teutonic tastings..

While Newport News doesnt strictly qualify as Richmond area dining (clocking around 75 miles from my house !), a recent visit to Das Wald cafe for some almost good old fashioned Bavarian cooking was quite satisfactory, especially considering that I havent found any such places around this area.
In a rather hard to find (GPS saved us), non-descript location, the only thing that seems to suggest its food heritage is that the waitresses are in dirndls .. they have most of the usual s-s - schnitzels (good), sausages (a bit chewier than I would have liked), (potato) salad, spaetzle, soup, sauerbrauten, sauerkraut etc. Their potato salad was quite good, vinegary and not unlike ones I've had in the Rhineland. So that was quite nice.
Bottomline - nothing flashy but simple, hearty Bavarian cooking and staples in a very casual environment. The main room was sporadically loud (courtesy of some large groups) but conversation was easy. Extremely reasonably priced - Dinner for two with a couple of drinks each + t&t (no dessert) came to ~ $60. Service was very slow since they only had 2 waitresses for the entire restaurant on a weekend !

The other knock on Das Wald is its rather pedestrian offering of beers. Bavarian food and beer go together like well....Bavarian food and beer. They have the usuals - paulaner, weihenstephaner, franziskaner etc but I wanted to try some of the better brews from Deutschland, preferably served in a stein ...alas...

If you're willing to add another 50 miles to the mileage (rt from RVA) and a 1.5-xing of the check, Old Europe on Wisconsin Avenue near Georgetown is a better choice, but if you're in the NN neighborhood....
(Edit: This OE dinner may be nicely followed by dessert at Leopold's Konditorei down the street in G-town)
Das Wald cafe - Newport News - map