We have 1 full day visiting Graz (on a Monday). I have a list of the main attractions (from www.graztourismm.at).

Any recommendation of places to eat (inexpensive & casual) in downtown area?

Are markets/shops opened on Monday morning?

If anyone has any other tips/info on Graz, pls pass them along. Many thanks!

Hi
We were there many years ago. It's a very pleasant city. It has a university which makes it lively with cafes. we were going to stay 1 night and wound up staying 2 because it was enjoyable. I'm sorry I can't remember more about the Hotels restaurants etc. they did have an unusual dessert though, which was very good.

We were there in March--a lovely city where everything has been spruced up (on our first visit, many buildings were covered in scaffoldings).

A short tram ride from the main shopping street is LoVin, a wine bar/restaurant specializing in wines from the region. www.lovin.at Very helpful and knowledgeable service. Good food and of course the wine choices are excellent. I believe they are open Monday.
If you are catching a train to Graz from Vienna, the ride is attractive, esp. as you go past Kub and Semmering.

Food in Graz is generally not very expensive. I like the Landhaus-Keller which serves some nice styrian specialities

Krebsenkeller, Sackstrasse 12
An institution for its location and its regional cuisine.

Alte Münze, Sackstrasse 22
Excellent location, excellent regional cuisine.

Café Muhr, Hauptplatz 17
Enjoy your Grosser Brauner cup of coffee.

Hofcafé Edegger-Tax, Hofgasse 6
The outside is a sight, in the inside you find an excellent bakery, pastry shop and coffee house.

In general, Graz still is a hidden gem to tourism. The hinterland is a rich agricultural country, offering everything in excellent quality from corn to wheat, from beef to poultry, from beer to wine, from milk to liquor. The people there like good food in good quantities, part of their rural traditions.

As regional specialities away from Wiener Schnitzel: Styrian Chicken. Green Salad with Kernöl - pumpkin seed oil, lookig like motor oil, but with that fine pumpkinseed taste ressembling nut. White wine and Schilcher wine, a type of roseé, Gösser or Reinighaus beer. As digestiv try some Obstler or apple jack. For a mere snack a Brettljausn, an assortment of ham, sausage and pig fat, served on a wooden platter or Brettl.

There are a lot of inns around, they all have their price list fixed outside, where ather people gather already, you are supposed to be served well too; searching is also part of the fun.