Hofbrau is a cafeteria-style food service found in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...

, and the namesake for various restaurant

Restaurant

A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...

s and restaurant chains in the United States that feature this kind of food service and/or German food. The name is derived from the German term 'Hofbräu', which originally referred to a brewery with historical ties to a royal court. Such breweries often have beer gardens where food is served.

Food

The choice of meat

Meat

Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...

s offered at most hofbraus includes roast beef

Roast beef

Roast beef is a dish of beef which is roasted in an oven. Essentially prepared as a main meal, the leftovers can be and are often served within sandwiches and sometimes is used to make hash...

, corned beef

Corned beef

Corned beef is a type of salt-cured beef products present in many beef-eating cultures. The English term is used interchangeably in modernity to refer to three distinct types of cured beef:...

, turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, ham

Ham

Ham is a cut of meat from the thigh of the hind leg of certain animals, especiallypigs. Nearly all hams sold today are fully cooked or cured.-Etymology:...

, beef brisket

Brisket

Brisket is a cut of meat from the breast or lower chest of beef or veal. The beef brisket is one of the eight beef primal cuts. The brisket muscles include the superficial and deep pectorals. As cattle do not have collar bones, these muscles support about 60% of the body weight of standing/moving...

, and sometimes buffalo

American Bison

The American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...

. Sandwich

Sandwich

A sandwich is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of :bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or...

es are often served on sourdough

Sourdough

Sourdough is a dough containing a Lactobacillus culture, usually in symbiotic combination with yeasts. It is one of two principal means of biological leavening in bread baking, along with the use of cultivated forms of yeast . It is of particular importance in baking rye-based breads, where yeast...

 rolls that are first dipped into a beef jus and then topped with freshly sliced meat. Dinners often come with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy

Gravy

Gravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. In North America the term can refer to a wider variety of sauces and gravy is often thicker than in Britain...

, with gravy also ladled over both the potatoes and the meat. In addition, a dinner roll with butter

Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...

 plus a choice of a hot or cold side is included. Cold sides often include macaroni or pasta salad

Pasta Salad

Pasta salad is a dish prepared with one or more types of pasta, usually chilled, and most often tossed in a vinegar, oil or mayonnaise-based dressing. It is typically served as an appetizer or a main course....

, potato salad

Potato salad

Potato salad is a dish made from boiled potatoes, the versions of which vary throughout different regions and countries of the world. Although called a salad, it is generally considered a side dish, as it generally accompanies the main course....

, or regular iceberg lettuce salad

Salad

Salad is any of a wide variety of dishes, including vegetable salads; salads of pasta, legumes, eggs, or grains; mixed salads incorporating meat, poultry, or seafood; and fruit salads. They may include a mixture of cold and hot, often including raw vegetables or fruits.Green salads include leaf...

. Hot sides often include corn

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

, macaroni and cheese

Macaroni and cheese

Macaroni and cheese, also known as "mac and cheese", "macaroni cheese" in British English, or "macaroni pie" in Caribbean English, is a casserole consisting of cooked macaroni and cheese sauce...

, rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

, and green beans.

Layout and characteristics

Restaurants are laid out cafeteria-style: customers take a tray and utensils, place orders/requests at the beginning of a long steam table, adding on side dishes as they move down the line, pay the cashier at the end of the line, and then seat themselves. Beer, and a bar in general, is a common characteristic at most hofbraus, with the beer often served on tap. Liquor is sometimes available and most alcoholic drinks are generally inexpensive. Another characteristic of many hofbraus is that they are meeting places for large groups of people whom gather to eat, watch sports on television or have parties.

Californian Hofbraus

• Tommy's Joynt (San Francisco)
• "Lefty" O'Doul's (San Francisco)
• Brennan's (Berkeley)
• Harry's Hofbrau (various locations in the Bay Area)
• The Silver Dollar Hofbrau (Fresno)
• Old Fresno Hofbrau (Fresno)
• Sam's Hofbrau (strip club & hofbrau - Los Angeles)
• Clifton's Cafeteria
  Clifton's Cafeteria
  Clifton's Cafeteria, once part of a chain of Clifton's restaurants, is the oldest surviving cafeteria style eatery in Los Angeles, California, and the largest public cafeteria in the world. Founded in 1931 by Clifford Clinton, the name was created by combining the first half of "Clifford" and the...
  
   (Los Angeles)
• Sam's Hofbrau (formerly Plaza Hofbrau; Originally Sam's Hofbrau) (Sacramento)
• Old Fresno Hofbrau (Fresno)
• The Chick-N-Coop (San Francisco & Daly City)
• Bogy's Hofbrau (South San Francisco)
• Europa Hofbrau (Orinda)
• Oaks Corner (Emeryville)
• Hofbrauhaus, Pittsburgh
• Jerrold Market Place (San Francisco)
• Hof-Brau Roast Haus (San Rafael and Novato)
• Narsi's Hofbrau (Santa Rosa) CLOSED
• The Red Steer (Merced)
• Noah's Hofbrau (Modesto)