German Menu Words: A Tourist's Quick Guide
German menus are written in compound words longer than your arm, but the food they describe is direct. Pork, potatoes, cabbage, dumplings, a beer the right size. Here's the vocabulary that turns a confusing wall of text into something you can read.
Quick Answer
A practical cheat sheet for German restaurant menus: schnitzel cuts, wurst types, spätzle, sauerbraten, and the beer-hall vocabulary every traveler needs.
The Sections You'll See
A typical German menu is organized like this:
- Vorspeisen — starters/appetizers
- Suppen — soups
- Salate — salads
- Hauptgerichte — main dishes
- Beilagen — sides
- Nachspeisen / Desserts — desserts
- Getränke — drinks
Menus at Gasthaus (inn/family restaurant), Brauhaus (brewery restaurant), and Biergarten (beer garden) are usually the friendliest. Tagesgericht means "dish of the day" and is often a good value.
The Schnitzel Section
Schnitzel is a thin, breaded, pan-fried cutlet. Beyond the basic version, you'll see toppings and styles:
- Wiener Schnitzel — veal, legally protected. The original.
- Schnitzel Wiener Art — "Vienna-style," made with pork (or chicken).
- Jägerschnitzel — "hunter's schnitzel," topped with mushroom cream sauce.
- Rahmschnitzel — cream sauce, sometimes with mushrooms.
- Zigeunerschnitzel — bell pepper and paprika sauce. The name is being phased out in modern Germany; you'll often see "Paprikaschnitzel" instead.
- Holsteiner Schnitzel — topped with a fried egg, anchovies, and capers.
- Cordon Bleu — schnitzel stuffed with ham and cheese.
Schnitzel usually comes with Pommes (fries) or Bratkartoffeln (pan-fried potatoes) and a small salad.
The Wurst Section
"Wurst" just means sausage. There are hundreds of regional varieties, but a few dominate restaurant menus:
- Bratwurst — grilled pork sausage. Crispy outside, juicy inside. Often eaten in a bun with mustard.
- Weisswurst — Bavarian veal-and-pork sausage, pale white, poached. Eat the skin off, traditionally before noon, with sweet mustard, pretzel, and Weissbier.
- Currywurst — sliced sausage drenched in curry-ketchup sauce, served with fries. A Berlin staple. Casual, cheap, addictive.
- Bockwurst — smoked, plumper sausage, usually boiled.
- Knackwurst / Knockwurst — short, fat, garlicky.
- Nürnberger — small finger-sized grilled sausages from Nuremberg. Order them six or twelve at a time.
- Thüringer — long, dark grilled sausage from Thuringia.
- Leberkäse — not actually a sausage and contains no liver or cheese despite the name. A baked meatloaf-like slab, sliced and served with mustard.
The Pork-Beef-Game Section
- Schweinebraten — roast pork with gravy and dumplings.
- Schweinshaxe — roasted pork knuckle with crackling skin. A huge, two-person dish in some restaurants.
- Eisbein — boiled pork knuckle, more common in the north. Softer and paler than Schweinshaxe.
- Sauerbraten — beef marinated for days in wine and vinegar, served with thick sweet-sour gravy.
- Rouladen — beef rolled around bacon, onion, pickle, and mustard, braised in gravy.
- Gulasch — German-style goulash, more like a stew than the Hungarian original.
- Wild — game (venison, wild boar, rabbit). Often appears in fall and winter as Wildgulasch or Hirschbraten.
The Sides You'll See
- Spätzle — soft southern egg noodles, often topped with cheese (Käsespätzle) or fried onions.
- Kartoffeln — potatoes. Variants: Salzkartoffeln (boiled), Bratkartoffeln (pan-fried), Kartoffelpüree (mash), Kartoffelsalat (potato salad — vinegary in the south, mayo-based in the north).
- Knödel / Klöße — dumplings. Potato (Kartoffelknödel) or bread (Semmelknödel). Soak up gravy.
- Sauerkraut — fermented cabbage. Bright, tangy.
- Rotkohl — sweet braised red cabbage, often with apple. Classic with Sauerbraten.
