Rolf's German Restaurant

Every Christmas season I go to Rolf’s German Restaurant and check out their over the top Christmas decorations and I’m sure I’ll go again this year. While Googling around for bars to go to on Casual Free Food Friday here at TWM, I found out that from 5 to 6 PM, Rolf’s serves free finger sandwiches at the bar. That’s when it dawned on me that I’ve never been to Rolf’s in the off season, so today’s the day. And I’ve never had finger sandwiches, I’m hoping to try an index finger, I’ve heard they taste like chicken.

It's a gray old day out here today. It's only a little after four in the afternoon and Rolf's is just about a fifteen minute walk from my apartment, but I want to be there when the finger sandwiches come out. I've been obsessing about them all day long. Why am I obsessing over finger sandwiches? Only my therapist knows for sure and I stopped going to him decades ago, so I guess we'll never know. All I do know is I want to be there when they first hit the bar.

There's a lot of cops and barricades on Broadway. I asked a cop what was going on and he told me the President was going to be traveling through here this afternoon. I had my camera in my hand and as I walked away he said, "You're not going to stick around to take pictures?" I told him I couldn't, the finger sandwiches were coming out at five. He looked at me like I was nuts. I was tempted to tell him my name was Henry Krinkle, but didn't feel like getting shipped to Guantanamo Bay, so I just moved along.

And here we are at Rolf's. Wow, sure looks different when it's not Christmas time.

The Christmas decorations may be gone, but there's still a lot of cool things in here, like the indoor street sign that greets you as you walk in.

Since it was early in the afternoon, there was plenty of seats open at the bar. I took a seat and got a beer from the owner of Rolf's, who was bartending. He's a little camera shy and didn't want his picture taken. I asked him when the finger sandwiches would be coming out and that's when I was hit by the sad news that they stopped doing this a few years ago. This was devastating news, now I'll never know if an index finger tastes like chicken.

There was a glass of pretzels in front of me, so all was not lost on this Casual Free Food Friday. I had another beer and vowed to find a place that has finger sandwiches in the future.

Martha and Peter were at the end of the bar and I had a nice conversation with them. They're regulars at Rolf's and told me that they've been coming here for years. Rolf's has been on the block since 1968.

As I was talking to Martha and Peter, Patti came in and heard me talking about my blog and said she had heard about it. It turns out she's a regular reader of EV Grieve and had seen a link that he had posted about TWM. It's a small internet world out there in cyberspace!

Here's the back dining room of Rolf's. Even without the Christmas decorations, it's still a festive looking room.

Luckily all the headlights are outside, so this guy is nice and calm on the wall.

Polished wooden booths line the outer wall and add to the Bavarian feel of Rolf's.

Colorful and ornate glass chandeliers hang overhead.

I love the stained glass in here.

There's a trifecta of Marilyn Monroe photos in here. Here's the first one in the back of the dining area.

And here's one tucked away up near the ceiling.

And the third one is this classic Marilyn photo up by my seat at the bar.

A bar that has coat hooks is a sure sign of a bar that has class.

As is a tin celing. As I was taking the photo of the ceiling, Patti told me to take a shot of Chuckie and pointed to the left of where I had just shot this photo...

And heeeere's Chuckie, suspended up in the air in an antique baby carriage.

A shot of the other end of the bar.

And I've polished off about half of the pretzels and I've drained several beers, so it's time to hit the road.

Out the colorful door we go...

And night has fallen on Manhattan...have I ever mentioned I love it when that happens?

Rolf's
281 Third Ave. (@21st St.)
212-473-8718

Further Reading: Mitch Broder’s Vintage New York, EV Grieve and Tasting Table.

I always thought our house was haunted,
But nobody said boo to me,
I never did get what I wanted,
Now I get what I need.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

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P.S. I'm Going To Be On The Radio Today!

My friend and fabulous DJ Gidget has invited me to call in to her afternoon show today on Woody Radio! I'll be calling in at 2 PM EST, and you can hear what a nasally, whiny voice I have compared to Gidget's radio friendly octaves. It's going to be a lot of fun and I hope you can tune in and listen on your computer, just click here at 2 PM, today: Woody Radio.