72 Best Restaurants in Switzerland

This is a mountain restaurant where you come for the views and stay for the Rösti, Appenzell cheese dishes, and cervelat (Swiss sausage). Since it's accessible only by cable car plus a 20-minute hike, you'll have earned your meal at this cliff-side café, which sits at the top of the Appenzeller Alps. Here, you'll be treated not only to sweeping views of the cool green valley below, but to meringue-topped vanilla ice cream. Credit cards only accepted for bills over SF50.

A cozy bistro and the region's top place for fondue, this "café des artistes" dates back to the late 1880s, when it served as the town firehouse. After an art deco overhaul, it became a long-standing haunt for those seeking out snails, regional mushrooms, and age-old recipes for cheese and meat fondues. A convivial atmosphere with plenty of regional wines makes for a relaxed dinner. There is also a children's menu. 

As if turning its back on star sibling Anne-Sophie Pic and the aristocratic Beau-Rivage Palace, which shelters both, this young, lively brasserie-café faces the lake and the Ouchy waterfront scene. Its flashy brass-and-Biedermeier dining area and bar fill with smart Lausannois and internationals enjoying trendy cuisine du marché. In summer the pillared terrazzo terrace (protected from embarcadero traffic by rose gardens) is the place to go.

In a chic, minimalist Alpine space—a mix of original wood-beamed ceilings, whimsical chandeliers, and cozy throws on the chairs—about a 20-minute train ride or 15-minute drive north of Pontresina, Paolo Casanova devises modern Italian menus using unique local ingredients such as lichen, dandelions, and pine cones, depending on the season. Creative combinations may include deer venison tartare with pickled quail eggs and sage powder, or marmot tortellini with plantain wildflower and mountain pine oil, all beautifully presented and paired with Swiss wines from the fabulous wine list. Order à la carte, or if you can’t decide, you can’t go wrong with the four- or eight-course tasting menu.

Only the best is served at this highly lauded fine dining restaurant with impeccable service, artistic haute cuisine, and lovely views of St. Gallen. In addition to the indulgent multicourse tasting menus, the restaurant has beautiful wood beam ceilings that lend a strong sense of place to the establishment.

Ideal for long lunches between sessions on the slopes or a panoramic break on an all-day hike, this place perched in tiny Findeln, between the Sunnegga and Blauherd ski areas, has astonishing Matterhorn views to accompany decidedly fresh and creative food. Franz and Heidi Schwery tend their own Alpine garden to provide lettuce for their salads and berries for vinaigrettes and hot desserts. The fluffy Matterkuchen, a bacon-and-leek quiche, fortifies you for the 30- to 40-minute walk down to the village.

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.

This friendly, touristy restaurant up the hill from Klosters stands proud in its majestic setting, with a large, open terrace offering incredible valley and mountain views. As for the food, there is a wide selection of dishes to choose from—most using regional and sustainable ingredients—but be sure to try their seasonal game specialties. Inside, decor runs to mounted animal trophies and old-world exposed beams; outside is the breathtaking mountainscape.

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 lobster-coconut bisque with dried prawns and mango, or sautéed goose liver. 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.

From Stravinsky, Brecht, and Joyce to Nureyev, Deneuve, and Saint Laurent, this beloved landmark has always drawn a stellar crowd. Every panel of gleaming wood wainscoting frames artworks by Picasso, Braque, Miró, Chagall, or Matisse, collected by Gustav Zumsteg, whose mother, Hulda, owned the restaurant from 1921 until her death 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 Späetzle, 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.

Chef Sven Wassmer creates some of the most innovative Swiss dishes around using ingredients foraged from the nearby forests, in a room that evokes the outdoors with its use of wood and stone. Choose from 6-, 9-, or 12-course menus with mainly natural (and mainly Swiss) wine pairings, while watching the young cooks work their magic in the open kitchen. As a different member of the culinary team serves you each dish, explaining the story behind it, you really feel like part of a unique experience you won’t soon forget.

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: cubed fillet of beef in a green-pepper mustard sauce, pike perch with ratatouille, and chocolate mousse. In warm weather you can enjoy your meal in the outdoor seating area, which spills out onto the pedestrian-only zone.

For a candlelit, romantic Swiss meal with a truly spectacular view, take the funicular up to the restaurant at the Romantik Hotel Muottas Muragl. The rustic-chic setting and expansive terrace provide perfect outlooks to the lakes and mountains as you dine on local and seasonal specialties. Though there's a large selection of meat and game dishes (in season), fish-lovers and vegetarians will also find satisfying choices. Bring your appetite, because the portions are large and the food is hearty. The large wine list includes lots of fine choices from Graubünden vineyards.

In the late 1600s, postal workers traveling the Oberland needed a place to eat and swap horses, and they found what they needed in this lumbering wood chalet, one of the oldest buildings in the area. Today the Amacher family taps into its 10 generations of experience running the place to serve outstanding Swiss specialties: Don't miss what could arguably be the country's best Suure Mocke, a tangy braised-meat dish that's marinated in wine and vinegar for two weeks, or opt for one of their traditional fondues, Röstis, or Swiss meat dishes. More than half the guests are locals who gather among the thick, lumpy walls of plastered river rock to sample about 30 wines, many of which are Swiss. Yummy desserts like apple pies and meringues are hard to pass up.

