Jacob Wirth

Went before the show at the Wilbur. We were seated quickly. Staff was friendly and very attentive. Nice beer selection… had a flight of different craft brews. The food was very good. I had the small plate of Weiner schnitzel and sweet pea spatzle. It was very well prepared and flavorful. My wife had Tips with potato and asparagus. My mother had the house pastrami. Both were excellent. Prices were fair and quality was very good. We will visit again before theater.

Jacob Wirth’s, or Jake’s, is special.
Where else can you find tables of (intoxicated) men singing together, coaxed on by a jolly fella playing the hits on a piano? Where else can you get 30+ beers in big ol’ liter mugs? Where else can you find so many sausages it’ll make your head spin?
In all honesty I didn’t know if I’d like this place. But I fell in love. Great place to start or end the night, tie on a few and have some surprisingly solid food.
Minus one star for the pretzels. You aren’t a respectable German place serving up soft, freezer aisle SuperPretzels guys.

Never judge a book by its cover, no matter how small or old it looks on the outside. Jacob Wirth is one of the most unassuming restaurants from the exterior, but once you walk through those doors, you enter an environment which has been loved by many since 1868.
My friend and I came here for dinner, and I didn’t know what to expect, but what I got was MUCH more than I had ever thought. I felt like the restaurant went on for days. The ceilings were high — making the space feel even larger — but at the same time, it felt comfortable and inviting. Above you is décor reminiscent of a German beer hall, and the dining tables and chairs feel as if they came out of your grandparents’ kitchen. Decorating the walls is memorabilia of the restaurant, which is really fascinating to read /​look at during dinner.
And speaking of dinner — I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to eat, but I went for some good ol’ bratwurst, specifically the Jake’s Black Label Sausage. The sausage was crisp when you bit into it, and the spice in every bite was enough to kick you with just enough fire and flavor. The pretzel bun made for a well-​balanced sandwich. While the plate of food (including my onion rings) was a bit on the small side, I did enjoy every bite.
I look forward to coming back and tasting some more dishes. I have my eyes on the sauerbraten!

Here is a timeline of our experience.
1. I make a reservation on OpenTable. I notice they require a credit card to hold the reservation. They charge $ 10 if you don’t show up.
2. We had a party of 4. I noticed that for parties of 15 or more, there is a $ 30 minimum. That is too high. Somebody in management needs to recognize that, and NO, based on previous responses to reviews that does not make it harder on servers. The restaurant complains that people order water. That’s too bad. Some don’t drink alcohol. What about pregnant women or people on certain medications?
3. The morning of the reservation, I receive a call confirming our arrival and asking if we would like to be near the piano and the singing or away. I said away and not near the restrooms please. I ended the call telling this person we had a Groupon (Big mistake!).
4. We arrive, park at the adjacent garage. The hostess says they don’t validate parking. So we had to pay full price for parking.
5. We are seated in the corner of the restaurant near the piano man and the ladies room.
6. Waitress brings cornbread and butter. We have no silverware.
7. We order nachos, 2 reubens, steak tips, fish and chips, 2 cups of chowder, 2 bowls of chowder, 2 sodas and 2 waters. Nobody in our party drinks alcohol. (2^nd big mistake)
8. Waitress is nowhere to be found. Make sure you order alcohol. Those tables got a lot of attention.
9. Nachos come out (dry and with tiny cups of salsa, guac and sour cream). 5 minutes later, everything else comes out. We now have a ton of food on the table and the entrees getting cold.
10. The steak tips entrée had 5 steak tips for $ 18.99, should have included asparagus and did not.
11. We call a manager over and tell him that our entrees are getting cold because everything came out at the same time.
12. Manager takes nachos and steak tips off of our check. Fine and dandy but we just wanted good service and a good experience instead of free, cold food.
13. No soda refills or water refills offered. We had to ask even though we clearly had empty glasses.
14. We walk out after paying. The waitress gives a glaring look at our friend who complained about the steak tips and passes by her very closely sending us a clear message.
So, all in all, I have been going to Jacob Wirth for 16 years off and on. It’s not what it used to be. I judge a restaurant by its food and service, not its alcohol. If I can’t go to your establishment, order water, and get equal service then I know I’m not a welcomed customer.

