During our six years in Schöneck, we’ve grown to know (and love) many of the local businesses in the area. Although we’ve now moved on to exploring Schöneberg, Büdesheim will always hold a special place in our hearts. So I wanted to do a bit of a tribute post to the best places we found while living there — from food to car services and beyond.

This post also happens to collide with the theme for this month’s Expat Bloggers Stammtisch — which was “favorite places in ____”. So be sure to check out the links at the bottom of this post to get the inside scoop on 4 other great cities to visit.

Our Favorite Businesses in Schöneck

These aren’t in any particular order, but you will notice that the list is heavy on food places. What can I say, we love to eat!

1. Metzgerei Kropp

It’s probably no secret that we love our meat. Good steaks, pork ribs, pork shoulder and so forth have always graced our grill space. And although we had a pretty good butcher shop just across the street from us, this Metzgerei over in Killian is well worth the short drive. As it happens we learned about this place because Stefan met one of the owners while participating in local politics. That particular guy actually ran for mayor in our little town recently — he unfortunately didn’t win, but at least that means the quality of his business will be maintained.

The Fleischsalat (a mayo-based sausage and pickle spread for breakfast) is to die for. I’ve tasted many of them over the years while living in Germany and could never get on board with the specialty due to the overbearing mayo flavor. But this has a creamy flavor without any hint of mayo (which don’t get me wrong, I like mayo, but not as a main dish on my roll) and absolutely delicious.

They also have wonderful meat, from beef to pork to lamb and beyond, although some of it (especially lamb) you’ll want to special order because they only butcher it when they have enough demand to sell the whole animal. He also knows the American cuts of beef and pork, which means you can get hearty, meaty spare ribs for the smoker that melt in your mouth.

Bleichstr 32
61137 Schöneck – Killianstädten
Tel. 06187/5776

2. Hofladen Jahn

This year-round fresh produce market has everything you could want and many things you can buy there are produced locally, like eggs, pasta and honey. They sell fresh German fruits and veggies whenever possible but you’ll also find some fruits like pineapples, bananas and mangoes most of the year (although the latter comes with a hefty price tag of €4).

Family Jahn which owns and operates the stand are friendly once you get to know them (which is saying a lot in Hessen.) Not only can you get a great selection of produce but also some basic milk products from Hessen. The store is set up at the front of the farm Hof during the summer, but in the colder months, it moves back further from the front gate into an actual building so you don’t freeze while you shop.

Südliche Hauptstr. 23
61137 Schöneck-Büdesheim
Closed Mondays 

3. Schönecker Geflügelmarkt 

This location will forever be known as “the chicken place” in our home. Since most of the butcher shops around here don’t sell poultry, it was really practical when this shop opened up. The family has been selling their products at a weekend farmers’ market in Frankfurt for years, but never at a local location. Now you can visit them on Fridays to meet all of your poultry needs, from chicken to turkey to duck and beyond. They also sell their own fresh eggs.

The poultry is some of the freshest and most juicy I have ever eaten. We actually used to drive nearly an hour to get our Thanksgiving turkey but after we started buying chicken here, I knew our worries were over. The only year we’ve hosted Thanksgiving with one of their birds, the meat literally fell off of the bone and remained juicy for a few days afterward. It’s worth every penny.

There may also be a small deer or two there when you visit as the owners raise them to be released in the wild — but some of the time they end up a bit too tame. If you’ve never heard a fawn “meeping” at you, I can assure you it’s the cutest thing in the world!

At one point, you were also able to order online and have things delivered, but their website was down the last time I checked so I’m not sure what is going on there now.

Falltorstr 21
61137 Schöneck-Oberdorfelden
Tel. 06187/990838
Website:  http://www.gefluegelmarkt-schoeneck.de (the site was down when I wrote this post)

4. KFZ Service Alexander Hein

We learned about this auto repair shop when we bought the Cayenne and are so glad we did. The owner is very knowledgeable and can work on cars of all kinds, regardless of size or make. And his prices are far more reasonable than any dealer.

If you’re looking to have your tires changed for the winter/summer, try to participate in his special tire change days when you get a discounted price and they complete the process in about 20 minutes.

Konrad-Zuse-Ring 14
61137 Schöneck
Tel. 06187/9329110
Website: http://kfz-service-hein.de/ 

5. Evin’s Kebab & Pizzahaus

Even though we live in a small town, we have 3 different döner stands to choose from. While all of them are good in their own ways, Evin’s Kebab makes all of their own breads, always has fresh produce and serves the biggest portions we’ve ever seen. Usually I have enough Turkish pizza left over to make it into two meals plus extra for Mackenzie.

Uferstr. 7 
61137 Schöneck-Killianstädten
Tel. 06187/993535 or 01773445715

6. Flotte Locke

I have been going to this hairdresser for around 5 years and I can’t say enough great things about her. Melanie, the owner, is great at what she does and I have to admit that I have a great fear of hairdressers since a bad one can mess you up for months. I even used to wait until we visited Stefan’s parents, 4 hours away, just to go to my MIL’s hair guy. I’d tried a few places in Frankfurt in the past, and was not impressed.

What I love about Melanie is that you can go in and give her a loose idea of what you want your hair to look like, and she’ll make you look fantastic. She also became a friend and we’d run into each other on a regular basis while walking our dogs. So I can definitely say that she will be hard to replace in Berlin…

Nördliche Hauptstr. 15
61137 Schöneck-Büdesheim
Tel. 06187/991111

7. Allianz Hauptvertretung Matthias Glocke

We never realized the value of a great insurance agent until we moved to Schöneck. With a house like ours, you have to make sure your insurance policy is solid — and Mr Glocke always went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure we were well taken care of. When I was trapped inside our gate and couldn’t pull the Defender out (years ago), he personally came down with the local locksmith to make sure everything was taken care of properly.

I have no doubt that anywhere we live in Germany, we’ll be keeping this guy’s number handy. I highly recommend him for any sort of insurance needs.

Südliche Hauptstraße 28
61137 Schöneck-Büdesheim
Tel. 06187/992574 

8. Malermeister Georg Nowak

Finding a good contractor for patching up old walls and ceilings can be a challenge. Most of the general contractors are booked solid for weeks if not months…and Georg Nowak is no exception. He is a painter and wall master, and he does great clean work at a fair price. Since he happened to live right next door to us, we were sometimes able to squeeze in between other gigs. But you might run into trouble booking him since he’s definitely a busy man.

Nördliche Hauptstraße 26
61137 Schöneck-Büdesheim
Tel. 0172 933 7587

9. da Enzo

This restaurant has been around for many, many years but in a few different locations. Stefan and his parents have been going there since he was a kid, in its very first location. But in 2011, da Enzo moved into it’s own building, which they have built up beautifully, and the food has always remained wonderfully good and the staff is knowledgeable and attentive.

da Enzo is on the higher end of the price range but it’s a great place to visit to celebrate a special occasion. We’ve done quite a bit of that ourselves there, and even attended a wedding reception held at their previous location. The food is always outstanding and perfectly constant. You won’t be disappointed by anything on the menu as it all tastes delicious. Some of my favorites are the lamb chops (which are made to serve 2), his steaks and the pasta trio appetizer. Also, the wine selection is fantastic and if you are there when he’s got his homemade limoncello around, you are in for an amazing treat. It’s dangerously good. The mascarpone with fresh berries is also a must.

Willy-Brandt-Straße 24
63450 Hanau
Tel. 06181/99550
Website: http://www.golfo-mediterraneo.de/