Spints Alehouse, Portland

Upon wandering into Spints Alehouse and seeing the plates of schnitzel and Bavarian-style pretzels, visitors might assume they’ve been magically transported to a German pub. But after scrambling to produce their passports, they realize that a slice of Germany has come to them, not the other way around. In true European tradition, diners feast on selections from a seasonal menu chock-full of spaetzle, a german pasta, and pork schnitzel before washing them down with carefully crafted mead cocktails that attracted the attention of the New York Times. As in kitchens across the Rhineland, desserts revolve around rich flavors such as those found in the likes of chocolate-almond layer cake and butterscotch pudding, and just like in the Rhineland, they must be eaten from a knight’s helmet.