A brand-new Palm Coast restaurant opened its doors earlier this month, serving traditional German cuisine.
Schnitzel Time, the newest addition to Palm Harbor Parkway, held its grand opening several weeks ago after teasing the eatery’s authentic offerings on social media over the last few months. According to co-owner Helmut Wachter, the restaurant is unlike anything the local community will have previously tried, offering Flagler County residents a true taste of German culture.
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Wachter, born in Austria, came to the United States just 10 months ago with his wife Angela, originally from Poland, and their three children. According to the restaurateur, one of his good friends, Sven Himmel, and his wife, Bozena, moved to the States from Germany about a year and a half ago, expressing to him their desire to bring a touch of home here to the Sunshine State.
With 15 years of prior restaurant industry experience under their belts, that’s just what they did.
“(Sven’s) idea was to make a German restaurant here in Palm Coast,” Wachter said. “It was his one wish, and so we talked together, and I said, OK, I invest the money and he’ll make the kitchen. So, we are now a team with two German cooks and me and my wife. So, we are a family-owned restaurant, really.”
The quaint new eatery features both table and booth seating, German flag wall décor and a sectioned menu of traditional German dishes that can be broken down into two main offerings — schnitzel and bratwurst.
According to Wachter, schnitzel is as authentic as it gets, consisting of a thin pork meat that is breaded, fried and seasoned to perfection with a “special German seasoning” blend.
The eatery’s Schnitzel menu ranges from the traditional schnitzel, served with a roll or French fries on the side, and the Rahmschnitzel — schnitzel made with a cream sauce and your choice of savory side — to the Paprikaschnitzel — bell pepper schnitzel — and the special schnitzel, also accompanied by a side of your choosing, with options that include French fries, potato salad, cucumber salad, sauerkraut and spätzle — a type of egg noodle.
When thinking about the most popular schnitzel and side combination, the answer was almost reflex-like for Wachter.
“Jägerschnitzel,” he said with a smile, going on to describe the personal favorite to me.
“On our very first day, 40,000 people shared this picture on social media, and everyone came in and said ‘I want this.’ It’s the schnitzel — most popular — with brown gravy sauce, with mushrooms and German seasoning and the spätzle side — they’re like noodles, a very classic German dish.”
But it doesn’t stop there.
The eatery’s second main menu component consists of bratwurst, a common German sausage, most typically made from well-seasoned ground pork but also from beef and other meat combinations. The various dish selections range from the traditional bratwurst with a roll or your choice of side, and the German hot dog with onion and sauerkraut toppings to another of Wachter’s top picks among the bratwurst dishes, the Currywurst — sausage with curry sauce, accompanied by a roll or side of your choosing.
Beyond its unique menu, which also includes vegetarian German mac and cheese, and beverages like soft drinks and German beer, Schnitzel Time prides itself on its made-fresh-daily-style restaurant, with lunch and dinner selections that feature a range of homemade sauces, authentic German recipes and use of locally-sourced ingredients.
“The important thing for us is that we cook fresh, so it’s a mix between — it’s fast food timing, but with fresh food,” Wachter said. “We produce all our products by ourselves. That’s very important to us. So, we make it every day — the sausage and everything … . For us, it’s very special, because we do produce it all by ourselves — except the French fries — and we buy all local, from the small farmers and small butchers.”
It seems as though its been just as special for the local community, with residents sharing their experiences at the new eatery online, across various social media platforms.
“We had lunch there yesterday!! So delicious!!” one Facebook user commented, with another noting, “Everything was delicious, we WILL be back!!!”
The community’s support, Wachter noted, has been both overwhelming and incredibly exciting for him and his team — a dedicated group of just four. According to the restaurateur, they had expected 100 people, if they were lucky, to walk through the restaurant’s doors on its opening day. However, the team was overjoyed to welcome nearly 900 customers.
Due to the influx of foot traffic, the eatery ultimately had to adjust its hours to better accommodate both its staff and customers as the Schnitzel Time team continues to learn and work through any unforeseen new-business kinks. Wachter went on to joyously note the generous number of German-born residents within the community who have stopped by since its opening, all praising the menu’s convenient options, affordable prices and authenticity.
Just days after opening, the team described its gratitude and excitement regarding the eatery’s immediate success in a Facebook post, stating: “It’s crazy what has happened in the last three days. We are overwhelmed by all the support from each and every customer. The entire Schnitzel-Time team would like to thank you very much for this outstanding reception in Palm Coast. We would like to say thank you, we really expected a lot, but we would never have dreamed of what we have experienced in the last three days. The many congratulations, and also the understanding that it can sometimes take longer, show us that we are on the right path.”
According to Wachter, the restaurant currently offers dine-in and takeout with plans to offer delivery in the future.
Schnitzel Time is located at 1755 Palm Harbor Parkway in Palm Coast and is open 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. Tuesday – Saturday. For information, call 386-302-0044 or visit schnitzel-time.com.
Helena Perray is the restaurant and dining writer for The Daytona Beach News-Journal. A New Jersey native and passionate storyteller, she can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Instagram and Facebook. Support local journalism by subscribing