Faust Hofbrauhaus

The ambiance is very cool and the staff was very friendly and ultra nice. The food was not
at all what we expected. We had the pretzel with mustard as an appetizer. We were expecting a huge German style pretzel, sort of what we are used to when having German food, they were small and flavor wise nothing different that the ones you get at a NYC cart. For entrees, my husband had the schnitzel, it was O — K. He was expecting a bigger portion, more sides as they usually serve in other German spots we go to. I had a chicken entrée which was delicious. My MIL had a burger, pretty good. We had a bottle of black cherry wine which was really good. Now my favorite part of dinner, the dessert. We had the pretzel bread pudding and it was the best thing on the menu! SO GOOD! They took forever to get us our dessert and to make up dessert was on them, which was good restaurant etiquette, and the right thing to do after waiting 25mins+ for it. Overall, this was not what we were expecting, we wanted to love it but there is certainly room for improvement to get the complete German experience.

Came here with family and friends. Got a pretzel, bratwurst, and a beer.
We parked in the garage next to the Dean hotel. The restaurant had a nice ambience, with Art Deco décor.
The wait staff was friendly. The food was excellent! I loved the pretzel and the brat. Fair warning: the mustard is spicy!
Overall, we had a great meal at a reasonable price.

Perfect place to grab a drink with friends. The menu has German specialties. It was something different from your usual American bar and grille! The only bad thing about this place is the lack of parking! But then again, that is always a problem in Providence!

I wasn’t sure what to expect as I perused the menu. I’m not very familiar with German food, but I decided to be a bit adventurous. Everything I tried was fantastic and way more impressive than I expected! This is a great location for sharing, and I go to try a little of everything. The perogies were probably they highlight for me. The were smaller than usual perogies and served with picked dill and mushrooms. Other pleasant surprises were the picked eggs, mackerel pâté, and fried brussel sprouts (this was an item off the specials list). I also got a bratwurst, which was juicy and tasty, like a good brat should be! It does not come served on a bun, just FYI. Another delightful surprise was the smoked hefeweizen, which was a nice light beer with a smokey scotchy flavor!
I also need to sing praises for the staff. We came with a rather large party on a Sunday night and they were super accommodating for us! They even took the time to try to split up the bill for us.
You definitely need to come into Faust with an open mind, but I was pleasantly surprised by all of the different flavors this German gem had to offer. I look forward to trying this restaurant again.

Faust Hofbrauhaus is a new favorite Providence restaurant. Ambiance is Austrian Secessionist and the cuisine follows. Wonderful flavors of Vienna and environs. The potato pancakes are perfection. The schnitzel delicious! The smoked sausage with sauerkraut a palate pleaser. And the array of beers a great complement to the cuisine. If they have the pretzel bread pudding with tamarind ice-​cream… don’t miss dessert!!!

Didn’t know what to expect as this was my first time trying German and I have to say. Faust did not disappoint. Great ambience, simplicity of décor, mouthwatering dishes and reasonable prices! Good amount of drafts and bottled beers to choose from. Loved how the 1L draft was served in a boot. We had the Paprikash and Schnitzel a la jäger and food was amazing! Recall saying wow several times throughout dinner. It was packed with different flavors that accommodated so well with each other. Only complaint was that food and dessert took awhile to come out but our server was great for acknowledging the wait time. Food was served hot and fresh either way. Other than that, I’m definitely coming back! Need to accompany beer with the Wursts. Loved the sauerkraut and homemade mustard that comes with it.

Delicious, reasonably priced food… German-​inspired with local and New American twists. A good beer list, again, heavy on the German ones. Décor is sparse and it can get really loud if its busy because of all the tile. The tables and benches aren’t very comfy but the bar stools are fine. Solid and certainly unique.

This place makes me feel like I stepped off the street into Germany. Great German beer selection on tap and bottled. Stopping in for a beer and a pretzel is a real treat. This weekend I took the time to sample some of the other items on the menu. Delicious!

Their food is really good. I would recommend the curry wurst and fries. The beer selection is great and the service is always amazing.
A bonus, they have wifi and didn’t mind me bringing my computer and working while having a few beers on a Sunday afternoon.