I used to come here quite frequently and thought it was fine for a bar/​restaurant at lunch time. When I received their newsletter with their pastrami promotion I realized I hadn’t been there in a long time. It was the worst decision I made, the sandwich was bad and it was probably the worst service I had at a restaurant.
My friends and I all ordered our drinks and pastrami sandwiches. When we requested to add lettuce and tomatoes to or sandwiches our waiter said he’d check to see if they could do that and never got back to us. When we got our order, one of our drink orders was incorrect and one of the sandwiches cam with the wrong side. That will not normally make me leave a negative review since I understand that mistakes happen. (Strike one)
The pastrami sandwiches we had were bad, they were cold, the bread was soggy and the meat itself was too peppery, too salty and rubbery. It tasted like a store brand cold cut pastrami you can get at a supermarket. This also, I can kind of understand, it is a promotional item and it isn’t something they are known for. I usually order a burger or fish and chips here.(Strike two)
What was really the last straw for me was how nearly impossible for us to flag anyone down, we had empty soda cups for most of the meal. We tried to get someone’s attention for 20 minutes, it took someone in our group shouting across the room to get another waitress to come to our table. We decided we just wanted to get our checks and leave at that point. (Strike three)
I am not sure if it was just an unusually bad day for us but I don’t think I will be coming back again. I wouldn’t recommend this place as it is now.

Update:
The manager Kevin messaged me to try to explain the 30 dollar minimum. He claims that big groups will sometimes have patrons who will only order water making it hard on the waitresses. I can understand having a 10 dollar minimum perhaps, but 30 is ridiculous, and insulting.

Came here with my German friend and I just came back from a trip to Berlin. My friend was laughing the whole time at their image of Germany (though the original owner was German). The place is fun, good for a beer, has the beer hall atmosphere going on, and has fun piano karaōke. It can be super loud and crowded, so not great for a date or adult conversation — better for drunk pregaming before going out. The food was alright. The Vienna schnitzel was fine but not as thin or seasoned as I’d like and my friend said it was the first time he ever saw an egg on schnitzel! It’s good to see a relatively under-​represented cuisine ethnicity in the heart of Boston, though!

Fantastic food! Great beer on tap. Loved the pretzels. I wish I could have eaten everything on the menu.

Fun place with a nice historic feel. The service is not great but I will be back. Definitely want to come for the sing alongs.

This place has pretty mediocre German food, to be honest. Love the feel of the place, but it was pretty empty. Our waiter was super nice and helpful, but seemed stretched thin. Our food came out almost 2 minutes after we ordered, which would’ve been fine if the brat and knackwurst weren’t over cooked. I was pretty disappointed with the sauerkraut as well. The brats weren’t even grilled/​browned post boil! The jaeger frites were super tasty, so I definitely recommend those. Beer selection was good too! I wish they would take the time to cook the food to order instead of heating everything up.

It’s just «okay,» not atrocious. Lots of the standard Boston pub items combined with some «German» menu items. Everything is pretty mediocre, although the sriracha cod bites appetizer was quite good. Service was good, so that’s a plus! Probably limitless options that are better in the area.

Came here for an early dinner on a Saturday night before a wine riot event. We had been meaning to come here for two years but never got around to it. Good pub/​bar for German food with an amazingly wide beer selection on draft. Started with a clam chowder cup and then got 2 Wiener schnitzel sandwiches– one on a pretzel bun and the other on a multigrain roll. Bot had warm German potato salad on the sides as well. The chowder was surprisingly fresh and very thick. The sandwiches had too much breading and not enough veal. Probably would have been better off getting the Wiener schnitzel entrée instead.
Would come back again for the food or to take out, but would hope to never get eh server we had again. Absolutely terrible service. It took 25 minutes at 6pm on a Saturday (before the typical dimmer rush) to even ask us if we wanted drinks. It was so difficult to get his attention the entire dinner that when he brought us entrees we immediately flagged him down for the check since we needed to get to an bent quickly afterwards.

