German At the Restaurant Vocabulary
This set covers ordering food in German, from die Speisekarte you're handed at a table to das Buffet you serve yourself from. It also sorts out the confusing cluster of "eating place" words: das Restaurant, die Gaststätte, das Gasthaus, der Imbiss, and the canteen pair die Mensa and die Kantine. The trap for English speakers is das Menü, which looks like "menu" but actually means a fixed set meal; the printed list of dishes is die Speisekarte.
Learn these 23 words
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All 23 words
- anbietenA1
offer
Was darf ich dir anbieten? — What can I offer you?
to order
Wir möchten bestellen, bitte. — We would like to order, please.
plural: die Restaurants
restaurant
Wir essen heute in einem Restaurant. — We're eating in a restaurant today.
plural: die Speisekarten
menu
Bringen Sie mir die Speisekarte, bitte. — Bring me the menu, please.
plural: die Hamburger
hamburger
Einen Hamburger ohne Salat, bitte. — A hamburger without lettuce, please.
plural: die Pizzas
pizza
Mein Lieblingsessen ist Pizza. — My favorite food is pizza.
- bedienenB1
serve, operate
Werden Sie schon bedient? — Are you already being served?
plural: die Buffets
buffet
Das Buffet ist eröffnet! — The buffet is open!
plural: die Cafés
café
Hier in der Nähe ist ein Café. Lass uns einen Kaffee trinken. — There's a café nearby. Let's have a coffee.
plural: die Cafeterias
cafeteria
Ich hole mir schnell etwas aus der Cafeteria. — I quickly grab something from the cafeteria.
plural: die Couverts
place setting
Ich hätte gern 50 Couverts und Briefmarken dazu. — I would like 50 place settings and stamps for that.
plural: die Gasthäuser
inn
Gehen wir noch in ein Gasthaus ein Bier trinken? — Shall we go to an inn to have a beer?
plural: die Gaststätten
restaurant
Ich arbeite seit einem Monat in einer Gaststätte. — I have been working in a restaurant for a month.
plural: die Imbisse
snack bar
Es ist Zeit für einen kleinen Imbiss. — It's time for a small snack.
plural: die Kantinen
cafeteria
In unserer Kantine kann man günstig essen. — You can eat cheaply in our cafeteria.
plural: die Mensas
cafeteria
Ich esse fast jeden Tag in der Mensa. — I eat in the cafeteria almost every day.
plural: die Menüs
menu
Nimm doch das Menü, das sieht gut aus. — Take the menu, it looks good.
plural: die Ambienten
ambience
Die Ambiente dieses Restaurants ist sehr gemütlich. — The ambience of this restaurant is very cozy.
plural: die Cafés
cafe
Wir trinken Kaffee im Café. — We drink coffee in the cafe.
food stalls
Wir aßen an den Essensstände auf dem Markt. — We ate at the food stalls in the market.
plural: die Plätze
seat
Ist dieser Platz noch frei? — Is this seat still available?
plural: die Restaurants
restaurant
Wir essen im Restaurant zu Mittag. — We eat lunch at the restaurant.
plural: die Verpflegungen
catering / rations / provisions
Die Verpflegung im Krankenhaus war ausreichend. — The catering in the hospital was adequate.
How to learn this set
Group the "place to eat" words by formality and function rather than trying to learn them as loose synonyms: das Gasthaus and die Gaststätte are sit-down German restaurants, der Imbiss and die Essensstände are quick, standing or takeaway food, and die Mensa, die Kantine, die Cafeteria are all institutional self-service canteens that differ only in who eats there (students, employees, or a general public setting). For gender, notice that almost every loanword ending in a stressed vowel sound here is neuter: das Restaurant, das Café, das Buffet, das Menü, das Couvert, so drill those five as one block instead of memorizing each gender separately. When you practice bestellen and anbieten, build one sentence per word using a noun from the list, like "Der Kellner bietet das Menü an" or "Ich bestelle einen Hamburger", so the verb and the food nouns get reinforced together.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Restaurant, Gasthaus, and Gaststätte in German?
Das Restaurant is the general modern word for restaurant. Das Gasthaus is an older, more rustic word for an inn or country restaurant, often with rooms to rent. Die Gaststätte sits in between: a plain, everyday local restaurant, the kind of place you'd get a Schnitzel and a beer.
Is die Mensa the same as die Kantine?
Both mean a canteen with cheap, self-service food, but die Mensa is specifically a university or student canteen, while die Kantine is used for a company or workplace canteen.
Why is it das Menü and not der Menü?
Das Menü is neuter because it's a French loanword and follows the pattern of most German words ending in -ü or -ee borrowed that way. Note it usually means a fixed set meal (starter plus main), not the paper menu itself, that's die Speisekarte.
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