DEAR AIRBNB GUESTS
Welcome to Zurich and our little home. A lot of our guests have asked us for some restaurant tips and highlights of the town. So we started putting together a short list of the most important sights, restaurants and things to do around town.
This is surely not a complete list of all of the top highlights, but we hope it will inspire you a little to go, see the town and explore some new spots. If you have some more great tips for our future guests (and for us as well), please do let me know and we will add them to this list.
Restaurants in Zurich
The Swiss cuisine might be known for its heavy cheese and potatoe dishes, such as Fondue and Rösti, but it is actually very healthy. The food quality in Switzerland is probably one of the best in the world. Most meat that is served here in the restaurants is Swiss. The Swiss try to grow most of the crops you will find in the Supermarket locally. Even the non-biological (organic) locally grown foods in Switzerland need to apply to tougher rules and regulations than those officially set to reach the Bio-Label by the European Union.
Since eating/cooking and going for dinner with friends is something we really love to do. Here are a few restaurants that we have tried out ourselves, or our AirBnB guests have over the last couple of months.
The restaurants are in no-particular order - so just scroll down, and click on the links for more detailed information (for example to make a reservation or check out the dress code). 99% of all Swiss speak decent English so don't be afraid to pick up the phone and just call the restaurants if you would like to reserve a table.
Helvti Diner
This was one of the first places a local friend of ours from Zurich took us who is really into burgers. They only use local products and the restaurant looks like a small American diner.
Stauffacherquai 1, CH-8004 Zurich
Helvetia Zurich Hotel and Restaurant
Loud but tasty high quality Swiss Food Restaurant. They have an excellent wine menu. A main dish will set you back around 60 CHF.
Stauffacherquai 1, CH-8004 Zurich
The Bite
We got some good feedback from our AirBnBs about this burger place. It is a bit more casual and they serve things like burgers, nacho-dishes and good cocktails. We haven't been there ourselves just yet, but let us know if we should ;-).
Brauerstrasse 15, CH-8004 Zurich
Gärtnerei
The Gärtnerei serves salads and healthy food - either to go or to stay. It is a local chain of salad bars and there are about 4-5 of them in and around Zurich. If you would like to have a short healthy lunch/snack, this is a good quick stop.
Stockerstrasse 55, CH-8002 Zurich
KORNER Gourmetburger
To continue the list of healthy places to eat - here is one more burger place. The KORNER serve gourmet burger as they call them.
Gartenstrasse 10 (corner of Stockerstrasse), CH-8002 Zurich
Lily's Eatery (Asian)
If you like Asian food, Lily's is true value for money. It is right around the corner from the loft. If you would just like to stay in and watch a movie on Netflix, and like Asian food, then you can also order in. This is one of our favorite "back-up, oh-no we forgot to buy something for dinner"-places.
Langstrasse 197, CH-8005 Zurich
Fork & Bottle
Known for being Zurichs only farm to table restaurant. They offer an ever-changing menu of craft beer. This restaurant offers private dining, and you can have a nice food and drink in a relaxed country-style setting.
Allmendstrasse 20, CH-8002 Zurich
Eisenhof (Personal Favorite)
The Eisenhof restaurant is just a few meters away from the loft, but that is not the main reason why we love this place so much. The Eisenhof is something between a restaurant and a bar/pub. You will see business men in suits here, students and Harley Davidson-types.
If you love meat, you will definitely love the Eisenhof - but don't dress up!
The Eisenhof is a hot stone grill (the meat you get is served on a sizzling hot brick). One of the highlights is the Horse-Filet, which is served with fries and three different sauces. The "traditional" starter to go with it is the Nüsslisalat (mit Speck & Ei - Salad with bacon and egg), which comes with a home made dressing.
You might need to reserve a table if you would like to eat here between 18:30 and 20:30.
Gasometerstrasse 20, CH-8005 Zurich
The George Bar & Grill
The George is a cool party, food and drinks location. There are a lot of events here, live music and a fine place to wine and dine. There is a nice terrace outside and they serve some of the best cocktails in town. Be sure to wear some proper shoes :-).
Sihlstrasse 50, CH-8001 Zurich
Hiltl (Personal Favorite)
One of our favorite places to go to in Zurich is definitely the Hiltl. According to the Guiness World Records - Hiltl is the first vegetarian restaurant in the world. The company was founded in 1898 by Ambrosius Hiltl and is now run by the fourth generation of Hiltl family.
