{"id":93226,"date":"2023-07-28T17:33:46","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T21:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/german-restaurant-phrases\/"},"modified":"2025-02-26T07:47:20","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T12:47:20","slug":"german-restaurant-phrases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-restaurant-phrases\/","title":{"rendered":"15 German Restaurant Phrases"},"content":{"rendered":"

Planning on traveling to Germany<\/a>, spending a semester in Austria or have just moved to Luxembourg?<\/p>\n

Dining auf Deutsch<\/em>\u00a0(in German) makes eating out all that more of an authentic experience.<\/p>\n

Impress your friends, the locals and the people you’re dining with by showing off your German skills with these 15 basic sentences.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Some Classic German Foods<\/h2>\n

Sure, you’ve heard of Bratwurst<\/em> and Schnitzel<\/em>. The Pommes\u00a0<\/em>(french fries) may be the best you’ll ever find. You’ve invariably eaten Sauerkraut\u00a0<\/em>and Kartoffelsalat<\/em> in your home countries. But friend, you’ve only begun.<\/p>\n

Germany is a smorgasbord of culinary delight<\/a>. Each area of the country has dishes unique to that region, which can easily be found in local restaurants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Bremen enjoy some Labskaus<\/em>, a corned beef dish with beetroot, herring, mashed potatoes and a side of fried egg and pickled cucumber. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern try out some Gr\u00f6\u00f6ner Hein<\/em>, a pear, ham and string bean stew.<\/p>\n

Swabia, stretching through Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg and Bavaria, has special restaurants called Besenwirtschaften\u00a0<\/em>that serve special Swabian food like Maultaschen<\/em> (square noodle pockets filled with spiced sausage) or Kutteln<\/em>\u00a0<\/i>(strips of cow stomach in dark gravy)!<\/p>\n

Check out this post for more German food vocabulary<\/a>, or this one for German cooking vocabulary<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A Note About Tipping at Restaurants in Germany<\/h2>\n

The bad news first: You are expected to tip. The good news: It’s not as much as in America.<\/p>\n

Because German waiters and waitresses are paid better than in the United States, the tip (Trinkgeld<\/em>) is often about 5-10% of the bill. This means that for a full meal the tip isn’t usually more than a couple of euros. The complicated part is that you can’t simply leave money on the table after paying the bill.<\/p>\n

Hope you’re good at math.<\/p>\n

The typical way to tip is to tell the waiter the total amount you want to pay, adding the tip to the bill (and usually rounding to a whole euro amount). If your meal comes to 11.20 euros you can just say to the waiter the number dreizehn\u00a0<\/em>(thirteen<\/a>), and they will deduct that amount from the bills you give them. For the chattier amongst you, here’s a fuller phrase you can say:<\/p>\n

Auf dreizehn, bitte. <\/em>(I’ll do thirteen, thanks.)<\/p>\n

Unlike in America and Ireland, in Germany they make change at the table\u2014pulling bills and coins<\/a> from the fashionable fanny-packs on their waists.<\/p>\n

If you happen to have exact change on you, or you are rounding your bill up to a number you have an exact note for like 20, you can also just hand over this exact amount and say:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stimmt so. <\/em>(Keep the change.)<\/p>\n

An alternative way to go is to tell them how much change you want back, taking on all the math yourself.<\/p>\n

Geben Sie mir bitte zwei Euro zur\u00fcck. <\/em>(Please give me two euros back.)<\/p>\n

Now that you’re fully briefed on German restaurant culture, here are 15 phrases\u00a0you’ll need to get through the meal entirely in German.<\/p>\n

15 Must-know German Phrases for Dining Out<\/h2>\n

Einen Tisch f\u00fcr zwei, bitte.<\/em>\u00a0(A table for two, please.)<\/h3>\n

In most German restaurants you must wait to be seated. Most likely the first thing you’ll be asked is how many people are in your party. This sentence can be adapted to whatever size your group is by substituting zwei\u00a0<\/em>(two) for the appropriate number.<\/p>\n

Ist dieser Platz frei?<\/em> (Is this seat taken?)<\/h3>\n

If other people join you later or if you’re eating at a less formal establishment, you might find yourself needing an extra chair or two. This sentence is handy for charming a place to sit away from other tables.<\/p>\n

Die Speisekarte, bitte?<\/em> (The menu, please?)<\/h3>\n

Maybe you’re at the bar, having a few beers, when you suddenly notice that you’re getting hungry. You won’t have to worry about starving if you know how to ask for the menu, nor being\u00a0limited to just\u00a0B<\/em>ratwurst<\/em> or S<\/em>auerkraut<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Was empfehlen Sie?<\/em>\u00a0(What do you recommend?)<\/h3>\n

A little insider insight never hurts. This can be asked of the waiter or waitress, a stranger at the next table or a native German that you’re dining with. (Although keep in mind that if you’re friends with this person, you need the informal “you,”<\/a> making the sentence read: Was empfiehlst du?<\/em>). \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Ich m\u00f6chte jetzt bestellen.<\/em>\u00a0(I would like to order now.)<\/h3>\n

Just in case you need to get the waiter’s attention, this phrase will be handy.<\/p>\n

Once you’ve decided what you want to order, it would go something like this: Ich h\u00e4tte gern den Fisch bitte <\/em>(I would like the fish, please). Not a seafood person? Substitute\u00a0Fisch\u00a0<\/em>for whatever looks good to you, remembering to add the appropriate article with it.<\/p>\n

Since these phrases are so common, you can actually pick them up too by looking at food-related German media, like vlogs and documentaries. FluentU also has authentic German videos related to food and dining.\u00a0<\/p>\n

FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n

P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a><\/i>\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n \"FluentU\r\n

\r\n