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Munich Restaurants
From:
Munich Travel Guide
ABOVE: 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 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 and
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:
-
Don't underestimate the appeal
of Hofbräuhaus: It offers
good beer, food, and fun at reasonable prices, plus an outstanding folklore show
and buffet in the Festival Hall upstairs. And no, it isn't just a tourist
trap: About half the guests (up to 30,000 on a busy day) are regulars from
the Munich area.
-
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.)
-
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 give 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.)
-
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.
-
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
Top photo copyright © jamjoom.
1st inset photo copyright © Andreas Weber.
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