Dortmund Beer Halls: Where to Drink Dortmunder Beer

Dortmund Beer Halls at a Glance

A Dortmund beer hall here means a Brauhaus: a pub-restaurant with copper kettles or brewery tanks somewhere in the building, a menu of German cooking, and beer poured from the house tap. You sit at a table and order food, and the beer arrives by the glass rather than by the liter. That makes these places good for lunch and early evening, not just late-night drinking.

Both houses sit in Dortmund-City, close enough to each other that you could pick one for a midday meal and the other later. Hövels is at Hoher Wall 5–7, while Wenkers is at Betenstraße 1, a short walk from the Markt. Neither requires a ticket or advance payment to walk in for a beer.

If you want to compare these two against the wider eating scene, the guide to the best restaurants in Dortmund puts brauhaus cooking alongside the city's other tables.

Hövels Hausbrauerei on the Hoher Wall

Hövels occupies a site at Hoher Wall 5–7 where the von Hövel family held brewing rights from 1518, and the brewery takes its name from that history; the house's own account dates its founding to 1854 under Wilhelm Freiherr v. Hövel and says it brews on that spot today. For a visitor, that means the house beer you order is the reason to come rather than a generic national brand.

The building holds a restaurant and a Biergarten, and the kitchen runs a lunch table (Mittagstisch) Monday to Friday from 12 to 15, according to the brewery. Seasonal cooking shows up too: the house has announced a chanterelle (Pfifferlinge) season of dishes built around the wild mushrooms. If you are choosing between a quick plate and a full brauhaus meal, lunch is the cheaper, faster route.

Hövels publishes its opening hours as Monday to Saturday 12–24 and Sunday and public holidays 12–21, with kitchen hours ending earlier than the bar. The kitchen serves Monday to Thursday 12–21, Friday and Saturday 12–22, and Sunday and public holidays 12–20:30.

What to Order at Hövels

Order the house Hövels beer first; it is the point of a house brewery, and the Biergarten pours it fresh from the tap. The menu is traditional German cooking rather than a snack list, so a main dish is the normal order with a beer. If the chanterelle dishes are on when you visit, they are the seasonal choice the house promotes.

The green Biergarten is open from midday daily, which makes it a workable stop for a daytime beer rather than only an evening one. For a quieter evening, the indoor restaurant runs later than the garden's usefulness in cool weather.

The Pavillon is a separate structure with a circular 360° counter, open Friday from 16 and Saturday from 12, and on Borussia Dortmund home match days from 12, five hours before kickoff. That last detail matters if you are in town for a BVB fixture: the Pavillon becomes the pre-match spot, and the rest of the house fills too.

Wenkers am Markt: Dortmunder Kronen and Schnitzel

Wenkers describes itself as the Stammhaus — the original home — of Dortmunder Kronen and pours that brewery's beer. Its room is a geselliges Brauhauslokal, a sociable brewpub, with a terrace and a menu leaning on German cooking and schnitzel specialties. That makes it the more classic order-a-cutlet-and-a-beer stop of the two.

Wenkers opens Monday to Saturday from 10 and Sunday and public holidays from 12, with warm food served continuously from 11:30, as the house lists it. Continuous kitchen hours are the practical advantage: you can eat a late-afternoon meal here when other kitchens are closed.

The house promotes seasonal specials — mussels (Muscheln) get a short run on the menu — and shows live football, so an evening here can come with a match on screen.

Why Wenkers Serves Beer in a Stößchen

Wenkers pours its beer in a Stößchen, a slim glass that widens toward the top. The house explains that the original has no fill line, so the volume is not fixed and lands somewhere between 0.10 and 0.18 liters. A small pour is therefore normal here, not short measure, and you order another when it is empty.

Treat it as a tasting rhythm rather than a large-format drink: the beer stays cold and fresh in a small glass, and you decide glass by glass how much you want. Ordering food alongside is the sensible way to pace an evening.

Beer Garden or Indoors: Choosing Your Seat

In warm weather the choice is between Hövels' green Biergarten and Wenkers' terrace. Both are outdoor seats attached to a full restaurant, so you can order a meal rather than just a drink.

In cold weather or rain, both houses move you indoors to proper restaurant tables, and that is when the brauhaus character comes through — wood, brewing equipment, and a full menu. If you are planning a summer afternoon, a Biergarten table is the better call; for a winter dinner, an indoor table is the natural choice. More open-air options around the city are listed in the Dortmund beer garden guide.

Neither house is a rooftop or a view restaurant; the appeal is the room and the beer, so do not come expecting a skyline.

Reservations and How the Day Runs

Hövels takes online reservations for parties from one to seventy people, so even a couple can book ahead through the brewery's site. That is the practical move for a weekend evening or a BVB match day, when the house fills early.

Wenkers also takes reservations by phone and lists its address, opening times and kitchen hours on its site. For a group or a match evening, a call ahead is safer than walking in.

Build the day around the kitchens rather than just the opening hours: at Hövels the kitchen closes before the bar, and at Wenkers warm food starts at 11:30 and runs through the day. A beer without food is possible at both, but the meal is the reason these rooms exist.

Beer Tastings and Brewery Visits at Hövels

Hövels runs beer tastings, brewery tours and brewing seminars bookable for parties of ten or more, with no cap on the number of participants you can book for. These are booked in advance rather than joined on the day.

For anyone curious about the wider Dortmund brewing story, the city's beer heritage runs well beyond these two houses.

Which Dortmund Beer Hall Should You Pick?

Pick Hövels if you want the beer brewed where you drink it, a green Biergarten in summer, or a pre-match Pavillon seat before a BVB home game. Pick Wenkers if you want a market-side terrace, schnitzel, a kitchen that serves all afternoon, and the small Stößchen pours of Dortmunder Kronen.

Either way, book for weekend evenings and match days, and treat the small glass as a cue to order another rather than to drink quickly. Both houses are in Dortmund-City, so you can walk between them.