Spaten Munich beer and Leinenkugel’s Oktoberfest were on draft
This past weekend, we experienced one of their favorite Food Adventures to date. Daytonmostmetro.com generously provided us with tickets to the preview party at the 40th Oktoberfest which is held at the Dayton Art Institute. Although we have both been to the festival many times in the past, this would be the first time going to the preview party.
On this Food Adventure, we decided to take separate vehicles and that was a big mistake! It wasn’t too easy to find a parking space, so The Big Ragu who is always “fashionably late,” this time proved no different.
While Hungry Jax was waiting in the long entrance line, a frantic Ragu was searching for a parking space while developing a little case of road rage. We were both pretty amazed at how many people attended the pre-party and had no idea that it would be this packed. Nonetheless, feeling like VIP’s we developed our game plan and a night of ethnic gluttony started to ensue.
Bratwurst from Schmidt’s restaurant booth – Incredible !
The festival is pretty much a bunch of food booths from different companies and 2 tents of craft goods. Yeah, we skipped the arts and crafts. Jax headed over to the Schmidt’s Sausage Haus booth while the Big Ragu shimmied over the beer line.
Schmidt’s is located in the German Village in Columbus, Ohio and was featured on Man v. Food. Hungry Jax ordered a bratwurst with sauerkraut and added on spicy brown mustard and horseradish. The first bite was absolutely amazing and this was a sign of good things to come. The beer booth had some general choices, but we decided to go for the Leinenkugel Oktoberfest and the Spaten Munich beers. After the Big Ragu got the beer, he decided to go hit the food line. Ragu really showed that he was in the Oktoberfest spirit by showing up with a German treat … wait, a Gyro from the Greek Orthodox Church booth! Well, at least the gyro was good because he devoured it in about 2 bites. At this time we were both very happy Food Adventurers, but that was about to change.
The Dreaded Limburger Sandwich
We headed to the next food stall and the sign read…..Limburger Cheese Sandwich. Neither one of us has ever tried Limburger Cheese, so we decided to take one for the team and ordered one up. The Big Ragu’s dad had eaten Limburger Cheese as a kid in New York, so we decided to call him up and see what we had in store for us. Ragu Sr. found it pretty amusing that we were going to indulge in this thing and basically told us….good luck! We decided to punish the Big Ragu for buying a gyro by making him take half of this sandwich. We have both eaten to pretty questionable things in our lifetime, but this by far was the worst thing that we have tried. We have a rule with Food Adventures….you must finish the whole thing. The Big Ragu was the smart one here when teared up on the final bite, got teary eyed and spit the sandwich out in the trash can. We hope to never see another Limburger Cheese Sandwich again.
After we grabbed more beers, we headed over to Don LeDoux’s Cajun Restaurant booth and decided to go with the Crawfish Etoufee. It was served on a bed of rice and was incredibly tasty with lots of crawfish in it! The employees and owners were very friendly. We definitely have to head up to Troy, Ohio and try this place out! While the crew was talking to the Don LeDoux employees, Ragu suddenly showed up with a Weinerschnitzel sandwich that he bought at the booth next door. He had to get the limburger taste out of his mouth. We also visited briefly with the Kosmic Kettlecorn booth who had some tasty popcorn, and showed us how the process worked.
Meeting the local legend, Voltzy at his Oktoberfest booth
The next item that we tried was the highlight of the Oktoberfest for us….we finally tried a Voltzy burger! This is by far, the best hamburger that we have tried so far…..you can definitely taste the freshness. Voltzy came out and doused our burgers out with three different sauces, which put a sparkle in the Big Ragu’s eye. One taste of these things and you will be hooked! And the sauces give it some sweet heat! The burgers were amazingly fresh, and Voltzy said the meat is never frozen.
We will both admit that before we met Voltzy, we were very intimidated by his reputation for being a hard A$$, but he was a great guy, with a good sense of humor, who we had a lot of fun with. We are looking forward to a future food adventure at his restaurant!
At this point we were both pretty stuffed and we decided to do what anyone else would…..get another beer! The Spaten was incredible and we couldn’t get enough of it. Ragu also loved the Wisconsin brewed Leinenkugel Oktoberfest beer, but Jax stuck with the German Spaten Beer. While waiting in the beer line, the Cream Puff Pastry at Schmidt’s Sausage Haus caught our eye. While the Big Ragu loves his fried food, and Jax has a weakness for sweets. The cream puff pastry was a gift send down from the Confectionary Gods and we loved every morsel of it.
Schmidt’s Restaurant has perfected the Cream Puff
This Food Adventure was a blast. Our leiderhosen are a bit tighter after the food we consumed at this festival. Sure, we ended up with a few drops of beer, sauce, and powdered sugar on our shirts, which housed our full stomachs, but it was all in a night’s work. So we say, to honor Oktoberfest, Lisa, Bill and the crew at DAYTONMOSTMETRO.com who got us VIP tickets to this event, we say “Danke schön!”
Did you go to Oktoberfest? What did you think about the food and beer selection
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Please post a comment below!
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