| Food | * * * |
| Service | * * * |
| Ambience | * * * 1/2 |
| Value | 6.0 |
| Cost | $ $ |
| Dish | Price |
Value | Rating | |
| Sausage Plate Appetizer | $6.50 |
* * * | * * * 1/2 | |
| Steak Cut French Fries | 3.75 |
* * * 1/2 | * * * | |
| Beer Battered Onion Rings | 3.75 |
* * * | * * * | |
| BBQ Chicken Wings | 4.75 |
* * * | * * * | |
| Pork Remouladen | 12.75 |
* * 1/2 | * * 1/2 | |
| Schnitzel | 11.75 |
* * * | * * * 1/2 | |
| Sausage Plate | 11.95 |
* * * 1/2 | * * * 1/2 | |
| Beers (0.3, 1.0 liter) | 2.75/5.75 |
* * * | * * 1/2 | |
| Radler (lemonade/beer) | 2.25/5.25 |
* * * 1/2 | * * * |
Like many microbreweries, Sudwerk ("Sood-verk") is centered around a few large copper vats in the center serving area. Sudwerk consists of one large room, with an island bar and several tables around the edges. Attached to the main room are the holding tanks. Looking in, one might see several beers in progress, and they appear like stagnant ponds with an enormous amount of scum floating on top - this, however, is only the pre-filtered, pre-processed beer. Sudwerk has 4 beers which they serve year-round: Lager, Hefe-Weizen, Märzen (amber), and Dunkel (dark). The other beers they serve are seasonal or experimental (Doppelbock (dark beer, brewed after Halloween), Holiday Bock, and Popcorn beer). They also serve a few wines, hard cider, and Radler (20% lemonade, 80% lager). On the far side of the main room is the kitchen as well as the private dining room. On Thursdays, they open this up, clear out some tables, and local bands perform (Kai Kln, Lawsuit, Akimbo). In addition, there is an outside area, which bands also use, when the temperature is warmer), used primarily for drinkers and those who wish to smoke (due to the anti-smoking laws in Davis).
The servers are dressed in Sudwerk shirts ("Trinkvergnügen") and khaki shorts/slacks. It is casual enough that you realize you're in a brewhouse, but formal enought that everybody matches and you can identify a server right away. My group began with the sausage plate appetizer. This is a convenient way to try out the four kinds of sausage without having the entree four separate times. The plate consists of four half-sausages: Andouille (spicy), Chicken Apple, Oktoberfest, and Bratwurst. They also have great steak cut french fries with ranch dressing, slightly greasy beer battered onion rings, and barbecued chicken wings. I chose the Pork Remouladen, which is a rolled pork cut, filled with bacon, onions, and great quantities of ornerous thick dark gravy, with a little warm German potato salad and red cabbage (sauerkraut) on the side. J went with the Schnitzel, which was heavily breaded veal, with lemon juice and capers, and a little overdone. Sudwerk offers a sausage plate, which includes the potato salad and the sauerkraut, along with one sausage of your choice. Sudwerk also offers several non-German dishes, including pizzas, pastas, and hamburgers. For dessert, they have the Chocolate Suicide, but the combination of beer and German food all but precludes the possibility of having dessert. The servers were friendly and conscientious (once I tried a new beer and didn't like it, and she brought me a fresh glass of a different kind). The food is a little on the heavy side, as good German cuisine can be, but it was tasty and filling. The one small drawback is that Sudwerk (Davis) is right next to the railroad tracks, so if you are outside, your conversation occasionally comes to a halt, until the trains pass.