The Lübecker

The Lübecker is located in the Biergarten of Queen City Radio in the OTR area of Cincinnati. They offer what they call "authentic German street food." So you can get food at Lübecker and get drinks from the bar at Queen City Radio, and then sit out in the common area at long beer hall-style tables under a canopy or under umbrellas.

The Lübecker is housed in metal shipping containers at the side of the Biergarten, and you walk up and place your food order, and they send a text message to you when it is ready. So I ordered the Pastrami Pretzel Reuben and a Giant Pretzel—really trying to get the full pretzel experience.

In the area at the bar and near the bar, the music was a little too loud for our liking, so we sat at a table a little farther away.

I was texted to pick up my order about 14 minutes after placing it. When I picked up the sandwich from the window, I thought at first that perhaps it wasn't my order because it looked like bacon was sticking out of the sides of the sandwich. A little closer examination and it was clear that it was nice crunchy-grilled thin slices of corned beef. The corned beef and Swiss cheese overran the rather small diameter of the pretzel roll, and had been allowed to char quite nicely on the grill. I really liked the crunchy bits around the circumference of the sandwich.

Looking at the composition of the sandwich, it was pretty clear that somewhere between half and two-thirds of the height of the sandwich was made of a large number of layers of thinly-sliced corned beef. Oh, that corned beef was delicious! It was prepared just right. The sauerkraut on the Reuben was a little sweet, yet still with a nice rich taste and not drippy. The dressing was pretty good, but not very noticeable or overpowering. Instead of a Thousand Island or Russian dressing they used a garlic herb aioli (online it says it’s a lemon garlic herb aioli), which actually worked probably better than Thousand Island to blend with saltiness of the pretzel roll. Because the dressing had been applied directly to both the top and bottom buns, most of it was absorbed into the pretzel roll itself and it didn't really drip much.

While the pretzel roll is not the orthodox Reuben ingredient as rye bread would be, it was a perfect complement for this sandwich. The slightly crusty shell of the pretzel roll blended superbly with every ingredient. Overall, it was hard to find anything not to like about this Reuben, except maybe that it was a little heavy on the corned beef compared to the sauerkraut and the dressing. The Swiss cheese was just right.

This is a highly-recommended Reuben and I will definitely be returning here when I am in the neighborhood to see a show at Music Hall or the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company which is just down the block.

The Giant Pretzel {$10) that I ordered for was definitely giant. To get a little container of beer cheese on the side was another $1.50, but it really needed two of those little containers to be able to get through the whole pretzel. The pretzel was light and soft on the inside, and not dense and chewy. The pretzel was maybe a little too pricey, but we enjoyed it.

EVERYTHING. This sandwich was so so good. Crispy edges on the corned beef. The salty salty pretzel bun. Every bite was like five flavors all dancing in rhythm. The fries were good (highly recommend dipping them in beer cheese), the bartenders were great, but this sandwich was AMAZING.