- Pommes — fries. Order them with Mayo, Ketchup, or "rot-weiß" (both).
The Beer Hall Vocabulary
If you're in a Bavarian beer hall, half the menu is liquid. Sizes:
- Kleines — small, 0.3L
- Großes — large, 0.5L
- Maß — one full liter, the iconic Oktoberfest stein
Types:
- Helles — pale lager (Munich style).
- Dunkles — dark lager, malty and toasty.
- Pils / Pilsner — crisp, hoppy pale lager. More common in the north.
- Weizen / Hefeweizen — wheat beer, cloudy, banana-clove aroma.
- Märzen — amber lager. The official Oktoberfest beer style.
- Bockbier — strong lager. Doppelbock is stronger still.
- Radler — beer and lemon soda, around 2.5% ABV. Summer favorite.
- Berliner Weisse — sour wheat beer, sometimes mixed with raspberry or woodruff syrup.
Snacks and Bread Things
- Brezel / Brezn — pretzel. Often served with sweet mustard or butter (Butterbrezn).
- Obatzda — Bavarian beer-cheese spread with paprika and onions, served with pretzels.
- Schweineschmalz — pork lard spread on dark bread. Not for everyone, but very traditional.
- Maultaschen — Swabian filled pasta pockets, like big ravioli, often served in broth.
- Flammkuchen — thin-crust Alsatian tart with crème fraîche, onion, and bacon. Order one to share.
Dessert and Coffee
- Apfelstrudel — apple strudel, often with vanilla sauce or ice cream.
- Kaiserschmarrn — shredded, caramelized pancake with raisins and powdered sugar. Originally Austrian; common in southern Germany.
- Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte — Black Forest cake. Chocolate, cherry, Kirschwasser.
- Berliner — jelly-filled doughnut.
- Eis — ice cream. A Spaghettieis is ice cream pressed through a press so it looks like spaghetti with strawberry "sauce."
Practical Ordering Phrases
"Einmal das Schnitzel, bitte" — one schnitzel, please. "Ein Helles" — one helles. "Die Rechnung, bitte" — the check, please. Tipping in Germany is rounding up or 5-10%, handed to the server directly when you pay.
Most servers in tourist areas speak English. Don't be shy. If the menu has no photos and a string of compound words longer than the table, MenuPics generates a picture for every dish so "Schweinshaxe mit Knödel" becomes something you can actually see before you commit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between Wiener Schnitzel and Schnitzel Wiener Art?
Wiener Schnitzel is, by law in Austria and Germany, veal. Schnitzel Wiener Art means "Vienna-style schnitzel" and is made with pork (or sometimes chicken) prepared the same way. Pork schnitzel is cheaper and more common at casual restaurants; veal is the traditional version and costs more.
What's the difference between Bratwurst and Weisswurst?
Bratwurst is a grilled pork (sometimes beef or veal) sausage, brown on the outside, eaten with mustard and bread or as a meal with kraut. Weisswurst is a pale veal-and-pork Bavarian sausage that's poached, not grilled, traditionally eaten before noon with sweet mustard, pretzels, and wheat beer. Don't grill a Weisswurst — Bavarians will judge you.
What is Spätzle?
Spätzle (sometimes spelled spaetzle) is a soft southern German egg noodle, somewhere between pasta and dumpling. It's served as a side with sauerbraten or schnitzel, baked with cheese as Käsespätzle (similar to mac and cheese), or in beef gravy. It's comfort food with a long memory.
What is Sauerbraten?
Sauerbraten is a German pot roast made by marinating beef (sometimes venison or horse, historically) in red wine, vinegar, and spices for several days. The result is tender, slightly sour, and served with a thick gravy made from gingerbread or raisins. Usually plated with red cabbage and dumplings or spätzle.
What size beer should I order?
Most German restaurants offer beer in 0.3L (kleines), 0.5L (großes), or 1L (Maß, mainly in Bavarian beer halls). A 0.5L is the default for most people. Order vom Fass to mean draft. Helles is a pale lager (Munich), Dunkles is dark, Weizen or Hefeweizen is wheat beer, and a Radler is beer mixed with lemon soda (lighter and very refreshing in summer).