19 Best Restaurants in Eastern Switzerland, Switzerland

This is a mountain restaurant where you come for the views and stay for the Appenzell cheese dishes and cervelat (Swiss sausage). Since it's accessible only by cable car plus a 20-minute hike, you'll have earned your meal at this cliffside café, which sits in the middle of the Appenzeller Alps. Here, you'll be treated not only to sweeping views of the cool green valley below, but to locally made sorbet, too.

Only the best is served at this highly lauded fine dining restaurant with impeccable service, artistic haute cuisine, and lovely views of St. Gallen. In addition to the indulgent multicourse tasting menus, the restaurant has beautiful wood beam ceilings that lend a strong sense of place to the establishment.

Tidy, bright, and modern, this second-floor restaurant may lack the historic feel of some of its neighbors, but it features remarkable cooking from a well-regarded chef. Look for locally sourced dishes such as white fish and root vegetables marinated in honey, or lamb shanks with chanterelle mushrooms, seasonal vegetables, and bread dumplings. The café draws local families at lunch; business executives choose the slightly more formal dining room.

Dating back to 1789, this cozy and central local favorite offers three delightful settings: a small Stübli (Swiss pub) full of waxed and weathered wood, a graceful tile-stove dining room with antiques, and a private garden thick with wisteria and luxuriant trees. Specialties include hearty dishes such as beef with white asparagus, and buttered Rösti with goat cheese.

The 450-year-old cellar underneath the Adler Hotel on the edge of Appenzell town is the place for fondue in the winter. Carved-wood-paneled walls, a dark medieval room, and ancient glassed-over cobblestones are a bit chilly and museumlike, but the friendly service and excellent local wine list will warm you right back up.

The menu at this culinary landmark is based on market-fresh ingredients and may include such ample fare as a triumvirate of fillets (beef, veal, lamb) with fresh vegetables and potatoes, but can also be more inventive, in the form of veal Provençal. Vegetarians are asked to please contact the restaurant in advance so something special can be prepared. The enormous wine list will complement any meal. Rubbing shoulders with the town's cathedral, the renovated historic property entices with a castellated exterior, turreted and hued in pink. Inside, things get more stolid, with most of the action taking place in the main Rôtisserie room—a large chamber replete with cross-vaulted ceilings and modern chandeliers.

Wood-and-steel furniture mixes with black-painted walls and a fully stocked bar at this trendy St. Gallen café near the farmers' market. With unusually long opening hours, you can come for coffee and a morning snack---locally sourced baked goods or Birchermüesli (Swiss oatmeal) are good bets---and return for happy hour or a nightcap. The café features weekend brunches, an extensive cocktail and wine menu, and a focus on organic products. Add free Wi-Fi, and the only challenge here is finding an empty table.

The service at Lokal comes across as arrogant, but the food—savory onion soup, cordon bleu heaped with pomme frites, coq au vin, and mounds of fresh green salads—is always excellent. Sunday brunch shouldn't be missed. Part of a former industrial complex that houses a contemporary art museum, cinema, and theater, Lokal is a hip restaurant inside a former locomotive hall. It's surrounded by a spacious terrace strewn with tables full of St. Gallen's Dior- and Swarvoski-clad set.

The glassed-in terrace of the Tonhalle concert hall provides a year-round garden setting and a beautiful view of its large park. The all-day kitchen serves up distinctly regional cuisine—St. Gallen's Olma Bratwurst with butter Rösti, for example—and also features a vegetarian option. Daily lunch specials are a good value, and it's a good spot to come for coffee and cake during off-peak hours. The outside terrace is a quiet luxury in warm weather.

This busy restaurant caters to crowds with a palate for simple local fare—Rösti (hash-brown potatoes), Geschnetzeltes (sliced veal in cream sauce), burgers, and spaghetti. The Tagesteller (daily special) is an especially good deal at lunchtime, and English-language menus are available. Though plain and cafeteria-like, it's an excellent choice for families; it even houses a small bowling alley. Nonsmokers can also enjoy a separate seating area upstairs.

The town's former armory houses a small, no-frills bistro serving tasty examples of the local fare, such as any variation on cordon bleu you can imagine. Whether adorned with Appenzeller or raclette cheese or with ham, all schnitzels come with French fries. Local business executives come especially for the lunch specials, which include soup or salad and are a steal in comparison to swankier places nearby. The location next to the cathedral makes it a perfect pit stop during a day of sightseeing.

Yet another local establishment with a beautiful frescoed facade, this one glows with a deep-red wood-hued interior that invites passersby into the warm little Weinstube. Inside, dark antiques surround a Kachelofen (tile stove), and candles glow on the tables. The menu mixes Swiss staples with Italian flavors—you'll find spaghetti arrabbiata alongside the traditional Wurst-Käse-Salat (sliced cervelat sausages and cheese cubes with onions drizzled with oil and vinegar dressing—it's tastier than it sounds). If you're tired of meat, there's a good selection of crisp salads as well.