The Hole-In-The-Wall Oregon Restaurant That Makes Exceptional Handmade Meats And Sausages

People in Portland, Oregon, can get a taste of Germany right in their own backyard at a local spot that makes its own authentically delicious meats and sausages. Edelweiss Sausage & Delicatessen has been serving customers, including members of Portland's German community, for decades, and is one of our picks for each state's best hole-in-the-wall restaurant. It's even won praise from the Mayor of Flavortown himself, Guy Fieri, who featured the restaurant and deli on an episode of "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" and raved that its bologna was among the best he'd ever tasted.

Edelweiss sells more than 120 types of mostly German, and particularly Bavarian, sausages and meats, including salamis, wursts, bolognas, cooked meats, franks, beef jerkies, and specialty meats like blood sausage, headcheese, and liverwurst (which is similar to pâté but not the same). Nearly all of them are made in house by hand, including smoking, drying, and curing. Some of its featured items are the wine-cured salami; rosemary garlic bologna; and schweinebach, a side of bacon stuffed with house-made bologna. Others include bratwurst, landjäger (one of the essential cured meats to know), and pizza loaf, made with cheese chunks, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, and green peppers.

Customers line up to buy the sausages and meats in the deli section of Edelweiss, as well as cheeses, German beers and wines, and European specialty foods. These include imported grocery products like mustards, sauerkraut, pickles, breads, chocolate, cookies, and other sweets.

Patrons in Edelweiss' dining area can enjoy German favorites from the menu brought to their table, like homemade sausages weisswurst, smoked bratwurst, and bier sausage served grilled with or without buns, along with breaded and fried pork schnitzel. Optional sides for the platters include house-made potato salad, sauerkraut, and rotkohl, or German red cabbage. There are also sandwiches with schnitzel or leberkäse, a Bavarian meatloaf made from ground beef and pork and spices. American choices are available too, like different Reuben sandwiches, BLTs, and grilled cheese, and beer — German, of course — on tap. Come in the morning and German-style breakfast and bier sausage hash are among the options for starting the day.

The family-owned and -operated restaurant and deli was founded by German immigrant George Baier, a butcher and sausage maker who came to the U.S. in 1959. It wasn't until more than 20 years later that George and his wife Marylou bought a deli that was for sale in Portland and opened Edelweiss in 1982. Their two sons learned the German recipes and sausage-making methods from their father, who eventually retired in 1999, leaving the business in their hands. They built on their dad's original products over the years to offer even more unique meats and sausages.