German Restaurants Are Expanding: 57 Concepts You Should Know

While Germany has long been considered a country offering many traditional dishes, there are now an increasing number of restaurants popping up that are bringing new flavours to the table. 

The country is a playground for hospitality entrepreneurs, and we have the proof: a round-up of the 57 expanding restaurant businesses with solid concepts and strong operations. You’ll find everything and anything: classic burger joints, steakhouses and pizzerias, but also cat temples and American diners. But even within the same category, you’ll find very distinctive brand personalities. 

Ready for a deep dive? In no particular order – let’s go…

Hans im Glück 

In the Brothers Grimm’s fairy tale Hans in Luck, Hans starts his journey with a big piece of gold, which he trades down for things of lesser value. Eventually he remains with nothing, but he’s happier than ever. Burger chain Hans im Glück embraces the same less is more philosophy for its burgers: only fresh ingredients and the highest quality. You don’t really need anything more to be happy. Hans im Glück offers a creative interpretation of the ‘burger’ for the health-conscious crowd. 

United Curry

If you ever had a currywurst in Germany, chances are it was at one of United Curry’s franchises: Wurst Teufel, Grillbar, GrillGut, or Bratwerk. United Curry has a systematic approach to creating and managing different brands of the typical German snack. Aspiring franchisees will find different types of locations for all settings: food stalls and mobile food trucks for areas with high foot traffic, and mini counters and larger bars for train stations, supermarkets, and petrol stations. 

Immergrün

Immergrün is evergreen food for fresh people. This vegetarian concept started out in 2005 in Berlin as a juice and smoothie bar. 17 years later, the chain has evolved into a go-to place for vegans, vegetarians, and also omnivores who want to take a break from meat and enjoy salads, falafels or wraps made to order with ultra-fresh ingredients. 

Nordsee GmbH

Not many modern restaurant chains can claim to have been in the business for more than 120 years. Nordsee is one of them. Founded in 1896 as a fishery and wholesaler, in 1964 it opened the first seafood restaurant/fish shop — where one could eat seafood-based meals or buy raw seafood to take home — and grew very rapidly from there. Today, Nordsee operates solely as a seafood retailer and restaurant, with more than 370 stores worldwide and the same passion for fresh sustainable seafood. 

Kochlöffel

The wooden spoon is a simple but evocative image of what this chain of snack restaurants stands for: home, and not just for the honest-to-goodness grilled chicken and currywurst, but also for the values of trust, care, and friendliness that this family business – run by the second generation – has put forward for more than 60 years. The Kochlöffel chain has about 80 outlets and is actively looking for new franchisees. 

Frittenwerk

True to their battle cry ‘Fries before guys’, at Frittenwerk they love fries and won’t apologize for it. The menu features three types of dishes served in many different versions: poutine (French fries topped by cheese and gravy), various fried snacks, and salads for the cholesterol-conscious. The level of Frittenpride is such that this chain also has a whole range of merchandise (t-shirts, sweaters, bags, and even gold chains) dedicated to their love for the humble spud, fried like the French (or is it the Belgian?) do. 

L’Osteria

In Italy, L’Osteria is a restaurant where you give up fancy decor in exchange for homemade traditional food, cooked with time-honoured recipes that have been handed down for generations in the cook’s family. In Germany, l’Osteria took this concept and added a touch of modernity. The first restaurant opened in 1999, and since then they have expanded like their pizzas, which go well beyond the edge of the plate. 

Peter Pane

At Peter Pane (pronounced as it’s written, which means bread in Italian) they create burgers in an atmosphere of light-heartedness and joy. Except when it comes to helping the community, which is when they get serious. The chain has a charity program that has given over €350,000 over four years to support projects for children and young people and organizes BMX workshops with pro-athlete Chris Böhm. 

Back-Factory

Whether you are a professional or occasional snacker, the Back-Factory has a range of freshly prepared sandwiches, hot snacks, pastries and baked items to happily treat yourself between meals. The first Back-Factory opened in 2002 as a self-service bakery, and a few years later the concept evolved from ‘grub’ngo’ to ‘snack and linger’. The brand was acquired in 2021 by foodservice giant Valora. 

