What to Eat in Munich: Local Dishes, Where Locals Eat, Beer Halls & the Best Food Tours

The short version: in Munich, eat a Weißwurst breakfast before noon (white veal sausages with a Brezn, sweet mustard and a wheat beer), a crackling Schweinshaxe (roast pork knuckle), a Brotzeit board with Obatzda (spiced cheese spread) and a warm Leberkäs roll. For Weißwurst go to the Weisses Bräuhaus in the Tal or the Gaststätte Großmarkthalle; for Haxe, the Haxnbauer or Der Pschorr at the Viktualienmarkt. Drink Helles at the Augustiner Stammhaus, Edelstoff from the wooden cask at the Augustiner-Keller and a Maß under the chestnuts of the Hirschgarten or the Chinesischer Turm. And if you only have a weekend, a beer or food tour is the shortcut to the right halls, the right gardens and the right orders. Below: what to eat, where to eat it tonight, where to drink, and the experiences worth booking.

What to eat in Munich, and where to eat it

Where to eat in Munich

The rule for eating well in Munich: eat where the beer is poured from its own brewery. Most classic Wirtshäuser (taverns) and beer halls belong to, or are tied to, one of the city’s breweries and pour only that brewery’s beer, so choosing a hall is also choosing a beer. The kitchen is the same everywhere in spirit: roast pork, knuckle, sausages and a Brotzeit, with weekday lunch the best value. Weißwurst is a morning dish, traditionally finished before the noon bells. And in late October and November the beer gardens are mostly closed or open only on sunny days, so go inside: the halls and beer cellars run all winter, and the Christmas markets open from late November.

Altstadt and the Viktualienmarkt

The Hofbräuhaus on the Platzl is open daily from 11:00 to midnight; the ground-floor Schwemme is free seating, and bookings are only needed for groups of four or more. Locals drink at the Augustiner Stammhaus on Neuhauser Straße: its Bierhalle opens Monday to Saturday from 10:00 with sausages, Leberkäs and Brotzeit from the start, and the restaurant next door serves house-made Weißwürste and suckling pig every day. In the Tal, the Weisses Bräuhaus is the house of the Schneider wheat-beer brewery: Weißwurst breakfast daily from 9:00 to 12:00, a brass band on Sunday mornings from 10:30, and offal dishes from its own butcher; book online. A few doors down, the Haxnbauer reopened at Tal 38 in 2025: pork or veal knuckles marinated for 24 hours and turned slowly over beechwood charcoal, with a Haxn-Semmel (knuckle roll) to take away.

On the market itself, Der Pschorr taps Hacker-Pschorr Edelhell from oak casks kept on block ice and serves a half Schweinshaxe from Bavarian straw-reared pigs; it opens from 11:00, Saturdays from 10:00. By the Frauenkirche, Andechser am Dom, on the south side of the cathedral, pours the monastery beer from Andechs, and the Nürnberger Bratwurst Glöckl am Dom grills its small sausages over beechwood, with Augustiner beer. On the Platzl, Ayinger am Platzl serves cheese and sauerkraut Spätzle and a Brotzeit board with Ayinger beers. For a more polished Bavarian dinner, Blauer Bock by the Viktualienmarkt is in the MICHELIN Guide (Michelin listing) for classic cooking with a modern touch, such as braised veal shoulder; it opens Tuesday to Saturday. And for something sweet, Café Frischhut has fried its Schmalznudeln since 1973; it is closed on Sundays.

Maxvorstadt

North-west of the old town, the university and museum quarter has two of the city’s great beer cellars. The Augustiner-Keller on Arnulfstraße pours Edelstoff from the wooden cask and has one of the best-loved beer gardens in the city; on 24 October 2026 it posted that the restaurant is open and the beer garden closed for the season, with ice-stock lanes running from November to February. The Löwenbräukeller on Stiglmaierplatz is Löwenbräu’s own house, with a Bräustüberl, a self-service beer garden and a kitchen open daily until 22:30; book through its website. For a newer take, the Max Emanuel Brauerei has been a brewery tavern since 1880 and serves Schweinshaxe, an Obatzda burger in a pretzel bun and vegan dishes, with a beer garden. The Wirtshaus Görreshof is the neighbourhood local: schnitzel, Zwiebelrostbraten (roast beef with fried onions), a daily lunch menu and a beer garden.

