You're really not coming to Rolf's for the "French Bavarian" menu. You won't starve or anything, what with potato pancakes, sauberbraten, and wursts aplenty -- plus seasonal guest stars like roast suckling pig and stuffed pheasant -- but this place isn't about the food.
You might be coming to Rolf's for the beer. The bar's lineup of German specialty brews rivals most in the city for sheer exhaustiveness -- still, if all you were after was a frothy hefeweissen or chipper pilsner, you could always head to the much quieter Molly's up the street.
No, you're coming to Rolf's for the lights. Sixty thousand of them. Dangling from the ceiling in a forest of birch twigs and pine garlands, studded with dozens and dozens of nutcracker figurines, feathery birds, glittery balls, antiqued roses, and creepy apple-cheeked dolls in lederhosen. You come to Rolf's so you can feel what it would be like if the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree came to life, smothered you in your sleep, and left you for dead in Liberace's closet. With a beer in your hand.
Rolf's, 281 Third Ave. at 21st St., 212-473-8718 (no website).
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