Loreley Restaurant and Bar

Before the trend of the contemporary biergarten took hold in New York, restaurateur Michael Momm had planted Loreley’s roots on Rivington St. on the Lower East Side. Opened in 2003, this German-style beer hall and outdoor garden was among the first of its kind to be swept clean of the lederhosen- and dirndl-wearing, oompah-band-listening crowd one might associate with the “typical” German restaurant experience. (Certainly, dirndls have their place.) Instead, Loreley prioritizes the German concept Gemütlichkeit, or “coziness,” which its long, communal tables, built by a German brew-pub carpenter, encourage. There are also excellent German beers on tap, including Kölsch from Momm’s native Cologne, and an assortment of seasonal Oktoberfest beers. The menu is comprised of satisfying specialty dishes such as schnitzel, spätzle, and a variety of Schaller & Weber sausages, as well as some more creative spins on sausage–Wurst taco, anyone? With locations in Manhattan and Williamsburg, and another opening in Los Angeles soon, Loreley is not to be missed on either coast.