Glockenbach and Isarvorstadt

South of the old town towards the Isar, the Glockenbachviertel is where Munich goes out, and its Wirtshäuser are younger and livelier. Gasthaus Waltz holds a MICHELIN Bib Gourmand (Michelin listing) for modern Alpine cooking, such as veal cordon bleu with potato salad and pumpkin seed oil, à la carte or as four or five courses; it is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, serves lunch only at weekends and takes bookings by phone. Zum Straubinger, the “Straubi” on Blumenstraße near the Viktualienmarkt, pours Helles and unfiltered Kellerbier with classic tavern food and has a small beer garden, open daily. Fesch Wirtshaus is a queer Wirtshaus where everyone is welcome, with Augustiner beer, Schweinsbraten, schnitzel and a traditional standing bar; it is closed on Mondays. And Xaver’s, run by three siblings since 2018, does Backhendl (Bavarian fried chicken) and Schweinsbraten with Augustiner from the wooden cask, and has a large outdoor area.

Haidhausen and the Au

Across the Isar, the east bank is residential and very Munich. The Hofbräukeller on Wiener Platz is Hofbräu’s beer cellar, with a traditional dining room and a big beer garden, open daily from 11:00 to 23:00. Down the hill in the Au, the Wirtshaus in der Au serves Weißwurst from the Magnus Bauch butcher and a weekend breakfast from 10:00 to 15:00; on weekdays it opens at 17:00. Up on the Nockherberg, Paulaner am Nockherberg brews in the dining room itself and serves Schweinsbraten, schnitzel and Brotzeit; from Ash Wednesday to Easter it is the home of the strong-beer season, groups under eight can usually walk in, and the self-service beer garden opens depending on the weather.

Schwabing and the Englischer Garten beer gardens

The Englischer Garten is the city’s big park and its summer living room. The Biergarten am Chinesischen Turm has around 7,000 seats around a wooden pagoda, Hofbräu beer and a brass band playing from the tower in good weather; the Ochsensemmel (roast ox roll) is the thing to eat. On the lake, the Seehaus im Englischen Garten pours Paulaner in a lakeside beer garden and has a Bavarian Stüberl inside for colder days. In Schwabing itself, the Kaisergarten serves Weißwurst at breakfast in an Art Nouveau building with a chestnut garden, and opens from 10:00 at weekends. The Wintergarten am Elisabethplatz sells its Weißwürste for 1 euro each if you order before the noon bells. For a special night, Tantris holds two MICHELIN stars (Michelin listing) in its famous 1970s interior; book well ahead.

Westend and the Theresienwiese

Around the Oktoberfest meadow and the Augustiner brewery, the west side has some of the best-value beer drinking in town. The Augustiner Bräustuben sit inside the brewery complex, and their Bierstreifenkarte gets you ten half litres for the price of nine. The Wirtshaus am Bavariapark serves Augustiner with Weißwurst, Schweinsbraten and schnitzel, open daily from midday. For a modern dinner, mokum holds a MICHELIN Bib Gourmand (Michelin listing): eight tables next to the Theresienwiese, plates for sharing and a good list of wines by the glass. And in Neuhausen, the Königlicher Hirschgarten is the biggest beer garden of all, with about 8,000 seats, Augustiner from the cask, Steckerlfisch and spare ribs at the self-service counters, a deer enclosure, and a welcome for your own picnic.

Quick picks

• Classic beer hall night: the Augustiner Stammhaus for the locals’ Helles, the Hofbräuhaus once for the spectacle.
• Weißwurst breakfast: the Weisses Bräuhaus in the Tal, or the Gaststätte Großmarkthalle for the market workers’ version.
• Cheap and fast: a Leberkässemmel in the Augustiner Bierhalle, a Schmalznudel at Café Frischhut, 1-euro Weißwürste at the Wintergarten before noon.
• Special night: Tantris for two stars, or Bib Gourmand Gasthaus Waltz for modern Alpine cooking at fair prices.
• Best for the signature dish: the Haxnbauer for Schweinshaxe, the Weisses Bräuhaus for Weißwurst, the Hirschgarten for a Maß and Steckerlfisch.

Names link to Google Maps for directions. We checked these places in October 2026. Opening days change, especially out of season, so check before you go.

The markets

The Viktualienmarkt, a few steps from Marienplatz, is the city’s food market: fruit and vegetables, butchers, game, fish, cheese, bread, honey, wine and snack stands, plus small restaurants. The market runs Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 20:00 and Saturday from 8:00 to 15:00, and is closed on Sundays; stalls set their own hours, and from November they only have to open from 10:00 to 17:00 on weekdays. In the middle is its beer garden, where the beer rotates between the six big Munich breweries about every five to six weeks (the brewery of the moment is shown at the bar). You buy your drinks there and may bring your own food from the stalls. For the Weißwurst breakfast of the market trade, go to the Gaststätte Großmarkthalle by the wholesale market in Sendling: the sausages are made daily by the butcher and landlord Ludwig Wallner and served from 7:00 with Brezn, sweet mustard and beer. It opens Monday to Friday until 16:00 and Saturday until 13:00, and there can be a short wait at busy times.