Tidy, bright, and modern, this second-floor restaurant may lack the historic feel of some of its neighbors, but it features remarkable cooking from a well-regarded chef. Look for locally sourced dishes such as white fish and root vegetables marinated in honey, or lamb shanks with chanterelle mushrooms, seasonal vegetables, and bread dumplings. The café draws local families at lunch; business executives choose the slightly more formal dining room.

Zum Goldenen Fass (the Golden Barrel) bills itself as "radically seasonal and totally regional," with the emphasis on the unique rather than the traditional. Come not for tablecloths or thick menus—you won’t find them—but instead for the focus on local ingredients, a regularly changing menu, and an excellent wine list.

The 450-year-old cellar underneath the Adler Hotel on the edge of Appenzell town is the place for fondue in the winter. Carved-wood-paneled walls, a dark medieval room, and ancient glassed-over cobblestones are a bit chilly and museumlike, but the friendly service and excellent local wine list will warm you right back up. Credit cards only accepted for bills over SF40.

This carved-wood-and-shingle 17th-century landmark attracts both locals and travelers with its two restaurants: The Bistro serves old-style Swiss cuisine—try the Felchen (a kind of whitefish) from nearby Lake Brienz or the Wiener schnitzel—while the Gourmetstübli, a showcase for chef Richard Stöckli's renowned international fare, features four- to seven-course menus that may include fish and mussels in a saffron-pepper sauce or an Alp cheese ravioli with brown butter foam. The established wine cellar offers Swiss and international wines; should you have a few too many glasses, there is always the option of staying over, as the Alpenblick is also a hotel, with rooms spread over two chalets. The place is in Wilderswil, 2 km (1 mile) south of Interlaken.

It doesn't get more Swiss than this: the ingredients, the recipes, the wines, and the decor are all Helvetian (and though traditional, there's a youthful vibe). Enjoy seasonal dishes such as Engadiner pizokel (flour dumplings) with ham, or duck breast with dried-plum sauce and mashed potatoes; the owners' devotion to local ingredients means the menu often changes. The interior is elegantly casual, with wainscoting and etched-glass windows, linen tablecloths, a mounted chamois head, and paintings of the Matterhorn and other well-known landmarks. 

A beer hall at heart, this restaurant brews lager, amber, and wheat varieties in copper vats behind the bar. Filling dishes like flammkuchen, cordon bleu, Weisswurst, and warm pretzels filled with ham pair perfectly with the house brews. There are also a few vegetarian dishes. Don't miss the outdoor beer garden overlooking the Altstadt. The kitchen stays open from 11 am to at least 11 pm every day of the year.

Set amid Gruyères's most historic buildings, the exterior of this medieval structure welcomes guests with cheerful flower boxes and green-and-white-stripe awnings. Inside, a warm woody interior with raftered ceiling and smooth stone floors offers an appealing setting in which to enjoy traditional dishes such as a moitié-moitié (half Gruyère, half Vacherin Fribourgeois) fondue. The definitely worth-trying signature dish is called Soupe du Chalet, and is a meal unto itself. Sit in the section called "the veranda" to enjoy great views with your meal.

The Pichard family, keepers of this weathered centuries-old chalet, holds dear the inn's heritage of feeding and lodging stagecoach passengers and Alpine enthusiasts. In summer the front patio hugging the main street fills with boot-clad hikers reaching across platters of air-dried meats and mountain cheeses served with baskets of crusty, dark bread. The rustic structure has carved eaves with hand-painted designs, creaky floors, and old, rippled, handblown-glass windows. The change of seasons brings the crowd inside to sit on heavy wooden furniture eager to swirl ragged cubes of bread in fondue caquelons or scrape raclette and potatoes together on their plates. The menu also includes salads, meat dishes, and Rösti, but don't expect any fussy preparations.

The Auberge de Luins is beloved by locals and tourists alike—there is often a cluster of villagers gathered at the community table debating the quality of the latest vintage or regional politics.

Meat is the name of the game at this deli-inspired restaurant with private booths and terrazzo floors, where grass-fed game is sourced directly from Swiss butchers and farmers. Classics include leberkäese (meat loaf), homemade pâtés, gelatinous terrines, aspics, air-cured mountain meat, and steak pies. Vegans can always expect one or two dishes on the rotating menu to keep the whole table happy.

A number of dishes are served at this narrow eatery, with entrances on the main street and the promenade, but the most-ordered is filets de perche. Served with a garden salad, frites, or pommes vapeur (steamed potatoes) and savory tartar sauce, it's a weekly routine for many families. Without a reservation in summer, you will have to wait for a table outside; two small dining rooms connected by an open kitchen have difficulty containing the faithful in any season.

All the customers seem to know each other at this traditional dining institution, where shared wooden tables and clattering china create the perfect ambience for fondue, mussels, sausage, or choucroûte (sauerkraut). Prominent members of Lausanne's arts community swarm here after rehearsals and concerts, as service continues until 11 pm—late by Swiss standards.