Restaurants in Frankfurt
Guten Appetit!
One of the pleasurable secrets of visiting Frankfurt is the food, perhaps because of the city’s greater reputation as a serious financial and business hub. But if you are one of the millions of tourists with connections going through Frankfurt International Airport, it pays to make plans for a few days of gastronomic exploration. Germany’s busiest city has over 3000 restaurants with culinary traditions from 70 countries. You will be glad to discover to find that many restaurants in Frankfurt are among the best in the continent.
Local favorite fare
Frankfurt goes well beyond frankfurters, sauerkraut and beer and visitors agree that this banking city is the country’s leading light for Neue Küche, or German nouvelle cuisine. Frankfurt chefs have managed to take staid German staples and fused them with daring ethnic flavors. The trendy elite in Hanauerlandstrasse are not beyond feasting on traditional Frankfurter Würstchen. A popular dish of Frankfurt brisket with green herb sauce, potatoes and hard-boiled eggs is a favorite discovery for tourists.
Joys of Glutton Alley
All Frankfurt roads lead to the street Große Bockenheimer Straße nicknamed ‘Fressgass’ or ‘Glutton Alley’ because of the clash of great global culinary traditions that happen here every day. Different ethnic restaurants and fine food shops are the tasty result of the large immigrant communities that have settled in Frankfurt from all over the world. German and international gourmets benefit from inexpensive dining experiences here. During the yearly Fressgass’ festival in June, followed by the Rheingau Wine Market in August, millions of tourists converge on this pedestrian segment for beer and music.
Famous dining districts
Wander to the Römerberg, Bornheim District and the cobblestone-paved Sachsenhausen for more bars, restaurants and café scene. Near the fine arts constellation of Museumsufer is Sachsenhausen, where every turn brings contrasting worlds of dining. To the east is the more posh Schweizer Strasse, seductively lined with bistros, cafés and artiste shops. If you turn west to Alt-Sachsenhausen, beefy taverns around the Affentor Square with a raunchier atmosphere will greet you. Braver souls can savor the pungent cheese and onion delicacy called Handkäs mit Musik, washed down with generous swigs of apfelwein (apple wine), the best there is in Germany.
Gourmet republic of exotic dishes
Frankfurt is the perfect opportunity to do culinary shopping from the traditions of the Mediterranean, Russia, the Balkan region, France and even the Far East. The imbiss or fast food delis at the Bahnhofsviertel area where you eat standing up serve a variety of meat and potatoes, soups, curries, barbecued chicken and salads. The town center around Zeil has the greatest concentration of Turkish, Greek, Italian, and Indian restaurants. Elegant kneipen or coffee bars are popular mainstays of Frankfurt’s café culture.
Sharing tables can be merrier
When you have found your way around restaurants in Frankfurt, go right in and choose any table that you fancy, because there are not many restaurants where waiters usher you to be seated. Let your hair down, sit back, relax and enjoy the best of Frankfurt city’s culinary delights.