Esther's Kitchen & Beer Garden - Los Altos, California

Nicholas Pun

Take your money and go across the street for better food and service. At $18 for a meal, I'd rather fill myself up with sugary drinks from Starbucks.

For what it's worth (which isn't much) the food is fine. Nothing special though. It feels like they went to the butcher across the street, bought some sausages, boiled them and then slathered a bunch of vinegar on it. You can make this at home. (The pretzel was also definitely under proofed, that dough was pilling)

The main problem is that these people don't seem to know how to run a restaurant. The front is empty consistently, the food takes forever to come out, and there were lots of angry people waiting around for their to-go orders.

Man, I was excited to try this spot out, but that was insanely disappointing.

Jeanette Meyerfreund

The Jägerschnitzel was absolutely delicious. The cream of mushroom sauce was light and perfectly complemented the homemade spätzle.
What I love about this place is that the food tastes truly homemade, not like something out of a jar.
While the staff was very friendly, I do feel there’s room for improvement in their training.
I’m definitely planning to return to try their German breakfast!

Coy Tran

Cozy German-themed restaurant nestled in the old part of MV across the Village. Pork schnitzel with fried potatoes and the bratwurst sausage and sauerkraut were hot and tasty. Sauerkraut itself was a bit overseasoned but warm and tasty. A few bakery items but the food is surprisingly good along with the friendly service. Small outdoor patio with picnic tables in the back
1 unisex restroom. Some parking up front otherwise a few more in the back. About 4 German beers on tap which were good.

J Z

Great food and coffee. I recommend trying the biscuits. Alex’s salad is the bomb. Now that Starbucks has fewer seats it’s nice to have Esther’s as a place you can sit and have coffee while you work or study. I would come here more often if there was a price break on coffee refills or bottomless coffee.

Alex Zepka

The potato pancakes are great. Currywurst was good, but the sauce was a bit too sweet. Wiener schnitzel was big and tasty. Great salad and spaetzle too.

Alexandra Yakovleva

It was a good local family brand and they made great bread. Now it’s a dump fake German cafe where they reheat the canned food and try to scam you out of your money when they think you’re not paying attention. Lady at the counter tried changing us $21 for 2 bottles of beer that go for $2 apiece at BevMo next door. Don’t risk ordering fried food, they don’t maintain the fryer. I would give zero stars if I could. I saw a similar review posted 7 months ago so this is not a new development, this is their business model. Places like that should be out of business immediately, but it’s Bay Area and people either have no taste buds or don’t understand the value of money.

Maria Smith

I enjoyed the German pancake with apples. It is not like a Dutch pancake. It's more like a dense crepe. My hubby and my son ordered omelettes. They were decent. Nothing special about German coffee- tastes like any other house coffee. Their desserts and pretzels are so delicious, especially the triangular shape shortbread with a layer of raspberry topped with almond slivers and then the edge is dipped in chocolate- heaven!!! My hubby and I came back a few weeks later and tried the dishes in the photos below- amazing!!!

Juan vas

Super calm and chill atmosphere, awesome service, the food was recommended and did not disappoint, I got the brakartoffeln and it was awesome. I also tried the bratwurst meal and it was good, sausage had great taste and the sauerkraut and potatoes balanced each other very well.