Our family was completely disappointed. We waited almost 2 hours to be seated (not the reason for the rating) I want to say our 1 star is not based on the wait to be seated. Good food is worth waiting for. After we were seated it took an hour and a half for our food to arrive. They charge for water 1.50 per bottle, when you can clearly see the water button on the Minute Maid soda machine in the galley. One of us ordered French onion soup and instead of bread they used an extremely burnt pretzel. We also witnessed them bringing in large bags of premade pretzels that they sell for a premium. All of our food was cold and some of the spaetzle was old, cold, and crunchy. Our server was not the nicest and I'm be courteous in explaining it that way. We would never go back and I'm so sorry to say that. read more

Easily the best German food in Helen. We come here every time we're In town and haven't had a bad meal yet.

Just off the main street through Helen, Ga on Munich Strasse is an authentic German restaurant called Bodensee. Totally amazing!! In 2019 we spent a few weeks visiting various places in Germany, so we were really excited to visit Bodensee. As soon as you walk in you feel welcomed, just like you have been invited into your Oma's delicious smelling kitchen. The menu is full of mouth watering options (so a one time visit is not an option). Our meal started with the Goulash Soup- WOW!! It was so hearty and the flavors danced all over my tongue. This soup could be a meal all by itself. However,Jenni and I had to try more, so we ordered the Sampler Platter for two. This platter had Sauerbraten, Schweinebraten, Beef Roll, Smoked Pork Chop, Homemade Garlic Sausage, Schnitzel, served with Spaetzle, Sauerkraut, Red Cabbage & German Potato Salad. Everything was Köstlich (delicious)!! It said Platter for 2, but I think you could feed 3 or 4 especially if you had an appetizer and dessert. We finished our dining experience with a warm, homemade Apple Strudel- so good!! During our visit we had the pleasure to visit with Chef Aural Prodan. He shared his passion for the food he prepares for his guests. Besides Chef Aural, we enjoyed chatting with his adorable wife Doina. Doina was the one to greet each guest, plus she worked the room to make sure everyone was enjoying their food and experience. We enjoyed our meal so much. We also enjoyed watching the other dinner guests laughing and enjoying their time at Bodensee. As we watched others, we also saw lots of other yummy looking plates go by. Because of that we had to return the next day just to try the Giant Pretzel, potato cakes and Chocolate Cake. If you are in Helen, Ga or staying close by you must go enjoy a meal at Bodensee- you will be so happy that you did. read more

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Large portions and friendly employees. We ordered French onion soup, goulash, chicken schnitzel, and salad. Everything was wonderful. The French onion soup was made in real broth, you could both taste and see the difference. It was fantastic. The goulash has a creamy mushroom sauce and was served with a side of sliced potatoes and salad. The salad had a cilantro house made dressing. The schnitzel was topped in mozzarella! Heaven. Everything really was tasty. The inside was just as interesting and really hit on the home made vibe. Helen itself is a tourist city, so we were happy to walk off our heavy meal and explore. Check out the candy store across the street. read more

Bodensee Restaurant - Goulash! - German Near Me - Helen, Georgia

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Pros: French onion soup and beer, Hand sanitizer + temp checks, very friendly chef, free parking Cons: personal opinion- Specials seemed to be more about quantity than quality. No social distancing, tables close to each other. read more

I was not pleased with this place at all. The food is not good, and it is highly overpriced. The only good part was the complimentary bread! The customer service was HORRIBLE! Since the moment you enter the restaurant, you do not feel welcome & it appears like the waiters purposely try to avoid you. There are better places to try. I would say, AVOID. read more

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Excellent service and excellent food! Asked the server for recommendation and he did not disappoint! My friend and I tried two different dishes and both were excellent. The french onion soup was on point as well. Would definitely go again! Was a fairly quiet restaurant with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. read more

Authentic German cuisine with great service. I highly recommend and would go back. The dessert berry tiramisu was incredible

The food was delicious. We had escargot, French onion soup, shrimp cocktail and smoked trout. The service was outstanding. Our waitress Debbie was courteous, attentive and very friendly. A bit of a mixologist too. Great recommendations for liquid libations. Their attention to COVID safe guards should also be lauded. read more

It was a decent version of German Food. Too much gravy over all of the food. All of the German Restaurants I've been to here in the states and in Germany the red cabbage was warm and the German potato salad was warm. Here it was served cold. But it had the best Goulash Soup I've ever had. read more

