German Club Has Oompah

If you love Oktoberfest, you could be getting nostalgic, holidays or no holidays. Sure, the season of peace and goodwill and fruitcake can be pretty terrific, but there’s still one element that can be in rather short supply in December: gemutlichkeit. That indefinable spirit of German bonhomie that you thought had disappeared for another year when you heard the last tuba note die away around Halloween.

Fortunately, the bar of the new, improved Phoenix Club in Anaheim can help take up the seasonal slack. You’re likely to hear enough musical German spoken there to keep the cheery glow alive until the brass bands crank up again.

The new club--the largest German-American club in the nation--recently opened after a physical absence of several months. The old club building, in existence since 1960, was displaced last year by the construction of the new Anaheim Arena, and the club was relocated to a site just one exit north on the 57 Freeway.

The new building is modern and imposing--even a little Californian--with its tall arched entry, covered portico and fountain, but the scale happily decreases once you walk into the bar. The place hasn’t yet acquired the old-shoe comfort that only age and familiarity can confer, but somebody’s heart was in the right place when the design was agreed on.

The dominant feature of the room is a set of fairly tall dormer windows hung with low curtains. These form semicircular snugs for small banquettes covered in bright floral upholstery; the effect of it all is to neatly enclose two or more people who value coziness over the more social atmosphere at the bar itself.

Wood paneling and the beamed ceiling lend a slightly clubby air to the room, but the hardwood floor effectively cancels out true decorum by reflecting sound. When the bar is half full, there isn’t exactly a din of voices, but a satisfyingly convivial hum.

There is nothing overwhelmingly German about the looks of the place, but the bill of fare reminds you where you are. There is a separate bar menu (the Loreley restaurant is just across the hall) that leans heavily to such large-scale snacks as herring with potatoes and various types of wurst. Likewise, there are liquid German specialties: several brands of German beers in bottles and on tap, and such staples as Jagermeister (a bitter digestive) and apfelschnapps.

For the peripatetic bar lover, this is a chance to break in a place that could become a standard stop on any international pub crawl in Orange County.

The Phoenix Club bar, 1340 S. Sanderson Ave., Anaheim (just off 57 Freeway at Ball Road exit). Open daily, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. (714) 563-4166.