12 Best Restaurants in Luzern and Central Switzerland, Switzerland

Just past Spreuerbrücke on Luzerne's largest historic square, with views of the river and the glitzy Chateau Gütsch, this brasserie-style café-bar-restaurant arranges seasonal ingredients into dishes such as pulled beef with rucola and burrata or pumpkin spaghetti with chestnuts and pesto. The menu changes regularly, but it’s always one of the best places in town for homemade cake.

This popular establishment has been feeding travelers since 1931 in what was originally built as a farmhouse in 1858, now containing a beautifully contrived collection of 17th-century antiques, leaded glass, and an old-world style—everything pleasantly burnished by more than 90 years of service. The standing menu includes specialties from around the country: sliced calf liver with Rösti, cheese croquettes with tomato sauce, and chocolate mousse. In warm weather you can enjoy your meal in the outdoor seating area, which spills out onto the pedestrian-only zone.

This sleek restaurant brings a taste of Ticino to Luzern's New Town with hearty and reasonably priced Swiss-Italian dishes like spinach gnocchi, sausage with polenta, mature Ticino Alp cheese, and all sorts of pizzas. In addition to beautiful mosaic tiles and a crackling fireplace, the dining room features the work of young local artists, and the lounge hosts live piano music some evenings. From April to October, the restaurant sets up camp in a leafy park across the street.

A touch of Paris in the heart of Luzern—advertising posters from the 1920s and 1930s, simple wooden tables, and a green-and-yellow-checkered floor—is the setting for sumptuous dishes based on fresh market ingredients. The menu changes regularly, but typical offerings might include rack of lamb or Swiss shrimp—yes, Switzerland has its own sustainable shrimp farm. The darker, barlike entrance leads to the bright main room with a terrace overlooking the river.

This confectionary institution, now family-run in the fourth generation, pops with Barbie-pink, but look beyond that to the pastries. The bakery churns out more than 500 products every day, with specialties including Luzerner Chatzestreckerli (florentines named after Luzerne pilgrims) and Birnenweggen (dried pear pastries). There are 16 Bachmann branches in the city, but the main shop on Schwanenplatz is the place to stop: the centerpiece is a chocolate wall, featuring 750 kilograms (1,653 lbs) of liquid chocolate—just don't try to eat any as it's purely decorative. Instead, satisfy that craving with a famous Bachmann hot chocolate in the bakery's cafe—La Vie en Rose—on Pilatusstrasse.

This French-inspired deli-café-bar on the quayside under the Kultur- und Kongresszentrum’s striking canopy roof has all bases covered. At breakfast and brunch, the menu features dishes such as shakshuka with hummus and a poached egg while later, for dinner, there are small plates designed for sharing. It also serves lovely reviving brews like fresh ginger, honey, and lemon that can be sipped while you watch paddle steamers set sail. Inside, the mood is artsy, with cool seating such as hammock chairs. 

This fine dining institution in the Kultur- und Kongresszentrum (KKL) Luzern has some of the best views in town; its open kitchen overlooks a minimalist space spliced with zesty color and perched above twinkling Lake Luzern. Chef Michèle Meier has been awarded 16 Gault-Millau points and one Michelin star for modern, seasonal dishes such as ravioli with chestnuts and apple or cod with red curry and sweet potato.

One of the architectural focal points of the Old Town waterfront, this floridly decorated guild house provides an authentic medieval setting in which to sample reasonably priced local fare (the guild's origins can be traced to 1341). Lake fish or paschtete (meat pies with puff pastry) are worthy local options. The interior is woody and publike; in summer the small first-floor balcony or the airy cobblestone riverside arcade provides one of the best seats in town.

Formerly a 16th-century tavern, this lively brasserie is a favorite meeting place for Luzern's art and media crowd, humming with locals lunching by the bar, while the more formal old-style restaurant glows with wood and brass under a low-beamed parquetry ceiling. Fresh market ingredients are combined to create modern, international fare, including local fish in lemon olive oil, Irish beef with potato fritters, and goat's cream cheese pralines. There is ample outside seating when it's warm, including a small garden.

Step past the ancient facade and into a room roaring with local action, where brisk waiters deliver the dishes that Mutti (Mom) used to make: fresh kutteln (tripe) in rich white-wine sauce with cumin seeds; real kalbs-kopf (chopped fresh veal head) served with heaps of green onions and warm vinaigrette; and authentic Luzerner Chügelipastetli (puff-pastry nests filled with finely ground beef, savory herbs, and cream sauce). Occasional experiments in a modern mode—such as steak with wasabi sauce—prove that Peter Galliker's kitchen, now in the hands of new owners but completely unchanged, is no museum. Desserts may include raspberries with peppermint ice cream.

Decked out in chalkboards, pendulum lamps, and toolbox cutlery holders, this workshop-inspired eatery in Luzern’s modish Neustadt quarter serves global cuisine with a creative twist (think: cream cheese–stuffed chicken with fruity couscous or minced meat with harissa). It also offers various cookery and cocktail workshops.