We must have been there on a bad night. It all started when the hostess said there was a couple cashing out and she would put us at that table, but asked that we sit just outside the door because the hostess area is very cramped and presented a hazard to block it. Then several other parties walked in and blocked the hostess area because there was no hostess there. Another lady came through telling people to get out of the way so she could start seating people and ignored my comments about what we had been told, so she started seating the other people that were blocking the area. Then we got seated and I asked the waitress for a glass of iced water so I could take a pill. She informed me that the restaurant did not have any tap water, but that I could buy a one time use plastic bottle of water. Never mind, I will just skip the pill. We ordered a 2 person sampler meal that had several different items on it. All were very tough and had really weird flavors unlike any German food I have ever eaten. I took 1 bite of each item just to give it a try and couldn't stand to eat any more. My girlfriend took several bites, but we still sent back roughly 80% of the food. My girlfriend's mother had the potato pancakes and it seems her favorite part of the meal was the applesauce. When the waitress came back to the table and none of us were eating, she asked if we wanted a box rather than investigating if anything was wrong with the food. We all said no and I made a face, telling her it was horrible, but she just walked away and brought us the check. The tuba player and accordion player had finally started playing when she brought the check and rather than try to have any more discussion, I just wrote a note on the credit card slip, payed for the meal, left a nominal tip (should have been zero after she told me the restaurant had no running water) and left. That was almost 100 bucks wasted so we went back to our cabin and grabbed some snacks. The next day, we had breakfast at another place with some German options and had a wonderful meal at that different place. read more

Food was excellent! We visited lots of restaurants during our visit to Helen, and Bodensee was the best. The food and service was great, and the two gentleman playing and singing german music around the tables gave us a wonderful time while celebrating our anniversary. read more

Outstanding and authentic. They gave great recommendations on what to try too. Goulash soup was excellent but very rich. All the Goulash SoupRed Cabbage Spaetzle Red Cabbage Food is very rich. Meat was super lean and chef had obviously trimmed the fat off very well. Ref cabbage, potato salad (warm), and spaetzle were very well done. The dish served in the skillet with gravy was the best. The gypsy pork loin was also great. House Chardonnay I would pass on... Desserts great. Had Apple strudel with ice cream. read more

Came here for dinner on our wedding night. What an experience! We ate here six months ago and knew our guests would love the food as much as we did. The potato pancakes are to die for. Everyone loved their dishes, the portions are huge and you'll leave stuffed. A special thank you to the owner for your gracious hospitality on our special day. We came back to eat here with our friends one more time before we left Helen, and I'm already planning my next trip because I can't go several months between having schnitzel! read more

I have been twice and sat outside both times. The food is good and authentic German. I wish the food was hot when it was served, though. The jager schnitzel was delicious and I love spaetzle. The goulasch was also yummy and the red cabbage was incredible. I definitely recommend this restaurant for the food and price. read more

Bodensee Restaurant - Jager Schnitzel with spaetzle - German Near Me - Helen, Georgia

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The food and atmosphere here is amazing. Honestly couldn't have been a better experience. Server offered to let me taste taste some of their beers; spaetzle was incredible and tasted so fresh. The band playing authrntic German folk music was an added bonus.(: read more

Bodensee Restaurant - German Near Me - Helen, Georgia

What an awesome place. My husband was stationed in Germany for a few years and he really enjoyed it. Food was amazing and the service was excellent, they had an indoor patio area that we could take our baby in, that was a big plus for me. Oh and let's not forget the beer lol, smallest size was a 20oz Sam was our server and she was very helpful and attentive. read more

Bodensee Restaurant - German Near Me - Helen, Georgia

Always one of my favorites when coming to Helen. the Weiner Schnitzel and Spatzel is so delicious. The best is the hot apple strudel with ice cream. The owner and staff very friendly!. I come every time I'm in z Helen. read more

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The Service was great. Kudos to the waitress that handled a large crowd efficiently. The food was okay. I am German and I am spoiled with great German food. They had the stereotypical German fare. Schnitzel and Sausage platters and Sauerkraut and Spätzle. I had the goulash soup which was to gloppy for me. The Sauerkraut my husband had was just sour no other flavor. Most Germans add a bit of sugar. The potato salad was not what I am used to but was very interesting in a good way. I wish there were some German restaurants that served what we actually eat in Germany. read more

