Menu in German: Speisekarte, Menü and How to Read One

Quick answer: The word for a restaurant menu in German is die Speisekarte (SHPY-zuh-kar-tuh), often shortened to die Karte. The German word das Menü is a false friend: it means a set meal of several courses at a fixed price. To ask for the menu, say “Die Speisekarte, bitte”.

How do you say menu in German?

English uses one word for two things. German splits them, in the same way French does.

“Speise” means food or dish, and “Karte” means card, so Speisekarte is literally a “food card”. If you ask for “das Menü”, the server may think you want the set meal. Asking for “die Karte” is always safe.

One more trap sits on computer and phone screens. A software menu is also “das Menü” in German, so translation tools sometimes pick the wrong word when you look up “menu” without context.

How is a German menu organized?

A German menu follows the order of the meal, and the headings repeat from restaurant to restaurant. Learn these and you can find your way around almost any Speisekarte.

In Austria the headings are the same, but some food words change. Potatoes are Erdäpfel instead of Kartoffeln, and whipped cream is Schlagobers instead of Sahne.

Many menus print small numbers or letters after a dish. These point to a key at the bottom of the page that lists allergens and additives, such as gluten, nuts or milk. It is worth finding that key before you order.

What do German cooking terms on a menu mean?

These German menu terms tell you how a dish was prepared. Most are past participles that begin with “ge”, which makes them easy to spot.

The main ingredient words are short. Schwein is pork, Rind is beef, Kalb is veal, Hähnchen or Huhn is chicken, Pute is turkey and Lamm is lamb. Kartoffeln are potatoes, Pilze are mushrooms, Käse is cheese and Ei is egg.

Why are German dish names so long?

German joins words together to build new ones, and menus are full of these compounds. The trick is to read them from the end. The last part tells you what the thing is, and the parts before it describe it.

• Schweinebraten = Schwein (pork) + Braten (roast): roast pork
• Kartoffelsalat = Kartoffel (potato) + Salat (salad): potato salad
• Rinderroulade = Rinder (beef) + Roulade (roll): a rolled, braised slice of beef
• Apfelstrudel = Apfel (apple) + Strudel: apple strudel
• Bratkartoffeln = Brat (fried) + Kartoffeln (potatoes): fried potatoes

Some classic names need a little background. A Wiener Schnitzel is made from veal. A Schnitzel Wiener Art (“Viennese style”) is the same idea made with pork. Spätzle are soft egg noodles, Knödel are dumplings, an Eintopf is a thick one-pot stew, and Sauerbraten is beef marinated in vinegar and then braised.

Which German phrases help when you order?

A few polite phrases cover most of a meal. “Bitte” means please, and it goes at the end.

Water needs its own note. If you ask for “Wasser”, you will usually get bottled sparkling water. Stilles Wasser is still water, and mit Kohlensäure means with bubbles. Tap water is Leitungswasser, and not every restaurant serves it.

How do you translate a German menu with your phone?

German is written in the Latin alphabet, so a camera translator can read a printed menu directly. In the current version of AI Translate, the camera reads Latin-script text, and German is included, umlauts and ß as well.

1. Before you travel, download the German and English language packs. Each one is about 30 MB.
2. Open the Text tab and point the camera at the menu. Hold the phone steady and parallel to the page.
3. The translation is drawn over the original text, block by block. Tap Freeze to hold the frame so you can read without keeping your arm still.
4. If you photographed the menu earlier, tap the gallery button on the camera screen and pick the photo. The translated text appears in a sheet that you can copy.
5. For a single word the camera struggles with, type it into the Translate tab.

Once the packs are downloaded, all of this works with no signal. That matters in a cellar restaurant or a mountain hut. The offline translator page explains what to set up before you fly.

A few things make any camera translator less accurate. Chalkboard specials in handwriting are hard to read. So are menus in old Gothic lettering, which some traditional taverns still use. Regional dish names often have no English equivalent, so expect a literal result such as “heaven and earth” for Himmel und Erde, a dish of potatoes and apples. The guide to translating German to English from a picture covers fonts and long compounds in more detail.

If your trip crosses borders, the same approach works for a menu in French and for a Spanish menu.

What should you remember?

Ask for “die Speisekarte” or “die Karte”, not “das Menü”, unless you want the set meal. Read section headings first, then look for the “ge” cooking words and the last part of each long compound. Check the allergen key at the bottom of the page if you need it.

For more German help, including typed translation, spoken audio and offline use, see the German translator page.