Sudwerk

A view of Sudwerk on dollar drink night, 2005.

Sudwerk's dollar "pint" night makes for cheaper fun.

Sudwerk, short for Sudwerk Privatbrauerei Hübsch [Sudwerk Private Brewery Hübsch (family name)], is Davis' local microbrewery. Popular among UCD students is the Dollar "Pint" Night which is on Wednesday nights. Every night there is a "Late Night Happy Hour" during the last hour-and-a-half before closing.

On July 1, 2006, the restaurant portion of Sudwerk changed ownership.¹ Live music was suspended during the ownership transition. The new owner is Tim McDonnell, the restaurateur who owns The Spinnaker and Tarantino's in San Francisco on Fisherman's Wharf. The menu has had a major reworking. The ingredients are fresher and almost everything is made in-house now. For example, the restaurant now uses spring mix instead of cheaper lettuce in its house salads, buns are now served instead of bread, and the specials have been more varied and different. Plans to update the menu, resurface the bar, get new kitchen equipment, and install plasma screen TVs have been implemented. Presently Ron Broward still owns the brewery. The restaurant now buys its beer from the brewery more formally than before. Tim McDonnell will be focusing on increasing the volume of people visiting Sudwerk and intends to move away from (though not eliminate) German food and move more toward seafood and sautees, which is what he specializes in.

Some German beer snobs say that this is the only beer that they will drink in California.

Be sure to check out the Doppelbock, a seasonal Sudwerk holiday brew. This is the best beer I've ever tasted. - KenjiYamada

Good $$ to Alcohol ratio: The Sampler. 5 types (4*5=20 oz) of Sudwerk's own brew for a very low price (~$5.50).

Good$$ to Alcohol ratio: Wednesday Night Dollar Pint Nights. $3 Cover starting at 9:00PM. Most common location to sight beeramids.

• $1 for a pint of beer: Helles, Hefeweizen, Märzen and Pilsner.
  

• Seasonal beers and special beers are not always available during Pint Night
  

• Radlers are available for $1 upon request.
  

• $3 for a "pint" of Cider (Varies week to week: Wyder's Raspberry, Fox Barrel Pear and Two Rivers Apple).
  

• There are special prices on fountain drinks

Beer Fest 2007
A Celebration of All Things Beer
On June 2, 2007 from 2 - 5 PM Sudwerk Brewery hosted a beer fest.
Tickets were $25 at the door and included unlimited tastings.
For more information goto http://citizenswhocare.us/Beer.html

The Sudwerk truck parked on the side of I 80, visible as you come into town over the Yolo Causeway (circa 2003)

Beware: the beer served during Pint Nights is from the bottom of the barrel—literally. According to someone who used to work there, they use Wed. nights to get rid of the beer they would otherwise deem unworthy to sell.... That explains the worse-than-normal hangovers, eh? —ss

Do you also think that Natty and Keystone are from the bottom of Bud and Coors Barrels? There is no way that's true, the beers come straight from kegs and besides...the bottom of a barrel of beer is not "bad beer" it may have more yeast but in no way is it bad. Also, if anything it would give you LESS of a hangover since yeast at the bottom of the barrel have vitamins that help cure hangovers. —kegman

Food is mainly pub food: Good snack-type food items: Garlic Parmesan Fries, Buffalo Wings ("drumstick" part only), and Avocado Egg Rolls, Fried Calamari, Onion Rings, etc.

They have live music on select Fri & Sat, 7PM-10PM.

As of February 4, 2005, the Sudwerk Restaurant and Brewery was for sale for $7 million. Prices since have fluctuated. See http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2005/02/07/story2.html. Presently, though, Sudwerk is undergoing a transition into new ownership from Ron Broward to a new owner. The transaction occurred on July 1, 2006. Reportedly, Mr. Broward had trouble finding someone who would buy both the brewery and the restaurant together, not separately.

Sudwerk has a big patio and frog fountain. A thirsty patron enjoys two liter-sized steins on the patio.

Sudwerk also sells their beer in kegs and has large banquet rooms that can be rented for business meetings, banquets, parties, etc. Parties of 25 or more are usually recommended to make reservations for these rooms ahead of time and have to pay a deposit and cleaning fee.

Keg prices are current as of November 2007, not including a $100 deposit (plus $25 for a tap).

