11 Best Restaurants in Zürich, Switzerland

This fun, alfresco beiz (canteen) located in an upmarket lakefront campground is a sweet summer alternative to the city’s sunset terraces, which can be crowded and overpriced. Throw a sweater around your shoulders, grab a glass of rosé, and park yourself at a picnic table for vegetable crudité, bowls of truffled pommes frites, and crunchy fried fish like pike, char, perch, and trout, all line-caught in Swiss lakes.

It doesn't get more Swiss than this: the ingredients, the recipes, the wines, and the decor are all Helvetian (and though traditional, there's a youthful vibe). Enjoy seasonal dishes such as Engadiner pizokel (flour dumplings) with ham, or duck breast with dried-plum sauce and mashed potatoes; the owners' devotion to local ingredients means the menu often changes. The interior is elegantly casual, with wainscoting and etched-glass windows, linen tablecloths, a mounted chamois head, and paintings of the Matterhorn and other well-known landmarks. 

A bit of Siem Reap in the middle of Zürich West: the lavish interior is full of stone carvings and wood latticework that seem right out of Ta Prohm, minus the jungle. The menu is huge and includes generous amounts of green curry, oyster sauce, and ginger, covering India, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan. The lunch specials are a good deal for those on a budget, and multicourse meals satisfy bigger appetites. Tables double in number in summer with outside seating on the square.

The coats of arms of old Spanish provinces and garlands of onions and garlic line the dark-paneled interior of this upstairs Niederdorf restaurant, specializing in big steaks, seafood, omelets, and paella. Be sure to sample the excellent house Rioja (a Spanish wine specialty shop adjoins, so the choice is extensive). The lively downstairs bar serves amazing tapas, great for lunch. The waiters all come from the old country, so they know what they're talking about.

Meat is the name of the game at this deli-inspired restaurant with private booths and terrazzo floors, where grass-fed game is sourced directly from Swiss butchers and farmers. Classics include leberkäese (meat loaf), homemade pâtés, gelatinous terrines, aspics, air-cured mountain meat, and steak pies. Vegans can always expect one or two dishes on the rotating menu to keep the whole table happy.

This is a favorite haunt of theatergoers heading for the Schauspielhaus Schiffbauhalle—it conveniently shares the same building, where a glass, steel, and concrete interior mixes well with brick elements from the original factory building. Beneath an enormous Murano-glass chandelier, elegantly dressed patrons enjoy wines from a hefty list and delicate dishes that might feature black tiger prawns, langoustines, or beef fillet, all with innovative sauces.

In a downtown theater complex behind Bahnhofstrasse, this old military riding stable now does its duty as a noisy and popular restaurant where its past is plain to see, with candles perched on the mangers and beams. Young locals share long tables to sample international specialties—from curry to ostrich tenderloin—many of them vegetarian, as well as an excellent list of open wines from all over the world listed on the blackboard. In summer the courtyard is lined with communal tables.

Dating from 1801, and once the haunt of Zürich's beloved writer Gottfried Keller, this lively restaurant serves traditional meat dishes—Geschnetzeltes Kalbfleisch—lightened up with fresh seasonal vegetables and a champagne sauce. One section is a dark and heavily graffitied wine bar, with sagging timbers and slanting floors; there are also two welcoming little dining rooms with coffered ceilings and plenty of carved oak and damask—choose the cozy, charming Gaststube (not the more staid Stübli). It's always packed, and service can be slow, so stake out a table and plan to spend the evening. Guests who succeed in swinging around the room's famous wooden rafters three times win free wine for their table. You'd be amazed at the number of diners who make the attempt.

Right on the Niederdorf's main square, Hirschenplatz, this squeaky-clean Swiss-kitsch restaurant has an airy, modern decor, with Alpine-rustic chairs. It serves good home-cooked national specialties: Zürcher Geschnetzeltes, Rösti, Leberli, bratwurst, schnitzel, and battered fish with French fries and tartar sauce—the gang's all here. An added attraction if you're visiting in summer: fondue and raclette (melted cheese served with small potatoes in their skins, pickled pearl onions, and gherkins), usually winter dishes, are served year-round. Excellent lunch menus are rock-bottom cheap and served double quick. There's outdoor seating on the cobblestone pedestrian square in warm weather.

This French-inclined international restaurant in a quiet corner of the Niederdorf is part of the trend toward lighter food and portions that don't overflow your plate. You might try beef tartare with wasabi and mango chutney, or lamb curry in yogurt-mint sauce, then finish with a creamy slice of napoleon. Wainscoting, parquet floors, and crisp white tablecloths make for a comfortable dining room; an outside courtyard is open in summer.