57 Best Restaurants in Germany

Steps from the Altes Schloss, the building dates from 1565, but the menu is modern, offering both pastas, traditional Swabian specialties and vegetarian dishes. In a nod to Bavarian neighbors, the menu also offers Weisswurst, or veal sausages, but only on weekends. The Käsespätzle, or noodles with cheese, served with a salad, is enough for lunch or a light dinner, especially when combined with Opfenschulpfer, an airy bread pudding topped with vanilla sauce. There are daily beer and wine specials featuring local and regional producers. It's popular with local office workers for its location, service, and good prices.

In the historic grand villa of silent movie star Henny Porten, the Einstein is one of the leading coffeehouses in town, and it charmingly recalls the elegant days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, complete with an artsy, high-brow clientele and slightly snobbish waiters gliding across the parquet floors. Order Austrian delicacies such as Tafelspitz or schnitzel (the small order is plenty large), coffee, and, of course, some cake.

A small chocolate and macaroon shop is attached to this ornate café specializing in breakfast, light lunches, and sweet cakes. It's a centrally located place that's perfect for people-watching and indulging in the German coffee-and-cake tradition.

Known for having one of the best breakfasts in Berlin (think avocado toast and toasted brioche with berry preserves), the filtered coffee at Distrikt is far from an afterthought, with beans chosen from some of Europe's top roasteries. Tea lovers aren't left out with a fine selection from Kreuzberg's Companion Coffee & Tea, served up with a scrumptious choice of cakes.

Sample Frankish bratwurst cooked over a wood grill and other regional dishes in this converted mill alongside the Main River. Sit outside on the terrace above the river for the best views of the Alte Mainbrücke and the Festung Marienberg.

In a city famous for its cafés, Anna is a safe chain of high-quality bakeries in Regensburg and one of the best places for coffee and cake in the afternoon. Breakfast under the vaulted ceilings is pleasant as well are the sandwiches to go. The wonderful bread and pastries more than make up for the surly barista.

The English-language menu at this restaurant explains not only the cuisine but the history of Leipzig. Waitresses wearing traditional Trachten dresses may serve some of the finest Leipzig regional cuisine, but the restaurant itself is quite modern. With a prominent location on the Markt, the restaurant is popular with locals, especially for the incredible breakfast buffet. Barthels has managed to elevate the local Leipziger Allerlei (vegetables and crayfish in beef bouillon) to an art form by proudly insisting on local and sustainable produce. Enjoy a meal here with a fresh Bauer Gose.

Weekend brunch (served until 4 pm) can get busy at this café, located on a quiet square one block from the riverfront. Otherwise, the bistro—with its big windows and walls plastered with old movie and museum posters—is an oasis from the hustle and bustle of the Altstadt.

Inside Literaturhaus, a converted Renaissance-style schoolhouse that is now a literary center, this stylish brasserie is named after Munich writer Oskar Maria Graf, who fled to New York after the Nazis took power. The vaulted ceiling and plate-glass windows create an airy, modern atmosphere to enjoy the eclectic international menu, ranging from duck curry to leg of lamb with ratatouille, while its sprawling terrace is one of the city's best outdoor eating locations.

A good spot, especially if you're visiting the neighboring Pinakothek museums, this convivial corner bar and café attracts an interesting mix of students, artists, businesspeople, and trendy types from breakfast until late into the night. The menu features salads, sandwiches, and small selection of pastas—solid, affordable fare that won't exactly wow you—but the restaurant's art deco touches, funky artwork, and buzzy vibe are thoroughly enjoyable.

This brewery has so much artificial greenery that you could imagine yourself in a beer garden, but with live music and DJs on the weekends, it's got more of a club atmosphere. Hannoverian pilsner is brewed on the premises, and regional specialties are the menu's focus.

In an impressive columned hall that once was the stables of the royal residence, this sprawling restaurant features three distinct indoor dining spaces—the main grill room with an open fire, a smaller area serving homemade pasta, and a casual bar with lounge-like vibe—plus a small seasonal terrace. An expansive breakfast menu includes a large selection of organic egg dishes and pancakes.

Where better than a castle serenely overlooking the village of Freyburg for a medieval restaurant? Everything is prepared according to historical recipes with ingredients from the region.

Vietnamese specialities, including Banh Mi sandwiches served on crusty rolls and Pho Bo (noodle soup with beef), are available at this attractive café, a short stroll from the Isar River.

With three locations—one in Maxvorstadt at Klenzestrasse 69, one in Schwabing at Haimhauserstrasse 11, and this one in Lehel—Café Dukatz has made a name for itself with its delicious house-baked, French-style pastries. They also serve fine coffee and freshly pressed juices, as well as sandwiches, salads, and mainly vegetarian quiches for a quick lunch.

