The 11 best restaurants in Salzburg

While you’ll find schnitzel with noodles and crisp apple strudel on many a traditional tavern menu, there’s more to this city’s increasingly exciting food scene than that. Salzburg is now making impressive strides on the culinary front, with chefs championing regional sourcing and serving season-driven dishes with finesse. Now you can breeze with ease from organic brunch to Vietnamese lunch and gourmet rooftop restaurant in the Altstadt and beyond. And when summer arrives, there’s little better than raiding a local deli for Alpine meats and cheeses for a picnic in palace gardens or on the banks of the Salzach River.

• Altstadt: Left Bank
• Nonnberg
• Mönchsberg 
• Leopoldskron
• Altstadt: Right Bank
• Mülln

Wilkommen to Salzburg’s oldest inn, housed in a chic boutique hotel that seamlessly brings together 600 years of history with contemporary art, bespoke craftsmanship and progressive design. Sitting opposite Salzburg’s festival hall, Blaue Gans is right in the touristy thick of things, but thankfully it hasn’t lost a jot of character and still places the accent on quality. Pull up a chair below the vaults to dine on Austrian cuisine with a lightly creative, seasonal touch: from asparagus-strawberry salad with rocket, sheep’s cheese and almonds, to roasted guinea fowl with gnocchi, peas, radish and black truffle jus. In summer, tables are set up on the pavement terrace.

Contact: blaue-gans.com
Reservations: Essential
Prices: £££

A relative newcomer to Salzburg’s gastro scene, this bistro always has a good buzz and sends the spirit of a Alpine lodge winging into the future with its rustic-meets-modern mix of dark wood beams, soft backlighting and contemporary fireplace. Already it has a loyal local following for its all-organic, traceable food, which impresses with spot-on classics like Tafelspitz (boiled beef with apple-horseradish and chives) and cheese dumplings topped with fried onions, alongside healthy alternatives like quinoa salad with berries and sheep’s cheese. Organic wines, beers and soft drinks hail from Austria, too. 

Contact: humboldtstubn.at
Reservations: Recommended
Prices: ££

Just a step away from the crowds of the Altstadt in the Nonnberg quarter of Salzburg, this restaurant gets rave reviews from locals for its historic flair (it’s housed in the graceful Ceconi Villa), heartfelt welcome and beautifully cooked and presented Austrian food. Crisp white linen and original art create an elegant ambience and chef Richard Brunnauer puts sophisticated riffs on freshest seasonal ingredients from the surrounding forests, lakes and mountains. The four-course ‘homeland’ dives deeply into the region in knockout dishes like Alpine char with white asparagus and leaf spinach and saddle of young venison with truffle potato purée and morel-cabbage roulade – all expertly matched with Austrian wines.

Contact: restaurant-brunnauer.at
Reservations: Highly recommendedRecommended
Prices: £££

Dramatically perched atop Mönchsberg, The Glass Garden is a welcome culinary newcomer to palace hotel Schloss Mönchstein. By contrast to the hotel’s classic glamour, the avant-garde restaurant keeps things slick, with pale parquet, champagne-hued club chairs, and curving glass walls that open up phenomenal views over the city’s rooftops and spires. American glass sculptor Dale Chihuly created the striking tendril-like centrepiece, which you can admire over inspired, ingredient-centred dishes like fjord trout with nasturtium and yellow split beans, and red mullet with calamari, seaweed and sobrasada – expertly paired with Austrian wines. One for special occasions. 

Contact: monchstein.at
Reservations: Essential
Prices: £££

Views of baroque Leopoldskron Palace, which you might recognise from the lake scene in the Sound of Music, simply don’t get dreamier than from the terrace at this glorious family-run tavern. It’s worth going the extra mile or two from the Altstadt to snag an alfresco table overlooking the lake to dig into well-executed, season-spun Austrian food. Starters like wild garlic gnocchi and their famous fish soup pave the way for beautifully cooked steaks with herb butter and fish (from Arctic char to salmon trout). Save room for blowout desserts like Palatschinken (Austrian-style crepes filled with apricot jam and dusted with icing sugar).  

