The Berlin Inn looks as if your elderly Oma decided to start a restaurant in her own home, trading out her sofas for dark wood chairs and tables under tablecloths (not her best ones). Each room is small and cozy, but when it’s crowded, it can get beer-hall loud. It’s so damned adorable, though, all lace curtains and kitschy German paraphernalia. The outside beer garden does a fine job of keeping the grit and noise of adjacent Powell Boulevard at bay, but just barely. Your dog is welcome, and there’s even a menu for him (and vegans, vegetarians, and gluten-free diets are pretty well served here, too).

The food is traditional German (with some liberties taken), the kind of stick-to-your-ribs fare that can keep you from shivering through a cold winter night. Berlin Inn is also a bakery, so cakes are seriously fresh, and pretzels are out of this world.

Brunch is even more popular than dinner, where the highlight seems to be fondue. This is not the fondue of the Swiss; it’s sort of a mildish Gouda that doesn’t melt down so well, and it relies too heavily on a boost from garlic to make up for its relatively wimpy flavor. A sharp cheddar-and-Doppelbock-beer version is nice, but you may incur palate fatigue after a few morsels. Share these with a large group and move on.

Herring cured in white wine is nice with potato pancakes and onions; so is the competent, if hardly memorable, spätzle. And on and on through the alluring menu: decent renditions, made from scratch. Schnitzels are crispy and satisfying, and sausage performs as expected (even when it’s bad, sausage is pretty good). More inconsistent are the specialties, which often sound insanely craveworthy, but are just sort of okay. Sauerkraut isn’t quite sauer enough. But it all hits the spot.

The most exciting part of Berlin Inn is the German-centric wine and beer selection. Only a few are on draft, but we love the refreshingly bitter Bitburger, and salute the smaller-batch pilsners, hefeweizens, Dunkels, and Doppelbocks. The wines, which can also be purchased to go from the goofy and dated wine bar (think plastic grapevines and ribbons), are wonderfully priced and offer a comprehensive tour of German and Austrian varietals you don’t otherwise see much of. And that kind of experience is really the point of this whole place.