There have been rumors that the "Pints" on "Dollar Pint Night" aren't actually pints; that they are 12 ounces instead of 16 ounces. This is debatable. If filled to the brim, they are a full 16 ounces. They easily become 12 ounces if the head on the beer is big enough or if your cup isn't completely full, though. Note that the confusion may result from the fact that a UK pint or "beer pint" starts out being larger (about 20%, 568ml vs. 473ml), plus the standard pub glasses allow for a head. In fact, UK law has a "head line" on glasses. Therefore, a Sudwerk pint is a US pint including head, while a traditional pint of beer is a 20% larger imperial pint and does not include the head.

Add a Review

Note: You must be logged in to add comments

Older Reviews

• Reviews from before Sudwerk changed ownership in 2006-08

Current Reviews

2006-09-19 21:43:11   I really don't care for their food, but I really, really care for their marzen and doppel bock. Mmm...doppel bock... —SteveKent

---

2006-09-27 12:41:69   The food menu here has changed dramatically in the past month. When I was here for a job interview on 8/13/06, there were lots of German plates and cuisine. When I went back about a week ago, there was only 1 german item on the menu which was the sausage and German potato pancakes (very tasty!!). Unfortunately, the sausage sampler platter I had when I was here in Mid-August is no longer on the menu. The German cuisine has been replaced with your typical Applebee's/TGIFriday's pub grub. Also, dollar pint night is definitely an interesting event. When I was there last week, they seemed to be strictly enforcing the fact that you can't show up early and buy food and be exempt from paying the $3 cover. All in all, a good place with solid beer. For those of you who like their doppelbock, I would highly recommend Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock. I am unsure of its availability, but your best bet would be one of the Nugget stores (both have a different selection of beer) or Aggie Liquor —CaseyBarc

---

2006-09-27 13:48:28   I did a blind taste test with Sudwerk Doppel Bock, Spaten Optimator and Ayinger Celebrator and ended up picking Sudwerk's. —KenjiYamada

• I could argue that anyone drinking three mugs of Dopplebock close enough together to compare them wouldn't be in fit condition to compare them (: —GrumpyoldGeek
  

• We used a very small glass of each. It was science! —KenjiYamada
  

---

2006-10-17 23:27:17   My Girlfriend and I found out about this place shortly after we moved here a little over a year ago. We have been eating here on and off since then, always impressed with the great food and excellent beer. Myself and her parents (former restaurant owners) were chatting with one of the staff when he told us that the restaurant was under new ownership and that changes would happen. He assured us that the only changes were going to be better tv's and other cosmetic upgrades, thats it. We were quite excited by this assurance that the overall experience would remain the same ie. German food matching German beer. Tonight, me and my gf went back and we found that the menu has essentially been destroyed. There is almost 0 German food. This is a German brewery, right? Part of the charm going here was getting German food as Sudwerk was the ONLY German restaurant in Davis. The menu now is essentially TGI Friday food. Many people who just came for the beer (Understandable as it IS some of the best beer anywhere), probably wont care, but for those that came for the whole authentic experience, they will be sorely disappointed. Please, tell others, we want a unique experience, not some generic one we can find anywhere!! Bring back the authentic food!!! —JustusBranscomb

• As of 10/20/06, there is NO German food on the menu any more. In the past week, they took the last German entree (Grilled Sausage with Potato Pancakes) off the menu. I left a comment in their comment box voicing my intense displeasure. Ironically, they don't have any comment cards and I had to use a scrap piece of paper. —CaseyBarc
  

• I second this (as of 06/01/07). Without having been there again, their new menu looks decidedly all-American, the only German dish I could find being their sausage platter. This is definitely not a German restaurant. I still like their beer, though — my hope is that'll not go down as well, with brewery & restaurant now being separated. —JoFeuerstein
  

---

2006-10-23 12:39:40   We are also very disappointed with the menu changes. This started at the Roseville location. Why go to the restaurant when you can get the Marzen at the store? I'll just come in to pick up the Doppelbock and go now. —MyaBrn

"2006-10-29 9:23:12 I decided to go to Sudwerk's after reading the German menu online. I was sorely disappointed to arrive at the restaurant and see NO German food on the menu. I can get a club sandwich at IHOP if I so pleased. Boo :(—EricaMacGregor

Can you update the entry above to say what kind of food they currently have?

