Munich Restaurants

From: Munich Travel Guide

LEFT: During the warm months, Münchners head for outdoor restaurant tables and beer gardens.

Restaurants

Munich has dining establishments at every price level, from gourmet institutions like Boettner and Acuarello to beer halls, Döner (gyros) shops, and sausage stands.

If you're like most visitors, you'll want to sample stick-to-your-ribs Bavarian specialties--and why not, unless you're morally opposed to roasted meats, sausages, dumplings, and cabbage?

You'll find plenty of restaurants and beer halls or beer gardens where cholesterol is king, starting with the Ratskeller in the city hall on Marienplatz, which has been serving beer, meals, and snacks since 1874.

Not far away, the city-owned Hofbräuhaus is an essential stop on most tourist itineraries, but other beer halls and gardens are just as tempting. Another classic Munich establishment, the Dallmayer coffeehouse and delicatessen, has a restaurant and a café-bistro--admittedly pricey--on the premises.

Personal recommendations and advice:

• Across the river from Munich's shopping zone, Unions-Bräu-Haidhausen is a pleasant family-run alternative to the big-name, brewery-operated beer halls. (It's a good place to go if you're hungry, with generous portions of sausages, schnitzels, and other Bavarian specialties at reasonable prices.)

• Table-sharing is commonplace in beer halls and beer gardens, so if you're shy about plonking yourself down at a table with strangers, go early (before 6 p.m.) to get first dibs.

• When you're ready to a break from Bavarian cuisine, try the international menu with German and Asian accents at the Eisbach Bar & Küche on Marstallplatz (around the corner from the Nationaltheater). Eisbach is a stunning glass-walled restaurant with delectable food and friendly service. You can order a multi-course meal or a Toast (sandwich), salad, or pasta. Try to leave room for the crème brulée.

• Restaurant prices include taxes, and service is often part of the deal. If your bill has the phrase "inklusive Bedienung" or similar wording, you can round the bill up slightly when paying the server; otherwise, give a tip of 10 to 15 percent. (In Germany, it's customary to hand the tip directly to the server, and not to leave it on the table. For example, if the bill is 20 euros and you want to leave a 3-euro tip, you can indicate "23 euros" when paying, or you can simply accept your change and hand over the tip.)

• For inexpensive food at any hour, visit the food courts and stands in the Hauptbahnhof, or main railroad station. The atmosphere is pleasant, the food can be excellent (the mozzarella-and-tomato sandwiches are superb), and you can watch trains come and go as you eat.

• Munich is loaded with bakeries, and many of them sell sandwiches along with doughnuts, coffeecake, etc. To enjoy a real treat, buy a slice of apple-walnut cake at Rischart, which has at least two branches in the pedestrian shopping zone and another in the Hauptbahnhof.

For links to restaurant reviews and guides, see our Munich Food & Drink Links page. Also see the next page in this guide--Beer in Munich--and our illustrated article on Munich's Oktoberfest.

Next page: Beer in Munich

  Munich home page

Top photo copyright © jamjoom.
1st inset photo copyright © Andreas Weber.
 

Home

Copyright © 1996-2008 Durant and Cheryl Imboden and their licensors.
All rights reserved.

Privacy Policy