Extrablatt

Far from your usual watering hole, Extrablatt is a pub open to everyone, young and old, every day at any time of the day. It’s a family-run business that develops food and takes care of logistics all internally, to give customers a relaxed experience. The menu includes burgers, a breakfast buffet, cocktails and the ever-present currywurst. 

Sausalitos

A 29-year-young restaurant chain that offers authentic Californian-Mexican cuisine with a menu featuring burgers and burritos, chicken wings and quesadillas, and the widest selection of cocktails you’ll ever find in any restaurant. The ambience is as colourful as its dishes, with themes of two Mexican icons, Frida Kahlo and The Day of the Dead. Sausalitos’ heart, however, is definitely green: they only use biodegradable packaging materials and work with regional suppliers of meat and vegetables. They will plant a tree in Ghana for each Green Karma Mojito that gets ordered.     

Coffee Fellows

Coffee Fellows is all about excellent coffees. The two founders, Stefan and Kathi in 2019 travelled to the foot of Kilimanjaro to get to know in person the farmers who produce their beans. Espressos and cappuccinos are not really prepared, rather, they’re handcrafted by capable baristas who play with grinding mesh, water temperature and brewing time to give the best coffee experience. The brand includes a Coffee Fellows Hotel in Dortmund, where you can feel at home, before and after having a great macchiato. 

Ma’loa

The idea of bringing a piece of Hawaii to Germany came to Ma’loa’s founder Daniel Brandes during a trip to the island. Ma’loa is, indeed, the closest you can get to the Aloha State without leaving Germany. You won’t just get Poké Bowls for every type of diet – vegan, vegetarian, low-carb, gluten-free or paleo – made with the freshest seafood and vegetables, but also a taste of the Island’s vibe, its friendliness, colours, and laid-back attitude. 

MUNDFEIN

An open kitchen, a modern design and fresh preparation – these are the secrets of MUNDFEIN‘s success. The company was founded in 2008, and already represents over 40 pizza stores in Germany and has been a certified full member of the German Franchise Association since 2015. The franchise MUNDFEIN Pizzawerkstatt operates delivery services for tasty pizza of the finest quality. Frozen ingredients are taboo: the yeast dough is fresh. The brand does not use industrial pre-production. MUNDFEIN was named “Best Pizza Delivery Service” by deutschlandtest.de and received the “Best Product Quality” award for the second time in a row in 2023.

BackWerk

If you step foot in any of the 400 BackWerk outlets, you’ll be welcomed by an incredibly wide choice of baked goods of all types. Sandwiches, hot dogs, pizzas, muffins, pretzels, and of course, bread: imagine anything baked, sweet or savoury, BackWerk probably has it. It was launched in 2001 as a self-service bakery, and it remains true to this concept, adding cold and hot drinks, salads and even fresh fruits. In 2017, the brand was acquired by food service provider Valora. 

Burgerme

In the last three years, many restaurants were forced to rely on deliveries to survive. For Burgerme, delivery has been at the core of its business model since its inception in 2010. The simple formula ‘premium burgers delivered in 25 minutes’ is a proven success and the chain is growing at a stunning pace, breaking one record turnover after another. Their menu includes evergreens like cheeseburgers and new launches for vegans and vegetarians. 

Ciao Bella

Ciao Bella is based on a simple principle: Italian food (the real one, the one made with fresh ingredients and love) should be a fundamental right for everyone. You won’t find the entire universe of Italian cuisine there, just the staples we all know and love: pizza and pasta with salads and starters. It’s the “Italian next door” for your quick breaks, when you have little time, but you still want to eat tasty and fresh.  

Kamps

Kamps prides itself – and rightly so – on finding the right balance between artisanal bakery and modern efficiency. Bread, pastries and the rest of their baked products are prepared without the usual shortcuts of industrial bakeries such as using additives and ready-made baking mixes. What Kamps uses are home-made sourdough, its own recipes, and the craftsmanship and patience of its bakers. Founded in 1982, in May 2015 Kamps was acquired by Groupe Le Duff, a French global operator in the Café and Bakery space. 

