Dining Out Costs
 

Hello there!

We are due to set off for our Switzerland/Italy trip in 20 days!! I am in the last minute planning stages, and want to deposit needed funds into our bank account as we plan on charging by debit card all the things we can on the trip. We WILL have some cash, but prefer to use it only when credit cards are not accepted.

So, can anyone tell me a basic idea of what it costs to dine out in Switzerland?

We will be eating breakfast in the apartment and most dinners as well. Most of our eating out will be lunch and we will not be dining in any expensive or fancy places. Would it be accurate to assume that a lunch for 3 adults and 2 children (ages 11 and 13) would cost around 60-80 CHF total for all of us? The children are pasta, sandwich, chicken tender eaters. The adults are vegetarian.

I don't understand your post about putting funds into your bank account to charge by debit card and then say you intend to use credit cards whenever possible. Do you usually not have hardly any money in your bank account so you need to put some in?

Anyway, I didn't find Switzerland any different than any other major European city I've been in (excluding Scandinavia where I've never been), even though I'd heard it was more expensive. So if you don't intend to eat out much, I guess you could get by on that amount for lunch, it's around 50-60 euro. But that isn't eating much.

LOL :-)
For one person:
25-30 Fr. Main dish with meat
15-20 Fr. Spaghetti Bolognese for a kid

You want a salad or sonething to drink too?
Import your food from a German supermarket.

Italy is o.k.

Switzerland is expensive. For 5 people a Big Mac meal would be more than 60 Francs. If you want to eat in a modest cafe it will be more than that. And soft drinks are both very small and very expensive - so kids are better drinking water - and adults beer or wine.

No I don't think 60-80CHF will be quite enough even for a simple lunch for 5 people in a restaurant, unless you mean just picking up a sandwich from a bakery to-go.

I don't think you'll find "chicken tenders". And vegetarian is not going to be any less expensive, and will be harder to find.

There are good deals at the Mom & Pop cafes with a chalkboard out front. They all feature a Workman's Special each day at lunch time. But I think these always would be a meat, sausage, poultry type entree.

Some Coop supermarkets have a cafeteria - usually reasonably priced. Ditto for Migros. Also look for Manora cafeterias. Plenty of vegetable options available there.

You'll find the Manora cafeterias in the Manor department stores.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, Pvoyageuse: Among other choices (pasta, salads. pizza, sausage, desserts, beverages) at Manora, if you select one of the special main courses, it will be placed on a plate for you, and then you may add the 'sides' to your plate for one all-inclusive price.

In addition to the supermarkets mentioned above, the Manor department stores also offer a wide range of groceries.

kmbp : I don't understand your question. It is a self service cafeteria, you put whatever you want on your plate. If you don't want the special of the day you have other options including a very large salad bar. The Manora I know in Lausanne is not part of a store (Place St François).

What kmbp seems to be saying is that a day's special will probably work out cheaper than choosing other ingredients individually.

Ok; but a daily special usually has meat or fish + sides. If you don't want the meat or fish I don't know if they deduce it from the bill. If they don't it might not be cheaper.

Whoops, I meant debit card not credit card is the plan for paying, hence, why I want to put enough funds into the account.

So, it sounds like we should just pack our own sandwiches as often as possible and look for Mom and Pop cafe's.

Thanks everyone.

Jenn:
Look for the Tagesmenue which is a relative food bargain for lunch at most restaurants (remember lunch is often the largest meal of the day in Germany and Switzerland). There are usualy 2-4 choices, and often one is vegetarian. Depending on which cities you will be visiting, can find dishes for 15-20 CHF per person (so, 75-100 CHF for lunch is reasonable at many cafes/bistos/gasthauser).
DRINKS are the killers, to include expensive cups of coffee or soft drinks (no refills here!)
Even sparkling water can add up and waiters are often not happy to provide tap water.
The regional Swiss drink Rivella can be a little cheaper (carbonated whey products used, tastes like gingerale, comes in grentea flavor, regular or diet). Beer for the adults would be a lesser-price option as well.

