Frederick Y.
Yelp
IMPORTANT: When going to Dusseldorf make sure NOT to mention their rival city, Cologne. If drinking Altbier (aka Alt) DO NOT mention the Kolsch, or by any means make a comparison to this 'other' beer. Being a tourist, they will forgive you but your service will be questionable throughout the night. You have been forewarned.
Otherwise, on to the review...
This is one of the popular breweries in Dusseldorf. I believe there are 2 other famous ones as well. You know it's 'fresh' when they are rolling huge wooden kegs of beer either along the floor or hoisting up these kegs through a dumb-waiter system. Altbier is great! If you like a good dark beer, closer to an ale and low on carbonation, this is a really good one. It's a fantastic experience to really get a chance to partake in the local cuisine, especially when it is beer! Customers either stand outside, inside, or find a seat at family style park benches and enjoy their beers either with friends or strangers. The custom to drink in Dusseldorf (as well as Cologne) is to say 'yes' to a glass, they place it on a coaster, then every time you finish a glass they will come by and place a new glass down for you and put a mark the coaster. It's really a neat experience to go out drinking and really not have to worry about the choices, what's even more enjoyable is that there is never an issue of having to 'wait' for a glass. The waiters walk around with traditional steel trays and if they see an empty one, more often than not, they will just take the empty one and drop a new one on the coaster with an additional mark on the coaster. More often than not you will end up drinking a lot since they serve the beer in 200mls glasses, but never fear! The glass will be replaced and the drinking can resume! Truly a fun experience!
Food: I will have to say the majority of their food is geared around typical German pub fare, like meats (Liverwurst, frankfurters, etc...), cheeses and potato salad. What a fantastic potato salad! They use a mix of vinegar, Dusseldorf mustard, and other ingredients to make a German potato salad that is out of this world! One of the few, if not the only, potato salads that I order just by itself. I highly recommend it!
This last time I had one of their plated dinners, of which they only have a handful (literally), and it was a plate of German style ribs, a whole boiled potato and salad. The salad was typical, combination of oil and vinegar and was very fresh. The potato was boiled and then wrapped in foil and thrown into the oven. This had the added effect of making the potato extremely soft and tender and a pleasure to eat. Word of caution, they will plop a mound of butter on top of your that is about the same size as the potato itself.
The ribs, well, what can I say...Germans like their meat and this was a great plate of ribs! Extremely tender where a knife and fork would just melt through at each cut. I can totally say without a doubt that this was a great dinner selection! They have other selections, but this one was too good to not write a review on!
Like a lot of local places, they don't accept credit cards, so come with cash ready!
I have been to Dusseldorf twice and to Uerige twice. Without a doubt, one of those places that you will always think about when it comes to great German beer, food and fun!
Final tip, most of the waiters don't really speak that much English, but don't worry they are extremely understanding and will work with you on figuring out what you want. When you go see if you can find someone that can help out with the translation. They do have an English menu, but that's only for the pub food and not the entrees.