German Phrases for Dining & Ordering in a Restaurant

Viewing videos requires the latest version of Adobe's Flash Player.
Get the latest Flash player.
Showing 1-5

Part of the video series: German Phrases & Tips for Travelers

Summary: Say it like a German; learn some German language phrases that will be useful when dining out at a restaurant during your trip to Germany in this free online video lesson.

Views: 4,048 | Tags: online, german, language, course, learn, translation


About the Expert

Brigitte Wyatt Brigitte Wilson is a member of the German-Texas Heritage Society. Founded in 1978 by a handful of individuals, the society now has over 1400 individual membe... read more

Conversations About This Video

  • Comments
    (1 comments)
  • Questions & Answers
    (0 questions) (0 answers)

The translation is only fair. For example “Kann ich bitte bezahlen” does not really mean "We are ready for the check." It would work, but that is not what you are saying. It is saying, "Can I please pay?" To ask for the check would be "Die Rechnung bitte?" or "Kann ich bitte die Rechnung haben?"

Have a question about this video topic? Ask our community members and let them share their knowledge with you!
Ask A Question

Video Transcript

German Phrases for Dining & Ordering in a Restaurant

When traveling in Germany and you are eating out in a restaurant here is some information that might be useful to you. Some German restaurants don’t have the procedure of wait to be seated. Some have it some don’t have it. So you would go into a restaurant and look for a sign that says wait to be seated. If there is no sign, you can just look around for a free table, go there and sit down. Its also not very common to have smoker and non-smoker zones in German restaurants so you have to be aware that smoking will be allowed in almost every restraint so you have to look around if you don’t want to sit next to a table where people would smoke. If you would like to have the menu and you would like to order some food, you would waive at the waitress or waiter and say, “Kann ich bitte die Speisekarte haben?“ In English, may I have the Menu? Once again in German “Kann ich bitte die Speisekarte haben?“ If you would like to order a beer, you would say “Ich hatte gerne ein Bier.“ I would like to have a beer. Once again in German, “Ich hatte gerne ein Bier.“ If you would like to order a glass of wine, you would say “Ich hatte gerne ein Glas Wein.” In English, I would like to have a glass of wine. Once again in German “Ich hatte gerne ein Glas Wein.” If you would like to have a soup as a starter, you would say “Als Vorspeise nehme ich die Spargelsuppe.” In English, As a starter, I take the asparagus soup. Once again in German “Als Vorspeise nehme ich die Spargelsuppe.” If you would like to order a main course you would say “Ich hatte gerne ein die Schnitzel mit Pomme Frites.” I would like to have the schnitzel with French fries. Once aging in German, “Ich hatte gerne ein die Schnitzel mit Pomme Frites.” If you are ready for the check, you would say “Kann ich bitte bezahlen” We are ready for the check. In German again “Kann ich bitte bezahlen”

Languages Ads

Community Members who...

  • Favorited this Video
  • Rated This Video

Check out what people are watching now
left_arrow right_arrow