478 Best Restaurants in Germany

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 are the sandwiches to go. The wonderful bread and pastries more than make up for the often-surly baristas.

This sunny establishment is a feature of Frankfurt's Ökohaus, which was built according to environmental principles (solar panels, catching rainwater, etc.). The menu is mainly vegetarian and vegan, with such dishes as a vegetable platter with feta cheese or curry soup with grated coconut and banana. Meat, fish, and poultry dishes include Persian BBQ and kabobs.

Taste the "Divine beer of the Vikings," a malty cold-fermented amber lager, at Schleswig's only brewery. While the Luzifer Restaurant offers typical brewpub fare, it is the small Viking twists, like roast meat served only with a knife and horned glasses that make this place worth a visit.

All over Germany, no beer brand has become so closely associated with Hamburg (and especially St. Pauli) than Astra. In addition to its main industrial brewery, the brand runs a microbrewery and restaurant directly on the Reeperbahn. Here, they offer IPAs and other specialty beers that can only be enjoyed there as it is produced in much smaller batches. A full menu featuring everything from finger food to lobster make this a great starting point to a legendary evening on the Kiez.

The walls of this historic restaurant (founded in 1879) are adorned with vintage drawings of apples and Brembel pottery pitchers for the Apfelwein served here in abundance, along with traditional German specialties such as crispy pork knuckle with sauerkraut and local favorites such as eggs and potatoes with Grüne Sôs (cold herbed sauce). The menu is on chalkboards, and the tables are communal.

More than 400 years of tradition are embedded in this old tavern, hidden away behind huge wooden doors on a back street. A surprisingly varied menu includes local favorites such as suckling pig and marinated pot roast, as well as good fish entrées, all at reasonable prices.

Perched on a hilltop north of town, this superb restaurant overlooks the Rauenthaler Baiken vineyard. In addition to the lovely panorama vista from the vine-canopied terrace, the regional cooking, friendly atmosphere, and local wines make for a complete \"Rheingau Riesling\" experience. The menu is limited, with only four starters, four mains, and two desserts to choose from at any time; if in doubt (and a meat-eater), opt for always-excellent rump steak.

This tiny and hip 20-seat eatery serves inspired French cuisine in rotating six-course menus (with two optional additions) celebrating a mix of seasonal regional and international ingredients. If you can't get a reservation here, try the sister restaurant next door: the larger and slightly more casual 3 Minutes Sur Mer.

The Barn roasts their coffee beans on the premises and offers a limited menu of near-perfect brews—they take coffee seriously, and can get a bit dictatorial about how much milk or sugar you should add. There are baked goods and sandwiches on the menu as well, but the focus here is definitely on the coffee. There are several other locations scattered around the city, including the original Barn in Mitte, at Auguststrasse 58, at the corner of Koppenplatz.

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.

Constructed in 1867 as a riding hall for the Royal Prussian military, this upmarket restaurant's home is as striking as the menu, which is Mediterranean-inspired. Cast-iron pillars support the vaulted brick ceiling, and two-story drapes hang in the huge windows.

Anchored by an indoor vertical garden filled with vegetables and herbs used in many of its dishes, this casual eatery inside the Gropius Bau museum focuses on ancient Jewish recipes from around the world. Choose from a selection of organic vegetable-forward mezzes including labneh (strained yogurt) with challah bread, cauliflower with herbed tahini, and zucchini latkes, finished off with tasty cakes baked by renowned Berlin pâtissière Cynthia Barcomi.

This bistro-style restaurant with a seafood market specializes in fresh fish from the lake prepared on a grill in front of guests. In good weather, sit outside on the long communal tables, or stop for a fish roll when wandering the island. If you want dinner, make it an early one; the restaurant closes at 7:30.