Here's the NEW menu: http://sudwerk.com/menu.pdf (opens with Adobe)— apparently they got on task and changed it—EricaMacGregor

---

2006-10-30 22:39:33   I'm indifferent to the menu change. However, I ate there tonight and was quite pleased. The butter lettuce salad with walnuts and bleu cheese was tasty enough for me to eat nearly the whole thing, a rare occurance for a light eater such as myself. —AnnaJones

---

2006-11-09 16:29:49   I've eaten here twice since the change in ownership. The first time was shortly after the change, and although I was really disappointed that the German food and the wonderful pub-grub was gone (goodbye, luscious onion rings), I thought that the menu was much more unified than the traditional Sudwerk menu, which seemed to be torn between bar food and german cuisine. I ate here last week, though, and it completely changed my opinion of the menu being more unified. It's all over the place. Four things that *really* bugged me last week: 1) the server preceded the description of four separate items with "this is from the new owner's other restaurant". Great, so this is some other restaurant's food? Am I supposed to care? It completely turned me off. 2) Too many of the dishes seem like they have no chance of standing up to the beer being served. Maybe the Hefe or the Lager, but certainly not the Dunkelweizen, Doppelbock or others. The high number of seafood items just reinforces this. These beers (which I love) can't just go with anything, and I think the menu needs to reflect that. 3) They appear to have shorten their hours, essentially removing the 'bar' aspect. 10 or 11pm? Those are clearly restaurant hours. This is supposed to be a brewpub as well. 4) What *is* the theme? We were given a dessert menu, and half of it was Italian-influenced. Can eating crab cakes followed by tiramisu while enjoying a dunkelweizen work? I'm not convinced. The absolute best change I've seen is the additional beers on tap. Prior to the new owners I was never able to go there and choose between the standard beers and four others. The beers are still heaven, so I'm still going, but I hope they continue to rework the menu. It's struggling both for an identity and a way to match the beer. If the name wasn't Sudwerk, I'd bet the owner would ditch the beers completely. —MattCzarnowski

---

2006-12-12 12:40:05   We went to Sudwerk last week. Overall, the atmosphere was quite nice, the beer was spectacular, and the service was great. The food, however, was less than ideal. Some items were OK (the skinny onion rings I liked, my pasta was fine). Other items were disappointing (my sister had a salad that she basically refused to eat, which is rare for her). They clearly are not overly concerned with the quality of the food. But I would go back, if just for the beer. —JonathanEisen

---

2007-01-09 21:45:10   I'm drinking one of their doppel bocks right now. Definitely good stuff, nice and flavorful. I tend to have a respectable quantity of Spaten Optimator on hand as my "generic" beer, but the Sudwerk packs more punch. I think I prefer the Spaten overall, not that the flavor is any better, but because I am not always in the mood for the rich bite of the Sudwerk, as good as it may be (and doppels are supposed to be hearty!). I've tried a number of doppelbocks and so far my fave is definitely Weihenstephaner Korbinian. I like to have a bunch of them on hand at home at all times if at all possible. —DireDeparra

---

2007-01-09 21:47:45   As for the food at Sudwerk, it used to be pretty good, with some generous portions. I love German cuisine, and I was horrified to hear they pretty much eliminated it when the new owner took over. Now it serves rather generic, if competant pub fare. Completely redundant. It's this sort of thing that makes me depressed about life around here. Now the ONLY place I know of that serves German (and Austrian) cuisine is Cafe Vienna in West Sacramento. They have a fairly decent lunch buffet at a good price. I haven't eaten dinner there yet though. I wish there was at least one other restaurant nearby that serves German food. If there is one, I hope someone would let me know so I can rejoice and treat them to dinner for sharing the good news! Alas, the only place I can get schnitzel on a whim is in my own kitchen. —DireDeparra

---

2007-02-06 20:02:00   i just logged on to the website. it says new hours: 11:30am to 10pm Mon-Wed. does this mean no more 1$ pint night?!?!? i'm saddened, now instead of drinking 6 beers until the wee hours i have to pound a couple and bounce... LAME —EightFishies

