Many upmarket restaurants and award-winning eateries in Munich offer a lower cost lunchtime menu – and if you eat then, you have a very good chance of getting a table without booking ahead.
When you think of Munich's Michelin-starred cuisine, you immediately think of Tantris. Since the 1970s, the elegant restaurant in Schwabing has been a culinary and architectural highlight. Back then, under chef Eckart Witzigmann, the aim was to bring French haute cuisine to Munich. More than 50 years later, the vision is still the same: after the renovation, chef Benjamin Chmura is once again cooking modern French cuisine in the Menürestaurant and Tantris DNA. If you want to eat more spontaneously and at a lower price, reserve a place at the special lunch offer!
Three-course lunch menu 125 euros (Wednesday to Friday), four-course lunch menu incl. wine 200 euros (Saturdays only)
Tantris, Johann-Fichte-Straße 7, 80805 Munich
The Alois restaurant at Dallmayr only opened in 2018. Whoever enters the velvety-soft star restaurant on the first floor of the delicatessen feels a bit like they are in a Wes Anderson film. The new chef Rosina Ostler relies on many small courses - so at lunchtime eleven and in the evening a whole 16 delicacies await the guests. These include duck liver with redcurrant, trout with horseradish and wasabi or char with buttermilk and chives. If you go to Alois for lunch, you save 100 euros compared to the evening menu.
Lunch menu: 185 euros, Thursday to Saturday from 12 to 3 p.m.
Dallmayr, Dienerstrasse 14/15, 80331 Munich
The chef Mario Gamba has been running his own restaurant in Bogenhausen for 30 years, it has had one star since 2000 and some restaurant guides even consider it to be one of the best Italian restaurants in the world. Acquarello serves the finest Italian cuisine for both lunch and dinner. Gamba is one of the veterans of Munich's Michelin-starred gastronomy, having previously worked with Heinz Winkler at Tantris. Signature dishes such as braised beef and Gamba carpaccio are on the menu in the evening, while at lunchtime the three-course menu is cooked spontaneously depending on the day's shopping.
Three-course lunch menu: 85 euros, wine accompaniment: 45 euros, Tuesday to Friday lunchtime
Acquarello, Mühlbaurstraße 36, 81677 Munich
A few years ago, the Käfer delicatessen chain opened a purely vegetarian and vegan restaurant in Bogenhausen, which was awarded a green star by the Michelin Guide. The Green Beetle aims to demonstrate sustainability not only in the kitchen, but also in the interior and furnishings: the staff's clothes are made from recycled plastic, the shoes are made from pomace residues and the bar wall is made from nutshells. The menu features plant-based delicacies such as a champagne rye risotto with earth pear and roasted palm kale. At lunchtime, you can order a three-course menu or opt for just one main course.
Three-course lunch menu for 29 euros, main courses individually from 19 euros, Tuesday to Saturday from 12 to 3 pm
Green Beetle, Schumannstraße 9, 80538 Munich
Other star kitchens in Munich with lunch: Werneckhof Sigi Schelling, Mountain Hub Gourmet, Schwarzreiter, JAN, Brothers, Sparkling Bistro
Based on the format of the American deli, Der Dantler in Obergiesing has now made a name for itself far beyond its local district. Eat here in the evening and you'll pay €90 for your meal. If you want to sample the Bavarian-American world of Dantler, lunchtime is a better option. You'll be served home-made pasta, pastrami sandwiches, Giesinger Ramen (soup) plus the fish dish of the day. And don't forget dessert, of course.
Three-course lunch: €43, Tuesday to Friday from 12 am to 14 pm
Der Dantler, Werinherstrasse 15, 81541 Munich
From the outside, this place looks more French – but that might also be down to the district because Haidhausen is still known today at the French Quarter. But what the Vinaiolo serves up is fine Italian cuisine and a selection of wines that are not just for looking at. The countless wine bottles sit in a 100-year-old merchant's chest that lines the walls of this romantic restaurant. On the menu are pecorino ravioli with shrimps and caviar, sea bass with salt crust or shoulder of veal with truffle and potato purée – and just because it's lunchtime doesn't mean you can't enjoy a glass of wine.
Businesslunch: two courses from 33 euros, three courses for 46.50 euros, four courses for 56 euros (Monday to Friday from 12 noon to 3 pm)
Vinaiolo, Steinstrasse 42, 81667 Munich
For 20 years, the Blaue Bock restaurant in the hotel of the same name has been a favourite place to go in Munich's old town. The restaurant impresses with its consistently upscale cuisine and its unique location next to Viktualienmarkt and Schrannenhalle - and in summer you can sit outside! Tafelspitz, veal head and duck liver: the menu reads rather classically. Fish fans will find what they are looking for among the delicacies such as caviar and vintage sardines. For the lunch menu, you can choose between starter and terrine, and between fish and meat for the main course.
Two-course lunch menu for 35.90 euros including water and espresso, Tuesday to Saturday from 12 noon to 3 pm
Restaurant Blauer Bock, Sebastiansplatz 9, 80331 Munich
The chef Mona John cooked in France for a long time, and during the pandemic she launched the "Cooking for Neighbours" project in Munich. The idea: you could order her dishes in advance and then pick them up from her for little money! The concept continued after coronavirus, and she also opened her own restaurant. In the tiny Coup de Coeur in the Westend, you can currently try John's weekly changing creations, especially at lunchtime. There is always a choice of one meat, one fish and one vegetarian dish as well as two desserts. And it's not just the cuisine that is French, the Coup de Coeur itself is reminiscent of a small bistro in Paris.
Lunch dishes around 20 euros, desserts 7 euros, Monday to Friday from 12 noon
Coup de Coeur, Westendstraße 29, 80339 Munich
