Klingler’s Cafe

In November 1954, Irmgard “M” Klingler packed up her things from Worms, Germany, and traveled across the Atlantic Ocean in hopes of a new start. She had met her American husband, Richard Middleton, while he was stationed in Germany in the U.S. Army and she was working for an Army chaplain.

As a newlywed with little money, a baby on her hip and no knowledge of English, Klingler clung to a language everyone understood: food.

In her Birmingham kitchen, she baked Amaretto Almond Cheesecakes one by one with a little hand-held mixer. The news quickly spread about Klingler’s delicious homemade cheesecakes. Soon she was baking daily for about 200 people.

With dessert in popular demand, she and her husband founded Klingler’s European Bakery and Cafe in 1982. Since then, Middleton has fondly been called Mr. Klingler.

In the 1980s, Klinger’s was based in Alabaster and focused on baked goods served in hotels and other restaurants. In 1991, the business moved to a Montgomery Highway storefront in Vestavia Hills and opened a cafe arm.

A little bit of Germany can be found mounted on the walls of the restaurant today. Handmade German cuckoo clocks welcome diners with their ticking, and novelty gifts like beer steins line the shelves near the register.

Since opening, Klingler’s has expanded its business to include more European items like imported deli products and authentic German cuisine. Just as Mrs. Klinger’s German heritage has blended with her American husband’s, the restaurant’s food is described as European with an American twist.

Customers’ menu favorites include Quiche, Pecan Chicken Salad, Smoked Bratwurst, Belgian Waffles and Cheese Blintzes.

These foods have kept customers like Robert Miller coming back for more than 20 years.

 “The food is always good, fresh and well-seasoned,” Miller said. “You can’t get a better breakfast in town than here.”

Miller said the best part about Klingler’s is that the food is consistent in quality.

Still, the menu is constantly changing. Klingler attributes the selection to tweaked traditional family recipes and her daughter Michelle Witherington’s creative skills. Each of Witherington’s experimental recipes is a “winner every time,” Klingler said.

Witherington, a co-owner and manager, has plans to add specialty coffee drinks to the menu. She is also creating a new catering menu and a program for people to order specialty wedding cakes in flavors like S’mores and Nutella.

Even with expanding services and products, one thing that customers can count on is Klingler’s presence behind the register.

“A lot of people ask me when I’m going to retire,” Klingler said. “I will not retire.”