Naturally, there are exceptions to these averages on both sides of the Atlantic.
Stops on a shopping trip might include a Bäckerei, for both Brot und Brötchen; a Markt, a large outdoor area where local farmers bring their fruits and vegetables to sell; Metzger or Fleischer, two different words for ‘butcher’; and a Supermarkt for a few canned items.
Germans shop frequently because they want their Brot und Brötchen to be frisch. A German Bäckerei can have up to two hundred different types of Brot!
A typical German Kühlschrank tends to be smaller than an American one, because Germans don’t want to keep food around too long: it won’t be frisch then.
In a Metzgerei oder Fleischerei, there is Rindfleisch, Schweinefleisch, und Huhn. Sometimes there’s also Ziegenfleisch, Enten, und Gänse. There are more than 1,500 different types of Wurst in Germany.
Zum Frühstück Germans often have Brot oder Brötchen with Käse, Butter, Wurst, oder Marmelade, and eine Tasse Kaffee oder eine Tasse Tee.
If you’re not at home, there are several words which describe a place to eat: Restaurant, Gaststätte, Gaststube, or Lokal. Ein Imbiss is a fast-food place. If you want to eat outdoors, look for a Gartenlokal or a Biergarten.
Ein Gasthof is a hotel, but it will usually have a restaurant in it as well.
In American restaurants, the waiter or waitress will usually set glasses of water on the table at the beginning of the meal. This is done automatically, without the customer’s request. The water is free: there is no charge for it.
In a German restaurant, water is not automatically set on the table. The customer must request it, and will pay for it. If you order Wasser, you’ll be given Mineralwasser in a bottle, not from the faucet.
German restaurants include a tip or gratuity in the bill, so there is no need to leave a significant tip for the Kellner oder Kellnerin. Most customers simply round up the total to the nearest Euro and so give a small tip.
During the meal, Germans usually hold forks in their left hands and knives in their right hands. Cloth napkins are a bit more popular in Germany than in the United States.
Outside the restaurant, near the door, a Speisekarte is usually posted, so that you can read about which types of food are offered, and how much things cost there.
In many German towns, there is a traditional restaurant located underneath the city hall, called a Ratskeller.
If you don’t want a full meal, but rather only ein Stück Kuchen und eine Tasse Kaffee, you can go to a Café or to a Konditorei.