---

2006-03-02 20:47:00   In town for the weekend a tried out Sudwerk's my first night in town based on the recommendation on this wiki. The beer is very good, authentic german lager style. I wanted to clear up a bit of stuff in the comments about weissbier in the W/NW US. Yes, Widmer is distributed by Anheuser Busch and they have a 40% ownership. The quality of all of their beers has gone down since. However, if you get a chance to goto the Widmer brewery in Portland, and try the Hefeweisen at the source, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. At any rate, comparing Widmer Hefeweisen to Sudwerk is like comparing apples and oranges - Widmer is a simple slightly sweet and yeasty weiss beer, but it is not authentically german - the Sudwerks beer has the authentic weisbier flavor. Pyramid, well, just sucks. As do the other breweries they have bought up (Mac's for instance, was good before Pyramid bought them).—CalebPhillips

---

2007-03-15 23:30:14   The BBQ burger is fantastic, but the appetizer platter if way too monotonous and greasy. Every item is fried, and the onion shreds work better as a side dish than an appetizer. The BBQ tri tip sandwich is really good, but the bread is a bit overpowering— it would be improved by giving more meat or making the bun smaller. The mushroom burger is pretty good. I had the $2.50 nachos on Thursday fiesta night, and I'd recommend you ask for chips with no toppings instead— I enjoyed the chips, but the "cheese" was watery and conformed to no known dairy, non-dairy, velveeta, or aerosol based cheese food product. It was supposedly made from an asiago, jack, and cheddar mix, but it was whey gross. —CraigBrozinsky

---

2007-03-29 23:22:07   Sudwerk has gone really down, the food is not good, service is not good, beer is just ok. New owners do not seem to care about the food or service. over 45 minutes to receive any food, which was over cooked and under cooked. we will pass the place till new owners take over, or it improves. —JamesMorton

---

2007-03-30 08:56:53   my favorite part about sudwerk was their onion rings, but now, with the new menu, they are like little tiny peices of onion, battered and fried and served...I don't want FANCY onion rings, I want real onion rings. —RohiniJasavala

---

2007-05-31 18:38:38   Go to http://theshamelessfoodies.blogspot.com/2007/03/sudwerk-shmoodwerk.html for Brooks and Kristen's opinion on Sudwerk food and beer. —BrooksHayes

---

2007-07-07 22:49:04   The food isn't so great but the beer is good. Dollar Pint Nights are great, especially if you want to get out and you're low on funds. —intangible

---

2007-07-16 22:21:04   Me like beer me like it good me caveman me like beer very good, food not so good but me like beer, me caveman —dickjones

---

2007-08-01 13:34:55   Sudwerks was a dissappointment in the long run, I ordered the combo appetizer, not tasty(only thing worth eating was the crab cakes) For my entree I ordered the mussels they were advertising as a special. I could not believe how small they were and the lack of seasoning and such. I had to order a seperate plate of pasta. The beer here was good!!!! would not go back anytime soon —ElizabethBarthel

---

2007-08-03 12:57:42   Food is not that good, beer is great —Brians

---

2007-08-26 15:58:12   Food was never that great here. New Menu? I think it's a year old now?? It still sucks gentlemen. Taco pizza? what the hell is that? who ever is behind the kitchen show is a moron. Will not eat here again. great beer. love the marzen —heyman

---

2007-09-02 05:34:22   I think I am love with the Märzen from the tap. Sadly from the bottle it doesn't taste quite as good to me. —JayJ

---

2007-09-15 08:33:21   Went there last night to discover that the German restaurant has sold out and removed most of its German items!! So disappointed. What the hell is the point of a German restaurant that sells American food??? Then they charge me $6.25 for two three inch lon sausages. I won't be back. Thanks for ruining it for me. —DavisLurker

---

2007-09-26 22:36:36   Why the hell does this place close so early? —bordiga

---

2007-10-10 09:39:58   I never thought Sudwerk's German food was that good, so I wasn't really disappointed that the menu has been more Americanized. The Sausage plate is not what it used to be; I'm not crazy about the little sausages they're using now. However, I've never had a Sudwerk pizza I didn't like, and their various burgers are excellent. The beer continues to bring me through the doors. —AdamSchneider

---

2007-11-11 00:16:03   Rob's a doll. The pizza was great. And there's that really cute waiter kid... Wish I could think of his name. Doesn't matter. Nice kid! :-) I don't care for the scene in there alone, frankly. Much more fun if you bring company. —Casey

