The Best Austrian Food in Germany

A two-Michelin-starred restaurant on the Landwehrkanal in Kreuzberg, with a terrace tucked from the street and a room where period wood panelling meets a Jim Avignon mural. Sebastian Frank's set menu is vegetable-forward in a way that sounds like a manifesto, with dishes named "mushroom liver" and "fuck caviar." The wine list leans Austria and Eastern Europe, which at this level feels almost punk.

A converted village schoolroom, complete with tiled stove, parquet floors, and tall mullioned windows, is where chef Daniel Schmidthaler runs a Michelin-starred tasting menu restaurant deep in the Mecklenburg lake district. The daily changing menu leans hard on whatever the surrounding region is producing, with herbs foraged nearby and his Austrian background surfacing in the longer courses. Dress neatly; this is not a casual drop-in.

Edelweiss-shaped light fixtures are cut into the ceiling, salvaged wood frames the room, and the check-upholstered chairs look like someone finally agreed that Alpine style could also be comfortable. This Michelin-starred restaurant in Oberstdorf runs a seasonal surprise menu only, no à la carte, so you hand over the wheel and trust the kitchen's instinct for classic technique nudged toward the modern. The glass wine cooler is hard to ignore, which is probably the point.

A Michelin-starred creative restaurant in Essen where a Styrian-born chef folds Austrian tradition into something distinctly his own, with Asian touches woven through a four- or six-course set menu. A pub menu running alongside it keeps things honest, with breaded fried chicken and shredded pancakes for anyone not in the mood to commit. The short wine list leans organic, and the shop on your way out sells Styrian provisions you didn't know you needed.

Stucco ceilings and herringbone floors in a riverfront building set the stage for Mario Lohninger's Michelin-starred fine dining room on the Main. The menu splits neatly into homeland and world, drawing on Austrian family roots alongside Asian and Mediterranean influences. Nothing on the plate reaches for cleverness at the expense of flavor, which sounds obvious until you notice how rarely restaurants manage it.

The open kitchen greets you before you've even found your seat, which sets the tone for this Michelin-starred restaurant in Schwäbisch Hall. The menu runs from regional Swabian classics to a multi-course tasting menu, with a vegetarian option alongside. The meat is a particular point of pride, sourced from a trusted butcher who happens to be the chef's cousin, a supply chain that is either very convenient or very complicated at Christmas.

An old Bavarian country inn in the foothills above the Chiemsee, the dining room pairs aged timber and contemporary design in a way that doesn't feel like a decorator's dare. The kitchen holds a Michelin star and runs a set menu named, with full regional commitment, "A Stroll through Chiemgau," drawing on the lake and its surroundings for dishes that feel specific to where you are rather than anywhere with good produce.

A handsome old building in Freiburg's pedestrian zone sets the stage for classic-leaning fine dining with a Michelin star. The chef's Austrian roots show up quietly on the menu, and the game dishes, with their precise, deeply built sauces, tend to do the talking. Staff read the wine list as well as they read the room, which in a place like this is saying something. The terrace fills fast when the weather turns.

Russet walls, hardwood floors, and crystal chandeliers on high ceilings give this upstairs bistro the feel of a Viennese parlor that somehow landed in Hamburg. The kitchen keeps its focus narrow and satisfying: classic Austrian cooking, with a Wiener schnitzel made from veal loin that pairs well with whatever's on tap. The Michelin Guide has given it a Bib Gourmand, and tables fill fast enough that booking ahead is less a tip than a necessity.

A Vorarlberg-born chef running an Austrian gasthaus in Cologne is a fun premise, and Gasthaus Scherz leans into it with genuine commitment. The menu splits between the classics, Tafelspitz, Wiener schnitzel, Kaiserschmarrn, and a "new classics" column that nudges tradition sideways. A Michelin Bib Gourmand, a pleasant back terrace, and a bar that earns its keep round out a room where the service is quick but nobody makes you feel rushed.

A stone Bavarian farmhouse in a small village near Salzburg, the kind of building that makes you feel obscurely guilty for not ordering more. This is a cozy country restaurant earning a Michelin Bib Gourmand with straightforward regional cooking, seasonal ingredients, and the braised veal cheeks that regulars apparently plan their weeks around. Book ahead, because the locals already know.

A cosy Austrian restaurant tucked into a side street off the Ku'damm, Nußbaumerin has been an old-school institution in Berlin long enough that regulars treat it like a neighborhood Gasthaus back home. The menu runs to Tafelspitz aspic, Viennese beef goulash with bread dumplings, and apricot dumplings with buttered breadcrumbs. The wine list is Austrian too. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand, tables are few, and reservations are not optional.

