Where We Ate: Munich

Central Munich

Viktualienmarkt Beer Garden

This is a shady beer garden in the center of Munich. Surrounding it are the stalls of the Viktualienmarkt food market, so if you arrive when the stalls are open and are feeling motivated enough, you can put together a meal to accompany your drinks at the beer garden. Just be sure to grab an uncovered table: if a table has a tablecloth, you get wait service and a menu. Uncovered tables order drinks and food by going up to a counter or bring their own food from the surrounding market stalls. When we arrived, we only spotted covered tables, so we went with that.

The beer here rotates across the 6 local Munich breweries, but the food remains the same, with lots of Bavarian specialities.

Note that this place serves locals as much as tourists, so don’t expect to find Weißwurst—a sausage traditionally served early in the day—at the dinner hour (we tried!). No kid menu, so DD2 shared some things with us, including giant pretzels and obazda, a cheese spread that goes great with pretzels.

Everyone enjoyed their food here.

Website: https://www.viktualienmarkt-muenchen.de/en/beer-garden-on-the-viktualienmarkt/

Eataly gelato shop
The Munich location of Eataly is a short walk from the Viktualienmarkt, so this was our dessert stop that night. As with Eataly gelato in other cities, it did not disappoint!

Website: https://www.eataly.net/de_de/geschaefte/muenchen

Hofbrau Haus
This beer hall is enormous, loud, famous, and touristy! We found a spot on the main floor near the music stage, so we could watch the oompah band. Here they will serve you Weißwurst in the evening, along with other Bavarian fare. DH tried the pork knuckle.

DD2 again sampled a couple of things, and we all shared giant pretzels again.

Website: https://www.hofbraeuhaus.de/en/

Münchner Stubn
When we first got into town and exited the train station, we were looking for a place where we could sit down. This place was across the street and served pizzas, so it fit the bill. However, the service was painfully slow. After we were seated, it took a very long time for someone to take our order. I know cultural differences could be a factor in my judgement, but I can also tell you that it was the slowest service on the entire trip. We were actually debating whether to get up and leave when someone finally came. After ordering, the service was not fast, but not as slow as the initial contact. The pizzas were fine once they arrived. Rick Steves mentions this place, but not the slow service. Maybe we just had bad luck.

Website: https://www.muenchner-stubn.de/en/

Near LMU White Rose Exhibition

Cafe Amalien
We had good sandwiches at this bakery near the LMU campus. The lady who helped us was delightful: she was very encouraging as I used my broken German to order and ask where the dirty plates went.

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Cafe-Amalien-100063548411805/

Der Verrückte Eismacher
Down the street from Cafe Amalien, this Alice-in-Wonderland themed ice cream shop has a fun atmosphere and interesting flavors.

Their napkins are in a hat-shaped dispenser and tell you to celebrate your "not-birthday."

They are happy to give you a sample before you order, but there is a sample included in every order as well, which is presented in cute mini-cone. I had Orange Peach Bavarian Cream and White Chocolate with a sample of Bacio.

Everyone enjoyed the main flavors in their orders, and most of us enjoyed the sample flavors: DH tried Augustiner Beer and thought he didn’t like beer quite enough for it. We all had fun here, and the kids were reminiscing about it afterwards.

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/derverrueckteeismacher/?hl=en

Eclipse
We are here with our neighbors, so we saw a variety of the dishes served here, from grilled meat to salmon, hummus, and shakshuka. Everyone enjoyed their food. No kid menu, so the kids in the group either ordered their own thing or shared items. Indoor and outdoor seating.

Website: https://www.eclipse-grillbar.de/#Speisekarte

Elsewhere

Backspielhaus
Rick Steves recommended this bakery for those looking for lunch near Schloss Nymphenburg. We visited several bakeries on our trip, and this was my favorite of all of them. They had delicious herb butter on their sandwiches!
Website: https://www.backspielhaus.de

Bürger's
There weren’t many eateries near our hotel, but we did find some good burgers here.
Website: https://buergersrestaurant.de