, very quiet and relaxing atmosphere. Liver to die for! To finish ahhhhh the strudel! Will return over & over!

A cozy little Mom and Pop operation convenient to...

A cozy little Mom and Pop operation convenient to Durham diners, offering a nice selection of German dishes, from schnitzel to hamhocks. The spaetzle is a welcome change from fries or mashed. I've been several times and have never been disappointed. Highly recommended.

the snitzel was very good, large portion and the...

the snitzel was very good, large portion and the venison stew was gamey but DH enjoyed it the apple strudel with ice cream is great the waitress messed up the order but gave DH the chicken soup (n/c) while waiting for his order to be cooked as we had our food already, nice gesture

Over priced typical European fair, small...

Over priced typical European fair, small portions, things tasted . . . just okay, nothing special.