Janny’s Eis

Janny’s Eis was founded in 1982 by Slovenian emigrant John Ferdinand Komac in Ellingstedt, a small village in the North of Germany. In 1989 the business was sold to Schöller (an ice cream giant at the time), and eventually became part of the Nestlé Group. Today, Janny’s Eis is the largest ice cream franchise in Germany. Many years have passed, but the memory of Komac (who recently passed away in his home country) and his entrepreneurial spirit are still celebrated in Ellingstedt. 

Pommesfreunde

To bring you the best street food, Pommesfreunde went to the four corners of the world, so you won’t have to: Belgium for the fries, Chicago for burgers, Berlin for the currywurst, and New York for the hot dogs. Carefully selected meat and potato suppliers (there’s no such thing as frozen pre-fried fries there), vegan and halal choices are the hallmarks of Pommesfreunde’s quality and love for gourmet street food. 

Smiley’s Pizza Profis

The logo of this American-style pizza chain is a Smiley with a retro design, which tells you right away that Smiley’s Pizza was founded in the 1980s and that its mission from day one has been to put a smile on their customers’ faces. Each pizza dough is freshly prepared several times a day and can also be ordered with a 100% wholemeal flour with a tried-and-tested blend of spelt, rye and wheat. In the 1990s they pioneered a film + pizza service with a video cassette (remember those?) delivered with the pizza. In 2006 they even served pizza to Michael Jackson when in Hamburg for a concert. 

Wonder Waffel

Abiding to its motto “Create (your) one Wonder”, Wonder Waffel uses waffles as a canvas where each customer can create their own version of joy, adding fruits, toppings, and sauces. 250 options should be enough. The idea for Wonder Waffel came to founder Ulvi Topciuoglu from the waffle sellers in Istanbul and the wide choice of toppings. Since opening shop in Berlin in 2011, the concept has had many copycats, but the original still beats them all.

Extrawurst

The story of Extrawurst (which in German means extra sausage and also special treatment) starts in 1981, when a young dad called Lothar Hagebaum, with a burning desire to build something new and to be his own boss, opens his stand to sell burgers and sausages. Early on he decides to focus on sausages and starts to experiment with new flavours, such as curry-arrabbiata sausages or Christmas sausages with cinnamon. Today, Extrawurst enjoys a growing success, with 25 outlets that sell 1,000,000 sausages and 200,000 lbs of fries every year. 

Gosch GmbH

Gosch Seafood restaurants are an institution in Germany. Their well-deserved reputation started in the 1960s on the island of Sylt, when Jürgen Gosch started to sell eels on the beach. After opening several more fish stands, Gosch launched his first restaurant in 1986, and 30 more in the following years. Gosch restaurants cook fish, but also smoke it and process it. Unrelenting passion for seafood over five decades.

Enchilada Franchise GmbH

Enchilada are the people behind Pommesfreunde and 12 more brands. The group takes its name from their first concept, a Mexican food + cocktail combination that opened its doors in 1990 in Munich. Those that followed had one thing in common: variety. Enchilada’s portfolio includes Lautenschlager’s traditional Swabian cuisine, Carls Brauhaus’ German pub grub, and Noah’s & Zoe’s Place’s multinational vibe to name a few. Whether you want to enjoy a night out or start a new adventure as a franchisee, the Enchilada team has something for everyone. 

Mitchells & Butlers Germany GmbH

The German subsidiary of the British foodservice powerhouse Mitchells & Butlers is still relatively small (‘only’ 43 outlets), but it’s one of the top-selling operators in the country. Its brands are ALEX, an all-in-one concept that can be a café, bistro, restaurant, or bar; Brasserie, based on the classic French coffee house; Miller & Carter, for meat lovers in pursuit of the perfect steak. 

