Where to eat well in Zürich Without Breaking the Bank
Discover great places to eat at the more palatable end of the spectrum.
Street food Zürich style
Sternen Grill
Bankers do it, film stars do it, even families with children do it: eat bratwurst at Sternen Grill, famous for their bratwurst and buns with bite, crispy fries and chicken pita, and notorious for their strong mustard, SternenSenf, which will have your sinuses seeing stars. A must in Zürich.
Lebanese delight
Le Cédre
The interior of Lebanese restaurant Le Cédre is reminiscent of 1001 Nights and the Alhambra. It’s been named the best Lebanese restaurant in Switzerland and the food is classic Middle Eastern fare, based around the main ingredients of olives, pulses, rice, lamb, chicken, nuts, yogurt and sesame. The restaurant’s main draw is the over 100 different types of meze it offers, all of high quality, beautifully served and wonderfully decorated. Larger groups can be seated in the restaurant’s heated Bedouin tent and on Friday and Saturday nights you can even meet a belly dancer.
First class vegan
Tibits
Tibits is a winner. It was awarded Best of the Best and Best Restaurant at the Swiss Vegan Awards 2017 and the accolades are fully deserved. The food is inventive, delicious, fresh, crunchy, crispy, warming and so tasty that you totally forget there’s no meat involved. The place is especially busy at lunchtime, crammed full of everyone from business people to families with children, and you’ll need to book a table if there are more than four of you. There are several branches of Tibits in Zürich – the most charming and central are Seefeld and Seefeld Bistro.
Food & market in the old viaducts
Im Viadukt
In the Josefwiese urban park in the industrial chic Züri West district are a railroad bridge and 36 old viaducts that are now home to restaurants, a food market and designer boutiques. The food market sells fruit, vegetables and all kinds of specialties – from cheese and English pies to Japanese delicacies and Swiss croissants. Restaurants Markthalle and Viaduct serve seasonal locally grown food, while fish bar Vom Fischer & Syner Fru has excellent fish soup, tapas, oysters and slow-cooked dishes.
Hip Zürich at its best
Les Halles
Les Halles is hip Zürich at its best: a relaxed atmosphere, great food, good beer and not bad prices for Zürich. Les Halles is a bar, urban eco-restaurant and extremely popular hang-out, decorated with vintage Peugeot signs, retro bikes and other evocative knick-knacks. Perfect for an aperitif with friends or the house signature dish of moules et frites.
Authentic Swiss cuisine circa 1910
Volkshaus
At Volkshaus, they serve authentic, seasonal and locally produced Swiss cuisine, just like grandma would have made. When Volkshaus opened in 1910, it was as a Temperance restaurant, and although today you can enjoy wines, bubbles or just a small one, the atmosphere and the beautiful interior from those days is still intact. Just as good, morning, noon and night.
A little local gem
Metzg
If there are good oysters this week, Miguelanez will have them. If they’re no good, he won’t serve any at all. You can always count on Metzg, a little gem of a local restaurant in the attractive Seefeld district, where the Miguelanez, a Swiss-Spanish married couple, have been serving dazzling international cuisine for decades without a hitch. Try their superior fillet of beef with red and green peppercorns, finely cut onions and butter and order a plateful of homemade crunchy-crisp rösti on the side.
Three food markets in Zürich
Tuesday and Friday are the market days for early risers at Bürkliplatz and Helvetiaplatz. At Helvetiaplatz in the city’s multicultural district you’ll find all kinds of nationalities and specialties, meats, plants and more.
The market at Bürkliplatz, which lies between the banking district and Lake Zürich, is particularly known for its locally grown fruit and vegetables and organic produce.
Wednesday is market day at Zürich Main Station, where indoor stands sell locally grown fruit and vegetables, homemade specialties, tasty cheeses and more.
Text by Lise Hannibal