A pavilion in a small park, fitted out with enough glamour to make the garden chairs feel like an occasion. This all-day restaurant runs from a business lunch through daily specials into a full evening menu, with the kitchen comfortable moving between ingredient-led contemporary cooking and old-school classics like Wiener schnitzel. The wine list is broad and well chosen, and the terrace, when the weather cooperates, is the whole point.

A restored old mill beside Schloss Alme, this rustic restaurant in the Sauerland countryside frames its menu as a meeting of two regions: local seasonal cooking from the surrounding hills and the chef's native Austrian classics. Trout from the local stream and Viennese breaded chicken share the same card, which is a more coherent idea than it sounds. The terrace is the move on a clear day, and there are rooms if you'd rather not drive home.

Potato dumplings stuffed with greaves, or a five-course surprise menu called "Ö-Omakase" where the kitchen decides for you: that's the range at this laid-back bistro near Nymphenburg Palace. The South Tyrolean-leaning menu is short, the wine list is curated with glasses worth lingering over, and the staff know exactly when to steer you toward a bottle. A terrace out front handles the warmer months.

The space once housed a cookery school run by a chef who became a Munich legend, and the room still has that clean, purposeful feel. Das Tschecherl is a compact Austrian restaurant with a short menu that leans on the Salzkammergut: pike-perch, caraway potatoes, Szeged cabbage. The open kitchen keeps things honest. It closes at eight, which means dinner here is technically an early one, but nobody seems to mind.

The terrace looks out over the Moselle and the vineyards that feed it, which sets the mood before you've ordered anything. This is a country restaurant doing regional and classic German cooking through a long afternoon, kitchen open from noon to half past eight. The Wiener Schnitzel comes with fried potatoes, salad, and cranberries; the Moselle wine list is exactly as good as you'd hope given the postcode.

A converted power station outside Frankfurt that somehow pulls off both lobster with truffle sauce and Austrian veal patties on the same menu, and neither feels out of place. This is a proper sit-down restaurant, the kind with set menus, a serious wine list, and staff who refill your water without being asked. Come summer, the terrace opens and the industrial setting softens considerably.

A medieval castle tucked into the Bavarian countryside, Rehbergers im Schloss Hohenstein runs a restaurant inside it where the winter garden looks out over the old courtyard. The chef cooks contemporary seasonal food with regional ingredients, while the proprietress brings Austrian warmth and pointed wine suggestions to the table. The kind of place that makes a long drive through pretty nothing feel entirely reasonable.

The pumpkin seed oil comes from the proprietress's own village in Austria, which tells you the commitment level before you've ordered anything. This is a warm, sit-down restaurant serving Austrian classics alongside a few modern touches, with a wine list that stays true to the theme. Breaded fried chicken, boiled beef, shredded pancake, the whole Viennese canon is here, delivered by charming staff who know exactly what they're doing.

Floor-to-ceiling windows frame the garden and summer terrace, giving this classic restaurant inside a boutique hotel a pleasantly unhurried feeling. The kitchen works from the seasons and pulls herbs and fruit from its own garden, landing somewhere between proper Swabian comfort food, Zwiebelrostbraten and Wiener schnitzel, and more delicate plates like Atlantic monkfish with beetroot and potato mousseline. Set menus and à la carte both available, staff relaxed but attentive.

Candlelight and a wine list that stops at the Austrian border set the tone at this cozy Hamburg tavern, where the cooking runs to Wiener schnitzel, Tafelspitz, and Kaiserschmarrn with stewed plums. The snack platter and flammkuchen make strong arguments for ordering one of everything. Regulars who know the menu cold fill most of the tables, and the service treats everyone like one of them.

The old coaching inn bones are still visible in the dining room, all dark wood and traditional trimmings, and the menu reads like someone's grandmother made peace with the Mediterranean. This family-run restaurant in Neckargemünd leans on regional classics, boiled brisket with horseradish, hearty lunch plates, and the occasional bouillabaisse appearing without apology. When the weather cooperates, the terrace is the obvious move.

The Wiener schnitzel here arrives roughly the size of a dinner plate, which is either the point or a warning, depending on your appetite. Felix Austria is a candlelit, old-school Austrian restaurant on Bergmannkiez's increasingly polished main drag, serving a tight menu of schnitzel, goulash, and cheesy spätzle to a neighborhood that still remembers when this street was scruffy. Smaller portions are available, in case you'd like to walk home upright.