Gasthaus Bavarian Hunter restaurant gets new owner, keeps German tradition

By Noelle Olson

Photos by Paul Dols

Jimmy Martin is honored to become the new Eigentümer of the Gasthaus Bavarian Hunter restaurant in Grant.

“While everybody else was kind of taking a look at it I thought it has to be the right person and I didn’ t want it to get screwed up so I figured I ought to jump in,” Martin, of Lake Elmo said. “I intend for it to operate the same as it always has been. It’s important that it remains the same for the community.”

Martin said the recipes that were on the Gasthaus menu for 50 years will be back, including wurstprobern — a sausage sampler of sliced bratwurst and knackwurst pieces served with sauerkraut and pickles, kartoffelsalat — warm vinegar and bacon potato salad, and rostbraten — slow roasted shortribs smothered in beef gravy.

When customers walk into the Gasthaus they’ll find the same beer stein collection, cuckoo clocks, deer-antler chandeliers and staff in lederhosen.

Kim and Jim Larsen, of West St. Paul are longtime patrons of the Gasthaus.

“We had our Volkswagen Christmas party at the Gasthaus for 20 years where we had some beer and a nice German meal in the meeting room downstairs,” Jim said. “Sixty people usually attended the party and the last two years we had to go somewhere else.”

“We are ecstatic that it ’s open and staying the same,” Kim added.

Customers Mark and Ann Skoog, of Stillwater, are also excited about the reopening.

“We would bike here a lot and stop in to have a beer or something to eat,” Ann said. “A lot of other people stop here while biking the Browns Creek Trail. It ’s just beautiful here with all the pine trees.”

Brian Reier was a bartender at the Gasthaus for over a year until it closed. He said he was happy when Martin bought the restaurant and is looking forward to tending the bar again.

“Every Thursday my dad and sister would come in and we would sit at the same table,” Reier said. “I missed the camaraderie of the place. You know everybody that ’s in here and it ’s such a great atmosphere.”

According to a press release from the restaurant, Gasthaus was founded by Bavarian native Karl Schoene and his wife Elizabeth in 1966. Their German-born son Carl Jr. grew up in the business and became heavily involved in its operations after his mother’s passing in 1971. Carl Jr. later took over the business in 1986 upon marrying his wife Kim (Wlaschin). After the passing of Karl in 1998 and Carl Jr. in 2003, Kim continued the Gasthaus’ traditions and festivities, including Waldfest, Oktoberfest, and Christkindlmarket. She later remarried Dan Quade in 2005 and the two operated the Gasthaus until their decision to retire in 2021 closed its doors.

“From the schnitzels and potato salad recipes brought from the old country by Elizabeth to the beer and wine once imported from Bavaria by Karl,” Martin said in a press release from Gasthaus. “I intend for the Gasthaus to operate the same as it always has been. The traditional Bavarian hospitality, authentic cuisine and old-world customs that Minnesotans and Wisconsinites have come to cherish and love has been preserved all these years by Kim and Dan. It’s an honor to be chosen by them as the next steward of these traditions.”

The Gasthaus Bavarian Hunter is located at 8390 Lofton Ave. in Grant. Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

For more information go to www. gasthausbavarianhunter.com or call 651-4397128.