Gastro & Soul GmbH

Gastro & Soul is a group with more than 20 years of experience in the foodservice industry. They started with the colourful and modern Cafe de Sol and soon expanded to other concepts, to include German and Italian cuisine and the unmissable steakhouse. What makes them unique, however, is the in-house academy (called the Suniversity), where they train employees to exceed guests’ expectations. 

Yorma’s

The success of Yorma’s s coffee shops is based equally on the quality of food and efficiency. Yorma’s mission is to serve fresh and tasty food on-the-go for people in a hurry. Since Yorma Eber opened the first outlet in 1985, he has pursued this mission unrelentingly, taking care of all the details: the locations (busy train and subway stations), the food offer (50% packaged products, 50% freshly prepared), and store layout. 

Freddy Fresh AG

Founded by Michael and Jana Welde, Freddy Fresh is many things altogether: an American-style pizza that diners love, captivating branding, a data-driven business that is constantly following the changing tastes of customers, where each menu is adapted following locations and seasons, and a tried and tested franchising system that ensures a steady income for franchisees and steady expansion. Exactly like any foodservice business should be. 

Gustoso Gruppe

Gustoso is not just a group that manages six successful brands in Germany and Switzerland. They are also concept developers for anyone with the right idea for a restaurant, who doesn’t have the experience or know-how, or for existing restaurants that want to expand through franchising. Gustoso takes care of the whole project: market analysis, expansion strategy and branding.  

Pizza Max

Pizza Max is a simple concept that has been perfected over more than 30 years: pizzas, burgers and pasta with personality and taste, for collection and delivery only. They grow slowly and wisely and hire their own drivers. The menu includes classics from both sides of the Ocean, like margherita and Hawaiian (with pineapple), plus new daring toppings like chicken curry and hot dog. 

Orlen Deutschland GmbH

Orlen is a Polish oil and gas company that operates several petrol stations and adjacent coffee shops in Germany under the Star brand. The Star Cafes are designed to welcome travellers who want to have a coffee and snack on the go or want to linger and relax in a comfortable environment before they resume their trip. 

Der Beck GmbH

Der Beck bakery has existed for almost 130 years. However, it was only in 1979, three generations later, that Petra and Siegfried Beck turned it into a much larger business with 150 branches. This long tradition is carried on today with great dedication by the 5th Beck generation. Product offer has expanded to include sandwiches, cakes, salads, and egg dishes for breakfast. The latest addition were five branches of Casa Pane, a Mediterranean restaurant with pizza and other baked treats prepared in a stone oven. 

Flying Pizza

With 36 years in business, Flying Pizza can rightfully claim to be a pioneer of the pizza scene in Germany. The whole branding is built around the airport theme, and their pizzas feature toppings with explosive flavours in classic NY style. In October 2021 the Flying Pizza brand was acquired by Norwegian food conglomerate Orkla. 

Pappert GmbH & Co. KG

Pappert is a family bakery that has existed for almost 100 years, although the original baker in the family can be traced back to the 17th century. The brand is the perfect example of how it’s possible for a business to remain true to its roots while evolving into a modern brand. Their offer includes the classic bakery shops, plus speciality shops with a living room atmosphere that serve hot dishes, and ‘fitness baker’ an ongoing series of fitness classes for customers and employees. 

Karls Erlebnisdorf

The story of Karls amusement parks is the stuff fairy tales are made of. It started in 1921 when Karl Dahl founded a fruit and vegetable farm in a small village in Mecklenburg, which later shut down and was replaced by a strawberry farm after WWII. The strawberry business thrived until the Dahl family decided to bring the original farm in Mecklenburg back to life. And then, when a small playground was built in front of the courtyard door of the farm shop, a new adventure began. Today Karls Erlebnisdorf is an amazing universe made of adventures for kids of all ages, hotels, restaurants and even a radio station. 

TopTop Donuts

One type of food – donuts – 112 ways to serve it: that’s how many types of donuts you will find on their menu. There’s an infinite variety of icings, fillings, toppings, even the most daring ones that you would have never dreamt of trying, and a whole range of donuts in an XXL format.

Founded by Moroccan businessmen Fouad El Hasnaoui and Mahmoud Maataoui, the TopTop Donuts concept targets young people, especially those in their mid-20s. 

