Buffet Prices Germany

Prices at a Glance: Lunch vs. Evening

Look at the table and one pattern jumps out: evenings cost €6 to €11 more, almost everywhere we checked. The reason is standing right there on the counter — at night the Mongolian grill fires up, the sushi line grows, and the pricier ingredients come out.

Strip away the outliers and the honest core range looks like this: lunch €9.80 to €15.90, evenings €17.80 to €26.90. Anything above that band has a reason behind it — usually a drinks flat rate folded in, or a grill and sushi spread of serious size.

Why the Lunch Buffet Costs So Much Less

Lunch is the bargain. Full stop. In Ludwigsburg, €9.80 covers the Chinese buffet, salads, sushi and desserts — and on Friday and Saturday the Mongolian grill joins in, at €14.50. Weekdays stay leaner on purpose: smaller choice, quicker turnover, lower price. That’s the trade.

The ingredients tell the same story. Prawns, beef, fresh sushi by the row — the expensive things mostly wait for the evening shift. Guest behaviour does the rest: lunch guests eat for about an hour and leave, while evening guests stay two to three hours and keep circling back.

Our take? If filling up is the whole point, lunch wins easily. The grill experience and the slow tasting of everything — that’s evening territory, worth the evening price. Just decide which one you want first.

Sunday Is Its Own Price Day

Sunday is another country again. Many houses lift it clean out of the lunch logic — Ludwigsburg serves the full evening-style spread at midday on Sundays and public holidays, at €15.80 without drinks. So never count on the weekday lunch price on a Sunday. Check the Sunday menu first.

Evening Buffets and the Mongolian Grill

Come evening, the buffet changes character completely. Ludwigsburg’s large evening buffet starts at 6 pm and adds a lava stone grill — skewers, leg of lamb, beef steaks — plus the Mongolian grill, and the price rises to €17.80. In Schönefeld, guest reports put the Mongolian evening and weekend buffet at about €24.90 to €26.90.

The Mongolian grill drives that price — and it’s the highlight, no coincidence. You pick the raw ingredients yourself; the cook grills them fresh in front of you. Fresh meat, seafood and a person’s time at the grill simply costs a house more than any heated counter.

Before any visit, compare three things: is there a grill, is sushi included, are drinks part of the price? Those three answers explain almost every price gap between two buffet restaurants.

Drinks: The Hidden Price Difference

And then comes the drinks bill — the trap almost everyone walks into. Drinks sit on top of the food price at most houses, a single large soft drink lands at €4 to €5, and just two of those over an evening push a €17.80 buffet past €26 before dessert.

Some houses sell packages instead. Ludwigsburg’s large evening buffet comes as an all-you-can-eat-and-drink version at €23.90, with alcohol-free drinks, coffee specialities and teas included — plus two beers and two glasses of open wine. Wardenburg’s evening package, soft drinks, wine and beer included, costs €33.90.

• No flat rate? Budget €4 to €10 extra per person.
• With one, the upgrade pays off from about three drinks onwards.
• Children’s prices often follow age or height — check the scale in advance.
• Water is almost never included. Not even still water.

Read right down to the small print, too — that’s where the menu admits whether leftovers cost extra, whether your table has a time limit, and which drinks the flat rate actually covers.

Children’s Prices and Morning Buffets for Comparison

Kids are where every house writes its own rules. Schönefeld, per guest reports, simply charges children half the buffet price. Wardenburg measures height instead — the price climbs with the child, from €5.90 for children under one metre to €29.90 for tall children at the evening buffet. And Lohfelden’s older menu? Flat and simple: €5.80 at lunch, €8.80 in the evening, children aged 4 to 11.

For comparison, look at the morning. Café Extrablatt’s breakfast buffet costs €12.95 on Saturdays and €16.95 on Sundays; the ALEX buffet starts at €14.80. Morning buffets land, in other words, between the lunch and evening prices of the Asian houses.

For families, that scale matters more than the adult price. A house with half-price children can beat a seemingly cheaper one that charges older children nearly the full rate — so always work out the whole family bill, never just the price per adult.

Good to Know

Prices can vary by location. With buffets that applies more than anywhere — almost every house is an independent business setting its own prices. And a word of caution: the Schönefeld and Wardenburg guest reports may have changed since posting, and the Lohfelden menu is older. As of October 2026, check the current price on the restaurant’s website before you book.

More on MenuPlatter.de: Buffet Preise Deutschland (German version) and Lunch Menu Prices Germany.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does an all-you-can-eat buffet in Germany work?

Pay one fixed price per person — then help yourself as often as you like. That’s the whole model. Drinks usually cost extra, unless you booked an eat-and-drink package.

What is a Mongolian grill at a buffet?

It’s a live cooking station inside many Asian buffets. Fill a bowl with raw meat, seafood and vegetables, choose a sauce, hand it to the cook — he grills everything fresh on a large hot plate, within minutes.

Do German buffets have a time limit?

A few do. It shows up most where a drinks flat rate runs — two to three hours is the pattern guest reports keep mentioning — while other houses let you stay all evening. No nationwide rule exists, so ask when you reserve, above all with a large group.

Why do some buffets charge for leftovers?

Waste. That’s why. Many houses charge for food left on the plate so less gets thrown away — and it applies most at the Mongolian grill, where raw ingredients you picked but never had grilled can’t be reused. Small portions, more trips: that’s the workaround.

Do you tip at a buffet in Germany?

Yes, a small tip is still welcome — even though you serve yourself. Staff clear plates, refill the counters and run the grill station all evening. Most guests simply round the bill up, or leave a little cash on the table.