Contact: weiherwirt.com
Reservations: Recommended
Prices: ££

Tucked away on medieval Steingasse, Uncle Van has carved out a reputation among those craving spice in the city. If you’re strudeled out, this is the go-to place for well-prepared and inexpensive Vietnamese specials – from a bang-on-the-money pho (a broth-like noodle soup laced with coriander, mint, lime and chilli, and strips of chicken or beef) to curries, summer rolls and wok dishes where you can pick your own ingredients. With its red walls, small sprinkling of tables and consistent buzz, it’s a cheerful place for lunch or an easy dinner. Gluten-free, lactose-free and vegan dishes are available, too.

Contact: uncle-van.at
Reservations: Not necessary
Prices: £

This homey, no-frills, hole-in-the-wall bistro brings a little bubble of South American warmth to the heart of Salzburg. Piedad runs the place with ready smiles and a lot of love, with nods to her native Columbia in nicely spiced lunches and snacks for pocket-money prices. Dig into the likes of arepas (maize crêpes) with cashew pesto, pandebono (Colombian cheese bread) with guava jam, pollo loco (pulled chicken in mole sauce) and brigadeiros (chocolate fudge balls). On the drinks menu you’ll find organic coffee, açaí smoothies and sugarcane juice pepped up with cinnamon. It’s all delicious.

Contact: 00 43 660 73 75 056; facebook.com/bistrodemarquez
Reservations: Not necessary
Prices: £

After a busy day sightseeing, sometimes you just fancy a pizza. Ah, but this is no ordinary pizza… Tucked away in an untouristy corner of town, this sweet, simple, blink-and-you’ll-miss it bolthole has Salzburger in raptures with its sustainably minded ethos, regional sourcing and all-organic ingredients. Pizzas are deliciously thin, crisp and authentic, with a generous use of herbs. Vegan options are also available. Look out for the word ‘pikant’ if you want to spice things up a tad.

Contact: organicpizza-salzburg.com
Reservations: Not necessary
Prices: £

For pop-up views of Salzburg’s crowning glory fortress, the Altstadt domes and spires and the Alps beyond, make for this glass-fronted rooftop restaurant, with a wraparound terrace for fine weather dining. Mirrors, muted tones and white linen-draped tables dominate in the nouveau-chic interior. Dishes simple as veal carpaccio with capers, herb salad and pine nuts and roasted fillet of char with marinated tomatoes and apple chutney sing of the seasons and local sourcing. Steaks, homemade pasta and gourmet salads feature on the simpler bistro menu. It’s popular so book ahead.

Contact: imlauer.com 
Reservations: Essential 
Prices: £££

Sometimes you just can’t beat a traditional Austrian inn dishing up the classics, and Bärenwirt – going strong since 1663 – fits the bill perfectly. With its rustic wood panelling, booths and tiled oven, the look is cosy in an Alpine lodge kind of way. And in summer the pocket-sized terrace has a great buzz and views out over the river. The menu is jam-packed with hearty grub, with starters like goulash soup whetting the appetite for mains like Bierbraten (beer roast) with dumplings or crispy fried chicken with parsley potatoes. They also whip up a mean Salzburger Nockerl (the local take on soufflé).

Contact: baerenwirt-salzburg.at
Reservations: Recommended
Prices: ££

The cream of Salzburg’s fine-dining scene, Michelin-starred Esszimmer is a thoroughly class act. The setting is geared towards romantic tête-à-têtes, with candlelight casting flattering shadows across ochre walls graced with abstract art. Andreas Kaiblinger walks the culinary high-wire here, pulling off punchy flavours in carefully composed, season-inflected tasting menus, which might wow you with the likes of lovage soup with turbot and marrow, curry sorbet with orange and asparagus, and salmon with juniper, lemon and fennel. If you’re in the mood for a treat, opt for the seven-course menu for a parade of dishes served with an artful flourish.

Contact: esszimmer.com
Reservations: Essential
Prices: £££

Every restaurant in this curated list has been tried and tested by our destination expert, who has visited to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets, from neighbourhood favourites to Michelin-starred restaurants – to best suit every type of traveller’s taste – and consider the food, service, best tables, atmosphere and price in our recommendations. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest opening and provide up to date recommendations.