In 2010 I took a weekend trip from my Paris study abroad to Switzerland and Germany. In those three days I discovered käsespätzle and ordered it twice. I thought it was amazing, and I’ve been trying to find it again ever since.

Käsespätzle is a traditional pasta dish from parts of Germany and Switzerland made with cheese and fried onions. When I first encountered it, I thought it was a national German dish, but it was impossible to find on a recent overnight layover in Frankfurt. In fact, when I asked the hotel employee where I could find it, he wasn’t even familiar with it! When I looked it up later, I discovered it was strictly regional.

So you can imagine when I spotted it on the menu of a restaurant in Chicago, I got very excited! Kevin, my mom, my brother and I went to Chicago for an overnight trip in order for the two boys to see a concert. I was in charge of finding things for us to do during the day.

I dragged our group out to nearly the end of the Blue “L” Line into Rosemont, IL to experience a meal at Hofbräuhaus Beer Hall.

We had a fabulous experience! We were in a bit of a hurry because of the concert that night, but our food was out in record time! So fast we could barely believe it!

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After 9 years, I finally got my käsespätzle! I was very pleased! It was interesting to see how it lived up to my personal hype after that long.

During our meal we witnessed a customer getting a “spanking” from one of the bar maids. Apparently this happens when you get a shot!

And we were serenaded with live Oktoberfest music!

My brother said Hofbrauhaus was a highlight of this short trip!

None of us had a chance to try the beer, but we plan to go back and bring my dad as well. Hopefully next time we can stay longer and relax for a while in the atmosphere of Germany. Viel Spaß beim Reisen!