In a world where computer chips double in speed every 18 months, and animal life is being created in laboratories, it is reassuring that a few things seem never to change.

Augustiner Grossgaststätten

By Bob Bestor

For the first time in several years, Gemütlichkeit recently returned to the great Augustiner Grossgaststätten, the bustling brewery restaurant on one of the pedestrian-only streets leading to Munich's Marienplatz.

During those years of absence the Augustiner had been relegated to a storage shelf in our memory; tagged a good place indeed but very much on the beaten tourist path. When dusted off and taken out into the light, however, this extraordinary beer and food factory reminded us that it is one of a kind and a not-to-be-missed Munich stop.

After about two sips of the Augustiner's splendid Helles Bier, we remembered just what a fascinating place it is with vaulted ceilings, stout pillars, dark paneling, tiled floors and a clientele that ranges from street people to corporate types; all of whom are ably tended to by smoothly efficient waiters who weave through the din with a practiced nonchalance. We had forgotten, too, just how good the beer and the Bavarian food is.

The Augustiner is one of what, for lack of a better term, we will call the great dining halls of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Though more common in Germany, they are found in the large cities of all three of our countries.

Our great dining halls have most of these qualities in common:

• Good food. High quality, traditional, hearty cuisine, usually inexpensively priced.
• Old World on a grand scale. Spacious, atmospheric, and sometimes with extraordinary dcor and art.
• Egalitarian. Popular with all levels of society and both tourists and locals.
• Longevity. Most have been in business for centuries.
• Timelessness. Management makes a conscious effort to maintain the old ways.

Here are a few great dining halls where cuisine, environment and a diverse clientele have combined to become part of the local culture. They are places for people who think they don't make 'em like that anymore.

Augustiner Grogastästtte, Munich

This people-watching paradise is where Münchners of every stripe repair for a plate of consistently outstanding comfort food and Munich's best beer. Schweinschnitzel with a mixed salad costs about $15. Half a liter of Helles is around $3.50. The various rooms are quite grand with an ageless elegance. In good weather, of course, you'll want to be at a outside table. There rows of them out front on the walkway and a few in a charming innercourtyard.

Augustiner Grogaststtte, Neuhauser Strasse 27, Web: www.augustiner-restaurant.com

Zeughauskeller, Zürich

This is the most upscale of our great halls, is in the center of Zürich, on Bahnhofstrasse near Paradeplatz, and has been around since 1487. It is a single, huge, impressive room under massive beams supported by stone pillars with a giant clock at one end and ancient weaponry hung from the walls. The large tables are shared and the adroit servers have little time to chat as they glide through the chaos bearing heavy plates of delicious, farm-style food that goes down best with the Hürlimann vom fass. In addition to the usual calves liver, Schnitzel, and Geschnetzeltes Zürich-style (sliced veal with mushrooms in a cream sauce), there are half-meter and one-meter pan-fried sausages, Kanonenputzer, and an extraordinary presentation of one long, thin slice of roasted meat skewered onto a three-foot sword, Burgermeister Hans Waldmann Sword. Main courses are in the CHF 25-35 ($18-$26) range. Draught beer is in the $3 to $4 range.

Zeughauskeller Zürich, Bahnhofstrasse 28a, at Paradeplatz, tel +41/01/211 2690

Gösser Bierklinik, Vienna

The building dates to the 15th century and the restaurant has been around since the late 17thC, though the current owners took over in 1988.

Dine here in the covered inner courtyard, a room recently restored and which looks like a set from a 19th century Lehar operetta. No menu surprises: Schnitzel, of course; Tafelspitz (boiled beef); excellent soups and Austria's best beer, Gösser. Meals in the $11-22 range.

Gösser Bierklinik, Steindlgasse 4, near Stephansdom, tel +43 /01/533 75 98, Web: www.goesser-bierklinik.at

Peterskeller, Salzburg

This well-known spot is pleasant for lunch after visiting St. Peters Church and its fascinating, lovely cemetery. Peterskeller claims to date all the way back to 803 AD and if that is true it is the oldest restaurant in Austria and easily the most venerable of our great halls.

Find a table in the indoor-outdoor vaulted grotto cut into the rock wall of the Mnchberg, or settle indoors in one of the cozy, wood-paneled dining rooms.

In the past few years, Peterskellers huge menu has gone a bit upmarket, but you can still get a bowl of boiled beef soup for less than $5, a plate of Zanderfilet (freshwater white fish) with potato salad is around $12 and Wiener Schnitzel for $15. A Steigl Pils is 2.70 ($3) and a quarter-liter of Grüner Veltliner from the Wachau district is 3.8 ($4.32)

Peterskeller, St.-Peter-Bezirk 1-4, tel. +43/0662/8412680

Ratsweinkeller, Hamburg

First opened in 1896, the Ratsweinkeller is a mere child in this company. The huge, atmospheric dining room borders on the spectacular. Large, detailed models of square-rigged ships hang from high vaulted ceilings supported by great columns. The floors are parquet, huge stained-glass windows are framed in rich, dark wood and walls are paneled to a height of six or seven feet.

