Ochsenbraterei

The first oxen grill was built by Johann Rössler for the Oktoberfest 1881. The steam-powered grill was so popular, that he could even charge an entrance fee for it. Over the following decades, the grill became larger and turned into a large beer tent, which was acquired by the Spaten brewery in 1980, when the well-known Haberl family took it over.

Back then, the tent became its very unusual curved façade, which is contrary to the very common, traditional interior with white and blue cloths, large wreaths and Trachtler figures at the posts. The Haberls like their beer tent design to such an extent that they have been trying to register it as a three-dimensional trademark since 2010.

A new Ochsenbraterei building was introduced in 2017. The new tent adopts the most significant design elements of its predecessor, though.

Atmosphere and Music

The Ochsenbraterei is not only known for its culinary treats, but in the past also for the acoustic brass music played during the afternoons. In fact, the Ochsenbraterei was the first Oktoberfest tent to offer music during lunchtime in 1980. Maybe not least, therefore, it’s one of the few tents, which are already crowded at noon. In the evening, however, it's easier to find seats here than in other tents.

The Ochsenbraterei would actually be predestined for a more traditional look. Unfortunately, in 2023 in particular, the decision was made to do exactly the opposite. The lighting system was renewed once again, and bandleader Matthias Achatz, who enjoys an excellent reputation in the brass band scene, further reduced the amount of time allocated to brass band music. The tent will now only be filled with music, like a beer tent in the early afternoon. In the evening, the Ochsenbraterei wants to join the new ranks of disco tents, accompanied by a small party band.

Food and Menu

The 100 or so oxen that fill the hungry stomachs of tent visitors every year are genuine Munich natives and are sourced exclusively from the municipal Karlshof estate. The show oxen, which are placed on the grill visible to guests and whose names are written on the board, are specially selected for this purpose. Normally, an ox is about one and a half years old when it is slaughtered. However, the show oxen must be less than one year old so that their spinal cord does not have to be removed as a precaution against BSE, which would impair their appearance. And they do have to look good.

Since 1983, the ox sandwich sold to go on the side of the kitchen has earned a legendary reputation. The ox sandwich entrance is located opposite Fischer-Vroni. Curiously, just in time for its 40th anniversary, a hamburger has been added to the menu.

In recent years, the menu has been expanded to include numerous vegetarian and vegan dishes.

Reservations 2025

Ochsenbraterei started accepting reservation requests in its reservation form on March 10th, only including irrelevant time slots. Last year, an extraordinary number of evening reservations for all days became available starting in August. On March 28, they added weekends to the reservation form, in May and late July even several evenings. Unfortunately, the tent has become known to collect a big number of reservation requests to then filter out the majority by criteria that are unknown to us. Rejection can even be sent while collecting additional reservation requests at the same time. Last-minute reservations are offered as well.