My wife and I went to this restaurant for the first time yesterday (March 20) for a Sunday evening dinner. We have heard a lot about this establishment and were looking forward to a really good authentic meal. Of course we were prepared for a...wait to be seated having read reviews and observed the crowds. We waited about an hour to be seated outside. We chose to be seated outside and dine al fresco which was nice today because of the cooler weather and nice breeze. Like many places now days, the wait staff seemed short handed, overwhelmed and confused. Our order was taken after a lengthy wait; the food took forever to arrive. Our server, while nice and friendly, seemed confused and actually took my wife's garden salad to another table, which was refused by the other customer. The server then walked right past our table and back inside with my wife's salad. It was finally delivered along with the main meals. I noticed other confusion with other tables and other servers.
My wife ordered the veal wiener schnitzel with potato salad along with the house garden salad. I ordered the veal jaeger schnitzel with spaetzle and sweet red cabbage. The entire meal was mediocre at best....frankly the best part of my meal was the spaetzle. My wife's schnitzel was tender and certainly edible but completely boring...no flavor at all, no seasoning. Her German potato salad should be considered an embarrassment by the establishment. Simply sliced boiled potatoes smothered in vinegar, no seasoning, no chives, no bacon bits, nothing at all. The garden salad was simply lettuce with two or three thin shavings of carrots, four very thin slices of cucumber and one tiny wedge of tomato. My schnitzel was also tender and edible but nothing special about it at all. The hunter's gravy was thin and watery. They did throw a few sliced mushrooms on top. The red cabbage was acceptable.
This place seems very popular and downtown Sanford has become a pretty popular venue. (25 years go downtown Sanford was a dingy blight.) We have been fortunate to have visited Germany twice and Austria once and experienced the cuisine there. Frankly, Hollerbach's was a disappointment and certainly not authentic. Actually there is a place called Mr. Dunderbox in the Volusia mall (of all places) that serves really good German food!
Now I will acknowledge the warm, fun and friendly environment at Hollenbach's which had live music and some great musicians and vocalists who worked very hard. Certainly we felt relaxed and in good spirits; however, the culinary experience left much to be desired.
We will probably not return again and will certainly advise our friends and family that while the atmosphere is fun, the food is nothing special.More
