7 Best Restaurants in Zürich, Switzerland

Since opening their first tiny restaurant in 1998, the Te family has given Zürich an education in authentic Thai food. Don't come because it's cheap, which it is (for Zürich), but come for the perfectly prepared, fragrant food that draws a full house for lunch and dinner. All walks of life come to enjoy their rice noodle soup with octopus and vegetables or beef with Thai basil, Kaffir lime leaves, and green beans. This is one of Zürich's best restaurants, hands down, and you won't leave hungry. It has one other location on Brauerstrasse. 

This fun, alfresco beiz (canteen) located in an upmarket lakefront campground is a sweet summer alternative to the city’s sunset terraces, which can be crowded and overpriced. Throw a sweater around your shoulders, grab a glass of rosé, and park yourself at a picnic table for vegetable crudité, bowls of truffled pommes frites, and crunchy fried fish like pike, char, perch, and trout, all line-caught in Swiss lakes.

The most ambitious of the city's many Zunfthaus dining places, this fine restaurant is also the most spectacular, with a wooden barrel-vaulted ceiling and 30-foot beams, beneath which you can enjoy such innovative entrées as home-smoked char with beetroot carpaccio, or roasted forest mushrooms with truffle cream. Slick modern improvements—including a glassed-in elevator—manage to blend intelligently with the ancient decor and old-world chandeliers. The river views are especially impressive at night; ask for a window table. The ground-floor bar also offers light lunch refreshments.

This beloved landmark has always drawn a stellar crowd, and every panel of gleaming wood wainscoting frames artworks by Braque, Chagall, Bonnard, and Rodin, collected by Gustav Zumsteg, whose mother, Hulda, owned the restaurant from 1921 until she died in 1985. The tradition is carried on by the family trust, and robust old-school cooking is still served in hefty portions: veal steak in morel sauce, duck à l'orange with red cabbage, and Spätzle, all delivered from a silver trolley. Unless you're a recognizable celebrity, make sure to insist on a table in the main dining room; ordinary mortals are otherwise seated in a less exciting room upstairs.

Cavernous ceilings and broadly spaced tables illuminated by floor-to-ceiling windows characterize this restaurant, a few blocks from the lake. Executive chef Tarik Lange’s innovative take on regional flavors includes dishes like the secret cut of beef with whisper-thin sweet potato fries, or shellfish bisque with ginger and pineapple, followed by the house cheesecake with sea buckthorn. Pair your meal with a wine from the 3,000-strong cellar. The lamplit and leafy outdoor seating is charming on balmy evenings, when you’ll mingle with businesspeople enjoying after-work drinks.

This bustling and spacious all-day brasserie with pinstripe room dividers and a sunny terrace has been a go-to since 1910 when it opened in Helvetiaplatz. It's versatile enough for any occasion, from a birthday party to a quiet Sunday supper. The menu is heavy on Swiss comfort classics—beef tartare with buttered toast and crispy cordon bleu oozing melted Emmental cheese, for example. Seasonal fare is never overlooked: the fall menu might include chestnut penne with mushroom cream and pumpkin risotto with port fig. Several plant-based options such as warm lentil salad with parsley roots ensure vegans won’t be stuck with pasta again.

Under painted vaults and wood-paneled walls that climb to restored century-old murals depicting gallivanting cherubs, businesspeople, workers, and shoppers share crowded tables around a stucco marble pillar to feast on generous hot dishes and a great selection of sausages. The Leberknödl (liver dumplings) are tasty, and the perch, a local specialty, is breaded and baked and comes with tartar sauce and steamed potatoes. The Öpfelküchli (fried apple slices rolled in cinnamon and sugar) are tender and sweet. The bustle and clatter provide a lively, sociable experience, and you'll more than likely get to know your neighbor.