We're going to be spending a night at the Frankfurt airport (early April), and should hopefully be checked in by around 4:30 pm.

It'll be too late to hit the museums, but we're planning on heading to town for dinner and a stroll.

Any suggestions for a decent restaurant/bar that's not too smoky? Ideally it would be nice if it was in a good neighborhood for walking around, weather permitting.

We also are going to spend a night in Frankfurt in late April and will head straight for the Vinum, just off the Fressgasse in downtown Frankfurt, at Kleine Hochstrasse 9. The Fressgasse ('feeding street&quot has a formal name -- Bockenheimer Strasse? -- but everyone knows where the Fressgasse is. Pleasant area near the Old Opera with lots of restaurants, but we like the Vinum for its Rheingau wine and delicious food. Long wooden tables, but more refined than that may sound. You can check it out on the Internet.

I should add that the beautiful Roemerplatz is nearby, with the town hall and a real old-Germany atmosphere.

Thanks for the suggestion. This looks like what we have in mind.

I'm not a wine drinker; do they also have beer and/or a full bar? Probably a silly question, I know.

Also, do they have a non-smoking area?

The question is indeed silly.

Boy, you are in Germany, not in Utah.

Hey, Utah's not my frame of references. Here in San Francisco I've run into snooty restaurants that only offer Wine (capitalization intentional), thinking it an insult to their Cuisine to drink anything else.

But point taken.

And the smoke? Maybe silly too, as Frankfurt isn't London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, or Dublin.

We've not had a beer in the Vinum, and, given the name, they may not serve beer. Not likely there's a non-smoking area, but we've never had a problem. Germans aren't the big smokers they used to be. Main point is that the Fressgasse is "restaurant row," and there or in the area you're likely to find what you want. It's just a block or two, all-pedestrian, and right in the center. It's a straight shot from the train station on the U-Bahn subway; get off at the Hauptwache stop. Again, check out the Roemer area if you have time.

Cool. Thanks, we'll definitely head to Fressgasse one way or the other.

It'll be a Saturday night, so I imagine we'll need reservations, right?

The reason I ask about the smoke is that when I passed through FRA on my way home three years ago (spent a night in Koln), I ate in a restaurant that was smokier than any I'd ever been in (Brauhaus Früh).

We've never made reservations; doubt the Vinum would be full and there are plenty of restaurants other than Vinum with drinks including beer. (Some may point you to the colorful Sachsenhausen area apple wine restaurants, but if you're not into wine you for sure won't like apple wine. Good, hearty food there, though, and beer.) Bulletin on smoking: As I understand it, there's a new law banning smoking in public places! If I'm wrong, doubtless others will correct me.

>>>Here in San Francisco I've run into snooty restaurants that only offer Wine (capitalization intentional), thinking it an insult to their Cuisine to drink anything else.<<<

Okay, I have learnt something about Californian restaurants. Here some words about European drinking etiquette:

Everywhere in Europe, even in wine-growing regions and including Michelin-star-awarded restaurants, it is perfectly okay to drink beer with your meal. We have people here who do not like wine, and we have people who are allergic to wine (due to its content of histamine).

Second, everywhere in Europe, people like to drink spirits like Cognac, Whisky (Single Malts have become popular throughout Europe) or fruit schnapps (Germany is very good in fruit schnapps like cherry, plum, apple, pear, raspberry, rowan berry, blackthorn, sunchoke..). You drink it as apéritif, as digestif or as a "trou" between courses.

It is a different story with cocktails and longdrinks. These drinks are typical American. Although cocktails and longdrinks have become popular in Europe, you still find restaurants with difficulties to prepare them (while others are very good and very proud to mix you a cocktail). Especially "Martini" might be a problem, because in many European restaurants you will be served straight vermouth wine made by Martini & Rossi.

So, it is not a good idea just to order a cocktail or longdrink but to ask first "What cocktails do you offer?" (We were recently in a restaurant in Burgundy and asked this question, and the only cocktail they offered was called "Americano". It turned out as a pretty good Manhattan.)

In some areas, regional drink specialties are offered. In Frankfurt, it is "Äppelwoi", a kind of apple cider. You get it either dry or sweet, straight or mixed with sparkling water.

Smoking: Restaurants in Frankfurt are generally non-smoking by law. They may have separate rooms where smoking is allowed.

We lived near Frankfurt for 2 years but we never went out to eat there. We stuck to the home town Aschaffenburg and surroundings but I can't say that there is any restaurant there worth going out of the way for.

I never drank wine in German restaurants because I favor red wines and German reds are rot. Since then I've enjoyed some Rieslings. These accompany German dishes well. Try a bottle of Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Qualitätswein mit Prädikat, anout 3 years old.

I don't drink beer with food, except pizza, because it bloats me. I usually have a Hefe Weisbier with food in Germany. Hefe is easy on the stomach.

BTW, <i>fressen</i> is the German for &quot;to eat&quot; when done by an animal. <i>Fressen Sie</i> is a major insult in German.

I'm one of those allergic to wine, with a taste for single malts, so this has been really helpful.

Thanks again!

Jim

Jim, not to beat this to death, but a good, non-touristy German restaurant, the Zum Bitburger, is at Hochstrasse 54 near the Fressgasse, right down the hill from the Frankfurt Hilton and on the same side of the street. It has good food and beer. We've eaten there and liked it.

The horse is far from dead, so thanks for another suggestion.

Frankfurt is only a way station on our trip, so we haven't really focused on it. But since we'll have one full night we might as well have a decent meal, and really appreciate the suggestions.