Gaststätte Alter Simpl in Erlangen

Excellent food and service, a reserve is a must.

The restaurant in the center is a real gem for every connoisseur of good cuisine and authentic atmosphere. From the first step inside, you can feel the old, typical style, which creates coziness and a sense of tradition, and the beautiful interior complements the experience with attention to detail. She prepared us leberkez which they cooked on a wooden fireplace right in front of us, which makes the visit even more exciting. The meats are juicy, perfectly baked and extremely tasty. It is clear that quality and craftsmanship come first here. The service is at a very high level - attentive, kind and always with a smile. The restaurant team knows how to make guests feel special. Overall, this is a place that combines a unique atmosphere, delicious food and professional attitude.

Best restaurant in Erlangen. Lena, the waitress, was great.

Home-style cooking, a very rustic atmosphere... I ordered a simple chicken breast with a portion of potato salad...the menu didn't indicate that the salad contained bacon...absolutely unacceptable. The restaurant is very busy, so reservations are definitely recommended. The staff are rather grumpy...

Great food, great atmosphere, both inside and out. The best schnitzels for miles around, and definitely beyond the city limits.

I've eaten here several times with friends, and it's clear that we've been here many times. It's Franconian, cozy, with a great ambiance, friendly service, and excellent food. I highly recommend eating here and enjoying the atmosphere in the various rooms.

It was delicious!! Huge portions 🫣 Very friendly service. 5/5

Nice restaurant in the city center, nice service, you have to wait a bit for the food, but the place is full, which is a good sign, the portions are rather masculine, delicious almost like at mom's 😀

A traditional Erlangen restaurant with delicious Franconian and international dishes. Everything is freshly prepared. The rustic ambiance is definitely recommended. However, the service could be more attentive at times. After the city of Erlangen raised parking fees to the maximum, it's unfortunately no longer worthwhile for drivers to drive before 7 p.m. I can't understand why Erlangen's restaurateurs and residents/guests are putting up with this purely ideologically motivated political behavior. This is how the city center is dying.

Cozy beer garden, very good food, value for money 👍

Second time visiting Erlangen and simply a must-visit. A truly quaint, authentic restaurant.

The pork knuckle is quite big, but the pig smell is too strong

Watch out they tried to get double tip from us claimed we did not give them a tip when we gave them 70 euro so 1 of our group gave them 30 more euro had to complain and then got the 30 back shame food was great 👍

It was fantastic all around. The dishes we had were delicious 👍 The service was excellent. We'd be happy to go back ☺️

Such friendly staff, delicious food, great prices, simply fantastic. I'll be back. An all-around perfect package. Please keep it up. Thank you 😊

I had pork shoulder(scheufele in german) was really good along with all the food I had and my in-laws loved the grill meat plate they had. Am completely satisfied

Good Franconian cuisine, excellent service, and a rustic atmosphere. We'll be back!

It was a pleasant surprise. Tasty German food and friendly atmosphere. We loved this experience. Planning for more visit and bringing friends also.

The original for Erlangen, highly recommended Dr. Wanek

Yes, it's well attended. Reservations are recommended. However, there are still some spaces available.

Be careful! Based on my review, the owner, who isn't open to criticism, will give unfriendly answers... I've never experienced such an unfriendly waiter. Very rude and brazen, which is why it only gets one star!

The food was delicious, the service attentive, and the ambiance very pleasant. We were a bit unlucky with the weather, but that didn't detract from our appetite or the taste.

A lovely, quaint restaurant with friendly waiters. There's a beer garden in front with a view of the countryside.

It's very nice there and, above all, very, very tasty. It's worth a visit.

We've been coming here for a very long time, and for good reason. The service is first-class, the staff is super friendly and funny, and all the dishes on the menu are incredibly delicious. It's also beautifully quaintly decorated—you just feel at home. In my opinion, there's no better restaurant in Erlangen.

Yes. A very quaint restaurant in downtown Erlangen. Friendly service. Good, plentiful food.

