Hofer's Bakery and Cafe

We were one of the first ones in the restaurant when they opened in the morning. After we ordered the food came out within minutes. Obviously they are rushing the food out before it is finished. The corned beef hash was not even warmed and very mushy, like it was canned. The eggs were cooked perfectly. The staff was friendly and attentive and they did give a discount off because of the corned beef hash, and we’re very intent to do the right thing. The place was clean and cute with a yummy bakery and a deli section as well as a retail section with German food stuffs. Like everything in Helen it was super cute, super touristy, just what people come for. Definitely get there early as the line formed quickly and stayed busy all weekend. Expected more German foods on the menu.

Since we were in Helen we wanted a nice restaurant to go along with the rest of the experience. We really enjoyed the breakfast here. We tried the omelet & scrambled eggs – both were very good as well as the biscuits on the side. All the employees were friendly and got our food out quickly.

Don’t miss the store/bakery – lots of items from Germany (we got some Dr. Oetker vanillin zucker to take home along with a couple of things from the bakery). Later in the day we came back for pretzels which were tasty.

Great place for a meal!

Excelente was worth the wait for sure. It's a must go. Just get some food it all rocks

An excellent experience worth repeating!!! Best German food and bakery I've EVER had! The cream puff was so large I could hardly hold it. Texture- perfect! Fluffy lightly sweet filling- mmmmm! I don't know the name of the dish, but it's chicken with a creamy mushroom gravy- tender and juicy with the tenderest, lightest spaetzel I've ever had. Not chewy, it's light and fluffy melt in your mouth goodness! Didn't know it could be so good! Then the green beans with bacon and I'm guessing white pepper? Just a touch of heat. Absolutely wonderful!!! Did I say we had German chocolate torte? Oh, yum! So fresh it was falling apart! That was just my meal (and evening snack). There were 12 of us! Everyone voted it the best we've had! Wait staff was excellent, too! Kind and pleasant even as busy as they were. Bakery staff were fast ant helpful, too. We felt wanted and asked to dinner by friends.🥰

I've been here many times and have never had a bad meal. I love the schnitzel with mushrooms and gravy but the sausage sampler plate is just as fantastic. The pork schnitzel was cooked perfect, great flavor and batter. The 3 sausages were Knock, Brat and Hungarian are very flavorful. So good I went inside and bought packages of each from their deli.

The sides of spazle, red cabbage, sauerkraut, potato salad, mash potatoes and gravy were all delicious! Everything is homemade, nothing is Sysco Foods, you can tell from food to the sauces, even the mustard is made in house.

The service was fantastic, the waitress was very attentive and helpful with the menu. Very quick with our request and refills.

There amazing bakery. OMG! Everything from amazing cakes to breads and of course German pretzels! I have had them all over the years and never a bad anything. Fresh baked and made everyday.

There is a full German deli with all the cold cuts from the homeland. Wow. I bought one of every sausage they had and fresh Salami. They are all amazing authentic.

There is small store with German options like curry ketchup, mustard's, salad mixes, breads, chocolates and much more.

Now for why the 4 stars and not 5. To the owners - It's time to upgrade. You've outgrown your space (a good problem to have) which makes the overall experience frustrating to customers. Example you have only one entrance and exit and that entrance runs right through the middle of the bakery and deli, store, bathrooms and kitchen entrance for the bakery.

When you're packed/busy the restaurant lobby area is a total cluster. You have people waiting in long lines for the bakery. No one managing the deli, there's a bell to ring - but you're missing opportunity because I saw people not bother with or see the bell and just move on. There is a long line/wait for the bathrooms - there is only one toilet for each his/hers. While this is all going you have waitresses going back and forth through all the beer garden customers and kitchen staff coming from the kitchen with fresh deserts, etc.

I have two suggestions. Buy the lot that's for sale next door and build a bigger place separating the restaurant from the deli and bakery with separate entrances and increasing the bathroom sizes. I saw a lot of people walk up while I was waiting for lunch who turned around because of the long wait. Imagine if you accommodate more people!!

Second - something you can do right now and cheap is upgrade your POS system. Currently you have ONE cash register for the entire restaurant, bakery, deli and store. Give your waitress wireless POS and your crowding and long lines in the lobby is almost solved.

Great place, has been since 1973. You've been making $$$$ for years Time to upgrade! Oh, and the building needs a paint job.

This was sooo good. We went to this bakery to get some Bavarian cupcakes which by the way where delicious ! The next day we went for Brunch. If you get there before 11:30am or after cause around 11 they do the switch in the menu from breakfast to lunch
Other than that the food was great!

TL;DR the food is good but the service has gone very far downhill

I'm rating 2 stars because the bakery was nice, but I was VERY disappointed with the restaurant service. We ordered three entrees and two of them came out wrong. I ordered a bratwurst sandwich and was given a knackwurst sandwich (which is fine, I still enjoyed it), but our waitress told me she would bring out an extra bratwurst for free since the kitchen messed up my order. My friend ordered another sandwich and was given a schnitzel platter. We waited about 15 or 20 minutes after finishing our food for the bill to come, at which point I asked if the bratwurst was still coming out. The waitress was a bit passive aggressive but said she would go back to check, and when she returned, she told me they were out of bratwurst so she would "only charge" me for the knackwurst. Not only were two of our three orders wrong, but they charged us EXTRA because the meals they mistakenly gave us cost more than what we actually ordered. Overall I'm very unsatisfied with the cafe experience and I probably will not come back. The only positive is the bakery, which I highly recommend.

A waitress threatened to spit in our food after we asked why we weren’t told about the 20% gratuity fee and was rude to my family visiting the U.S. for the first time from Germany. The wait was very long and the food was not worth it. We paid $60 for 2 Bratwursts and a ham and cheese sandwich. Would not recommend, there are definitely better places to eat in Helen. Furthermore, the potato salad was not authentic German potato salad and it was hardly edible.

I highly recommend their pastries & baked goods; the breakfasts are outstanding as a general rule. I did have a schnitzel sandwich that was a bit tough, though. However, that aside, they have a great, though limited due to size German meat deli and many German and EU food stuffs. It's the bakery that really really shines though! Some of those baked goods are heart attack specials, they're so good! And rich! And filling! And I have had schnitzel there that was tender, too. Get there on time/early or expect to wait. The service has *always* been over the board excellent, IMO, and I could eat breakfast there every morning. It wouldn't take long to get really fat there, LOL!
One of the "must eat here" places in Helen, IMO, and for dinner/supper - the Bodensee.

Everything is the bakery was amazing...we tried everything over the course of our stay.
I was disappointed in breakfast. There are 13 tables and 2 servers. I highly recommend pushing past the dining room line and grabbing some items from the bakery, eating them outside, and not walking for an hour for food you can make at home.
They advertise free parking, but it fills up and then touristy leave that cars there. There's paid parking right across the street, and you can come and go all day.