Here is our guide to some of the best restaurants and the best bars in three of the smaller cities of Germany, including: Cologne, Dusseldorf, and Frankfurt. Out of these cities in Germany, Frankfurt has our favorite restaurant- Restaurant Lohinger. Also, we think the Frankfurt airport is the best airport in Europe. While Frankfurt may not necessarily be a “smaller” city, we haven’t visited enough times for a complete travel guide (yet).
Traveling around Europe? Check out our Paris Guide.
Don’t know what to pack? Here’s Jess’s Packing List.
Top Restaurants
Overall: Highly Recommend
Service: 8.5/10 Atmosphere: 8.5/10 Food: 9/10 Beverage Program: 8/10
After our first visit, this Austrian restaurant immediately became one of our top restaurants in Europe- and this is certainly our favorite restaurant in Germany. It is comfortable, cool, modern, and an excellent lunch stop. We highly recommend ordering the schnitzel- which is their prized dish- and the potato salad that comes with it is simple, clean and the best we have ever tasted. Additionally, the tomato pasta was phenomenal. There are a few menu items with Asian inspiration- including a starter salad with Matsuhisa dressing (for Nobu fans, you should know that this dressing is legit).
Overall: Recommend
Service: 7/10 Atmosphere: 8/10 Food: 7/10 Beverage: NA
Our top recommendation for a traditional brauhaus (brew house) in Cologne is this centrally located spot. The ceilings are high, the traditional tiny Kolsh beers are refilled endlessly (and kept track of by writing on coasters), and it is a more comfortable spot than many of the cramped brauhauses in the area. We enjoyed our currywurst!
Top Bars
Overall: Highly Recommend
There is a cozy road in downtown Düsseldorf offering some of our favorite pubs in the world! Here are our recommendations: At Sutton’s Irish Pub ask for Mervin, skip Bei Fatty’s, at O’Reileys ask for Simon (who looks and speaks like he stepped out of Peaky Blinders), at McLaughlins ask for Danny. Then, at the end of your night, order a Pizza Diavola from Matteo’s, which is delicious and open until 4am.
More Restaurants & Bars...
Overall: Consider
Service: 7/10 Atmosphere: 6/10 Food: 7/10 Beverage Program: 6.5/10
The Duchy is a hotel restaurant that boasts an impressive “fresh raw seafood” counter (with a tiny menu, ran by a tiny and talented chef). We highly recommend trying some of these creative dishes, and maybe skipping some of the menu standards.
Overall: Consider
Service: 6.5/10 Atmosphere: 6/10 Food: 6.5/10 Beverage Program: 3/10
This cute and quaint sushi restaurant seems very good for sushi in Cologne, but compared to sushi restaurants worldwide, it’s nothing all too special. There is no sushi counter, and they only serve hot sake. However, it should be noted that the day we went the toro was amazing and the tuna clearly came in fresh that day. We would consider going back if we returned to Cologne.
Overall: Consider
Service: 6/10 Atmosphere: 6/10 Food: 6/10 Wine List: 8/10
Go to this Italian restaurant for the wine list, which is the best we saw in our time in Germany. We went for lunch, and while we did not like the pastas (so sweet), we did see some locals ordering fresh fish and veggies, so we switched to that instead and enjoyed it.
Overall: Consider
Service: 6/10 Atmosphere: 6.5/10 Food: 7.5 Beverage Program: 5/10
We enjoyed the sushi at this spot in Düsseldorf’s Japanese district, but most people seemed to go for the ramen, which we didn’t try but would suggest ramen lovers try out.
Hotels
The Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof is a historical hotel in a great, central area of Frankfurt. However, the hotel is really old (including tiny, scary elevators that shake) and it is boiling hot (the AC in the rooms do not work so we had to sleep with our balcony doors open). Next time, we would stay at the Sofitel, which some businessmen in our hotel recommended instead.
Another older hotel in Germany, Excelsior Hotel Ernst is centrally located directly across from Cologne’s cathedral. This appeared to be the best hotel in Cologne, so we would recommend it. We also really enjoyed the hotel bar, which had a bit of a classic boat/ boys club feel, plus a good club sandwich. There is apparently a good sushi restaurant inside the hotel, but it was closed during our visit.
We stayed at the Breidenbacher Hof Düsseldorf, and it was in a great, centrally located spot that we really did enjoy (specifically because it is walkable to the street with all the Irish pubs!) The gym was small but had the basics, and the pool was large but in a very heated space. The rooms were more modern and spacious than many of the other spots in Germany, the beds were very comfortable, and we would stay there again if we returned to Dusseldorf.
Tourism & Travel Notes
Carnival in Cologne is a quirky, costume-clad which opens at 11 minutes past 11 on the 11th of the 11th month November. It is wacky, and locals dress up for literal months at a time in traditional costume, and they are incredibly committed to it. If you go to Cologne during this time of year (and many other times where carnival is resumed), you will likely find yourself very confused. But also, finding opportunity for a lot of fun.
Starting in November and ending early January, the winter markets in Germany are absolutely worth a visit. There is cheese, there is mulled wine (which is arguably disgusting), there are carols, and performers, and ice skating, and joy! We recommend it.
Frankfurt airport officially gets the designation of our favorite airport in Europe. It is efficient, it is easy, and the food options inside of KLM’s main terminal are good (the small little circle immediately upon entry is the place to be. The bar is nice and there is an Italian spot with fabulous breakfast paninis and Aperol Spritz- this is where Jess spent the morning of her 31st birthday! If you have to spend it in an aiprort, Frankfurt is not bad at all.)
Notable Places Visited & Not Reviewed
Frankfurt– Burbank, Via Monte, and The Sekai: We were looking forward to these restaurants, but had to cancel our reservations due to jetlag. Let us know how they are! Oscar’s: Surprisingly fresh salads, but an average hotel restaurant vibe. Zukaya: Dark and moody. The service was great and the food was pretty good despite some weird menu items (we were too jetlagged to truly enjoy). Cologne– Brauhaus Fruh Am Dom- Cramped and crowded, skip. Hans Stube- Average food, kind of uppity ambiance, decent wine list. Düsseldorf– 20 Restobar– Skip, not very good food. Concept Reisling– Fine wine bar in market for a sip of local stuff, but not worth going out of your way for. Mayur India– Skip, curry very sweet.
favorite moments
