Gus’s Restaurant and Tavern, a German-American restaurant on Quassaick Avenue in New Windsor passed into the hands of the fourth generation of the family that founded it in August of 2025. The restaurant was first opened in 1934 by Gus and Anna Ostner, who passed it to Gus’s son Richard Ostner and his wife Christine in 1964. Then Richard’s son, also named Richard, gained ownership of the restaurant in 1981, and he passed it to his daughter Lauren S. Ostner in 2025. As of 2026, the restaurant has been owned by one family for almost 92 years.

 

Lauren said that each generation of owners has left their mark on the restaurant, primarily through its menu. “The menu has evolved with each generation. Everyone kind of has put their own twist on it, but we’ve continued to keep the staple items on the menu.” She said “We started making rouladen, that was my grandmother’s recipe so she used to make that at home and then we ended up using that on the menu at the restaurant…My parents brought in things like making their own bratwurst sausage, we would make salami.”

 

In addition to making sausages like bratwurst and salami, Gus’s also makes its own cold cuts. Lauren said “We get a whole fresh roast beef, we season it and we roast it, and that’s what we use for our roast beef sandwiches and our roast beef dinners. Same thing with our turkeys.”

 

The building itself has changed over the years as well, with decor and furniture being switched out over time, and the addition of an outdoor dining patio during the pandemic.

 

Lauren said she’s always wanted to take over the restaurant, having been brought to work on Saturdays by her father growing up. “When I was little I would find old menus from the restaurant in my parents’ basement and I would have all the neighborhood kids, when we would play together, I would make them play restaurant,” she said. Lauren worked in food service even before she became the restaurant’s owner, starting a catering company called ‘Truly Scrumptious Catering’ operating out of the kitchen of Gus’s.

 

Now that the restaurant is hers, Lauren said she’s “streamlined the menu, and then incorporated specials that are German as well as specials that are from more of an American menu so that we kind of target a broader spectrum of people.” Trying to get more people to try the restaurant has been a major goal. Though the restaurant has many long time customers, as they age or move away Lauren wants to ensure that she keeps bringing in new people.

 

She’s also trying to expand the business further. She said “We’re looking to expand now and start shipping our bratwurst across the nation…should be up and running I’m hoping in the next two months.” In the meantime, the restaurant is open from 11:30 am to 9 pm Tuesday through Saturday. Lauren’s favorites on the menu are the stuffed cabbage, the beef rouladen, the schnitzels and of course, the bratwurst.