Always a recommendation Thank you

Great experience with typical German food, with a wood grill and very cold beer

A very good, rustic restaurant with traditional dishes and a small outdoor seating area. Unfortunately, the draft beer wasn't as cold as it should be.

Very good food and very good and fast service!

Sensational ketchup, goes with every dish!

A truly unfriendly waiter. Vegetarian options are also rather mediocre. The cheese spaetzle would be mediocre.

We were there as a group. Our reservation request was answered quickly, even though it was on short notice. It was really busy that day, so I'm very grateful that it worked out. Franconian cuisine is becoming increasingly less popular, and especially in such a rustic setting, it's fantastic. There's also a great outdoor seating area. The service was exceptionally good and attentive; you don't find that everywhere these days. We'd love to come back!

A great restaurant, always happy to come back. Very delicious 😋 cuisine

We ate a very tasty salad, and there was plenty of it. It's nice to sit outside. The staff were very friendly. The price/performance ratio was absolutely perfect.

We came here for lunch with a whole group. The shoulder of pork was good, as was the schnitzel. The sirloin was too tough and seared too hot. Many dishes were already sold out by lunchtime.

The oxtail is both tasty and mildly seasoned. The service is first-class. The restaurant is clean. The best meal of the week for an afternoon snack.

Tested by the Kerweborschde Baiertal and found to be very good.

Making a reservation was straightforward, which is a positive. The menu, however, is heavily meat-heavy – vegetarian options are available, but they feel more like a requirement. Unfortunately, the atmosphere in the restaurant was very chilly, and waiting 15 minutes for a beer doesn't leave a good impression. Overall, it was disappointing, and even the okay food doesn't really help.

Always happy to come back. Super friendly service and great food. Thank you.

I highly recommend this restaurant; in my opinion, it's the most beautiful and one of the best in Erlangen. The interior is very cozy, with beautiful half-timbering and lots of wood, and the terrace by the church is a wonderful, cozy spot. TOP!

I really enjoyed the restaurant and the overall vibe! You definitely have to try their Schäufele(a german dish). It’s not the most unique dish, but it’s absolutely worth tasting. Their schnitzels are also excellent. Plus, the waiters were genuinely friendly. Highly recommend!

Nice, quaint pub. Delicious food.

We visited this restaurant with friends on a rainy Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, the service spoiled the experience. The elderly waiter was extremely unfriendly and hostile. We had to wait a long time for our drinks, and there were problems with our orders. When we ordered steak tartare, he was outraged that three people ordered the same dish and refused to bring extra cutlery. Perhaps he was annoyed that we didn't order much food, but other tables had people just drinking beer and not ordering anything else, and everything was fine there. We were shocked by this treatment. Even though the food and drinks were delicious, we don't want to return for this reason. I hope management takes this issue seriously.

Good food at reasonable prices. Nice ambiance in the city

If you're looking for something to do with typical regional cuisine, this is the place to be. Upstairs, you'll find an old dormitory. The service is a bit rough, but all the more warm and authentic 😉. The food is delicious, cooked with love and plenty of experience. Delicious best describes it – for anyone who enjoys local, meaty cuisine. We'd be happy to return!

Ni e traditional restaurant where they also serve sausages from the charcoal grill. Service was okay. The service person seemed to be a bit grumpy, but food was tasty. We had to go inside to pay as they didn't really took care of the guests sitting outside. Overall though a very good place to eat and drink.

20250530 Good hearty food Unfortunately, Leberkäse is only available from 6 p.m. Very good fried potatoes and perfect sauerkraut 😍 Nice outdoor area: You can sit quietly away from the hustle and bustle Winkler Bräu Radler was also great

On May 30, 2025, we celebrated a big class reunion here (58th high school graduation). Almost everyone traveled from far away. Everyone was thrilled with the excellent food, the friendly and fast service, and the quaint atmosphere. Everyone wants to come back. Thank you for such a successful evening.

...good atmosphere, good service. Delicious.

We've been coming back for almost 15 years. We're mainly summer guests and are always greeted warmly and served courteously (and, of course, deliciously).