It was a close tie between three or four stars, But I decided this place is, to me, 3.5 stars, so I rounded up.
Host stand is a little but into the restaurant, there is signage that indicates were it is, but it is easy to miss. When I got there, rather than ask how many, I had to ask the host if I seat myself, or am seated, and only then told her that it was just me.
Waiter was knowledgable, nice, and attentive. However, it would have been nice if they had took the menu from my table after I had ordered, but since I did look through it a little after (see what else they have, and the history) this was no a massive issue.
For bread they gave a homemade corn-​bread, which was good but very unusual for a German restaurant. Even so, I only had one piece since the food came out scary quick.
Munich Schnitzel was wonderful. The meat was tender, flavorful, breaded just right, and fried to perfection. Sauce was excellent, and so was the base (I don’t know if they are potatoes or pasta).
However, I had the apple strudel for desert, and I have to unfortunately say was a disaster. It seemed like it was made sometime earlier, and then plopped back into the toaster. It was not at all flaky, and the dough had a feeling like it was from several days ago (hard to cut with a spoon)

Friday night sing along with Mel: more than 5 stars. Best thing to do in Boston on a Friday night. Crowd can get pretty rowdy. Pitchers are cheap (especially considering the downtown area), service is quick and they don’t judge you for being drunk
Food: 2 stars
Jakes Nacho Platter — not quality ingredients, not worth the calories you’re consuming, plz skip
Jake’s Nibbler — thought the grilled meat, cabbage, and mashed potatoes was so so. Not a huge sausage fan (but am a huge meat fan) but thought it wasn’t quality/​authentic/​worth it

I’ve never had German food before and so I decided that I needed to try Jacob Wirth. The place was packed but we had reservations and were seated right away. The food was ok (mixed grill –bratwurst). I got the hofbrau original beer and that was pretty good. The service was just ok. Nothing really stood out to me. It was an ok night out, but probably wouldn’t go back.

We walked in with no reservation at 6:00 on a Thursday and were seated right away, although the place looked pretty full. We liked that they offered small plate sizes– no leftovers to haul away to the theater with us. The menu was interesting and it was hard to decide. My husband ordered the Wiener schnitzel and cleaned his plate. I chose the sauerbraten and it was tender and delicious, although I didn’t care for the gravy. One son devoured his burger and the other didn’t like the flavoring in the concoction he chose.
The menu is mostly German food, burgers and sandwiches. You can spend a lot or a little depending on what you order. There were at least 20 beers on tap. Service was pretty good especially with how crowded it was. We loved the old time atmosphere and would definitely return next time we’re in the theater district.

Went last night for 25 cent hot dogs!
The place was packed due to some local events going on, however we were able to grab a table and enjoy some hotdogs!
Our first order came out with 6, however when we went to order another round they informed us they were all out! Seems kind of silly to run out of the special at 6:30!
The free corn bread they placed on the table did help a little bit!
Overall great drink menu and worth the stop in!

I used to enjoy going to Jacobs Wirth for their great burgers and equally great and huge selection of beers. They used to serve 30+ beers on tap, with 5 – 6 different IPAs, which was great …
Well, this was the case until a few weeks ago. Now they have 5 – 6 beers on tap, if you’re lucky. Their printed drinks menus is outdated and the list held with the server is ever shrinking and not being replenished
Every time I’ve been in the past three weeks, they have a reason why they’re out of beers. Today it was «oh, we’re waiting for delivery».
Seriously guys, what’s going on? a burger without a decent beer is like a fish without a bicycle (in the words of U2).
Tell us what’s going on, are you changing hands, being sold and developed into apartments like the building next door?
So so so very disappointed …