What to drink in Munich

Beer first, and with rules. Munich’s six big breweries are Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbräu, Löwenbräu, Paulaner and Spaten, and each hall pours its own. Order a Helles, the pale, soft lager the city drinks most; a Weißbier (wheat beer) with your Weißwurst; a Dunkel (dark lager) with roast pork; and in Lent the Starkbier, the strong beer of the Nockherberg and the Löwenbräukeller. A Maß is a one-litre mug and the standard measure in beer gardens; a Halbe is half a litre; a Radler is beer with lemonade. For beer from the wooden cask, go to the Augustiner-Keller for Edelstoff or to Der Pschorr for Edelhell. Spaten’s own houses in the old town are the Spatenhaus an der Oper, opposite the opera, and Zum Franziskaner on the same street.

The house rules: in a beer garden, the bare wooden tables are self-service, where you may bring your own food but must buy your drinks there; tables with tablecloths are served by waiters, and there you order from the menu. Self-service mugs carry a deposit, which you get back at the return counter. In a beer hall, do not sit at a table marked Stammtisch: it belongs to the regulars.

Then wine. Munich is a beer city, but its wine taverns are worth an evening. Weinhaus Neuner, a historic inn with a vaulted ceiling and wood panelling, is in the MICHELIN Guide (Michelin listing) for upscale Munich tavern food and a good champagne list, open daily from midday. The Pfälzer Residenz Weinstube, in the Residenz on Residenzstraße, is the old town’s wine tavern for wines from the Pfalz. Grapes in the old town was named Best Wine Bar 2025 by the German Wine Institute and Der Feinschmecker, with a long list at fair prices; it opens in the evenings. And the VINOTHEK by Geisel, which the tourist board calls the mother of Munich wine bars, is also in the MICHELIN Guide (Michelin listing).

Food experiences to book in Munich

Munich’s beer culture has rules nobody writes down: which brewery owns which hall, where the regulars sit, when the Weißwurst stops, which beer garden lets you bring your own food. A beer or food tour pays off on a short visit: a local guide takes you through the old town halls, the Viktualienmarkt and a beer garden or cellar in a few hours, explains the six breweries and what you are eating. A brewery visit or a Bavarian cooking class are good alternatives. These are the best-rated options on GetYourGuide.

Our pick: the An Evening of Bavarian Beer and Food Culture, rated 4.7 (1,217) on GetYourGuide.

Ratings as shown on GetYourGuide in October 2026. Check the listing for live prices and availability.

Food day trips from Munich

The beer day trip is to a village brewery. South-east of the city, the Brauereigasthof Aying is the inn of the Ayinger brewery and is in the MICHELIN Guide (Michelin listing) for farm-to-table Bavarian cooking. For guided beer and food days, see our Munich beer tours.

Frequently asked questions

What is the one dish to eat in Munich?

A Weißwurst breakfast: white sausages with a Brezn, sweet mustard and a Weißbier, before noon. The Weisses Bräuhaus in the Tal serves it daily from 9:00 to 12:00. For lunch or dinner, the Schweinshaxe at the Haxnbauer is the close second.

Where do locals drink beer in Munich?

At Augustiner, above all: the Stammhaus on Neuhauser Straße, the Augustiner-Keller, the Bräustuben by the brewery and the Hirschgarten. In the evening, a younger crowd goes to Zum Straubinger and the Wirtshäuser of the Glockenbachviertel.

Do I have to eat Weißwurst before noon?

That is the tradition: the sausages should not hear the noon bells. Most places serve them in the morning, and the Wintergarten am Elisabethplatz charges more after midday. The Weisses Bräuhaus serves its Weißwurst breakfast from 9:00 to 12:00.

Are the beer gardens open in autumn and winter?

Only on fine days, if at all: beer gardens open depending on the weather, and from late October many are closed for the season. The beer halls and cellars stay open, including the Augustiner-Keller’s restaurant, the Löwenbräukeller and the Hofbräukeller, and the Christmas markets take over from late November.

Do I need to book in Munich?

For the Hofbräuhaus, only for groups of four or more, and the Augustiner Stammhaus Bierhalle and the beer gardens are walk-in. Book for Gasthaus Waltz, mokum and Tantris, for the Weisses Bräuhaus at weekends, and for any table during Oktoberfest and the strong-beer season.

Is a Munich beer or food tour worth it?

Yes, if you have two or three days: in a few hours you see the halls, taste the classics, learn the beer rules and know where to go back to. Compare them above.

Plan your Munich food trip

Munich beer tours and Oktoberfest · Munich food and beer tours · Munich Christmas markets: what to eat and drink