9 Best Restaurants in Altstadt, Munich

Tucked into a quaint little square off Viktualienmarkt, this delightful Bratwurst joint, dating from 1901, cooks up specialty sausages over an open grill right in the main red-brick vaulted dining room. There's also a decent schnitzel and roast pork with potato dumplings on the menu.

The Hofbräuhaus is the most famous beer hall not just in Munich but in the world—a kitschy multiroom space with a pounding oompah band and singing and shouting drinkers contributing to the festive atmosphere. The courtyard beer garden provides an escape from the noise in good weather, and there's also a quieter upstairs restaurant where the food is fine, although there are better places in Munich for Bavarian cuisine.

This cozy, alpine lodge–style restaurant in a small street behind the Rathaus is a treat for those craving an old-world tavern, complete with live accordion playing and yodelers who perform most nights, telling jokes and poking fun at their adoring guests in unintelligible Bavarian slang. The food is traditional Bavarian and the tasty beer is from the Ayinger brewery.

One of Munich's most popular taverns is dedicated to Nürnberger Bratwürste (finger-size grilled sausages), a specialty from the rival Bavarian city of Nuremberg. They're served by Dirndl-clad waitresses who flit between crowded tables in the dark-paneled dining rooms with remarkable agility; in warmer months, tables are placed outside beneath the towering Frauenkirche.

From the ivy-covered façade to the vaulted dining room ceiling, everything about this stylish restaurant set in a 16th-century grain mill is appealing. The kitchen interprets Bavarian dishes in a modern fashion, with a concise menu focusing on locally sourced fish and game, though a smattering of vegetarian dishes are also available. A reasonably priced weekday prix-fixe lunch menu offers four small courses (including vegetarian options).

This café, on a busy street between the Stadtmuseum and Viktualienmarkt, is as Bavarian as you can get, though it serves neither typical great slabs of meat nor Knödel. The fryers are turned on in the morning for Viktualienmarkt workers until the late afternoon; at midday, lines of people wait for helpings of freshly cooked Schmalznudel, a selection of doughnut-type creations, from apple to sugar-coated to plain, that are served hot, either to take away or eat in the café with a cup of coffee.

If you've developed a taste for Weissbier, this Munich institution—beautifully restored to something approaching how it would have looked when first opened in the 1870s—is the place to indulge. The tasty wheat beer from Schneider, a Bavarian brewery in existence since 1872, is served with hearty Bavarian dishes by famously straight-talking waitresses.

You'll have great views of Munich's grand opera house and the Bavarian National Theater, not to mention the hand-painted ceilings, on the second floor of this restaurant, though the outdoor tables facing Max-Joseph Square are best for people-watching. The kitchen turns out a mix of Bavarian and Austrian fare, plus a handful of lighter fish dishes, and what's considered the best Wiener schnitzel in the city. The menu for the first floor and terrace is less expensive.

Munich's oldest wine tavern serves upscale food as well as superior wines in its two nooks: the wood-panel restaurant and the weinstube (wine bar). The menu is excellent, from classic Wiener schnitzel to fish to modern interpretations of Bavarian and Austrian dishes.