Restaurant Customs

There are a few things about dining in Garmisch and Bavaria that might be a bit different than what you’re used to. Here’s what you should know.

Water is not free, and most of the time it is more than a beer or glass of wine.

The default water is sparkling water, if you want still make sure you specify. Look for “naturell” when buying water at the store.

When you want to pay, you just flag down your server. The culture is not to rush you out of the table.

It is always helpful to have a reservation. Especially during holiday breaks, it is not uncommon to be turned away because the restaurant is full.

Tipping is appreciated but not expected the same way as the US. A 10% tip is going to be on the high end of tipping here. It’s perfectly acceptable to tip a few euros. Or round up to the nearest 5.

It is more polite to hand a cash tip directly to the server or just tell them to keep the change. Leaving it on the table is not as common.

To tip when paying by card, look at the total of your bill, round up and ask them to charge the total amount including the tip you’d like to give.

Example:

The bill is 23.20.

“Please charge 25 Euros.”