Good was delicious and reasonable as they had a lunch menu. They took your temperature upon arrival and before seating, as well as had you use hand sanitizer. This was one of the main reasons we stopped as it has been our only eat-in experience since the Pandemic started. The service was friendly and quick, and the food was great. I ordered the Jaeger schnitzel with spaeztle, as did my husband plus the Jumbo pretzel for an app. All was delicious. read more

Bodensee Restaurant - Jaeger Schnitzel - German Near Me - Helen, Georgia

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I would give this place zero stars if I could. We started out with extremely slow service and a pretzel. Pretzel was hard and not hot as it should have been. We ordered and then the most bizarre thing happened. We were sitting minding our business when the owner approached me and told me to get off my phone, (I wasn't speaking into it I was looking at the screen.) she said I wasn't allowed to be on my phone I thought she was joking until she shamed me and said I was setting a bad example for my children. She then kicked us out of the restaurant after I told her that she should focus on the kitchen being her food was below sub par to start with. She was extremely rude and seemed chemically imbalanced. First time for everything but as it turned out she did us a favor and we went to this delicious fried cheese place down the street with great food and service. read more

The food and atmosphere was excellent! There was zero wait time . Highly recommend for good German food.

This place has an old German interior feel to it and I'm comparing to my trips to Germany. The interior is old but consistent with the German old world interior. It was well kept with some minor oversights but not a deal breaker. We called in ahead for our party of 25ish, which they catered to nicely. The workers were friendly and helpful with everything. We ordered several different kinds of dishes but most of them were too salty for me. That was a little bothersome. The taste was okay but I don't like eating salty foods. The prices were high but most of the restaurants in the area are so it's also not a deal breaker. They can seat around 80 or so and they have their own parking in front. The restaurant is broken into 3 sections I believe so it's not one huge restaurant, which also means it won't be super noisy either. Overall, worth a try. read more

Excellent. Great service, setting and food. Authentic german food and beer. Potato pancakes is a winner, sauerkraut made from scratch and fresh potato salad. Wursts well cooked to perfection. Great day, crowned by top notch food. Highly recommended. read more

Great European owned restaurant in Helen. Top 3 recommended for people looking for a place to eat in town. Food and service are first rate!!! Check it out!!! read more

Technically I did not eat here but a Yelp Review is to help prepare someone for their visit and set an expectation. With that said, Be prepared to waste some time before being seated. I came in on a Sunday Afternoon with a few friends and it was moderately busy. There was no line but many tables occupied and only 1 occupied table outside. We stood at the "wait here to be seated" sign and nothing happened. No one greeted us, plenty of employees walked by and ignored us. After some time, we decided if it takes this long to get someone's attention just to be seated, imagine ordering food and then waiting for the bill. Unanimously, we decided to leave. For a service and hospitality business, this place fails. read more

Best German food in Helen by far! Highly recommend visiting this restaurant during your stay. I recommend ordering the Sample Platter for Two. read more

We got here and they took a while to even get us the menus. They let us order and then said "just so you know we are on dinner prices now". So everything we ordered would be +$10 per plate. We asked for the manager and she said they only had two servers and refused to honor the lunch price. We had to ASK for the manger cause she was perfectly fine with us just paying for our drinks and leaving. The menus don't even specific what time dinner pricing starts. Super rude management and poor handling of the situation. Then they come and say they pulled the camera and we weren't there before 3pm. Funny - that was never the problem . Our complaint was the server took our order. Took the menus, and THEN said everything would be dinner pricing (and there isn't any specific time on the menu for pricing). So now, with no menus in hand we just had to agree to pay +$10 for each meal. Absolutely mishandled the situation and lost our business- which they obviously don't care based on their aggressive attitude and tape pulling. They should have just coached their server to lead with telling people to order off the dinner menu but places that don't take accountability don't care about feedback so they can get better. read more

Food and Beer was Amazing! My husband and I shared a jumbo pretzel and the house platter. It was so good and perfect amount with the beer selections. Waitress had good recommendations. Only thing I would like different would be the restaurant being able to provide regular tap water vs. bottled water. But besides that, overall great experience! read more

