Backstreet Cafe Muldraugh Reviewed — German Night Thurs + Sat

Key Takeaways

• Backstreet Cafe in Muldraugh runs German nights Thursdays and Saturdays — the only local spot serving it after several German restaurants in Radcliff and E'town have closed.
• Cordon Bleu, Jaeger Schnitzel, German Potato Salad, spaetzle, homemade desserts — Britten's verdict: "Excellent."
• About $14 per person on German night — "super reasonably priced."
• Go early — German nights sell out, and the cafe closes at 8 PM.
• Worth the drive, per Britten — "the gray area, technically not Hardin County, but close enough."

Summary

The Experienced Eater took on a different format this week — a live reaction to a raw video Britten shot at Backstreet Cafe in Muldraugh on a Saturday German night. Britten and Michele narrated the video in real time as the show ran, walking through cordon bleu, jaeger schnitzel, German potato salad, spaetzle, and homemade desserts.

The hidden-in-plain-sight angle is the story. Backstreet Cafe is tucked behind/around the side of the big yellow hotel in Muldraugh — easy to miss. Most days it runs a standard diner menu. Two nights a week, the kitchen turns out German food serious enough that Britten — who normally skips restaurants with a Google rating under 4.5 — made the trip anyway and came back impressed.

If you've been missing German food in Hardin County since the Radcliff restaurants closed, you've got a Saturday-night answer that's a short drive away.

Full Article

The Experienced Eater changed its format this week. Britten McDowell shot a raw video — no voice-over, no narration, just camera and food — at Backstreet Cafe in Muldraugh on a Saturday German night. Then Britten and Michele sat in the studio and narrated it live as the show rolled the footage. The result is a real-time reaction that reads like sitting at the table with them.

Backstreet Cafe is hidden in plain sight. Britten described the find: "It's actually behind, around to the left-hand side rear of the big yellow hotel in Muldraugh. A little hard to see from the street. There's a sign out there, but if you're just looking, you would miss it." Rachel — who drives through Muldraugh regularly on her way to Louisville — admitted on air she had no idea the cafe was there.

Most of the week, Backstreet runs a diner-style menu — breakfast, lunch, dinner. Diner-ish: sandwiches, hot roast, spaghetti. The special is what made the trip worth it. Two nights a week — Thursdays and Saturdays — Backstreet serves German food. Saturday German runs all day, starting at 11 AM, and continues until they run out. Britten flagged the urgency: "On German nights, they sell out. The earlier you go, the better. They shut down at 8 o'clock."

There's a Hardin County backstory worth mentioning. Several German restaurants in Radcliff have closed over the years, and Britten suspects there's an ownership or family tie between those closed restaurants and Backstreet Cafe. "We heard from a friend that heard from a friend, you know, kind of thing." Speculation — but the cooking is consistent enough to support the theory. Either way: Backstreet is currently the only local spot serving German.

What They Ordered

The Cordon Bleu — pan-fried pork stuffed with ham and cheese — was the headliner on the visit. Britten's reaction in the raw video: "It's excellent." On air, narrating the cross-cut shot: "You can see where, that's kind of a cross cut with it. It's got the ham and the cheese in it."

The German Potato Salad sat next to it. Britten took a minute to explain the dressing — bacon, bacon grease, vinegar, a touch of sugar, chopped onion. "If somebody does it well, it is always excellent." Michele jumped in with the closest comparison Hardin County diners would recognize: "The hot bacon dressing from Rafferty's is the base of a German potato salad base." Britten on the Rafferty's hot bacon dressing: "Yeah, I can take a bath in it."

Spaetzle, green beans, and a slice of bread rounded out the cordon bleu plate. The spaetzle — small German dumpling-noodles — got the brown gravy treatment when paired with schnitzel.

The Jaeger Schnitzel was Michele's pick. "This is the Jaeger schnitzel, and this is Michele's favorite, so I'll let her talk about that. That's got a rich brown gravy and mushrooms on the schnitzel. Absolutely incredible. Lots of times you'll see people squeeze lemon over the top of it as well." Michele closed out: "I love it. I do like schnitzel."

Phil added a useful frame for Hardin County diners new to German food. His take, drawing on his own German family friends: "Schnitzel and cordon bleu — that's your beginner class when it comes to German food. You can get into some other stuff, especially if you get into some of the kraut dishes and rouladen and stuff like that. But this is definitely beginner-friendly."

Sides on the menu include: spaetzle, fried apples, purple cabbage, German potato salad, green beans, home fries. You get three sides with your meal — Britten's description was "like a meat and three" with a German accent.

Homemade desserts closed it out. The visit lined up with almond cake and pineapple rum cake. Michele: "It turned out, it was excellent."

The Honest Part

Britten broke his usual selection rule for this one. The McDowells generally avoid restaurants with a Google rating under 4.5 — that's how they consistently bring good experiences back to the show. Backstreet Cafe's Google rating doesn't quite clear that bar.

Britten took it head-on. "Bad service for good food, I'll tolerate. Bad service for bad food, I won't. Okay food for great service, I will — because we've had friends that have been servers that do an excellent job, and we'll go places multiple times. But these guys — they are struggling a little bit and I think that's location based." His ask to the audience: give them the visit they deserve.

He also coined the perfect phrase for Backstreet's position: "We call this the gray area. It's technically not Hardin County, but you've got to go through Hardin County twice to get there. Close enough."

The Verdict

Backstreet Cafe is worth the drive.

• Pricing: $14-ish per person on German night
• Portions: good
• Service: pretty good
• Food: very good
• Timing: go early. They sell out. They close at 8 PM. Saturday German runs all day starting at 11 AM.

Rachel — who has Thurby plans Friday — already had the route penciled in by the end of the segment. As Phil pointed out on air: "You could stop and get German on the way."

If you've been missing German food in Hardin County, the answer's been quietly serving in Muldraugh the whole time.