Wursthaus

Although Orange County’s single best destination for exotic meats shut down in 2023 (RIP, CTB Eatery), those seeking “I’ve eaten that!” bragging rights to less commonly consumed animals will find options at Santa Ana’s Wursthaus – a decade-old sausage and beer bar with small but noteworthy menus of both specialties. Up front, you’ll find an ordering counter with a refrigerated cabinet full of sausages and an open kitchen where several cooks are prepping meals; a dark bar with taps and kegs is down an adjacent hallway, with alternative outdoor seating immediately outside the kitchen and ordering space. Place your order at the counter, take a number, and choose a seat, then grab beers (or lukewarm kegged water) separately as you wait 20 or so minutes for your meal to come out.

As of mid-2025, Wursthaus offers six classic European sausages (bratwurst, nurnberger, Polish, spicy Polish, smoked Hungarian, and frankfurter, $8.55 each); eight Exotics (wagyu beef, elk, duck & cilantro, bison with cheddar jalapeno, rattlesnake & rabbit, the footlong Hung, alligator, and peach mango chicken, $10.95 each), seven Gourmets (andouille and various chicken, pepper, and cheese combinations, $9.55 each), and three Vegans (smoked apple/sage, Mexican chipotle, and Italian, $9.55 each). Each comes with your choice of a “traditional grinder” or pretzel roll, plus one topping from a list including sauerkraut, mushrooms, peppers, onions, and pickles. You can also build a sausage sampler with any three sausages – sliced into bite-sized pieces – unlimited topping choices, and one bread roll. “German-style” pretzels are served with a white cheese sauce for $7.50 each, with two types of fries ($5 Belgian, $8 drunken) and your choice of one dipping sauce from a list of eight possibilities.

Despite their conceptual and menu overlaps, the Wursthaus experience is about as different from visiting Brea’s German sausage, pretzel, and beer destination Die Bierstube as can be. Whereas Die Bierstube presents its European dishes fairly traditionally – heavy, fatty meats with neutral and sometimes oily carb sides – the items we tried at Wursthaus were more Americanized. For instance, Wursthaus’s “German” pretzel bore little similarity to the classically lye-enhanced glossy brown originals, depending on its included cheese dip and tableside mustards to taste better than coarse-salted bread. Similarly, overly thick and supposedly “Belgian” fries showed neither texture or flavor signs of being crisped in duck fat, but the curry ketchup we ordered made up for their flavor deficits.