Monkey Donuts

The most used word on Monkey Donuts‘ website to describe the brand is: seriousness. About the quality of their donuts, about satisfying customers’ tastes with a constant eye on the market, and about their franchising model. As founder Aylin Erdemir says, Monkey Donuts is not a fad, but a model of success.   

Royal Donuts

Founded in 2018 in Aachen, Royal Donuts went from 1 to more than 200 donut shops in five years. If that’s not impressive growth, we don’t know what is. True to its motto ‘from Aachen to the world’, the company is still headquartered there, in spite of the non-central position of the city (which is close to the border with Belgium). In addition to the usual ingredients galore, Royal Donuts has an online tool to customize your donut. 

Käfer Feinkost

The history of this foodservice empire started in 1930 when Elsa and Paul Käfer opened a gourmet food shop that sold selected wines, spirits, beers, fruits and vegetables and homemade mayonnaise. After a break during WWII, the shop added a restaurant, a catering service, and a line of branded products sold in supermarkets, and basically never stopped growing. Today Käfer Feinkost s run by the founder’s grandson, Michael Käfer. 

Bayer Gastronomie

If you think this company sounds like the pharmaceutical manufacturer, it’s because it is! Its history goes way back to the beginning of last century when Bayer was one of the first companies to add a canteen as a benefit for employees. Today, Bayer Gastronomie is a 100% independent subsidiary that still feeds the parent company’s employees, and has also expanded to hotel, restaurant, wine trade, conference service and catering industries. 

Ruff’s Burger

A burger chain that openly calls itself Fast Casual Dining concept, which gives the same convenience and quick service of fast food, but with more quality and care. The first Ruff’s Burger was a food truck in Munich in 2008, which soon proved too small for the growing fan base. So they went brick-and-mortar and never turned back. A successful story of taste, craftsmanship and passion. 

Hamburgerei

Honesty doesn’t need too many words. Hamburgerei’s philosophy is: we will only serve you food we would give to our mother for her birthday. Patties are minced from steak-quality beef sourced regionally and sauces are homemade. Half artisanal workshop, half experiment lab, each Hamburgerei recipe is tried and tested several times. The menu includes the classic patty with caramelized onions and more intense options like The Persian, with peanut-ginger-coriander chutney, or The Sicilian, with buffalo mozzarella, and Parmesan chips. 

Sushifreunde

Sushifreunde was founded in 2001 by Mario Gerlich and Toralf Krüger. After opening the first twelve stores independently, they set up a franchising program. The concept combines full service with delivery/takeaway options, with a strong environment-friendly attitude. The fish used is MSC- and ASC-certified, and only electric cars and electric bicycles are used for delivery.     

Brammibal’s Donuts

Making vegan donuts can be tricky. If you try to replicate the same taste and texture of the original recipe, but without butter, milk and eggs, the results can be disastrous if you don’t know what you’re doing. Definitely not a problem for Brammibal’s, Europe’s first entirely vegan donut joint. It all started in Berlin, with the simple idea of showing people how good vegan food can taste. The fact that they opened eleven locations in just eight years shows that it’s not only vegans who love their donuts, but a lot of omnivores too.

Dean & David

Dean & David is a fast-casual concept based on the belief that restaurants can make the world a bit better by enabling people to eat healthily. Ingredients are sourced locally and its salads and sandwiches are free from artificial preservatives and flavour enhancers. The idea came to founder David Baumgartner in 2007, after he returned from a backpacking trip where he got to know a lot of places that offered fresh and healthy food at affordable prices. Its rapid growth – 90 outlets in Germany and abroad – proves that healthy food is not just a fad in the foodservice space, but something diners are really hungry for.

Miss Pepper

There are a lot of dining concepts imported from the US: NY pizza, burgers, coffee shops, sports bars. One thing you don’t see that often though, is the classic American diner, where countless movie scenes were shot. In 2009, Udo Granz had the idea of filling that gap in the German market and opened the first Miss Pepper: ambience of the 1950s and 1960s and authentic American food. Bikers, truck drivers, travelers, and businesspeople are welcome on Miss Pepper’s upholstered seats to get a taste of America. 

