People come to the singularly appointed Heidelberg Haus for the pastries, kitsch factor and conversation, some staying several hours on a regular basis to talk with their fellow regulars. Whatever the draw, they come, and then come back.

"Once a person comes in the front door, we have 'em," owner Juergen Jungbauer said. "They're gonna tell their friends, 'You gotta see that place.' "

You really do.

The food

Pastry chef Jungbauer and his wife, Gabi, created Heidelberg Haus to resemble a cafe in Germany: "A small-town bakery," he said. "A place to have some coffee and cake, with a little something for the people who don't want sweets."

The menu of little somethings hasn't changed since the cafe opened 38 years ago, and covers the gamut of cuisine from bratwurst to frankfurter. In between are knackwurst, weisswurst and other wursts. Dishes are served with warm German potato salad and a couple slices of lightly flavored sourdough rye.

I sampled the bratwurst ($7.45 for two), kielbasa ($7.45) and kassler ripchin ($7.45), a smoked pork chop. I'd order any of it again, and often. The bratwurst was lightly grilled and mild, the kielbasa dense and smoky. The pork chop was thick-sliced, moist and salty.

Passing on sweets at Heidelberg Haus is out of the question. The center of the store holds a bakery case that shows off Jungbauer's artful creations for the day, most of them German but with some concessions to the American tongue.

Black Forest cherry cake ($2.95 a slice) is the cafe's calling card. It's a tall, liqueur-heavy chocolate cake layered with whipped cream (a quart in each cake, Jungbauer told me!) and cherries.

The service

Tables at Heidelberg Haus feel hidden among the collectibles that fill the place, and the service can underscore that tucked-away feeling. Impatient sorts do best at the counter, where attention is ample and coffee refills snappy.

The atmosphere

The allure of the place has as much to do with the atmosphere as Jungbauer's adroitly engineered sweets. Heidelberg Haus also is a market, with all manner of European candy and mostly German knickknacks strewn around the store on shelves, atop antique stoves, even hanging from the ceiling. A mural on the building's exterior greets customers, and every available space inside the restaurant also has been jazzed up by colorful countryside scenes. Music vacillates from polka to contemporary German club tunes.

Diners tend to linger, Jungbauer told me, and energetic debates are likely to break out among any of the groups of regulars who come to chew on the events of the day. Jungbauer smiles over it all, milling among friends in his "happy little cafe."

The price

Three lunches and a small sampling of pastries cost $42, including tip. Given the heft of our to-go containers, the meal was a smashing bargain.

Next time

I'll be slipping in again to try the Springerle cookies, a seasonal offering at Heidelberg Haus (mid-November through mid-January), and I'll be sure to do it when I have time enough for the extensive browsing the place demands.

-- By Traci Cumbay / Star Correspondent, 11/24/2006