Description
Ever drank beer out of a big glass boot? Ever done a shot of snuff from a snuff catapult? Ever sung a song you didn't really know at the top of your voice, led by an accordion player in lederhosen, in a room full of your very best friends? If the answer to all these questions is no, then you obviously haven't been to the Gasthof, the northeast Minneapolis standard bearer for the 12-month Oktoberfest. Of course, they do have a famous outdoor Oktoberfest when the season is right, but the rest of the year the place is just a party within a party: song-leaders strapped to accordions wander the aisles leading tables in rounds and songs; little children dance merrily on chairs; four generations of a single family devour sausages while cheering the little ones on; and vast clumps of twentysomethings celebrate birthdays by passing and passing those famous boots. (Setting them down is bad luck!) The food is fine--lots of schnitzels and wursts in big portions at low prices--but the beer is the real draw here, as the Gasthof imports shiploads of German, Bavarian, and Czech kegs, and goes through them so quickly that the contents are always scrupulously fresh and in ideal condition.
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