Haferkater

Even the simplest dish can become quite sophisticated when you take care of every detail. That’s what Haferkater does with porridge. The humble breakfast food is prepared with oats that are first flaked and then cooked at the store and served with the tastiest toppings. Strategically located at train stations across Germany, Haferkater coffee shops have become popular with the traveling and commuting community as well as pure and simple porridge lovers. 

Food Brother

The Food Brother franchise was founded in Dortmund in 2013 and after growing at a relatively slow pace during the first ten years, it’s now ready to take Germany by storm with its “best burger in town” philosophy. Burgers are made only with Black Angus beef from Australia and prepared by hand. Just recently, Food Brother opened its first restaurant in Vienna. 

Barfüßer Hausbrauerei

Barfüßer is a typical Bavarian pub, where pork is the main character in the menu and also an independent brewery and distillery since 1990. The beer (there are five types, from light-colored Weitzen to dark) is brewed directly on site up to five times a week. The shiny copper brew kettles are located right inside the dining room, just a few meters away from the bar. 

Maredo

Maredo is a steakhouse where sustainability is not an afterthought. They actively advocate conscious enjoyment of meat, with quality being as important as animal welfare and environmental protection. The meat is sourced from Argentina and Uruguay, where cows are free-range and fed only with grass. The restaurant’s history is one of perseverance. Founded at the beginning of the 1970s, the chain expanded to 40 restaurants in 2015, but went bankrupt a few years after that. In 2021 the brand restarted with new ownership and is gradually expanding again.  

Katzentempel

The Katzentempel is a human-friendly restaurant where several cats live, but humans are welcome to have a meal and relax in the company of its furry residents. The idea came to a biochemist and a former broker, who found an ingenious way to combine their love for animals and hospitality. All of the Temple Cats, who are free to move around as they like — it’s their home, after all — come from animal shelters, and the menu is, of course, completely vegan. 

Jamy’s Burger

It all started when Jamy met with a few friends for a barbeque in a park and cooked a truckload of burgers that he got from his favourite butcher. It was such a success that from a burger-restaurant-in-a-park situation, a new dining concept was born: a park-in-a-burger-restaurant. Each location of Jamy’s Burger is decorated with bright colours and many plants. A green oasis in the middle of the city. 

Mishba

What do you do if you want to serve food prepared with the freshest ingredients to people who don’t have a lot of time? You make sure your dishes are easy to prepare and eat, and you give customers options. Mishba is a great example of how it’s done. The menu has three items only: salads, burritos and kumpir (the traditional Turkish stuffed potato), prepared to order right in front of you and served with a huge range of options, from fresh vegetables to cooked meat. 

Bona’me

Bona’me serves Kurdish-Turkish food / cuisine in a modern decor with a touch of Eastern vibe. The name means ‘our home’ which perfectly sums up the warm feeling of Kurdish hospitality they want to convey. Just be mindful that you won’t find any kebab on the menu. Kebab is street food, and this is a Turkish restaurant. The founders, the Dogan siblings, have a long experience in foodservice. After they opened the first Bona’me in Cologne ten years ago, success was so overwhelming that more outlets followed, and more are coming.

Mangal

Mangal is a doner kebab chain founded by German football star Lukas Podolski. Mangal‘s goal is to do one thing, but to be the best at it. “I don’t want to reinvent the doner kebab,” says Podolski, “but the ingredients must always be fresh and of high quality. We want to make the best doner kebab in Germany – and beyond.” Mangal also has food trucks that can be hired for private parties or company events. 

Final Thoughts On German Restaurant Chains

In Germany, a new generation of restaurant entrepreneurs and forward-thinking foodservice groups are thriving and they are well on their way to stealing the show from their famous counterparts across Europe. 

Some have been around for decades, others for just a few years, but all of these restaurant owners, operators and franchisees have a growth mindset, know the importance of quality and understand how to build a brand that resonates with consumers even beyond the borders of their home countries.