The
Eating out guide
Eating out in Germany: prices, chains and what to expect
How much does eating out cost in Germany?
Germany's chain scene is a mix of American brands, home-grown burger and Italian-style restaurants, and popular self-service bakeries.
Across the 305 items we track for 14 German chains, the middle price is €7.50, about $8.55. Leaving aside dips and sauces, the cheapest thing we list is a €1.20 pretzel at Ditsch. The dearest is a €41.00 McDonald's Friends Bundle, a group order.
For one person, a quick fast-food meal is usually €8 to €14 on our lists. A sit-down pasta or burger dish is closer to €10 to €16.
Some of our German lists are still short. Several chains have only four or five items listed, and Ditsch has one, so read those figures as a guide. Burger King, Domino's, Five Guys, KFC, Starbucks and Subway now have 30 to 45 items each.
What do the most popular German chains charge?
Here are everyday orders from the menus on this site. Dollar amounts are approximate.
| What you order | Where | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Pretzel | Ditsch | €1.20 (~$1.37) |
| Cheese roll | BackWerk | €2.00 (~$2.28) |
| Fish roll (Matjesbrötchen) | Nordsee | €3.49 (~$3.98) |
| Caffè latte | Starbucks | €4.90 (~$5.59) |
| Pizza, happy hour (from) | L'Osteria | €6.90 (~$7.87) |
| Big Mac | McDonald's | €7.50 (~$8.55) |
| Small single smash | Hans im Glück | €7.90 (~$9.01) |
| Whopper | Burger King | €8.49 (~$9.68) |
| Original Beef | Peter Pane | €9.90 (~$11.29) |
| Pasta (from) | Vapiano | €10.00 (~$11.40) |
| Pizza Margherita | Domino's | €10.99 (~$12.53) |
| Cheeseburger | Five Guys | €12.25 (~$13.97) |
On German McDonald's menus, a meal with fries and a drink is a McMenü. On our list, a Big Mac is €7.50 alone and €12.10 as a McMenü.
Which chains are cheapest, and which cost the most?
If you rank chains by the middle price of the items we list, bakeries and snack stops are cheapest.
Cheapest end: Ditsch (about €1.20), BackWerk (about €3.00), Starbucks (about €4.90), KFC (about €6.49) and Nordsee (about €6.64).
Priciest end: Vapiano (about €14.90), Hans im Glück (about €12.50), Domino's (about €9.99), Peter Pane (about €9.90) and L'Osteria (about €8.83).
The top of the list is made up of sit-down, pizza and made-to-order places, where each dish is a full meal. Chains with long lists of drinks, fries and dips, such as Burger King and Five Guys, land in the middle even though their burgers cost about €8 to €14.
Which German chains are worth knowing?
- Nordsee dates back to 1896, when it began as a deep-sea fishing company in Bremerhaven. Today it sells fish rolls and fish and chips.
- BackWerk launched in Essen in 2001 with a self-service bakery format.
- L'Osteria started in Nuremberg in 1999. Despite the Italian name, it's a German-founded chain.
- Vapiano began in Hamburg in 2002 as an Italian fast-casual restaurant.
- Hans im Glück was founded in Munich in 2010 and takes its name from a Brothers Grimm fairy tale.
- Peter Pane started in Kiel in 2011 and grew fast during Germany's gourmet burger boom.
- Ditsch is a pretzel bakery associated with Rhineland-Palatinate.
What do the German menu words mean?
- Einzeln: alone, without the meal.
- Menü: a meal deal with a side and a drink.
- Brötchen: a bread roll, the base of a classic German lunch.
- Brezel: a pretzel.
- Trinkgeld: a tip, literally "drink money".
- Zum Mitnehmen: to take away.
What can you eat for under €5 in Germany?
Quite a bit, especially at bakeries and snack stops. On our lists, these all cost less than €5:
- Ditsch pretzel: €1.20
- BackWerk cheese roll (Kaiserbrötchen Gouda): €2.00
- BackWerk coffee: €2.49
- McDonald's Hamburger: €2.70
- McDonald's Cheeseburger: €3.00
- Nordsee fish roll (Matjesbrötchen): €3.49
- BackWerk Crunchy Chicken: €3.50
- Starbucks filter coffee: €3.70
- Burger King Chili Cheese Burger: €3.99
- Domino's Lava Cake: €3.99
- BackWerk Baguettino Tomate Mozzarella: €4.00
- Nordsee fried fish baguette: €4.29
- KFC Bucket for One Mix: €4.99
What is the VAT on restaurant food in Germany?
Prices include VAT, so what you see is what you pay. There was a big change at the start of 2026. Germany permanently cut the VAT rate on restaurant food from 19% to 7%. The lower rate now applies equally to eating in, takeaway and delivery. Drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, stay at the standard 19%.
A tax cut doesn't force a restaurant to change its menu prices. Some may pass on the saving. Others may not. We checked the prices in this guide in late August and early September 2026, after the change.
How much should you tip in Germany?
Tipping, called Trinkgeld, is a thank-you rather than an obligation.
- Sit-down restaurants: about 5% to 10% for good service is typical.
- Fast food and bakeries: no tip is expected.
- How to do it: tell the server the total you'd like to pay, including the tip, when they bring the card machine or bill. Saying "Stimmt so" means keep the change. For example, on a €28 bill, rounding up to €30 is a typical thank-you, which is about 7%.
Restaurants don't normally add a service charge, so the tip is separate. The tip calculator is handy for working out a percentage.
Are delivery apps more expensive in Germany?
Often. Many chains price their delivery menus higher than in-restaurant menus, and apps add delivery and service fees. Use the delivery markup calculator to see the real extra cost.
How can you save money eating out in Germany?
- Try the bakeries. A cheese roll at BackWerk is €2.00.
- Look for happy hours. L'Osteria lists a pizza happy hour from €6.90.
- Compare alone versus McMenü. A Big Mac is €7.50 alone and €12.10 as a McMenü on our list, so fries and a drink add €4.60.
- Share large orders. A KFC bucket costs less per person.
- Collect instead of delivery. You'll skip app fees.
Browse German menus by type
- Fast food: McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Subway, Domino's
- Burgers: Five Guys, Hans im Glück, Peter Pane
- Italian-style restaurants: Vapiano, L'Osteria
- Bakery, fish and coffee: Ditsch, BackWerk, Nordsee, Starbucks
Visiting from abroad? The currency converter handles euros, and our Price Index compares Germany with other countries.
How accurate are these prices?
German chains rarely publish one national menu, and prices can vary by city and location. Our figures come from menu-price websites and one official menu, checked between late August and October 2026.
Treat each price as a good, representative guide rather than a promise about your local restaurant. Each menu page shows when we last verified it, and you can read how we work on our methodology page.
Two extra cautions. Our McDonald's prices for Germany come from a list confirmed at a Würzburg restaurant in December 2025. They look high for a German McDonald's, so they may be delivery-app prices. And several German lists come from a menu-price site that doesn't say whether its prices are restaurant or delivery-app prices. Delivery prices are usually higher, so check the chain's app for your branch.