In a village where every other restaurant name ends in "haus", Pepi and Sheika Gramshammer have ruled the Austrian dining scene since 1964. In my hometown of Manhattan, Pepi's would be considered hopelessly high camp, but would probably be just as packed. Upon first glimpse, it looked like a nightmare caused by falling asleep during a screening of the Sound of Music. I had to be dragged by my friends onto the Disney-esque outdoor dining deck, where orange polka-dotted umbrellas sat perkily over tables covered with bright green checked tablecloths, and chubby waitresses bursting out of their tightly corseted Austrian dresses bustled by the flower-bedecked railings. All this against a backdrop of mustard-yellow, relentlessly cheerful walls. I could only groan and reach for my sunglasses, hoping to shield myself from the color contrasts.
A few summery weisse beers later, I was as happy as a Von Trapp teenager with a new ukelele. Pepi's outdoor deck is a fantastic place to sit and watch the summer tourists go by - and the food is really good! Knowing very little about Austrian cuisine, I was expecting a menu with two choices: bratwurst and liverwurst - but I was pleasantly surprised. My salad was simply gorgeous, overflowing its plate with fluffy fresh lettuce and veggies. Sandwiches, including an impressive Salmon Avocado Club, were fresh and tasty. The Austrian specialties were as good as you would expect: Wienerschnitzel (breaded veal) and Bratwurst (your choice of pork or veal) were given high marks by my more culinarily adventurous friends, as was a small but rich Spinach Strudel. The only disappointment on the table was a Chicken Imperial salad entrée, which was roughly the same size as my house salad and not very filling. For dessert, the seven of us devoured a homemade apple raisin strudel with a scoop of vanilla ice cream melting atop it.
Pepi's also has two indoor dining rooms. One serves Continental cuisine and Austrian specialties, and the other features wild game. Both were empty on the sunny afternoon that we visited Pepi's, but reservations are probably a good idea for dinner, and the deck can get crowded for lunch during the summer.