Restaurants

Munich is one of the very few European cities with more than one Michelin-rated three-star restaurant, and some of its sophisticated eating places are among the finest anywhere. This is where to practice Edelfresswelle (high-class gluttony), because you'll find many local specialties and first-class international cuisine. The classic local dish, usually consumed before noon, is Weisswurst, herb-flavored white-veal sausages blanched in water.

It is said that Münchners consume more beer than people do in any other German city. Bernd Boehle once wrote: "If a man really belongs to Munich, he drinks beer at all times of the day, at breakfast, at midday, at teatime, and in the evening, of course, he just never stops." The place where every first-time visitor heads for at least one eating and drinking fest is the Hofbräuhaus am Platzl.

Schwabing -- This district, which was called "bohemian" in the 1940s, overflows with restaurants. Many of them are awful, but there are several good ones, some of which attract a youthful clientele. The evening is the best time for a visit.

Beer Gardens

If you're in Munich between the first sunny spring day and the last fading light of a Bavarian-style autumn, you should head for one of the city's celebrated beer gardens (Biergartens). Traditionally, beer gardens were simply tables placed under chestnut trees planted above the storage cellars to keep beer cool in summer. People, naturally, started to drink close to the source of their pleasure, and the tradition has remained. (Lids on beer steins, incidentally, were meant to keep out flies.) It's estimated that today Munich has at least 400 beer gardens and cellars. Food, drink, and atmosphere are much the same in all of them: Solid citizens in feathered hats, Schickimickies (club-going Bavarian yuppies), grandmothers, students, and tourists rub shoulders as they down their hefty liter mugs of beer. And as you drink, it's a tradition to complain about anything and everything. Linguists have even coined a word for the local habit of mumbling into a stein of beer -- guanteln. And why not? It's a therapeutic, relatively inexpensive way to let off steam.