Auf Wiedersehen, Chalet Alpina!

From Edge of the City:

The German restaurant Chalet Alpina on Metropolitan has closed after serving up many a schnitzel over the years.... (Did they actually? I never ate there myself but assuming...) Are there any fans out there that are sad to see it go?

Our stupid immigration policy, perfectly summed up

From Forbes:

My cousin’s friend Phillip is a bright web designer with a knack for product. In 2013, he launched a mobile app with his friends called Tinypost which allowed users to rate restaurants quickly and easily on mobile devices. The app was well designed and garnered press from top technology blogs and eventually, Tripadvisor acquired Tinypost and hired the founding team which included Phillip.

Phillip went to Santa Clara University and earned a degree in Computer Science — he was in the top of his class and worked hard to assemble a team to create a great mobile product. It is impossible to tell, but Phillip is German. He grew up in Germany and decided to come to America to study because he felt he could build great products with other great people in Silicon Valley.

After Tinypost was acquired, Phillip applied for an H1B visa to stay in the US and work on the project at Tripadvisor. His temporary visa runs out in August and the US immigration service rejected his application to stay in the US and continue to work on Tinypost. In August of this year, Phillip will be deported to Germany.

Phillip is arguably in the top decile of Germany’s talent pool and eager to learn, work, and thrive in America. He made a choice to build his career and his company here over anywhere else in the world. Phillip has given us an opportunity and our response is to send him home.

Meanwhile, if you have no skills whatsoever but were able to make it here without authorization, you are welcome to stay as long as you like, you may seek refuge in "Sanctuary Cities" like NYC and asshole pols will bend over backwards to make sure that you can get a whole bunch of free services, courtesy of people who were actually born here and are so stupid that they keep returning these losers to office time after time.

Daily News remembers Niederstein's

From the Daily News:

Six years ago, the German restaurant Niederstein's still served platefuls of bratwurst and Wiener schnitzel for its hungry faithful in Middle Village.

Today, a cowboy hat outlined in red marks the spot where Niederstein's stood on Metropolitan Ave., welcoming visitors to its fast-food successor, Arby's.

Longtime residents still shudder when recounting the loss of the 150-year-old local institution after its purchase by Arby's and demolition in 2005.

"That kind of ripped the gut out of us," said Bob Holden, president of the Juniper Park Civic Association. Since the the sandwich joint replaced one of Queens' most well-known eateries, he added, "Middle Village hasn't been the same."

Locals say the exit of Niederstein's - where generations gripped beer mugs while celebrating birthdays and weddings - symbolizes about a decade's worth of lost working-class hangouts in Queens.

The restaurant became a popular stop after funerals, too, given its proximity to multiple cemeteries. But it met its demise after a co-owner died. His slice of the property passed on to his estate and the land was eventually sold.

Oh well, there's always Zum Stammtisch, which the Times Ledger thinks is in Ridgewood...

Photo from Forgotten-NY.

End of an era in Ridgewood

From the Daily News:

One of the city's best-known German butchers became the latest casualty of the recession when it closed the doors of its last remaining family-owned store last week.

Faced with slumping sales and changing demographics, owners of Karl Ehmer Quality Meats were forced to call it quits at their Ridgewood manufacturing plant and butcher shop, which opened in 1958.

The once-flourishing chain of more than 50 stores from New York to Florida is best known for its German meats, such as bratwurst, knockwurst and frankfurters.

The first store was opened by Hanssler's grandfather in 1932 on 46th St. and Second Ave. in Manhattan. Today, there are still six Karl Ehmer stores in New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, but they are all independently owned.

Hanssler, who has run the family business for about 40 years with his brother Alan, recently sold the brand to Bosco's Family Food Company, a distributor based in Oceanside, L.I.

Von Westernhagen's 1964-2010?

Some of you may have already read this on Lost City, but here's the original scoop sent to my inbox:

"Stopped by [Von Westernhagen's] last night on a whim and the bartender told me [it was closing]. They were taking lots of pictures of customers and it was busy with tons of folks stopping in to say hi to Ernie and Mama.

So damn sad.

They sold to someone, but I didn't get any details."

Battle of the holdouts

Lost City asks:

So which is better, Zum or Von W? Hard to say. Zum's food is probably a notch above, but Von W. has homemade bratwurst in its favor. Zum's atmosphere is cozy, but also a bit theme-parky. Von W. has no pretensions, and puts you immediately at ease. Simply put, Zum feels like a fun restaurant, but Von W. feels like a home that also serves strangers food. I like them both, but Von W. has my heart.

They also have a cool wooden phone booth.

Butcher leaves the building in Glendale

From Lost City:

...I hadn't been able to get back to the neighborhood until this week, and this is what I found. Closed up. From the looks of the posters in the window, it shuttered right after the Super Bowl. Inside, it's empty. Glendale loses another remnant of its German past.