Loved the cashew spaetzel! Definitely worth trying out. A lot of young people in the restaurant, which I did not expect. Very contemporary for a German restaurant, but overall I had a positive experience.

As a native German I wanted to give this a try for sure. The seating is not very cozy and ambience reminded me of a French place we sat recently in France, zero ambience. Seats are hard and not very inviting. The waitress was somewhat friendly but could be much friendlier. We ordered some German beer and pretzels as an appetizer. The mustard was outstanding and the pretzel was good but just that. The main meal was very good. My husband had schnitzel and I ordered a Pita Gyros. It was out of this world ! The warm potato salad was nothing like a German one but it was the very best I ever had. My husbands food while good just isn’t authentic schnitzel the way I eat it every year in Germany. Other people had ordered the meat plate and it was enough to share for sure. All in all we liked the food and will go back for sure!

I am a bit torn about Faust — but I have to throw it fours stars in spite of my personal hangups.
My first exposure was during our traditional New Year’s Eve «App-​a-​thon» when every appetizer in Providence is in our cross-​hairs. Faust’s plates are quite appropriate for sharing, as long as no one wants any of mine.
Did I say I’m German — and extraordinarily fussy about American renditions of my favorites? The food is very good. Sausage is very important. And they do it with flair.
The beer selection is excellent — almost TOO skewed to unusual offerings — but you will find something to enjoy. Betcha’ can’t drink just one!
But it was brunch this Sunday past that made me hit the keyboard. I was admitted skeptical about getting in and out at a reasonable price but I was pleasantly surprised. A very nicely prepared pork Schnitzel, blanketed by two over easy’ with fresh greens for $ 12. I mean c’mon — you can’t get your heart to stop for much less than that.
My peeve with Faust is simply that it doesn’t feel anything link a German beer hall. Now, I don’t mean that it should have Bavarian wood-​cutter décor. I know its an extension of the Dean and it’s hip and minimalist and nouveau Prov — but as an older man of German decent, pining for a taste of Hofbrau in the area, I’d love to see a crossbow, a deer head or the Kaiser’s picture on the wall. Just sayin’.
Oh well. I’ll get my cuckoo clock and oom-​pah fix at the German Club’s Rathskeller on Fridays and enjoy Faust for what it is. Nice folks serving good Deutsches– essen with a modern twist and thoughtful touch.

Delicious food… the pork schnitzel was large, not greasy, perfect Al dente fresh peas. Loves the warm German potato salad with CHUNKS of bacon. Wurst had great snap to the casing, deliciously smoked
Reasonable prices.
Downside: uncomfortable bench seats. Hard wood with sharp edges that bite into your thighs

Second visit to a small but top rate brauhaus. Good tasty beer accompanied by abundant servings of wurst & sauerkraut & authentic German mustards. We also enjoyed a «pretzel» that was more a croiszel (hybrid of pretzel & croissant). Not traditional but executed at a high level. We enjoyed this place the first time. Returned a second time. Will always visit when in Providence.

Oh Faust. First, I am a big fan of «Faust.» Yes, I have even seen the Metropolitan Opera perform Faust. So, I had to come here as soon as I heard the name, and it’s shout out to a German legend, Marlowe, & Goethe. And then, I had the food.
This is one of those reviews where I struggle for words to describe the complete and utter deliciousness served — real, authentic German food, beer, and wine. I don’t have to miss my trips to Germany for the food any longer as I have found the perfect replacement. The menu is manageable and anything you choose is good. The servings are large, and the staff is sweet and helpful.

My heart almost burst when I heard there was a German eatery in PVD! God I love German food! And then my heart broke.
Yes, they have an extensive and excellent beer menu. We ordered some small plates to start… as I just wanted to try everything… and boy were they small. There pierogis were quite tasty, but each were the size of my thumb, I inhaled them in a second. My husband got some fried chicken dish which looked great but was bland and uninspired. My spaetzle was quite good, but needed to be a side dish, not a main entrée. I can not put into words how disappointed I am. The Germans would be appalled (as many Italians are by what passes on the Hill). I just feel like there is wasted potential… Faust, you need to try harder.

