Eating with 3-year-old in Germany

Yes, the restaurants in Germany cater to kids. I can only speak for those restaurants in the northern portion of Germany (Hamburg and north) but we've never had a problem.

Usually, there is a childs menu that they can order from and its usually just a smaller portion of the adults food. Dont look for 'goodies' like you get at some chains but they still accomidate the youngsters by having a section with quiet toys or books for them to play with. I've never seen the plastic cups and straws, though so prepare.

Eating in Germany is more of an event instead of a meal. Be prepared to sit for awhile and the kids might get restless. Watch the kids - while they are welcome in all places, they shouldnt run wild.

What ever you do, be sure to get the Kinder eggs for your child. They're chocolate and have a prize in the middle that you build. Might be too small for a 3 yr old but its interesting to see how they can get it into an egg that small

From what I've seen, the only restaurants in Europe that offer kid's menus are the one's that blatantly cater to American tourists. I couldn't tell you about sippy cups, though.

Pretty much every German restaurant offers "Kinderteller" or "Für unsere kleinen Gäste", which usually is a sausage with fries, a small Schnitzel, fries or whatever else there might be.

Wow, that was a rude reply. I never said I was looking for pizza and cheeseburgers.

We have already taken our trip. For other parents who may have legitimate concerns like I did, there were usually a couple options on the menu which were specifically for children and all went very well. My 3-year-old LOVED wienerschnitzel -- which was usually an option on the kids' section of the menu. He also loved the sausages, which I had to slice up so they weren't choking hazards. And YES, I did bring disposable sippy cups (just as I have often done in US restaurants) -- and NO, restaurants in Germany never offered a similar item. My son was presented with tall glasses, which he would have definitely dumped all over the place. We filled up his sippy cup at the table, and he did just fine. :)

There is a main difference what kids in Germany eat compare to american kids ( pizza-hamburgers etc) if you want that there is plenty of macdonalds in germany.

Germany is a place with plenty of kids and i am amazed of the concerns some travels have in traveling in europe, One might think this travelers think Europa to be uneducated and uncultured. Please remember that part of a traveling experience is to try out new thing and be open to explore other cultures, if one is not willing to do that why bother traveling.

Quite frankly if you are in a german resturant and going to pull out your own dispos sippy cub the waiter/waitress will have a word with you. Go in a resturant and ask for a kids menu and ask for a kids cup. Also you can buy greatc cheap sandwiches in local Backer and Metzger stores( bakery and butchers)

Have a safe trip

I'm glad you had a nice trip with your son. Isn't that great that he liked the German food. I think that children who are adventerous eaters end up being fantastic traveling partners when they get older. My daughter is 16 now (typical age for American teenagers to only eat pizza), but she'll try anything. Last night we tried the eel-roll at our local sushi joint. Yum! (Although you had to NOT imaging what it looked like before it was made into the roll).

Good idea about bringing your own sippy cup. I'm sure that German children are used to handling those tall glasses, but your son is not. He's used to his sippy cups and that's what works for him. That way, you all were able to enjoy your vacation.