"WOW" fun brew/dining spots in safe neighborhoods - Munich, Salzburg & Berlin?

Meaning "not dangerous"...

You won't find any place in Germany "dangerous" compared to St Louis.

In Munich, after people have seen the sights in the city center, I usually recommend they check out Haidhausen on the other side of the Isar. Lots of great restaurants and beer halls. I like Cafe Volia and the Haidhauser Augustiner on Wörthstraße. Hofbraükeller on Wienerplatz has a nice beer garden.

DJ

The best thing to do and what I always recommend is to do a walking tour your first day in each city. Your guide will point out places to eat and drink and you get a great orientation to the city as well as learn something too. For Berlin, my recommendation is for Insider tours and for Munich it would be Radius tours. They only cost 14 € and the tours last 4 hours.

If you see these areas/neighborhoods "dangerous" what about the locals? How do they perceive such areas? In Berlin the so-called neighborhoods labelled as dangerous ( by US standards they are still Kindergarten) are totally off the tourist radar, especially the American tourist radar

Beerhalls can be found all over Germany. One place I would recommend in Berlin is Schwartzwaldstube, which is near Oranienburger Strasse S-Bahn station. I also like Staendige Vertretung, which is on the river bank near Friedrichstrasse, and is a Rhineland bar/restaurant.

Of course, Hofbrauhaus is on the list in Munich. We will be there three nights...

Frankly, I'd do that only if I wished to spent my evenings midst of drunk North Germans, Chinese and Aussies (the latter easily discernible by their predilection for shouting "Heil Hitler" in progressive state of drunkness): the Hofbräuhaus is a tourist trap, a plastic monster that has nothing to do with Bavarian traditions and customs. Well, I know, its tempting (and I have to show it to overseas visitors now and again), so have a look inside, try a Maß, and if you don't like it go to a better place. Decent beer halls include the Augstiner (Neuhauser Strasse), the Hacker house (Sendlinger Straße), the Weisses Bräuhaus (im Tal) and (on a more elevated level) the Spatenhaus (Residenzstraße).

Beer gardens in the city include Augustiner Keller (Arnulfstraße), the beer garden at the Chinese tower in the Englische Garden, Park Cafe (Sophienstraße), Hofbräukeller (Wiener Platz). For an (almost) complete list see: http://www.munichbeergardens.com/Main_Page

I also like Staendige Vertretung, which is on the river bank near Friedrichstrasse, and is a Rhineland bar/restaurant.

I agree! And i like not only the food but also the name of that inn. »Ständige Vertretung« was the name of the former West German embassy in East Berlin (which of political reasons was not called an embassy). And the actual »Ständige Vertretung« ist a nostalgic and culinaric refuge for all that poor government employees who had to move from Bonn and the Rineland to Berlin after 1990.

"We're looking forward to visiting all of the fun & casual places in safe neighborhoods that we can squeeze in."

Berlin is generally a safe city but not crime-free - and visitors are more likely to be victimized in certain locations. Pickpocketing recently surged 26% in one year according to the most recent (2015) annual report - more than 40,000 incidents were reported to police. You will definitely have more fun if you don't lose your passport and/or valuables. The City of Berlin offers this heads-up guide in English.

The maps on this page were published by the Berlin police to indicate the specific neighborhoods/locations where pickpockets have been most heavily reported in the most recent 30-day period.

A rough paraphrase of the German text... Pickpockets in Berlin target areas that are attractive to tourists. (which IMO implies that they have some skills at spotting people who look like tourists.) Pickpocketing is chronic in these Berlin locations:

Breitscheidplatz
Tauentzienstraße
Alexanderplatz
Friedrichstraße
Potsdamer Platz
Warschauer Straße
Tegel airport
public transport (train stations, etc.)

Best wishes for a fun trip.

Every time I'm in Munich I visit the Hirschgarten and Augustiner Keller beer gardens. Both serve the amazing Augustinerbrau beer and the Hirschgarten has the distinction of being the world's largest beer garden, seating around 8,000 people. I also had a great time at the Augustiner Bräustuben. A trip to Munich is also not complete without visiting the English Garden and having a sit down at the Chinesischer Turm, another beer garden. In Salzburg, don't miss the Augustiner BrauStubl. They have a great food arcade there! Since you are in the area, a night at the Andechs Monestary would be nice! I could go on and on about beer drinking in the area!

Warschauer Straße is the one place I haven't been to on that list, even though it's a major S-Bahn station.

We spent so much of our time in Munich in Eataly. We absolutely loved that place.

For classic German fare, we really enjoyed Wirsthaus zum Straubinger. You would likely need a reservation here, but we were lucky to grab the last two seats at the bar on a Sunday for lunch. It's always pretty packed so I think that's a good sign that the food is amazing.

We found some of the best Lebanese, Turkish, and Indian food near our hotel (Courtyard city center) and some people say that area is "shady". In my opinion, those are the neighborhoods with the most potential for an amazing food experience that you may not have had before. Don't short change a place based on preconceived notions of what you would expect in the US.

Another vote for the Augustiner Keller beer garden--the ambiance simply can't be beat, especially on a warm summer night. We also did a bike ride through the English Garden and came across a tiny beer garden (Hofbrau, I believe it was?). It was a great place to stop and enjoy a beer and something to eat before finishing our bike ride. Enjoy your trip!

We also did a bike ride through the English Garden and came across a tiny beer garden (Hofbrau, I believe it was?).

Yes, the Mini-Hofbraü. Great little place.

DJ

While in Munich we enjoyed a meal at Haxnbauer which is know for their pork knuckles. It is a step above casual and reservations are recommended. It is located between Marienplatz and the Hofbrauhaus. Their menu is online, but did not pull up on the main page, it shows up when I clicked on the menu link from the maps page, so that is what I linked below.

http://www.kuffler.de/en/haxnbauer_map.php

In addition to my Haidhausen recommendations I'd also add Paulaner am Nockherberg. Its a wonderful restaurant and Biergarten that is often voted the most beautiful in Munich by readers of the Abendzeitung (local paper).

DJ

In Berlin, do the Berlin Mitte Food tour (https://www.berlinfoodtour.de/tours/berlin-mitte-food-tour/). Guide was awesome, both with food/drink places and with culture/history points. Can't say enough good things about this activity!

I'll second Rob's recommendation for the Augustiner Bräustübl in Kloster Mülln. It should provide the experience you are looking for. Details are in the RS Guidebook, just a short walk from the city center. It is a delightful beer experience. The rotisserie chicken was as delicious as the beer.

the Hofbräuhaus is a tourist trap, a plastic monster that has nothing
to do with Bavarian traditions and customs

I hate to disagree with a native German like SLA, but I have been to the Hofbräuhaus numerous times and always enjoyed it. I used to belong to a German club in Denver that consisted mostly of old Bavarians, and their parties closely resembled your average stay at the Hofbräuhaus, with it's Ompah band. I think it is what they remember from Bavaria, which makes it kind of traditional.

The first night I was ever in Munich, the office manager for the company's German headquarters took us to Augustiner on Neuhauser Str. as an example of a traditional German beer hall. I was quite frankly under-impressed. No atmosphere, but maybe that's what "traditional" Munich beer halls are. That was years ago, but back then there was no German band playing (which has been at Hofbräuhaus every time I've been there).

In 2012, I spent an evening at the open-air Biergarten at Weihenstephan in Freising and enjoyed it.

I've never felt unsafe walking the streets of Munich at any hour.