My wife and I will have the pleasure of spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Munich this year. In years past, we have enjoyed meals out at Syrian, Lebanese, and Chinese restaurants over the Christmas holiday in Europe. Any suggestions re: restaurants that would be open those two days specifically? We are staying near Gartnerplatz. Thanks.
From our experience in Munich about six years ago nothing except the beer halls are open on Christmas day. However, that is where everyone is. They are packed. We were surprised at how quickly everything closed on Christmas eve.
We were in Munich over the Christmas holiday almost 10 years ago (pre-Covid). Dec-24, just about everything closed up by early afternoon, as everyone went home to be with family. Unless you are staying with someone who will provide dinner, I'd suggest planning on a nice, relatively early lunch and picking up supplies for a light dinner at a grocery store in the morning.
In addition to the beer halls, some restaurants were open on the 25th. We made a reservation and had a very nice Christmas dinner at a restaurant by the Opera house.
Christmas Eve is on a Sunday this year, so that means stores will be closed anyway and any restaurants that might be open will most likely shut down by 1400. Hotels with nice restaurants will have a dinner, but you should reserve now.
Christmas Day is a booming business day for many restaurants, but of course there are some that shut down for that entire 3 day holiday or even up through New Years. Easier than paying staff all that holiday pay or finding staff to work on holidays. Just check their websites to see who is open on the 25th and 26th.