Located in the Kurhaus, beside the Spielbank, this chic bistro has a striking art nouveau interior—think painted ceilings, walls crammed with paintings, and a grand piano (live music nightly)—that attracts an upscale clientele and the post-theater crowd. Delicately mixing French and German cooking, the restaurant is particularly known for its (expensive) black Angus steaks, best served with truffle fries. For a good value lunch, come for the two-course menu (including coffee), available from 12 to 3 pm weekdays.

Yes it's run by Americans, and yes it serves burgers, but the Bird, overlooking a corner of Mauerpark in Prenzlauer Berg, is more than just an expat burger joint—it serves some of the best burgers in Berlin, and it's one of the few spots where "rare" actually means pink and juicy on the inside. Besides cheekily named burgers like the "Bronx Jon" (mushrooms and Swiss cheese), "Da Works" (everything, including guacamole if you ask for it), and the "Lousy Hunter," which is a vegetarian burger, the Bird also serves a mean steak frites suitable for two.

Tucked away close to a lively square full of bars with a more local vibe not far from the Reeperbahn, The Bird is a New York-style restaurant serving some of the best and most creative hamburgers and steaks in town and a great selection of domestic and international beers.

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.

This is a popular American-style steakhouse chain which ages its own beef. There are some 50 outposts in Germany, including two in Stuttgart. There are daily lunch specials, including burgers, ribs, and vegetarian chili. Dinner focuses on T-bones, rib-eyes, and filet mignon. Portions are large, except for the children’s menu. Save room for dessert, including a Belgian waffle with powdered sugar and cherry compote and New York-style cheesecake. Reservations are essential on weekends.

The name isn't an exaggeration: Bonanza really was one of the first \"coffee heroes\" to champion artisanal roasting and brewing methods in the German capital. From its tiny home next to Mauerpark in Prenzlauer Berg, Bonanza roasts its own beans, runs a catering business, offers their beans wholesale to customers all over the city, and serves some of the smoothest, tastiest coffee in town; sometimes there are croissants, pain au chocolat, or cookies to enjoy as well, but not always. There's another outpost in Kreuzberg and two others in Mitte.

The menu changes daily at this celebrity meeting place—the location near Gendarmenmarkt makes it a popular power lunch spot for politicians and influential people, though the food and service are not what you'd expect from the high prices. The setting is wonderful, though, with high ceilings, plush maroon benches, marble columns, and an Art Nouveau mosaic that was discovered during renovations. The cuisine is French-German and there are generally several fish dishes and oyster choices on the menu, as well as carnivore classics like veal schnitzel or beef fillet. The courtyard garden is lively in warm weather

Take a seat by the wall of windows or at the long blond-wood bar, in this airy, casual brasserie, which specializes in French food and wine; the light, crisp quiches, in particular, are a delight. On nice days, tables are set outside on the sidewalk of the pleasant, relatively quiet street and the Bier & Oktoberfestmuseum is right next door, highlighting the wonderful contrasts that are so typical of this city.

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 a wide range of breakfast foods, salads, sandwiches, and small selection of pastas. The restaurant's art deco touches, funky artwork, and buzzy vibe are thoroughly enjoyable.

A cheery hotel-restaurant a long uphill hike from the center of Steinau, the \"Roast Chicken Farm\" is unique to Steinau. Get your fill of rotisserie chicken in the open dining room, or take a room in the attached guesthouse.

Tucked into a quaint little square off Viktualienmarkt, this delightful Bratwurst joint, dating from 1901, cooks up specialty sausages over an open grill right in the main red-brick vaulted dining room. There's also a decent schnitzel and roast pork with potato dumplings on the menu.

This legendary brewery serves classic German comfort food along with its excellent namesake beers (both Altbier and Pils) in typically rustic dining rooms, as well as out in the spacious glassed-in winter garden.

There's no better Bräuhaus in Cologne for drinking Kölsch, the city's home brew, than in one of the city’s oldest microbreweries. You won't sit long in front of an empty glass before a blue-aproned waiter sweeps by and places another one before you.