So my theory is that if I drink enough Spaten, summer will eventually be forced to happen. I’ve been testing that theory at Faust.
Faust is part of a three-​punch combo in downtown Providence: Bolt, Faust, and the Magdalenae Room. While Bolt provides you with caffeine and Magdalenae has some of the best cocktails in the city, Faust is a german-​style beer house with food to match the theme.
They sport a good selection of German beers and a couple things that are on tap which make no sense, like Stone IPA — probably to appease people who don’t understand a German beer house. Even if you aren’t a beer drinker (bless your heart), the food here is exceptional. If you’ve got a sweet tooth, I demand you immediately stop what you’re doing, walk to Faust, and eat their pretzel bread pudding.
Okay. Did you do it? Good. Welcome back. Now you’ve eaten something so good that you have experienced actual anger.
The only downside is that the service is weirdly — ambivalent? Not bad by any means and I certainly didn’t feel like I was mistreated or misserved. But someone in a previous review described Faust as sterile and they aren’t totally wrong. I think that’s partially because it lines up with the general feel of The Dean, which is pretty post-​modern. But don’t let that stop you from visiting — just don’t expect it to be your typical Providence bar, either.
The cool part is that stepping into the Magdalenae Room from Faust makes it seem like you really are slipping back in time to a speak-​easy as all the bright whites of Faust fade into shadow. Pretty neat.
TL;DR version: Drink beer, eat pretzel bread pudding, hate yourself for not doing it sooner.

I was excited when I saw that there was a Hofbrauhaus in Rhode Island because, I mean, what are the chances? This isn’t a very German place. However, when I got to the door, I was very confused.
This is not a Hofbrauhaus.
What is a Hofbrauhaus, you might be wondering? Well, quite literally, it is a house in which Hofbrau is served. What is Hofbrau? It’s a brewery in Germany. Hofbrauhauses exist in Germany and even in a few major US cities. I think that the person who named this traveled briefly in Germany, ate at a giant beer hall called «The Hofbrauhaus» and assumed that «Hofbrauhaus» is a generic term for «beer hall.»
That is not what the word means.
Why is this a problem? Well, they don’t serve Hofbrau. To frame this disappointment in terms you can understand: imagine going to a place in Korea that you saw on Unilocal that was named «Faust Kentucky Fried Chicken.» You show up and are told that there is no chicken on the menu at all.
The lack of Germans in Rhode Island has apparently made this serious mislabeling issue something that is totally trivial but you are, like me, traveling: be aware that this is not what you think it is.
Oh, and the pretzel was just a yeast roll with salt on it.

Ok, this place brings back memories.
Ok, so maybe I couldn’t stop thinking about how the long biergarten table next to me was placed in the exact position where the main stage of the Sportsman’s Inn once stood.
And ok, Faust has a surprising sterile atmosphere, care of precisely positioned wooden furniture and their art nouveau linearity, but maybe that is actually a positive.
Ok, the menu is fun and the selections are comforting.
Ok, I wasn’t able to get what I really wanted — but this was my fault, not Faust’s.
What I should have ordered:
Mushroom spätzle.
Bavarian pretzel.
A huge stein of stone porter, coming in just under 11% alcohol, by volume.
What I actually ordered:
Beet salad, sans topfen (cheese curds)
French fries with curry ketchup
Ok, while I was there I felt the urge to use their rest areas, but I held it.
The still-​fresh memories of my last visit to the john at 122 Fountain Street (circa 2002) and the heroin nodding junkies behind its bright red bathroom door kept me away.
Much like the mythological Faust, I would sell me soul to the devil himself in order to control these anxieties, but alas…

After my vacation to Germany in 2010 I have been wanting a Bierstube in RI. The Fuast has traditional communal tables and regular table seating. The interior looks like you just stepped off the streets of Munich into an established Bierstube (Beer Hall). The food was excellent! I had the chive spaetzle and the bratwurst. The dishes are large and filling, just the way German food should be! All the wurst are served with a side of sauerkraut and fries, both homemade… lets just say the plate was bare when I left the table.
Bier… need I say more. A nice selection of German Bier on tap served either half or full liter. Next time I visit I’m looking forward to spending the night at the Dean and a few liters of bier!