478 Best Restaurants in Germany

This restaurant is on the ground floor of the Wulflamhaus, a 14th-century gabled house on the old market square. In late spring or early summer, get the light and tasty Ostseescholle (grilled plaice), fresh from the Baltic Sea, while in winter the hearty Zanderfilet mit Sanddornsauce (pikeperch filet with sea buckthorn sauce) is a must.

Committed to the city's maritime heritage, Wullenwever serves fish such as bass, halibut, plaice, pike, and trout, which is fried or sautéed according to local country cooking. It's certainly one of the most attractive establishments in town, with dark furniture, chandeliers, and oil paintings on pale pastel walls.

Hailed as a sort of pan-Asian supper club, this large restaurant with Asian decor has a bar scene that's just as good a reason to visit as its exceptional menu of both Japanese and Chinese dishes including excellent sushi. Beef lovers will find plenty to choose from, including sliced hangar steak with Japanese barbecue sauce, and a Geisha Room for private romantic dinners for two, featuring Japanese vodka.

A grand view of the harbor and the lake is only one of the attractions of this art deco–style restaurant, serving lunch and dinner (after the museum has closed), in the Zeppelin Museum. Soak up the retro airship travel theme as you enjoy cakes and drinks, and a range of Swabian, Italian, and Asian-influenced meals.

The \"tunnel\" refers to the barrel-ceiling ground-floor restaurant, where foaming glasses of excellent Gose beer are served with a smile. The friendly staff will also help you decipher the Old Saxon descriptions of the menu's traditional dishes. Upstairs there's a larger wine restaurant with an open fireplace.

Hamburg may not have many good Japanese restaurants, but this modern bistro-style restaurant has developed a loyal clientele of locals and Japanese expats through its warm service and modern interpretation of Japanese haute cuisine. As well as the typical offerings of sushi and tempura udon, the menu here features such treats as wagyu beef with dipping sauces and duck and eggplant in red miso sauce.

There are few inner-city restaurants that brew their own beer, so Zu Den Twelve Apostles is one of the pleasant exceptions. Enjoy homemade pilsners in the dimly lighted, cavernous cellar, and sample traditional regional favorites along with Balkan dishes.

On the other side of the train station from the Bauhaus, about 20 minutes' walk, lies a brewery with a fairly young history by German standards, dating back only to 1900. The former buildings of the Brewery Schade house a brewpub that not only serves some of the best seasonal regional cuisine in Dessau but also the best unfiltered Zwickel beer in eastern Germany. The food is rustic German and the beer a cold way to reflect on a day in Dessau.

Whether you dine inside or out, this city center weinstube (wine bar) is a great dining and drinking option. In addition to the German dishes on the regular menu, you can order à la carte or prix-fixe based on recipes attributed to the Roman gourmet Marcus Gavius Apicius in the evening. If eating outside, take a trip down to the cellar anyway for a peek at the collection of Roman artifacts on display.

Beer lovers rejoice: Erfurt has six brewpubs, among which the Golden Swan is by far the best. The house beer is a pleasant unfiltered Kellerbier, and the constantly changing seasonal menu is a step above normal brewpub fare. The restaurant and its beer garden are in the best-preserved segment of the original pigment factories on the Michaelisstrasse

Set in a charming historic building, this restaurant is renowned for its cozy ambiance and top-notch German-European cuisine. Signature dishes include schnitzel and goulash, prepared with traditional flair. The warm, welcoming atmosphere and excellent service make it a favorite among both locals and visitors, offering an authentic dining experience in the heart of Monschau.

Wine-maker Josef Laufer more than lives up to the hospitality promised by the wreath and Krug (an earthenware pitcher) hanging above the front door of his hotel and restaurant a few kilometers from Eltville. The wood-paneled dining room, with its old tiled stove, is cozy; the service is warm and welcoming; and the regularly changing seasonal German fare includes Riesling cream soup, rump steak, trout from the Wisper River, along with the odd international curveball (Thai green curry, anyone?)

Named for the huge Rad (wagon wheel) that serves as a centerpiece, this is one of the few Apfelwein taverns in Frankfurt that still makes its own apple wine, which it's been doing since 1806. It's located in the villagelike district of Seckbach, on the northeastern edge of the city. Outside tables are shaded by chestnut trees in an extensive courtyard. The typically Hessian cuisine, with giant portions, includes such dishes as Ochsenbrust (brisket of beef) with the ubiquitous herb sauce. Reservations recommended on weekends. Cash only.