Bodensee Restaurant - House Platter! - German Near Me - Helen, Georgia

For being a German Town, Helen, GA really needs to up it's German food game. I really wanted to like this place, but unfortunately, it fell short. Here's why: SERVICE: When we got there, the hostess/maitre d was short and kinda ordered us around--'wait there', 'you two and you two, come with me'. She was not friendly, and we didn't feel very welcomed. After you're seated, the servers just took a long time to come get your drink/food order, and when the food was here, they never came to check in on you to see how things are going. We had asked for an apple juice (apfelschaorle) , but it never came. When asked, they said that they ran out, but nobody came to tell us about it. Our waters were never topped up even though the food took a long time to come. FOOD: We got the sausage plate, goulash soup and an extra side of spaetzle. The goulash was a salt bomb--it was way too salty! There were some bits of meat in there and some carrots, but it was mostly soupy salty water. The spaetzle on the other hand was the opposite--it was so bland! The sausages were good, especially the garlic sausage. It was a little expensive for $18, but it was tasty enough. The potato salad was cold and bland, but the sauerkraut was good. read more

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The food was meh. Not very German as other German restaurants. It's like eating at an American restaurant that attempts to make German food. There are other places that are waaaaay better if you really want to eat some good German food. The service here was good. Friendly staff and good atmosphere. read more

What a terrific German dinner! Very much enjoyed schnitzel and the braut sampler platter! Potato cakes and sauerkraut were great although the initial portion of sauerkraut was small.... asked about it and she brought be a small bowl more! Highly recommended! Not touristy but authentic! read more

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Surprisingly great food for a small mountain tourist town. Our party of 11 happened in at opening time for an early lunch, hoping for something even slightly German. We were pretty surprised at the quality of the schnitzel, the potato pancakes, the spaetzle and even the hot pretzel and beer cheese. We left very full and very grateful for the food and friendly staff. read more

The food was delicious. We did potato pancakes. The applesauce was very fresh. The Jaeger Schnitzel was very flavorful and filing. Truly enjoyed the atmosphere. Highly recommend. read more

Bodensee Restaurant - Jaeger Schnitzel - German Near Me - Helen, Georgia

Service was terrible and the food was not great! Everything is deep fried and breaded. Our server forgot some of our party's dishes and drinks. read more

Great place good food and service. We'll go again next time in Helen. The Mac and cheese was very cheesy. Good for kids overall great place. read more

This is the best place to eat in this town... because there's not a whole lot of other places in a fake German town that cater German food. Anyway. Food was good. Service was great. I've never had an authentic German meal. But if this is what it is, it's quite enjoyable. read more

Bodensee Restaurant - The platter for 2 was great! - German Near Me - Helen, Georgia

My husband and I have been here once and we loved it! We decided to come back on this return trip to Helen and we were not disappointed. It had been a few years so we were not sore what to order, since we could not exactly recall what we had gotten the last time. This time we decided to order the Haus sampler platter. We figured this would give us a good introduction to German food, and it did not disappoint! There were four sides, and enough meat for us to both chose from. The garlicwurst was delicious! The beef pot roast with gravy was like butter in your mouth. My husband really like the pork pot roast with the sweeter gravy (it sounds like it doesn't work, but it totally does). The schitznel was good, it tasted like a fried pork chop. Another popular item was the dill pickle wrapped in bacon wrapped in beef. It was tender, and delicious. And that is just the meats. The sauerkraut was good, but I am not a sauerkraut fan. Although funnily enough I did like the red cabbage. ‍ The spaetzle was soggy because the red cabbage liquid got to it, and it really did not have much flavor. The German potato salad was delicious. Really bright and refreshing. Everything was really delicious that we ate. Our waiter was super knowledgeable, and very helpful. He also made sure to keep our drinks filled, and found the right balance between hovering, and giving is space. read more

Absolutely great food, great service and average ambiance. We would highly recommend to everyone.

This place was extremely disappointing. I have eaten at many a German restaurant and this has been by far the worst. We will leave out what others here have already said- no substitutions, bottle water only, etc... I will deal solely with food quality and service. Food quality was about the poorest excuse for German food I have had. Everything tasted as though they put all the salt in the kitchen in it. I am pretty sure I am going to need blood pressure medicine after the amount salt intake I just had! My wife and I had a sampler for two. Everything was dry!! How do you dry out meat that is in gravy! The saurbraten was so dry and tough we couldn't eat it. The spatzel - dry!! The sausage- dry! My wife had a French onion soup, half way through she starts finding hard black chips of plastic in it. That had to be returned. The service mediocre at best and the food was very cold when served, it also did not all come out at the same time. Trying to leave this poor experience and low and behold the manager/owner (I am assuming here) is half blocking the one way out with the dessert tray for another table. Overall just a bad experience. read more