A modern two-level café and bar, Felix offers everything from sandwiches to steaks, and buzzes with activity from breakfast until the early hours. Light from an artsy chandelier and torchlike fixtures bounces off the many large framed mirrors.

This bustling multilevel café opens early and closes late and offers a mind-boggling array of ice-cream dishes and other sweet and savory fare. For a quick and inexpensive meal, consider the tasty breakfasts, sandwiches, and German- and Italian-influenced items on offer.

Billed as a classic all-day hangout, with selections from the vinyl records lining the walls played by the friendly staff, this more casual offshoot of neighborhood favorite Mrs. Robinson’s serves up coffee, drinks, and French bistro-inspired meals from morning till night. Opt for freshly baked goods—including sourdough bread, made daily—at any time of day, or nibble on retro dishes like Oysters Rockefeller or oeuf à la mayo along with Berlin’s black-clad foodies.

A stalwart of Hamburg's gay and lesbian neighborhood, this local favorite is probably best known for its friendly service and outrageously good cakes—spiced apple; rhubarb; and Black Forest gâteau among them—that are baked on-site in the café's own Konditorei. Beyond its sweet treats, the café whips up solid German breakfasts of bread rolls with smoked salmon and herring or cold cuts and cheeses and has a dependable if somewhat unexciting lunch and dinner menu.

The ambience of an old-time Viennese café pervades this popular spot, where there's a lovely garden in summer—as well as some of the city's best freshly baked pastries and cakes year-round, best teamed with a Kaffee mit Schlag (coffee with whipped cream). It closes early, by 7 pm.

A local favorite, this cozy, casual café is open from early morning into the wee hours, making it the perfect spot for everything from breakfast to a light lunch to evening drinks. There’s an affordable daily quiche and salad plate as well as a nice selection of cakes; if the weather is agreeable, find a spot on the sunny terrace, across from pretty Helmholtzplatz park.

Within view (and earshot) of the elevated U1 line, Café Morgenland is a relatively unremarkable neighborhood haunt on weekdays but on Sundays it devotes an entire room to the extremely popular brunch buffet, which means table space can be scarce. The Turkish-inspired dishes (an ode to the home country of many a Kreuzberg native) are a delicious alternative to the more traditional brunches served elsewhere in Berlin.

A slice of Paris in the heart of Hamburg, this turn-of-the-19th-century café's unfailing popularity derives from its superb traditional French fare, which naturally includes steak frites and beef tartare, served by crisply polite staff beneath a tiled Art Nouveau ceiling. The café's bar is an ideal spot to take in the atmosphere and sample something off the superb wine list until a table becomes free.

There are plenty of places in Wedding for a quick falafel or döner but if you're looking for something different, head to Italian-inspired Café Pförtner, at the entrance to the Uferhallen on the Panke canal. The squat, brick café space may be small, but Pförtner makes good use of what there is, adding long tables out front in good weather and, in a nod to the Uferhallen's previous incarnation as a BVG garage, turning a brightly painted bus into a dining area next door.

Located in a small courtyard off the busy Karl-Marx-Strasse in Neukölln, Cafe Rix is a quiet oasis with a golden ceiling—a remnant from the building's heyday as a dance hall. The café is popular for its extensive menu all day long; on a nice day, stop by for a "Kaffee und Kuchen" (coffee and cake) to enjoy on their outdoor terrace.

This sleek establishment at the Palmengarten is accessible either from the botanical garden or from the street, offering fresh-baked pastries throughout the day and a limited prix-fixe lunch menu that changes daily. It closes at 7 pm. The Palmengarten also has the Linden Terrace for snacks in season, and the elegant and pricey Restaurant Lafleur for dinner.

Cologne's main pedestrian shopping street is practical but uninspiring—some even say ugly. This café is an airy, artsy oasis with outdoor terrace seating and a view of the 14th-century Antonite church. The food is international with an emphasis on the Mediterranean, and includes many organic, vegetarian, and gluten-free options. The selection of cakes is divinely German, and there's a jazz dinner every Saturday. Three enormous, delicate chandeliers, made entirely of plastic waste, provide lighting.

This café has the most spectacular view in town—and Marburg is famous for its panoramas. Both an outdoor terrace and a glassed-in terrace take full advantage of the site. It's all very "Viennese coffeehouse traditional" here, with piano music on weekends. The house-made cakes and chocolate creams are hard to resist.

This popular place, with two floors and a large terrace on Marienplatz, has an international range of dishes, from kebabs and curries to pastas and local specialties. You can also enjoy coffee, cakes, or an aperitif.