While eating can be often expensive, it is possible to eat cheaply. Dozens of hole-in-the-wall snack joints along Niederdorfstrasse churn out kebabs, falafels, sausages, noodles and/or chips, though you can often do better with the daily special at one of the beerhalls on the same street.
If you're into food, book a food-themed sightseeing tour to indulge in Swiss cheese fondue and fine wine while seeing the city — sure to be a memorable highlight of your Zürich vacation.
Best restaurants in Zurich
- Zum Kropf: an atmospheric listed building, boasting a frescoed interior that dates from its conversion into a restaurant in 1888. Serving meat, potatoes and dumplings in various forms, standards are high.
- AuGust: offering a contemporary twist on the traditional butcher’s, this chic bistro specializes in sausages and other meaty dishes.
- Bodega Española: with an outstanding menu ranging from tortilla catalana to paella, this dark-wood place dates back to 1892 and drips with atmosphere. The tapas bar downstairs is also outstanding.
Best cafés in Zurich
- Café 1842: a very popular confectioner’s and café, famous for its hot chocolate. The nineteenth-century cash till is surrounded by fresh cake creations and wonderfully-presented packages of chocolates and sweets.
- Odeon: a compact café-bar on Bellevueplatz, where Lenin once sat and watched the world go by. The interior has plenty of character, with impressive marble on the walls and a long central counter.
- Zähringer: long-standing cooperative-run bastion of Zürcher counterculture, attracting an alternative clientele for snacks, herbal teas and beer. With a focus on local organic ingredients, this has lots of veggie options.
Best bars in Zurich
- Rheinfelder Bierhalle: with wooden benches, zero decoration and bright lights, this is a place to get shamelessly, sociably drunk, laugh loudly and clap strangers on the back.
- Jules Verne: an intimate little city-centre bar in a domed observatory building with panoramic views across the rooftops and steeples. The cocktails and bar food are good.
- Frau Gerold's Garten: simultaneously one of the hippest and most relaxed hangouts in town, this open-air bar boasts an urban garden (used to source the simple but excellent food) with a magical atmosphere.
Nightlife and entertainment in Zurich
Zurich Nightlife
Zurich’s nightlife scene has skyrocketed recently, helped by legislation permitting some all-night opening. The city’s dynamic club scene covers the gamut from techno to salsa, with the industrial quarter northwest of Langstrasse home to the best underground clubs.
Venues move, nights change and new places open virtually every month, so check flyers at the bars up and down Langstrasse.
Entertainment in Zurich
Zurich has a surprisingly wide range of entertainment options. It is home to a top-flight orchestra, a world-famous opera company, and one of the German-speaking world’s premier theatres (Schauspielhaus Zurich).
Moreover, many of the city’s churches – principally the Grossmünster, Fraumünster, Predigerkirche and St Peter’s – host regular concerts of organ, choral and chamber music, as does the Kunsthaus.
You can find complete what’s-on listings for the week ahead in ZüriTipp, the Fri supplement to the Tages Anzeiger newspaper, available free at the tourist office.