The Hiltl is a true highlight in Zurich and the oldest vegetarian restaurant in the world
The restaurant consists of two parts: the first one is a "normal" restaurant and the second part is a buffet-style self-service. The Hiltl combines class and style, in a young and cool atmosphere with vegetarian and vegan dishes. Even if you are generally used to eating meat - try out some of the dishes on the buffet that "look" like meat. They are absolutely amazing.
Sihlstrasse 28, CH-8001 Zurich
More great restaurants
Ristoranti Bindella (In Gassen 6, Zurich): Enlightning Vine Menu
Ristorante la Baracca (Kanzleistrasse 103, CH-8004 Zurich): Incredible Wine Menu, tasty pasta dishes, small and cozy, but a little pricy
Zur Oberen Flühgasse (Flühgasse 69, CH-8008 Zurich)
Butcher (Heinrichstrasse 239, CH-8005 Zurich)
Coming Soon (Rolandstrasse 9, CH-8004 Zurich)
Stefs Freieck (Wildbachstrasse 42, CH-8004 Zurich): a three-course menu costs 78 CHF
Noshak (Zaehringerstrasse 13, CH-8001 Zurich): Afgan specialty restaurant
Talacker (Talacker 41, CH-8001 Zurich)
Accademia del Gusto (Rotwandstrasse 48, CH-8004 Zurich): Please do dress up(!) this is one of the best wine places in town
Breakfast, Brunch & nice places for a of coffee
Of course you do not always need to go out for a huge three-course meal. A nice brunch or a cup of coffee in the afternoon can be just as much of a treat. Most of the brunch places and bars are either in the center of town, or just around the corner from the loft.
Jack & Jo: Slow Fast Food
This is one of our favorite places to have breakfast - especially on Sunday mornings. Jack & Jo serve organic slow fast food. Everything they offer is home made and tasted delicious. My personal favorites are the pancakes.
They offer free wifi and you can charge your phones/laptops etc right at your table, which makes it really convenient to work from there too (which we do occassionally). After 12:00 they change the menu and serve a large variety of great salads (which you can create yourself), burgers and other yummy things.
Among others, they have blueberry pancakes and mango-chutney pancakes with Chia-seeds. It might be because of the cook, but the pancakes taste best on Sunday's... (Okay, I know that shows that we have had way too many pancakes there already)
Gustav-Gull-Platz 2, CH-8004 Zurich (Europaallee)
Babus
Babus Bakery and Coffeehouse is a great place to have a nice brunch, or cup of coffee when you are in town. The Bakery and Coffeehouse is located right in the center of town - but not directly on one of the main streets (Bahnhofstrasse). It is very cozy and the pastries they have are delicious.
Loewenstrasse 1, CH-8001 Zurich
Maison Blunt
Maison Blunt is only a few meters away from the loft. It is a lovely Moroccan tea room, which is great for breakfast and brunches.
Gasometerstrasse 5, CH-8005 Zurich
More Brunch and Coffee Places
Cafe Henrici (Niederdorfstrasse 1, CH-8001 Zurich)
Huusmaa (Badenerstrasse 138, CH-8004 Zurich)
FORUM (Badenerstrasse 120, CH-8004 Zurich)
Zum guten Glueck (Stationsstrasse 7, CH-8003 Zurich)
Kafi Schoffel (Schoffelgasse 7, CH-8003 Zurich)
Cafe des Amis (Nordstrasse 88, CH-8037 Zurich)
Cafe Lang (Limmatplatz 7, CH-8005 Zurich)
Bars
If you would like to go out for a drink, there are a lot of great places you can go to in Zurich. Some are very fancy, and others are very laid back and "hipster-style". The great thing about Zurich is that it is a city with stark contrasts between the luxury life in the center of town and the relaxed hangouts just a few minutes further down the street.
Here is a short list of cool Bars and simply places where you can go for a drink (inside or outside)
La Stanza (Bleicherweg 10, CH-8002 Zurich)
Old Fashioned Bar (Fraumuensterstrasse 15, CH-8001 Zurich)
Frau Gerolds Garten (Geroldstrasse 23, CH-8005 Zurich): This is a great place when the sun is out. The location is mainly outside and it is just 5-10 minutes on foot from the loft. Have a casual beer, chill out in the sun and enjoy a whole different part of Zurich you have probably not seen before.
Kanonaegass Bar (Kanonenstrasse 9, CH-8004 Zurich)
Dante (Zwinglistrasse 22, CH-8004 Zurich)
Atelier Bar (Talacker 16, CH-8001 Zurich)
Raygrodski (Sihlfeldstrasse 49, CH-8003 Zurich)
Bar3000 (Dienerstrasse 33, CH-8004 Zurich)