Today's words · 🍽️ At a restaurant
Eating out in German: 10 words from menu to tip
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Get the menu, order, pay and tip — these ten words cover the whole meal.
You walk into a little restaurant with a friend and nobody shows you to a table. Can you just sit down? How do you ask for the menu? And after dinner, the bill never seems to come.
Today's ten words take you through a whole meal out: booking a table, ordering, asking for a recommendation, paying and tipping. Learn them on an empty stomach — hunger helps! 🍽️
📋 The ten words at a glance
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
das Restaurant
[res-toh-RONG]restaurant(Pl. die Restaurants)
📌 Kennst du ein gutes Restaurant hier?
→ Do you know a good restaurant around here?
💡 From French ‘to restore’ 🍲 A restaurant restores you when you're hungry.
Bonus ‘to eat out’ = essen gehen: Gehen wir heute essen?
reservieren
[reh-zer-VEE-ren]to reserve, to book(reserviert – hat reserviert)
📌 Ich möchte einen Tisch für vier Personen reservieren.
→ I'd like to book a table for four.
💡 English reserve + -ieren 📞 Verbs in -ieren take no ge- in the past participle: reserviert.
⚠ Tables: reservieren. Flights and trips: usually buchen.
die Speisekarte
[SHPY-zuh-kar-tuh]menu(Pl. die Speisekarten)
📌 Die Speisekarte, bitte.
→ The menu, please.
💡 Speise (food) + Karte (card) = the card with the food on it 📜
⚠ False friend: das Menü is a set meal, not the menu card.
bestellen
[buh-SHTEL-en]to order; to book(bestellt – hat bestellt)
📌 Ich bestelle einen Cappuccino, bitte.
→ I'll have a cappuccino, please.
💡 be- + stellen (to put) = ‘have it put in front of me’ ☕
Bonus The waiter may ask: Was darf’s sein? = What can I get you?
empfehlen
[emp-FAY-len]to recommend(empfiehlt – hat empfohlen)
📌 Was können Sie mir empfehlen?
→ What can you recommend?
💡 Can't decide? Was empfehlen Sie? and let the waiter choose 👍
⚠ Irregular: du empfiehlst, er empfiehlt – hat empfohlen
die Vorspeise
[FOR-shpy-zuh]starter, appetizer(Pl. die Vorspeisen)
📌 Als Vorspeise nehme ich eine Tomatensuppe.
→ As a starter I'll have tomato soup.
💡 vor (before) + Speise (dish) = the dish that comes first 🥗
Bonus Dessert is die Nachspeise (nach = after).
das Hauptgericht
[HOWPT-guh-risht]main course(Pl. die Hauptgerichte)
📌 Als Hauptgericht nehme ich den Fisch.
→ For the main course I'll have the fish.
💡 Haupt (main) + Gericht (dish) 🐟 Same Haupt as in Hauptbahnhof, the main station.
⚠ das Gericht also means a court of law — context saves you.
der Kellner
[KEL-ner]waiter(Pl. die Kellner (f: die Kellnerin) · Swiss: der Serviceangestellte)
📌 Der Kellner bringt die Speisekarte.
→ The waiter brings the menu.
💡 Originally the man who kept the wine cellar (Keller) 🍷
Bonus To get his attention, raise a hand and say Entschuldigung!
die Rechnung
[REKH-noong]bill, check; invoice(Pl. die Rechnungen)
📌 Die Rechnung, bitte!
→ The bill, please!
💡 rechnen (to calculate) + -ung = the reckoning 🧾 -ung means die.
Bonus Paying separately: Getrennt, bitte. Together: Zusammen, bitte.
das Trinkgeld
[TRINK-gelt]tip(Pl. die Trinkgelder)
📌 In Deutschland gibt man etwa zehn Prozent Trinkgeld.
→ In Germany you tip about ten percent.
💡 trinken (drink) + Geld (money) = ‘have a drink on me’ money 🍺
Bonus Keep the change = Stimmt so!
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
In casual German restaurants and pubs, you often just pick a free table yourself. In smarter places, or where you see a Reserviert sign, wait to be seated. Tap water usually doesn't arrive automatically, so order drinks when you sit down.
You normally pay at the table, and the waiter often asks Zusammen oder getrennt? (together or separately?). Rather than leaving a tip on the table, you add it while paying: if the bill is 18 euros, you might just say ‘20’.
Also, some places still take cash only. It's worth asking about cards before you order. 💶
✅ Quick quiz
Q. You've finished your meal and want to pay. What do you say to the waiter?
- ① Die Speisekarte, bitte.
- ② Ich möchte reservieren.
- ③ Die Rechnung, bitte!
Show the answer
③ Die Rechnung, bitte!
Die Rechnung, bitte! = The bill, please! It's how you ask to pay.
Tonight, act out a whole imaginary dinner out loud, from booking the table to Stimmt so! Guten Appetit! 😋
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 🚇 Public transport