bakery

Hungry on the Go

Hungry on the Go

I've found that Germany isn't big into fast food in quite the same way as the States. I remember when I was little, if we had a busy day running errands, we'd often stop at Wendy's or Burger King for a quick bite. When I moved to Virginia, our choices switched to Chic-fil-a and Raising Cane's. And of course there was the ever ubiquitous McDonald's. It was easy: you simply drove down the highway or main road into town, and it seemed that there were at least five or six fast food options along the way. 

Not so in Germany. Sure, there are a couple of McDonald's locations on Konigstraße and one Burger King location. But if you want to find KFC, then you have to go out of your way. And Taco Bell? Only if you have access to one of the American military bases. Otherwise, that's it. And while I see lots of young kids at the McDonald's, fast food joints just really aren't a big deal here. 

So what do Germans do when they are hungry on the go? Well one option is a döner kebab. I've blogged about it before. They're cheap and delicious, and make for great drunk or hangover food. But what if you don't want a kebab? Then where do you go? To the bakery, of course...

Breakfast at Bäckerei Frank

Breakfast at Bäckerei Frank

One thing I love about living in Germany is the bread. Unlike American Wonder Bread, German bread is baked fresh and comes in a variety of flavors besides "white". In fact, "wheat bread" doesn't exist here, because most of the breads you can buy are a kind of wheat bread, or rather, just bread. In fact, the bread is so fresh that once you slice it, it's really only good for two or three days max until it starts to get stale. I suppose this explains why bread is so cheap, and why it's normal to buy fresh bread every day as you need it. 

Bakeries are a much bigger deal here than in the States, and it's not uncommon to see two or three on the same corner in a city. We do most of our shopping at that the bakery just outside our local grocery store out of convenience, although I'll also stop at one of the two bakeries on the way to work when I need bread or breakfast rolls for school. I find that the quality at these bakeries is fine for the everyday (and still above what we used to get at our grocery store bakery in the States), but when I have the time, I like to go to my favorite bakery in our neighborhood: Bäckerei Frank.