Some of the most practical German words that you can use immediately upon arrival in a German-speaking country (don't forget that German is spoken in Austria and Switzerland too!) are related to ordering food. When you first enter a restaurant, the waitstaff may invite you to take a seat: 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Nehmen Sie bitte Platz.

Please have a seat.

Caption 35, Das Lügenbüro - Die Bewerbung

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You may then be offered a menu: 

Die Speisekarte, bitte schön. -Danke schön.

Here's the menu. -Thank you.

Caption 7, Abendessen - mit Marko

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Note that another word for menu is das Menü, and sometimes Speisekarte is shortened simply to die Karte. When you are ready to order, you may inform the waitstaff:

Wir würden gerne bestellen, bitte.

We would like to order, please.

Caption 47, Melanie und Thomas - im Restaurant

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Those of you with dietary restrictions may wish to discuss some menu items: 

Kichererbsenbuletten sind das, ist auch vegetarisch, rein vegan ist das... ohne tierische Produkte.

Those are chick pea burgers, it's also vegetarian, it's purely vegan... without animal products.

Captions 26-28, Jonathan Johnson - Nahöstliches Essen in Berlin

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Then there are several ways you can express your order to the waitstaff: 

Ich hätte gerne eine Berliner Kartoffelsuppe.

I would like a Berlin potato soup.

Caption 21, Abendessen - mit Marko

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Dann nehmen wir doch die Apfelküchle mit Vanilleeis.

Then we'll take the apple pies with vanilla ice cream after all.

Caption 43, Melanie und Thomas - im Restaurant

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Before you begin eating: 

Zu Beginn der Mahlzeit sagen wir „guten Appetit“.

At the beginning of the meal we say "Enjoy your meal."

Caption 19, Tisch decken - mit Eva

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And when you are ready to pay, you can simply say bezahlen, bitte or die Rechnung, bitte. If you wish to pay with a credit card, you may ask: 

Kann ich auch mit Kreditkarte bezahlen?

Can I also pay with a credit card?

Caption 7, Diane - auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt

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If you need a receipt for tax or expense account purposes, after you pay you can ask for eine Quittung, bitte. As for tipping in Germany, you may want to read this Yabla lesson!

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
There are a lot of Yabla German videos related to food. Here are a few for you to start with!

Abendessen: mit Marko

Apfelpfannkuchen: mit Alina und Sabine

Grillzeit: Grill anzünden und los geht's

Jonathan Johnson: Nahöstliches Essen in Berlin

Käsespätzle: mit Eva

Kochhaus Berlin: Rucola-Salat-Rezept

Melanie und Thomas: im Restaurant

Tisch decken: mit Eva

Weihnachtsessen: mit Eva

The adverb bitte is probably used much more often in German than “please” is in English. This is because it has many different meanings, from “you’re welcome,” “pardon,” “may I help you” and “here you go” all the way back to simple “please.” On the other hand, the verb “to please” has a number of German equivalents, but the German verb bitten does not mean “to please,” but rather “to ask,” “to request,” “to beg” or “to plead.” So be aware that while these aren’t exactly false friends, they’re not completely equivalent.  

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

The adverb, please!

Let’s first check out the different ways bitte is used: Bitte is very commonly meant as “you’re welcome,” the standard response after somebody has thanked you for something: 

Also, vielen herzlichen Dank, dass ich heute mit dabei sein durfte!

So, many heartfelt thanks that I was allowed to be here today!

-Bitte, bitte! 

-You're welcome, you're welcome!

Captions 56-57, Selbst versucht - Gepäckabfertigung bei Fraport

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When you go into a restaurant or shop, often the first thing the waiter or salesperson will ask you is bitte schön or sometimes merely bitte, which in this case means “may I help you?” The second bitte is “please” again!

Ja, bitte schön. -Ich möchte zwei Brotchen und ein Dinkelbrot, bitte. 

Yes, may I help you? -I would like two rolls and a spelt bread, please.

Next up, a Yabla example of bitte in the sense of “here you are,” a commonplace usage when, for instance, a waiter hands you a menu in a restaurant. Note that the first use of bitte in this example is the standard meaning “please.”

Genau. -Speisekarten bitte!

Exactly. -Menus please!

So, bitte sehr.

So, here you are.

Captions 6-7, Melanie und Thomas - im Restaurant

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Lastly, the adverb bitte can also be used in the sense of “pardon”:

Ich heiße Angela Merkel. -Wie bitte? -Ich sagte, „Ich heiße Angela Merkel”.

My name is Angela Merkel. -Pardon me? -I said, “My name is Angela Merkel.”

Although at first it may seem a bit confusing with so many possible meanings for bitte, the contexts will give you a very good indication of meaning!

The verb “to please”

As we discussed, the German verb bitten means “to ask,” “to plead,” “to entreat,” or even “to beg.” So how do we “please” someone in German? The German sich freuen, zufrieden sein, and zufriedenstellen are all used in various ways “to please.” Here someone is pleased to greet another person:

Ich bedanke mich und würde mich freuen,

I thank you and I would be pleased

Sie mal persönlich hier bei uns begrüßen.

to greet you personally here with us.

Captions 55-56, Architektur - der Stadt Karlsruhe

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And here someone is pleased with the city:

Ich bin extrem zufrieden mit Offenburg, wirklich.

I am extremely pleased with Offenburg, really.

Caption 8, Barbara Schöneberger - Bambi-Verleihung backstage

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And here a person is pleased with a film:

Die abwechslungsreichen Kurzfilme werden an Orten gezeigt,

The varied short films are being shown at places

die auch Besucher mit ästhetischem Anspruch äußerst zufriedenstellen.

that please visitors supremely with an aesthetic claim.

Captions 3-4, Kurzfilm-Festival - Shorts at Moonlight

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BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Learning suggestions:

Some other words meaning “to please,” which have varied shades of meaning such as “to make happy” and “to like,” are beglücken, behagen, and zu Gefallen sein. See if you can find a variety of these usages on Yabla and also check out Linguee, a great language resource site that takes published translations and posts them side by side with the original language so that you can see some real-world examples of words in different contexts. Ich denke, es wird euch gefallen!