SophienBäck is a longtime legend in the Sanderau neighborhood of Würzburg, surprisingly featuring great beers on tap.
SophienBäck
Sophienstraße 6
97072 Würzburg
Tel: 093132096882
website
map
Würzburg Station 2 km/regular Tram service
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Saturday 16:00 to 24:30
Closed Sundays & Mondays
History of wine and bakeries
SophienBäck has an interesting history. The connection between bakers and winemakers goes back to the Napoleonic era of the early 1800s. Bakers were allowed to grow grapes to supplement their income but only sell their wine at the bakeries, so they started cafes. SophienBäck dates back to around 1910 but was sadly destroyed by bombs in 1945. It was rebuilt and finally opened in 1948. It became immensely popular and remains so today.
atmospheric SophienBäck
SophienBäck atmosphere
SophienBäck has a gorgeous old wood interior with warm low lighting. It oozes history as well as coziness. A winter evening would be well spent here. It was, however, a warm summer night and everyone was sitting in the equally charming Weingarten, strewn with vines.
the lush Weingarten of SophienBäck
SophienBäck beer
SophienBäck features not only a fine selection of wines (and single malt whiskies), it offers some beers from the small Pfarrbräu of Stadelhofen in Lower Franconia. This 2015 brewery makes mostly traditional lagers but does dabble in unusual for Franconia seasonal beers. They appear to have three on tap on any given visit. I enjoyed the Fränkisch Hell, Kellerbier and a lovely Stout. This would have been amazing in itself but they had quite a few other breweries represented on tap, as well. All that at a wine bar. See beers on tap in conclusion.
a trio of Pfarrbräu beers
Food
SophienBäck features mostly traditional Franconian cuisine but with more than its share of chicken, fish and even vegetarian dishes. Göger seemed to be the big item but that will have to wait for another visit. We were unsure what it was and turned out to be rotisserie chicken. My wife opted for a very rustic chicken fricassee, obviously made from perhaps the rotisserie chicken not sold the day before. I got Zanderfilet (pike perch) and though lovely, it was quite small for the price. We actually both ordered it and the server came back and said there was only enough left for one. It seemed like not even that much. That said, it was the rare occasion where a Franconian restaurant very lightly breaded the fish before pan frying it. I just wish I had another piece or two.
tasty meals at SophienBäck
SophienBäck certainly did not disappoint. The beer was even better than expected, a tall order since it was my reason for the visit. A friend who lives in the neighborhood gave me the tip. We enjoyed out meals but would probably go with the Göger next time as it came with potato salad, and that was amazing on the fish plate. Service was friendly if a bit in the weeds. It was busy and our server in particular seemed to be new to not only SophienBäck but probably the profession. We’ll certainly return for another meal the next time in town.
Beers on tap at SophienBäck:
Pfarrbräu Fränkisch Hell, Pfarrbräu Kellerbier, Pfarrbräu Stout (seasonal specialty), Würzburger Hofbräu Pilsener, Würzburger Hofbräu alcohol free Hell, Martinsbräu Märzen, Tegernsee Hell, Winkler Dunkel. Assorted Weizens and alcohol free beers in bottles.
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