The food is a bit more refined than at our other great halls and fish is recommended. Noteworthy on our last visit were starters of smoked salmon; a scatter of tiny, deep-fried shrimp; and a delicate white fish over a small omelet with sliced tomatoes and a light horseradish sauce. Main courses of lobster served Newburg-style and salmon/trout in a shrimp sauce were first-rate. Expect to pay 26-38 ($30-$43) per person for a three-course meal.

Ratsweinkeller Grosse Johannisstr. 2, Altstadt, tel. +49/040/364-153

Rogacki, Berlin

Since it was virtually unknown to American travelers when we found it (with the help of a Berliner) in 1997, we consider Rogacki one of the top discoveries in Gemütlichkeit's 20- year history. It may not belong in this company: It isn't very old and lacks Old-World atmosphere, but it's the best value in the German-speaking world, serves huge portions of sensational food, and is a unique experience. At the stand-up, four-sided bar in this blue-collar district market, CEOs in $4,000 suits rub shoulders with hard-hat laborers who rub shoulders with TV stars. It's lunch-only and seafood-only.

Choose from the menu board or find something from one of the markets vendor stands; watch it cooked on the grill, garnished with crisp, fresh salad or to-die-for roast potatoes mit Speck (with bacon)or bothand then set in front of you still sizzling. A wonderful baked flounder, sprinkled with bacon and tiny fresh North See shrimp, served with the grilled potatoes is a mere $8.50 and easily serves two. Half a lobster is $14.95 and last October we watched as one of the chef/servers achieve what must have been a world record for the most mussels stacked in a 10-inch flat bowl, at least 30. Cost: around $8. Three very fresh oysters with a glass of white wine is about $6. Go once to Rogacki and the memory will haunt you until you return.

Rogacki, Wilmersdorfer Str. 145, near Bismarck Str. U-Bahn Station.

Gasthof Fraundorfer, Garmisch Partenkirchen

No list of great dining halls is complete without Garmisch-Partenkirchens Fraundorfer. Six nights a week the tables start filling around 6pm, mostly with tourists. An hour later, Friedl fires up his accordion in continuation of a gig that has been virtually uninterrupted since 1959. By 8:30, under the sharp eye of Barbara Fraundorfer, most of the crowd has been watered and fed, the noise level is about to peak and Friedl has sung a few of his yodel standards. This is the tipping point; will the evening coast on to a quiet close or will there be conga lines and dancing on the tables? Either way this is the Bavarian experience. Though the Fraundorfer dates to 1857, it took on its present style and format during the 1936 Winter Olympics.

The menu is long, the prices low, the portions generous, and we have seldom been disappointed with any dish. Roast pork with dumplings is $8.2, half a roast duck costs $13, calves liver Berliner-Art (strips dipped in flour and fried in butter) is $14.4 and a small mixed salad costs $2.5. Half a liter of beer goes for $2.8.

The merriment goes on until midnight, though most tourists are gone by 10pm, when Trachten-dressed locals begin to gather around the Stammtisch (regulars table). Reservations recommended.

When asked if there were other restaurants in town like the Fraundorfer, a woman at the local tourist office said, "There is only one Fraundorfer, there every night is a party."

Gasthof Fraundorfer, Ludwigstr. 24, tel. +49/08821/92 70, Web: www.gasthof-fraundorfer.de

Bratwursthäusle, Nürnberg

In Nürnberg, bratwurst is a venerated food and the Bratwursthäusle is its temple. In the shadow of St. Sebald's, this best-known of Nürnberg restaurants will sometimes serve in excess of 10,000 tiny, spicy sausages a day. Yes, it's full of tourists, but who cares when the food is delicious, service good and prices reasonable.

The bratwurst is usually grilled over an intensely hot, smokeless beechwood fire until the skin is crisp. Six pieces are $5.50, and a dozen $9.7, including wine-sauerkraut or potato salad. They can also be ordered cooked in white wine, spicy vinegar and onions, or smoked over a beechwood fire and eaten with horseradish. Some even eat the sausages raw, like a steak tartare, with egg yolk, onion and paprika.

The Bratwurstäusle is best known for its sausages, but it also serves the best eisbein (ham hock) we've had the pleasure to sample. An entire knuckle costs $7.5.

Bratwursthäusle Nürnberg, Rathausplatz 1, www.bratwurst-haeusle.de

Prices current as of 2003.