Sandwiched in an old strip mall between a flower shop and a dog grooming salon just outside the quaint part of Falls Church is a little slice of home for the area’s German and Swiss communities and a goldmine for the thrill-seeking shopper.

The German Gourmet offers Germanophiles 14 types of bratwurst, a cornucopia of soft and hard European cheeses, homemade German potato salad, homey spätzle, soft pretzels and rolls, and enough specialty pastries to keep customers trying new varieties every day for a month.

And it doesn't end there, thanks to German Gourmet purveyors Mike and Cliff Haene. German beer and wine, steins, candles, quaint ceramic tchochkes, and inscrutable herbal medicine packages fill every remaining nook on the shelves of this store, whose narrow aisles are packed floor to ceiling with things we didn’t know we needed until we saw them.

A $14 bottle of a not-too-sweet Riesling, two mace and nutmeg-laced pork, veal and beef brats which put Sheboygan’s finest to shame, and a $4 petite wheel of soft cheese flavored with mushrooms was probably not what the doctor ordered. But it was the perfect find on a sunny fall Saturday to break up the ennui of a day otherwise filled with chores and errands. They also sell hot brat platters to go, which include a roll, red cabbage, German potato salad, and sauerkraut for $5.95, but only on weekdays.

Wine tastings from some of Germany’s lesser-known grape growing regions are offered monthly on Saturday afternoons to hip young men in black, moms with tots in tow and to proper German grandmothers. Several of the aforementioned grandmothers were already seeking to place Christmas orders for the German Gourmet’s special stollen—a solid but tasty holiday cross between bread and iced fruitcake on a recent visit.

After Thanksgiving, look for the Lebkuchen cookies, similar to gingersnaps but often with more decoration, packaged in a festive mini metal sleigh just for Christmas, coming soon. You might also consider impressing your friends with a gift of a bottle of Glühwein, a German mulled wine, or one of the housemade strudels, suggests Anna Haene, manager and the wife of owner Mike Haene.

The German Gourmet serves up unique offerings for your next office or holiday party, including a deli platter made up of German cold cuts that go beyond liverwurst and a wide variety of European cheese, a seafood platter resplendent with smoked oysters, herring salad and white asparagus, and a pastry platter you can custom design. Depending on what’s on them, small platters for 8-10 people start at $31.50 and go to $90 if you’re planning on serving 15-20 guests.

The German Gourmet also offers difficult-to-find German and Swiss soaps, lotions and creams. When the store began selling FA brand of soap, a popular brand in Europe, a few years ago, the owners originally ordered from Canada. German customers complained that the Canadian version was not up to par, and so the German-made FA soap was ordered and the Canadian one quickly dropped, recalls Anna Haene.

"Customers are willing to pay a little more for that," she said.

The German Gourmet has been in business more than 40 years, and it shows no signs of slowing down, which is good news for anyone seeking a brief Teutonic fling or a long-term relationship with superbly spiced and satisfyingly snappy brats.

German Gourmet
7185 Lee Highway (S. Washington St.)
Falls Church
(703) 534-1908