---

2007-11-13 20:35:50   I took my boyfriend here for his birthday tonight. Great service, great food- but no birthday dessert! The new owner stopped having birthday desserts to cut back costs! So sad! —Idunitt

---

2007-11-15 08:24:27   I went with a large group last night (a professional crowd—we do this every month or so) to Sudwerk for dinner and drinks. We showed up at 7pm and ordered about $200 in food and drinks. After spending nearly $200 there, we learned that they wanted to charge us an additional $3 each ($27) so we could get more beer at dollar pint. RIDICULOUS!!!! They even tried to kick us out at 10pm since we weren't there for dollar pint (but I was certainly not going to let them do that without giving me the rest of my liter of Marzen to go...) and they kept coming back to ask us when we were leaving.

The owner's new policy is insulting! We would've likely spent another $50 in drinks that night (even with $1 pints) in addition to whatever we would've spent on future visits. We aren't going to make that mistake again. Next time we'll go to Woodstock's where they know how to measure a pint and serve up the kind of food they advertise.

On a side note, I really doubt the owner's new policy helps him rake in a large amount of extra income. During the 7-9pm transition, we noticed very few people stayed (now we know why) and the majority of the restaurant patrons were families anyway. As my friend put it, the new policy is penny wise, pound foolish. —CherieWilliams

---

2007-11-29 19:24:46   They let me and my friends get food, drink beer, and play cards for hours on end. We mostly go because it's the only place we can do this without it being too loud, at and the beer is delicious. The food is alright. —ChristyMarsden

---

2007-12-17 02:00:36   Dollar pint night still goes on during school breaks, right? A very student-centered question, yes, but I'm not sure if they don't have dollar pint nights when all the kids are back home. —BrianMac

2007-12-21 Little late, but yeah, they're still doing pint night on Wednesdays for break. —ClaytonRehmus

---

2008-02-09 09:15:27   this place has HORRIBLE service. on a thursday night, my friends and i just left. beforehand, we ordered appetizers (good kalamari), but this waitress with a red shirt and blond, ponytail hair was walking over and rolled her eyes at us. it seemed like she was irritated by us, even though it took forever just to find her in the bar. my friend actually had to walk around the entire place to find a waitress who knows NOTHING ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE. Her tone didn't help either. —mikam

---

2008-02-15 17:46:37   The atmosphere is good, but I've been a few times and the food hasn't ever been too remarkable. Everyone seems to like the beer but the food (and appetizers are mediocre at best). —jglovicz

---

2008-04-06 13:33:04   Went there with my family over spring break. I had the santa fe sandwich which was amazing. My Grandma ordered shrimp pasta. They neglected to put the shrimp on the pasta the first time, so it got sent back. Only 2 minutes later and it was back on the table. You could definitely tell that they had put frozen shrimp on top and microwaved it. Nonetheless it tasted like crap, so she got a burger instead. I would suggest their burgers and sandwiches, with the amazing fries. I would avoid the other entrees. I will be returning, especially to try more beer, its nice to have a local brewery in town. —BrandonBarrette

---

2008-04-08 20:44:51   Mai Bock is back, my heart weeps with joy. —ArmyDecoy

---

2008-04-23 19:34:25   for those of you who didn't like the food before the menu has changed a while ago and is much much better than before, and of course the beer is awesome. try it! interesting fact: when the head brewer gave a talk in my beer class at UCD he said that they import all of their hops from Bavaria —JeffKreis

---

2008-05-21 20:29:20   Last year I discovered their barbecue ribs, and came back repeatedly for them until one time when I brought my parents. Apparently they changed meat distributors, and the ribs were disgusting, along with the hamburger my mother ordered. Beer was still good though. —carlaisnt

---

2008-06-23 13:40:40   My boyfriend and I have not experienced the Sudwerks previous owner, but the current one is not the best. We both orders hambugers with the side of fries because there was not much else on the menu. We literally got 5 potato wedge with our ok burger. I think Applebees is better then here. It is sad to hear that our local brewery is less preferred to Abblebees or TGIF. —fayeweezer

---

2008-06-25 20:37:11   I gotta say, I'm a sucker for their 'beermaster's schnitzel'. It's always delicious, so I don't bother trying to get anything else. —JoePomidor