Restaurant Reviews

Helga's German Restaurant & Deli

Aurora, Colorado

Having lived at one time within driving distance of Milwaukee, I am quite familiar with some of the greatest German restaurants you can find such as Mader's and Karl Ratzch's. These were my earliest memories of some of the best of German cuisine anywhere in the states. Most people have visions of bratwurst when they think of German cuisine but it is so much more.
My son and I stopped into Helga's just south of the Town Center at Aurora for lunch the other day. We had heard that Helga's had moved to this new location and also that they had wonderful food. We decided to check it out and see if all the buzz was true.
The ambience is a little sparse but the service and food at Helga's is great. Have you ever gone into an ethnic restaurant such as a chinese restaurant and where you have no idea what the items on the menu are? Some people may feel this way at a German restaurant but you don't have to worry at Helga's. Our waitress was a fount of information and the descriptions on the menu were very helpful as well. Our waitress described the items on the menu with great expertise and simplicity. She even offered us a taste of a few of the German brews that were on tap. She was quite helpful and made it a pleasure to choose from the variety of items on the menu.
Often when trying a new restaurant I look for a dish that allows me to sample a variety of items to really get the flavor of the menu. I chose a sampler platter with Schnitzel ( a pork tenderloin dipped in egg batter, rolled in bread crumbs and served on a bed of brown sauce), knackwurst ( plump delicious Wieners made of beef and pork in a natural casing) with sides of pan fried potatoes and german potato salad. My son had Jäger Schnitzel (a pork tenderloin rolled in flour, covered with a hunters sauce and topped with onions and mushrooms), a thuringer bratwurst (a beef and veal bratwurst) with sides of spatzel and german potato salad. The entrees come with a choice of two sides with about ten to choose from. No easy task.
Both schnitzels were very good and quite different even though they were both made from pork tenderloins. The jäger schnitzel had a very unique brown sauce with onions and mushrooms. It was delicious. The regular schnitzel was breaded and fried to a delicate crispness that was perfect with the brown sauce it was served with. My son had never had a bratwurst that wasn't bought in a supermarket. He was amazed at the difference between the Thuringer bratwurst and a regular supermarket brat. A Thuringer bratwurst has much more subtle and distinctive flavors than a regular bratwurst. And the knackwurst was fabulous. It is hard to eat anything resembling a regular hot dog after you have had a knackwurst.     The german potato salad was very good, maybe a little too soft for my taste, but the flavorings were perfect. The pan fired potatoes were very good as well but I wish they had a few onions mixed in.     They have a nice variety of German beers on tap that you really have to try. I I particularly liked the Oktoberfest beer and my son really enjoyed the unfiltered wheat beer.      Helga's is a place that you have to try, especially if you have never had authentic German cuisine. You will love it. Trust me. Dan Hammes (your Internet restaurant critic)
Helga's German Restaurant and Deli 14197 E Exposition Ave Aurora, CO. 80012 (303) 344-5488 Email: Web: HelgasDeli.com