Brats Brothers Gourmet Sausage Grill

B dragged me kicking and screaming into this very small restaurant on Ventura Boulevard. Brats and sausages are not my favorite things. I sometimes eat brats when I am at a cook-out in Milwaukee, especially when that is all that is offered or if they have been sufficiently burnt. B is a brat lover so when she read about this place, she wanted to go. Then when we got a coupon for the restaurant, I caved in and off we went after an hour exercising in the pool. She caught me at my hungriest, most exhausted time of day.

A few disclaimers – the first being that I would not be a good judge of brats since I apparently, as B tells me, only like the white ones. I am not sure I even know what that means. We never had brats when we were growing up so I am new to this “delicacy?” My second disclaimer is that I like soft, squishy, white buns. I know that isn’t gustromically (new word I invented) correct as we should all love wheat or many grained rolls. I am not opposed to them but not when I am eating hot dogs – soft and squishy like at the ballpark, or at least as it used to be at the ballpark. My third disclaimer is that I have been watching my carb intake and haven’t had anything other than lower carb bread in a while. My fourth disclaimer is that I really like Hebrew National hot dogs and that was the kind they had.

The menu is on the wall in this tiny restaurant. Orders are taken at the register and then delivered to the table. All sausages are homemade. There are two tables for four and three tables for two. There are also some in a fenced off area outside on Ventura. Luckily for us, there was only one other table taken when we arrived but all were filled and there were a few take-out orders while we were there. There are 20 different kinds of brats and 2 kinds of hot dogs. Some of these are called exotic and they are, featuring ostrich, wild boar, buffalo and lamb. There are also turkey and chicken brats. You can either get just the brat and bun or you can get a combination which includes 2 sides and a drink. The sides are Grandma’s sauerkraut (ick on sauerkraut), roasted red potatoes, red cabbage salad (another ick for me), beef chili, potato salad and cheese spaetzle.

I was very excited when I saw they had hot dogs so I ordered the All American, a grilled Hebrew National dog. Both of us chose not to get the combos since none of the sides appealed to me and B didn’t want any. She chose the Big Cheese which is labeled as a Swiss cheese infused pork brat. We shared a bag of chips at my insistence and they were terrific. We also had our usual Diet Coke which came in a can.

When the food was served, I was dismayed. The bun is not soft and squishy but more like a Kaiser roll hot dog bun. The hot dog was large with both ends hanging out. They serve nothing on the meat unless you order such things as sauerkraut, roasted peppers and onions or grilled onions as toppings. They have 4 different mustard types and ketchup. I put Dijon mustard on my perfectly grilled hot dog – the outside just burnt perfectly. I took a bite into this crunchy bun and loved it. The entire combination was perfect. (Remember disclaimer 3 and 4). B loved her brat which she had with whole grain mustard. I tasted it without the bun and told her I couldn’t taste the cheese and it didn’t taste like a brat to me. B said that was because I only like white brats. OK. She said she could taste the cheese and the brat was a very good. She also loved the bun. She would return there in a minute to try other brats. I would go back also for my same hot dog.

Brats Brothers is at 13456 ½ Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks. They are open from 11:30 – 7:00 every day but Sunday when they are open from noon to 4:00 PM.