I’ve been a loyal patron for the better part of a decade, and things have only gone downhill. The food seems to be increasingly greasy and americanized, and less crisp, fresh, and German. Also, the service has been terrible, lately. Take tonight’s experience, for example:
Our server, who didn’t introduce herself, told me that the *only* seasonal beer on tap was Sam Oktoberfest. I figured they had been run through on the seasonals, so I tried to order a Leffe Blonde, which I knew was on tap. She shook her head and pointed to the «Sam Adams Oktoberfest» line on the menu. Fine, I like Oktoberfest. Later, as we waited almost 30 minutes for our food, I saw other patrons drinking all kinds of wonderful, tasty looking draft beers that weren’t Sam Adams Oktoberfest. Huh?
I ordered the broiled swordfish (probably my mistake, but it was on the menu), and it was so overcooked that it looked and tasted like chicken. I needed a knife to cut it. The menu indicated that the dish was served with asparagus and mashed potatoes, and the runner brought me a plate with a tiny, charbroiled chunk of fish and asparagus, no potatoes. He said nothing about this, as if I wouldn’t notice that ¹⁄₃ of my order didn’t arrive. When I inquired about it, I was told «we’re out of them» and received German potato salad, instead. Okay, I like the German potato salad.
I was using a groupon, which I’ve used before there (other groupons, not the same one), and it took almost ten minutes to «locate a manager» who could redeem the groupon. Finally, I could pay the bill and leave.
So, to recap:
Server with zero knowledge of beers available? Check.
Long time for overcooked and incomplete entrée? Check.
Bizarrely long wait for a man in a t-​shirt and jeans to click a button on my iPhone? Check.
I’m sorry to be leaving this review, but it’s the cumulative result of a series of increasingly disappointing experiences. Jake’s must be going through tough times, so do yourself a favor and wait to go until things are better.

Ordered a pinot grigio, didn’t taste like it. We wanted to have second round of drinks, and it took nearly half an hour before somebody picked up. While the bar was not even half full.
Toilets need to be cleaned up
Wouldn’t go back here

Jacob Wirth is within Boston’s theater district and it’s a great spot for dinner or a drink before a show. The restaurant has a long history and still commits to the German décor and menu. I’d suspect the food selections have adapted to modern diners as there are plenty of burger/​fries offerings on the menu as well.
Upon entering you’ll see a long bar to your left and bar seating to your right. Go further in towards the open kitchen to meet the hostess and enter the large dining area with a beer hall look/​feel. There is a GREAT special available on select nights, $ 40 two entrees, one appetizer, one dessert. We tried the sausage/​sauerkraut fritters (meh), our entrees were wiener schnitzel and steak tips both very good with generous portions. The steak tips marinade does have a bbq sauce flavor, just a note. Dessert was a take on German chocolate cake, very good yet we were already stuffed.
We chose the dinner special but regardless, the a la carte menu is also reasonably priced, including the wide selection and sizes of draft beer. This neighborhood has a lot of chain restaurants which makes Jacob Wirth even more unique and appealing to me. Recommended.

German-​esque food with a good beer selection.
It ain’t cheap, and it ain’t vegetarian friendly. But by golly is it downtown. The veggie burger is meh, I prefer the veggie Ruben… which is a veggie patty with Reuben fixings. Maybe offer some spetzel (sp?) without meat on top?
Overall a fine place to go but don’t go out of your way to go there.
Note to management: Its summer and your place of establishment is incredibly hot. Turn on the damn AC or buy a fan.

Great beer choices whether you want an «exotic» German pick or to stick with your standard Sam Adams.
I also love that it’s big and loud and hectic, giving it somewhat of an authentic German beer hall feeling. With that being said, I don’t know if they just didn’t have the AC on yet or what, but DAMN it was HOT in there on a fine May evening. Granted, we were sitting in the back and the open door in the front made it much better up there, but beware of the sweltering back of the building. Or just buy more beer to cool off. (Dumping it over your head may work?)
On a different note, the veggie burger was on the bad end of the spectrum. The meat options are likely better. You can also get a veggie patty for other sandwiches, like the rueben, which is nice but I’d skip it because the patty just wasn’t up to pare. (Tasteless.)
Our waiter was nice and handled a rowdy table of 15 quite well. He kept the pitchers of water and mugs of beer flowing swiftly.

I really enjoy coming to this place. Awesome beer, friendly staff, plenty of tables (it’s huge!), cool décor — definitely feels like you’re in a German beerhall! It can get crowded sometimes but the service has always been attentive. Came here at 8pm on a Friday and there were plenty of tables open.
The food here is decent, especially after having a few drinks, but I mainly come here for the ambiance, beer selection, and to grab a bite before seeing a show at the Wilbur (right across the street). It’s fun for after-​work drinks or a casual weekend hangout, and definitely a unique spot in Boston.

menu de brasserie allemande avec un très bon choix de bières et une cuisine correcte.
Il n’y a aucune fenêtre ce que je trouve un peu déprimant mais j’ai déjà vu des brasseries semblables à Munich alors on pourrait parler de caractère authentique.