Well...sounds like we're in trouble for drinks! We do not drink alcohol, and our children don't drink soda! We are coffee,water and milk people...and not the carbonated water/sparkling water either. Sigh....didn't even THINK water would be an issue!

Thanks for the info mokka4!

Jenn:
Reviewed my TR from last year (twice to Switzerland--June and November)...food costs CAN be kept down!
14.50 CHF Gnocci Gorgonzola in small town
8 CHF Tomato-Mozzarella Sald with Roll (take-away Zurich)
22 CHF Wurst, french fries and beer at a mountain top
23 CHF PestoPenne in Rapperswil
20 CHF Kaesesalat (cheese on salad) + Rivella Rapperswil
20 CHF chestnut past dish in Posciavo
22 CHF Spaetzle with ham, cheese and onions + a Stein of Beer in Zurich
48 CHF Fancy lunch in Teuschers Felix Cafe in Zurich.

Except where noted above, costs DID NOT INCLUDE my drink.
Just look around, 9 times out of ten you can find something reasonable. Bon appetit!

water is a problem indeed... in most central and north european restaurants water is extremely expensive, while i 've seen it for being offered for free ( tap water) in Italy and in many Greek cities ( with the exception of many islands that are facing problems with drinking water).
think the most expensive i have seen was in Paris, in a mediocre bistrot at the ridiculous price of 8 Euros..... ( for a small glass of still water with a slice of lemon.....)

But take those costs x5 people and all but the salad are above the 60-80CHF budget they were hoping for.

I never priced milk, but I expect that would be reasonable.
Waiters WILL bring tap water (Leitungswasser--pronounced LIGHT-toongs-vosser), some more happily than others. But most are not chipper because they do not charge for it...
As a single diner, I used to show them that I had a pill to swallow (an old Rick Steves trick), then they would bring one glass of tap water. I'm not sure that would smooth anything over with a family of four though...! Now I just drink Rivella or beer!
And please, unless you are at a tres-fancy hotel OR McDonalds. tell the kids NOT to expect ICE!

One place to get great food that is not overly expensive is the open air Farmers Markets that most towns have on certain days of the week. For example Tues & Sat in Vevey, Fri in Montreux (i happen to know those that i've been to).

Besides beautiful displays of flowers, fruits, vegetables they'll have sweet & savory baked goods and hot snacks like pizza or salet (little cheese pies). These are vegetarian and would work great for your group. Fun for the kids too.

You do not say whether you'll be touring cities or mountain regions. But in either case, packing a picnic lunch is always a great economical option. Get to a store early in the day when the bread is still hot (and still on the shelves), pick up some ham and cheese, a few pieces of fruit, and you're set. Fill some empty water bottles from your apartment tap, or perhaps when you're at the store, pick up a large bottle of juice or iced tea and fill up the bottles with that. Also, bring some of those little Crystal Lite packets from home for flavoring your water.

Milk is generally non-pastuerized, and you'll mostly find it on the shelves, not refrigerated. It always takes me awhile to figure out the different types (non fat, low fat, whole, cream, etc.)

Happy travels!

Have never traveled with little kids so have no idea of the price of milk. Started when daughters were 11 and 14 - so they drank water or soda - and a couple of years later wine or beer.

We would usually share a half bottel of wine at lunch = pus bottled water.

You can get tap water - but it won;t be very cold and there won't be ice (except for McDonalds ice is not gnerally served - and if you ask they probably won;t have it).

In Switzeland coffee is drunk after meals - not with them - except breakfst. And it won't be cheap either.

As for Manora - the large salads are listed at about 10 francs and the hot plates at 12 to 17 francs - so, as you can see, even for these modest cafeterias you will have to expand your dining budget. You are probably need to allow about 100 francs for a modest lunch for 5 - unless you get do it yourelf things from markets.

I must say this sounds reasonable to me for a sit down lunch -considering that you need to equate a dollar with a franc based on currency fluctuations. That is, I wouldn;t expect to get a sit down lunch in New York for less than $15 - $20 or so per person, including beveage tip and tax.