Founded in 1398 and in this location on Heidelberg's Hauptstrasse (main street) since 1778—so you know they are doing something right—the White Swan specializes in regional fare. The menu includes several versions of Maultaschen (traditional Swabian ravioli) and local mushrooms and asparagus are featured in season. Unlike most German restaurants and pubs, which serve one local brew, there are a dozen on tap here; the most popular are Klosterhof and Heidelberger.

The sturdy half-timber Zunfthaus (Guildhall) has stood here for more than 500 years, first as a fishermen's pub and now as a charming tavern-restaurant. Ulm's fishermen had their guild headquarters here, and when the nearby Danube flooded, the fish swam right up to the door. Today they land on the menu, which also includes dry-aged steak as well as \"Swabian oysters\" (actually snails, drenched in garlic butter). The local beer makes an excellent accompaniment.

In this bright-pink half-timbered building dating to the 1500s, three generations of the Scheiner family have run wine bars named for a classic German song, \"Die Fischerin vom Bodensee\" (\"The Fisherwoman From the Bodensee\"). It's a cozy place to pair well-curated wines from local producers with shareable dishes such as an impressive opener of white beans with chili oil and hummus with focaccia. This version is a gallery, too, with attractive art lining the wooden walls of a small dining area just below street level. 

A 17th-century grain mill has been transformed into this romantic restaurant in the heart of the Altstadt (Old Town). The dark wooden beams add to the warm atmosphere. In summer, try to arrive early to get a table in the idyllic courtyard. You can opt for a three-course or four-course prix-fixe menu. Reservations recommended.

Berlin's oldest restaurant (established in 1621) is half-hidden in a maze of medieval streets, though it's welcomed some illustrious diners over the centuries: Napoléon is said to have sat by the tile stove, and Mikhail Gorbachev sipped a beer here in 1989. The small, well-priced menu focuses on some of Berlin's most traditional specialties, including Eisbein (pork knuckle), and takes its whimsical dish titles from classic legal jargon—the national courthouse is around the corner, and the restaurant's name is a rough equivalent of the term \"at the 11th hour.\"

The name refers to a highly sophisticated brewing term describing the means by which the brewmaster samples the fermenting product. That's a good description of the atmosphere here, too: a brewery with service that takes its time to prepare burgers, steaks, and other heavy dishes that wash down well with beer.

This flagship beer restaurant of one of Munich's oldest breweries opened in about 1812. It is also the location of the unbeatable Augustiner beer garden, which should be at the top of any visitor's beer garden list. The menu offers Bavarian specialties, including half a duck with a good slab of roast suckling pig, dumpling, and blue cabbage. If you're up for it, end your meal with a Dampfnudel (yeast dumpling served with custard), though you probably won't feel hungry again for quite a while.

A good spot, especially if you're visiting the neighboring Pinakothek museums, the ever-popular Brasserie Tresznjewski serves an eclectic menu, well into the wee hours.

This lively old tavern dates from 1703 and is inextricably linked with Heidelberg's history and university. Young and old alike crowd around the wooden tables in the wood-panel room, decorated with historic photos and maps, and piano music adds to the din Wednesday through Saturday nights. From salads and pasta to hearty roasts and steaks, there's a broad selection of food, and beer is served from 7:30 am until closing. Upstairs are modern, pleasantly furnished guest rooms.

While it may not conform to everyone’s definition of a “beach”—in this case a long stretch of trucked-in sand on the north bank of the Elbe, directly across from the giant cranes and container terminals of the city’s port—there’s little doubting the popularity of the Elbstrand (Elbe beach) among locals. Whenever the sun’s out, you’ll find them out here in force, walking dogs and sipping beers and white-wine spritzers from a couple of little beach bars. Strandperle also does a decent chili con carne as well as curry sausages and fish rolls to keep hunger pangs at bay.

Open since 1775, Tambosi is Munich's longest-running café. Its location is superb, partly sitting in full view of Theatinerkirche on Odeonsplatz and partly in the Hofgarten. Watch the hustle and bustle of Munich's street life from an outdoor table on the city side, or retreat through a gate in the Hofgarten's western wall to the café's tree-shaded beer garden. If the weather is cool or rainy, find a corner in the cozy, eclectically furnished interior.