Rustic atmosphere, super nice service, very good food and reasonable prices.

Great food, superb service, and a lovely atmosphere. We'll be back again and again.

Quaint Franconian restaurant with simple but delicious food and good beer

Excellent place! Very good food.

We went there for lunch this week. The staff was great, as was the food 👍🥰; The only downside: it was quite busy that day, but that speaks volumes about the staff and the quality 😅; We'd go back anytime 👍😘😁!!

Went with my Wife and Child and one other guest and as the waiter was seating us handing us Menus I told him it wouldn't be necessary as we were only going to have some drinks. The waiter then Told us "we couldn't have drinks there and we should go find another location". This waiter in particular may have been Bipolar. But it wasn't very good customer service.

Absolutely. Bavarian, rustic service with Bavarian dishes

Their Stadtwurst was quite good. And they grilled it on the wooden grill right before me, which was cool. (But yes, the sausage was most likely boiled before being grilled, otherwise cooking would've taken forever)

A very nice, quaint restaurant. Nice service. The food was delicious. It was well attended and we were lucky to get a spot. There is no children's menu. And it is sometimes cooked with caraway seeds (if you don't like that, it's typically Bavarian)

Very rude waiter Quality food and good but not exceptional Other traditional restaurants in Erlangen (Franconian and Bavarian) are of much better quality

The food tasted very good, unfortunately the staff was very unfriendly and overwhelmed. We had reserved the table a day in advance and when we arrived we didn't have a free choice. We were told to sit in the corner, which was then wrong and we were supposed to take a table next to it. The floor is crooked, you sit on the slope and you have to pay for your box for the food you want to take with you or get a strip of aluminum foil instead.😂 Well, if you need it 🤷🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

What an amazing restaurant! We arrived at the restaurant with no booking and hoped that they may have a table for us. The staff were very accommodating and found us a place upstairs. It was lovely and warm and the staff were very considerate and offered us an English menu. We chose our meals and we were not disappointed! The service was exceptional and the meals were the best we have had since arriving in Erlangen a week ago. Thank you so much for making one of our last nights in this beautiful town so memorable for our family.

Beautifully located old inn. Some portions are very large, others a little smaller. Service courteous

Très bonne cuisson de la viande au barbecue, les petites saucisses sont délicieuses. Accompagnement "simple", spaetzles un poil petites par contre. Ambiance très agréable, pittoresque.

Great food and atmosphere, but service is a disappointment. During payment the waiter was pressuring me to give a tip, when I did the waiter made it very clear that the tip was not enough! The brutality! Last time I visited this restaurant.

Great food and atmosphere, but service is a disappointment. During payment the waiter was pressuring me to give a tip, when I did the waiter made it very clear that the tip was not enough! The brutality! Last time I visited this restaurant.

It was a spontaneous dinner, they managed to find a place. It's no coincidence that it's popular, so reservations are recommended.

The restaurant is a must-visit when you are in Erlangen. Nice, rustic atmosphere and delicious food, for everyone. The price-performance ratio is also good...

Nice, small and rustic restaurant. The staff are very friendly and helpful. The food tastes good and the prices are ok.

Everything was great. I've been here before and had the beef fillet, which was already very good. This time we both had the Wiener Schnitzel with fried potatoes. We've rarely had such a good schnitzel! The service was also very good and attentive. We'd love to come back!

Great place for gathering with friends and enjoying authentic food!

Yes, rustic Franconian food with friendly service and good home cooking. Also very busy at lunchtime

We always enjoy having lunch here. Very tasty food and great service.

Very unfriendly waiter. From the beginning we were not welcome, even though we made reservations on the phone and mentioned 2 children. My 8 month old granddaughter caught the gravy boat that the waiter had placed right in front of her. Then the mishap happened and everything was on the table. We let you know immediately. Instead of bringing a wet rag, the waiter smeared everything with the napkins and asked us for more napkins. On the way out, he stopped me in the hallway in front of other guests who were coming in. He claimed it took him 20 minutes to clean the table. What's that supposed to mean? Everything would have been taken care of with a damp cloth. I think the man is simply overwhelmed with the service. When children sit at the table, something can happen. It's clear to me that we won't be coming back. Addendum on 02/25/25: How expensive are your cheese spaetzle if you are recommended the small portion of a large portion. Then you save €30.00? Your arguments are simply not correct! Nice attempt to badmouth former guests.

