The German, Slovenian, Polish and Czech Republic flags waving briskly in the breeze along the front of the old brick building on Station Street are the first clue theres something different brewing in Mentor.

Its Harrys Hofbrau, a restaurant specializing in foods and beers from those central European countries thats being very well received despite only word-of-mouth referrals its first two weeks.

Slovenian is my ethnic heritage, so its the food I grew up with, said Chef Tom Quick, who with his wife, Denise, was able to take advantage of a February weather disaster to transform their Match Works Tavern into the restaurant they had imagined in previous months.

They hadnt planned to make the conversion this soon, but when the pipes in the century-old building froze and triggered the sprinkler system to dump water over the entire restaurant just before a long-planned Fat Tuesday feast, they had to close for repairs.

We called in friends and worked 24/7 to make the changes, Quick said. With its old brick and rough-cut cedar, the place was a perfect backdrop for this Hofbrau look.

The Quicks had long wanted to make a change from the 150-seat fine-dining venue theyd established in the space at 8500 Station Street. Many agree Quick is an excellent chef, and his from-scratch dishes, especially his fish creations, were well-received. Business on weekends was good, and their catering bookings were strong, but on weekday evenings you could fire a cannon in the cavernous place without hitting anything.

We needed to lower the price point but not sacrifice the quality, said Quick. This area just couldnt support another fine-dining venue.

His research into the regions demographics revealed German and Slovenian as the major ethnicities of area residents, many of whom moved here a generation or more ago from Clevelands Collinwood and East 72nd Street neighborhoods. Lots of these same people traveled back into Cleveland to eat goulash and schnitzels, paprikash and wursts at the Hofbrauhaus in the citys theater district and Sterles Country House, a Slovenian restaurant on East 55th Street.

There wasnt anything of that genre out here, Quick said.

After mopping up from damage done by the frozen pipes, family members and friends got to work building long, wooden farmhouse tables ideal for groups of friends and family members, finding appropriate music as a dining backdrop and ordering ethnic cheeses, pickles and beers. Denise found pretty lace curtains and huge beer steins.

Tom made mustards and put a selection of them in former beer six-pack cartons on each table.

Both Quicks rifled through family recipe collections to find authentic ethnic dishes for their menu, and Tom began devising sausage mixtures he could have made for his new restaurant.

Pickles they made fill shelves separating the bar area from the entry and in another month or so theyll be offering them for sale.

Ive been able able to put my classical training to work in an entirely different way, he said.

Now 50, the veteran restaurateur got his fine-dining training in San Francisco at California Culinary Academy and has worked in a dozen restaurants since then, including former downtown Cleveland restaurants Piccolo Mondo, with Michael Symon, and Zinc.

After he and Denise began their family their kids are now teenagers they decided to work closer to home and established Epic Bistro in Concord Township, with Denise working the front of the house and Tom managing the kitchen. The same partnership carried into their Match Works Tavern, established in the same historic building where they had their wedding reception.

The death in November of Toms father, Harry, underscored for the Quicks the importance of family and strong ethnic roots.

My dad was always extremely active in the community, and he loved this style of food, so we named it after him, he said. We have a wall-of-fame tribute with many of his honors near the entrance, including proclamations from the county, the city and the Ohio House of Representatives.

The hope is their son and daughter soon will be able to take a more active role in the restaurant.

Its something that must run in the family because all of Toms four siblings are good cooks, and two of them cook professionally. One of his brothers joined him this week in the kitchen.

The Quicks know they cant do everything at once, so theyve begun their new venture with word-of-mouth as their only advertising.

We had a two-hour wait our first Saturday night, he said, noting the bar was big enough for most who chose to wait and folks enjoyed huge tankards of beer. Were importing our on-tap beer from Munich, so those who have traveled to Bavaria will find it familiar.

Reservations arent accepted except for groups of six or more.

Few diners seem to need the explanation that wurst is sausage, and at Harrys Hofbrau it comes as Slovenian, bratwurst, knockwurst, Hungarian, frankfurter, chicken bratwurst and Chicago red-hot. Sausages are served with sauerkraut and one side. Diners may choose among apfelkraut, potato pancake, egg noodles, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, spaetzel and cabbage, Belgian fries, apple sauce and a vegetable of the day. Stuffed cabbage and rye bread cost extra as sides.

The staff explains schnitzels as boneless meat – usually pork or veal – pounded thin, breaded and then pan-fried.

The menus Old World specialties all include a starch and come with chicken soup or a salad and a choice of one side. They include wienerschnitzel, jagerschnitzel, schnitzel holstein, cabbage rolls, chicken paprikash and Bavarian roast beef. Choose soup or salad when ordering from the Harrys Favorites, which include Slovenian goulash, beef short rib stroganoff, jagerloaf (bacon-wrapped meatloaf), bier-battered cod, Scandinavian salmon and Bavarian roast duck. Starters include an Oktoberfest pretzel, sauerkraut balls, potato pancakes, pierogi, stuffed Hungarian hot peppers and a wurstplatte (sausages Amish Swiss cheese and rye bread)

Theres a kids menu, called Kindergarten, for those 12 and under and a trio of tempting desserts.

Its easy to put together a really huge meal for about $15, and substantially less for light eaters.

Harrys Hofbrau

8500 Station St.

Mentor

440 255 0400

HarrysHofbrauMentor.com

Hours: 4 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 4 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.