Sitting in a glass house can definitely have advantages. In Café Ludwig, for example, you can look directly into Petuelpark through the high windows of the pavilion building. Walkers with and without dogs and cyclists come here. There are also some wheelchair users on the move; the Pfennigparade Foundation’s rehabilitation center is nearby. Some people stop at the restaurant, which is designed for disabled people, where they can make themselves comfortable and look at the winter landscape outside.
Café Ludwig has been around almost as long as Petuelpark itself. The 7.4 hectare green space on the border between Schwabing and Milbertshofen was opened 20 years ago. A year later, the café on the edge of the park, along which the Nymphenburg-Biedersteiner Canal flows, also celebrated its opening.
It’s not just in Petuelpark that you can see some works of art, such as the water fountain that shoots up from a pair of shoes or the equestrian statue with a cowboy hat. Art also played a role in the café from the beginning. For several years, the Lenbachhaus had an annex in the basement that could be seen from the outside. The American artist Kiki Smith created a wall work for the upper floor that still hangs there. The display case with dummy cakes by Alexandra Renner embedded in the glass facade is also still there. The restaurateur Helmut Faulwasser, who has been running the café since 2013, still enjoys exhibiting art today.
There has been a café in the pavilion building in the park for almost 20 years.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
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Artist Kiki Smith created the upstairs wall design.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
Inside you will find the counter with the right cakes and tarts. But they don’t distract too much from the view outside. Café Ludwig is airy and discreetly decorated. Large lamps hang from the high ceilings and there are vases of flowers on the tables. There is a large mirror on one wall. There are a few Aperol and Italicus bottles on a high shelf made from old window frames. You can also meet here for an aperitivo.
For breakfast, the restaurant focuses on classics such as a Strammen Max, white sausages or breakfast combinations with sausage, cheese, scrambled eggs or salmon. The breakfast burger (10.80 euros) with chili mayonnaise, bacon and egg is a little out of the ordinary and, according to Faulwasser, is very well received by the guests.
Café Ludwig doesn’t skimp on bread; the vegetarian breakfast (14.50 euros) comes to the table with three mini rolls. Lemony antipasti vegetables are hidden under a juicy scrambled egg. There are also two types of cheese, which could taste a little stronger, and a small fruit salad. If you want to treat yourself to something for two, order the gourmet breakfast (36 euros), which combines almost everything that the different combinations contain. In addition to coffee, you can drink homemade lemonade (5.90 euros).
Cheese, scrambled eggs, fruit: the café focuses on classics for breakfast.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
The Stramme Max with malt baguette is also popular.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
Not only breakfast, but also cakes, lunch and dinner are available at Café Ludwig.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
The café is popular in the neighborhood; friends and families meet here for a bit of idyll right on the Mittlerer Ring. Therefore it can get crowded even during the week. The service is still friendly and quick. Many employees have been there for a long time, says Faulwasser.
When the weather is nice, you can’t just look out into the park from Café Luitpold. In the beer garden in front of the restaurant you can sit in the middle of the countryside and watch the walkers and the day go by.
Café LudwigKlopstockstraße 10, 80804 Munich, 089/32211766, opening hours: Tuesday to Friday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.