Bavarian Meats is an American meat producer and processing company based inSeattle, Washington. The company supplies meats to variousdelicatessens and grocery stores in thePacific Northwest. From 1961 to 2020, Bavarian Meats operated a delicatessen of their own inDowntown Seattle, including a space atPike Place Market which closed in 2021 due to the pandemic.
German immigrant Max Hofstatter ("Grandpa Max") established the sausage-making business at Pike Place Market in 1961, initially in the Municipal Building,[14][page needed] which caught on fire in 1974.[15] The family-run[16] business operated mostly viatake-out service, but offered on-site dining at times and had a retail branch to supplybutchers and other delicatessens.[8]Andrew Zimmern visited the shop in 2017.[17]
Bavarian Meats moved its production facility fromBelltown in Seattle toKent in 2017, selling its former building to an investment firm with plans to build a residential and hotel tower.[18] The Pike Place delicatessen closed in 2020.[8] The family issued a statement suggesting a possible return, saying: "During this challenging time in all our lives it may take us a few extra months to find a home, however, find a home we will!"[19]
Naomi Tomky included the bratwurst meal inThrillist's 2016 list of "The 50 Best Things to Eat and Drink at Pike Place Market", writing: "A lunchtime trip to Germany, courtesy of this little meat shop and their lunch counter. The simple bratwurst meal ... is as German as it gets, but also shows off what this place does best: cook good meat.[11] In 2018, Leslie Kelly ofSeattle Magazine wrote, "Bavarian Meats not only has one of the most interesting deli counters in the city, it’s become a destination for sausage lovers looking for their lunchtime link fix." Kelly said the Jalapeno Popper Bratwurst "will warm you right up down to your wool socks, with those fiery peppers, cream cheese and caramelized onions tucked inside the casing, turning this German classic into something that once you try it, you're going to go to bed thinking about and wake up craving. Yes, it's that good."[10]