Fantastic atmosphere, food and service. Worth a visit!

Authentic Franconian cuisine and great service! The food was fresh and very tasty. The cozy atmosphere and the attentive staff make the visit perfect.

Great tasting Franconian food in a cozy and welcoming atmosphere. The service was top! Schäufele is a must try.

Beautiful, rustic Franconian restaurant - definitely worth a visit.

Typical food and traditional environment. Service could be improved

50 year old shop... Great food with regional specialties... Very nice atmosphere.

Great food, great friendly service. The next time we are in Erlangen again, we will definitely come, lately there are few German restaurants.

Unfortunately I have to give 2 stars because of the service, I was told by the waiter that I should tip which was rude to me because we live in a free country and it should be my decision whether I want to tip or not , I thought we lived in a free country. The food was delicious, minus for such rude service.

Traditional, old restaurant with Franconian Bavarian cuisine.

I was there in the summer with some friends. The food was great, service was great. We'd love to come back!

Very nice rustic restaurant with very good food at reasonable prices

Mega rustic ambience, friendly service and down-to-earth, good food.

Ich habe auf der offiziellen Seite des Veranstaltungsortes für zwei Personen gebucht. Die Reservierung wurde zweimal per E-Mail bestätigt. Sobald wir das Restaurant betraten, teilte uns der Herr, der die Kunden empfing, in sehr unhöflichem Ton mit, dass sie keine E-Mail-Adresse hätten und dass unser Reservierungsname existiere. Wir fragten, ob Platz für zwei wäre, aber er sagte uns, wir sollten gehen. Noch nie habe ich so unhöfliches und unprofessionelles Verhalten gesehen.

I booked for two people on the venue's official website. The reservation was confirmed twice by email. As soon as we entered the restaurant, the gentleman who received the customers told us in a very rude tone that they did not have an email address and that our reservation name existed. We asked if there was room for two but he told us to leave. I have never seen such rude and unprofessional behavior.

A fabulous family owned restaurant for over 50 years. Food was delicious, atmosphere was cozy, staff is a delight. So very pleased we stopped here for lunch.

Nowhere else in Germany will you find such a delicious Schäufele at such an affordable price! The portions are generous, and the service is outstanding. The shop also offers daily menus, so be sure to check their website for the best deals!

A very quaint restaurant with local specialties.

It was very tasty.. The beers are quite small but still good 🤣🫣 (was specially ordered that way)

Bestes Wirtshaus in Erlangen. Wirtsleute und Personal super nett, toll Gäste, bombiges Essen. Ein Muss in Erlangen. Besser kann man es nicht machen.

Great, friendly service, cozy surroundings and very good, tasty food (some from the open grill). Gladly again. Absolutely recommended. Thank you

I recently visited Restaurant Alter Simpl and had a great experience overall. The food was excellent—tasty, well-prepared, and satisfying. It truly stood out, and I can definitely say it was worth the visit. The atmosphere was very much what you’d expect from a traditional Gaststätte. It had that cozy, rustic vibe that felt welcoming and authentic. The only slight downside was the friendliness of the staff. While they were polite, I feel that a bit more warmth and attentiveness could have enhanced the experience. However, I understand that not everyone has their best day, and it's easy to overlook on a busy day. After all, kindness doesn’t cost anything and goes a long way. All in all, I’d still recommend Alter Simpl for the great food and its charming atmosphere.

Rustic, typically Franconian... and a voucher for food.

Very rustic inn, typical Franconian cuisine. Highly recommended

Ambient very nice. Food was good, unfortunately the meat (lamb on a spit) was slightly burnt. However, it was delicious. Very nice service

Super ...really nice place ...food and beer