Guten tag, Cincinnatians.
Oktoberfest Zinzinnati is finally here, and organizers are promising a bigger, better celebration than ever.
Cincinnati's annual German festival, billed as the largest Oktoberfest celebration in the United States, is marking its 50th anniversary with four days of beer, bratwurst, live music and Gemütlichkeit Games along the riverfront at Sawyer Point and Yeatman's Cove.
Alongside Oktoberfest staples like Limburger cheese sandwiches, Bavarian pretzels with beer cheese, hot metts with sauerkraut and chicken schnitzel, vendors are rolling out a few new menu items for the festival's milestone year. Naturally, we were up for the challenge.
So, The Enquirer's Keith Pandolfi and Haadiza Ogwude hit the festival grounds in search
of the best bites, from inventive new dishes to tried-and-true favorites, all to help you decide where to spend your dollars this year.
Here are our favorite dishes from Oktoberfest Zinzinnati 2026.
Goetta cheese fries from Tickle Pickle, Booth No. 128
It's not Oktoberfest until I've had goetta smothered in cheese. Typically, I make a beeline for Royal Berlin Chef's goetta mac and cheese, but this year I fell in love with a new dish: Tickle Pickle's goetta cheese fries.
The golden fries, which tasted like they'd been dusted with a Cajun-style seasoning, were piled high with crumbled goetta and a generous helping of nacho cheese sauce. I love a good loaded fry, but I didn't expect this dish to blow me away.
Then I took a bite.
At that moment, I knew nothing else I'd eat during the four-day festival would top the fries from the Northside rock 'n' roll burger joint.
-Haadiza Ogwude, trending news reporter
Grapefruit radler from Stiegl, Booth Nos. 410 and 415
It's hard to enjoy Oktoberfest without without trying one of the festival's signature beers. But if you're anything like me, the taste of hops and barley just don't do it for you. Usually, I order a hard cider and call it a day. But this year I spotted a grapefruit radler and decided to give it a try.
I drank plenty of radlers while living in Germany in 2019, because the citrusy soda softens the beer's bitter bite. So when I saw a grapefruit version on the menu, I knew I'd found my Oktoberfest drink.
The malt beverage was crisp, refreshing and just sweet enough. Even better? It came in an eye-catching can that looked great in photos.
-Haadiza Ogwude, trending news reporter
Smoked mettwurst from Mick Knoll's, Booth No. 411
Among my favorite Oktoberfest foods is the currywurst from Mick Noll's, the German food stall that was once a popular German restaurant in Covington. The plump, snappy mett topped with a sweet, tangy tomato-based curry sauce on a bun is a must-try. This year I did things differently, ordering a simple smoked mettwurst with sauerkraut and mustard. No regrets. The mettwurst is made by Giler's using Mick Knoll's signature recipe. It's course, snappy and subtly smoky. The perfect bite to kick off your Oktoberfesting this year.
- Keith Pandolfi, food and dining writer
Limburger cheese sandwich from Reubens, Booth No. 109
Some say Limburger cheese tastes like stinky feet and hate it. Others, myself included, know it tastes like stinky feet and still love it. Which is why the Limburger cheese sandwich isn't for everyone. To be fair, it also has the distinct taste of freshly cut grass, which doesn't sound so bad, right?
Either way, the Limburger cheese sandwich is the kind of delicacy old men used to devour at Cincinnati's German cafes. According to the magazine Culture, which covers the cheese industry, it hails from the Limburg region of Belgium, where it was created by Trappist monks in the 19th century. It was later embraced by Germans, who began production of the cheese in 1830 in the Allgäu region, adopting it as their own. At Rubens, the sandwich is served in the traditional manner, the cheese topped with pungent thinly sliced onions on standard rye bread. Be sure to add some yellow mustard to temper the strong flavors.
- Keith Pandolfi, food and dining writer
Spicy haluska dinner from Bessie's Noodles, Booth No. 302
It might sound crazy to indulge in a heavy, spicy dinner given the heat this year. But trust me on this one. Bessie's, based in Fairborn, Ohio, is known for its thick, chewy homemade noodles. And while the chicken noodles soup is my favorite, a close second is the haluska, a traditional Eastern European dish of noodles, cabbage and sausage. Order the dinner portion and it comes with freshly made mashed potatoes that are good enough on their own. I ended up taking a quart of it home for dinner the next night, too. While you can now find Bessie's at Kroger and Dorothy Lane, slurping up their noodles with a cold beer at Oktoberfest is an experience I look forward to every year.
- Keith Pandolfi, food and dining writer
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: We ate our way through Oktoberfest Zinzinnati. Here are the best bites
