BELLEVUE – To a visitor to the Bierkeller Pub German Restaurant, it may feel a little like sitting in a Bavarian inn with the restaurant’s stone walls and interior mix of tall beer steins and stained glass booths.

For a German native and her Bellevue born-and-raised business partners, the restaurant has become a successful mixture of a “meat-and-potatoes” menu and a family setting.

Sylvia Burns, a co-owner of the restaurant along with brothers and Bellevue natives Matt and Mark Strecker, grew up in Hallstadt, Germany and moved to the United States in her early 20s.

Burns said the Streckers opened the restaurant in 2012 and approached her in April 2014 about becoming a partner in the business. She said she had since added her influence in the kitchen and to Bierkeller’s overall German feel.

“It’s like I’m in my grandma’s kitchen. That’s what it feels like. I tried to make it homey,” Burns said Wednesday, as she talked about the restaurant and its appeal.

Burns said Matt’s Strecker Remodeling and Construction Company remodeled the interior of the building, which she said once housed Club Ameritel. A stone room in the restaurant spotlights the Neuschwantsein Castle painted on its wall, the castle that inspired Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Cody Koselke burned and carved images of historic downtown Bellevue and area sites into the top of the Bierkeller bar. Matt Strecker said the restaurant bought Koselke a wood burning kit, with the bar images taking four weeks for the artist to create and finish.

“He just sat here every day,” Strecker said.

Burns said it was always her dream to own a restaurant growing up in Bavaria, as she was influenced by her mother’s work in restaurants and brought her grandmother’s recipes into the Bierkeller kitchen.

“I never thought I’d do it. But I’m doing it now,” Burns said.

Burns said the restaurant’s menu favorites among customers include its sauerkraut balls, wiener schnitzel, loaded potato pancakes and rahm schnitzel. She said Bierkeller recently added pork shanks to the menu, which were a hit with customers.

The restaurant also has 28 taps of German, Belgium and other imported beers

Bierkeller’s beer garden seats 350, and Burns said the restaurant’s banquet hall can hold up to 275 patrons for private parties and weddings.

A dessert case by the restaurant’s front entrance features German tortes, cakes and apple strudel.

Burns said Bierkeller doesn’t use any frosting on its desserts and makes everything from scratch.

When the weather warms up this spring, Burns said Bierkeller’s plans to have polka bands perform in the beer garden. She said the restaurant is drawing from a broad area in region, including Huron, Willard, Tiffin and Marblehead, as more people find out about their German food and welcoming atmosphere.

“And I like it that way,” she said.

dacarson@gannett.com

419-334-1046

Twitter:@DanielCarson7.

Restaurant: Bierkeller Pub German Restaurant

Location: 600 Southwest Street, Ohio 269, Bellevue

Hours: Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (kitchen closes at 9 p.m.); Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. (kicthen closes at 10 p.m.)

Phone: 567-214-4214