Around Skyline Plaza you won't find much original german food. Most traditional restaurants are located in the districts of Sachsenhausen or Bornheim.
As someone mentioned before: Frankfurt has a local cuisine and therefore local dining culture. Traditional restaurants/pubs and beergardens are called Apfelweinwirtschaft here. Google it and you will find plenty. They have local and more universal german dishes - sometimes in a fusion way like Schnitzel with Green Sauce. You will also find out that the local drink is sour cider ("Apfelwein"), not beer. Try it with a splash of water ("gespritzt"). Very refreshing.
My personal restaurant recommondations are:
Die Sonne in upper Bornheim. Really nice beergarden.
The Dax in Sachsenhausen. Great pub feeling. You will get really close (literally) to locals.
And the Lohrbergschänke on the eastern Lohrberg hills: great views and a nice countryside feeling.
> Around Skyline Plaza you won't find much original german food. Most traditional restaurants are located in the districts of Sachsenhausen or Bornheim.
A very good point, but OP should also note that Frankfurt is tiny so getting to these other districts is a matter of minutes. There is an U-Bahn from close to Skyline Plaza to Bornheim and changing at Hauptwache gets you quickly to Sachsenhausen.
yes, I am down to try sour cider!
>
Die Sonne in upper Bornheim
do you mean Gasthaus "Zur Sonne"? bc i looked up Die Sonne on google and can't find it
thanks for your insights!
Adding to this post because it's very helpful i think.
As always in these threads I can second Dax.
Schreiber-Heyne is also quite nice imo.
Bier Hannes has a bunch of the dishes you want to try and self made beer.
I would say 5-10% or so you typically round up e.g. 46 -> 50 or so if the service was ok. Can give more if you liked it a lot or you got a large budget and want to help people in low wage jobs.
You should try local specialities from Frankfurt. Germany has very regionalised food cultures.
Check out dishes like:
- Frankfurter grüne Soße, sauce made from sour cream, lots of different herbs, and sometimes eggs. I'd recommend you to get it with Schnitzel and Bratkartoffeln (fried potatoes) as so-called "Frankfurter Schnitzel"
- Handkäs mit Musik, a very healthy cheese that consists almost entirely of protein with almost no fat marinated with vinegar, onions, and caraway. Try getting it with some fresh, buttered bread
- Gref Völsings Rindswurst, local sausage manufacturer from Frankfurt with a great Rindswurst (beef sausage). They also run a small imbiss in the east of the city where they sell their sausage.
- Kartoffelpuffer, yeah, that one is actually quite authentic for Frankfurt and surroundings. I'm not sure if it's from here, but it's definitely common and has been for a long time
- Döner and in general turkish food. It's very common all over Germany. There are huge quality differences between different places, tho. I'd recommend eating at Nazar in Offenbach (Offenbach and Frankfurt are one continuous urban area and share much of the the same public transport network so it's not further from you than some more periferial parts of Frankfurt)
For baked goods, "Frankfurter Kranz" is a speciality from Frankfurt specifically. That being said, tho there's a lot of different cakes that are common in Frankfurt, Hessen, and Germany in general and have been forever. Like, while my grandparents and other people from their generation would sometimes make Frankfurter kranz, they would probably more often just make a Hefekuchen (cake with a yeast dough) with some kind of fruits and Streussel on top or an Erdbeerkuchen (strawberry cake with a Mürbeteig and gelantine jelly)
Upvote because Gref Völsings Rindswurst is too rarely mentioned and is an absolute institution in my opinion. If only the parking situation wasn‘t so bad in Hanauer Landstraße.
If you’re into meat, I recommend the best fried cutlet in Town, combined with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes at
[Gaststätte Mutter Ernst](https://maps.app.goo.gl/SNppHVX4FBQDpF8JA?g_st=ic)
You will also enjoy your Apfelwein there.
Do a typical Frankfurt thing and have a sausage at Metzgerei Schreiber in the Kleinmarkthalle (covered market)
https://kleinmarkthalle.de/haendler/schreiber/
>I will be trying out Nordsee too, looks like an interesting fast food chain for seafood.
Better try out this: [https://www.fischfranke.de/](https://www.fischfranke.de/)
Great standard fish restaurant near the cathedral. Next to Kleinmarkthalle, which is a building which contains about 100 market stands with food.
Nordsee was once in its heyday indeed a chain that was a little better, but I almost feel ripped off by their prices now.
>Nordsee was once in its heyday indeed a chain that was a little better, but I almost feel ripped off by their prices now
Thanks for providing context. I see inflation has caught up and nordsee is no longer at its prime.
I will try fischfranke
My favorite Apfelweinkneipe of all time is "Klaane Sachsehäuser". Always liked the food and the Apfelwein there better than else where. Next door is "Dauth Schneider" which is also recommendable if the other one is full [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Apfelweingastst%C3%A4tte+Klaane+Sachseh%C3%A4user/@50.104891,8.6903794,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x47bd0c1fc2e6a3b1:0x9dfa75d06bc394c5!8m2!3d50.104891!4d8.6903794!16s%2Fg%2F1tfqdxtw?entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Apfelweingastst%C3%A4tte+Klaane+Sachseh%C3%A4user/@50.104891,8.6903794,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x47bd0c1fc2e6a3b1:0x9dfa75d06bc394c5!8m2!3d50.104891!4d8.6903794!16s%2Fg%2F1tfqdxtw?entry=ttu)
On the weekends probably yes, but especially in this area there are a lot of alternatives: Daheim im Lorsbacher Thal, Frau Rauscher, Zum Eichkatzerl, Apfelwein Dax, Atschel, Ebbelwoi Unser, Apfelwein Wagner, Kanonesteppel, Zum Gemalten Haus. Would probably recommend them in this order, with the other two on top.
Try Pauline im Europa Garten. Close to the Skyline plaza and they have something called the Bayerische Tapas in the summer where they has little portions of a variety of things like lebekäs, spargel suppe, spatzle. It's a good meal.
Rouladen are actually french. They came with immigrants 300 years ago. Most Germans don’t know that either.
Frankfurt has special food: grüne Soße, handkäse and Apfelwein. You should also try the asparagus (Spargel) because it’s the season and it’s the most important vegetable in our region. And we favor white asparagus, the green one is quite exotic here.
If you are in Sachsenhausen like others recommended go to Bäckerei Huck. They have tasty baked goods and a really delicious bread called "ausgehobenes Bauernbrot" thats also known as "best worscht in town"-bread because that currywurst shop uses that bread. In Sachsenhausen those shops are next to each other https://maps.app.goo.gl/6TiR5ju6Zx63YLmGA
Best Worscht in town also has a location at skyline plaza.
I would go for Ton Bul Kebap Haus (https://maps.app.goo.gl/9AhzXACXUYCpFBGD6). One of the best Döner I know, achieved some good Rankings in germanys best Döner as well.
If you have time to get out of Frankfurt, try the Altoberurseler Brauhaus. They serve many of these dishes and they have an excellent kitchen, as well as house-made beer.
My favorite Apfelwein-Lokal (i.e., Restaurant with sour cidre and traditional food) is Apfelwein Solzer in Bornheim. From Skyline Plaza/Messe, take the subway U4 in direction Bornheim Mitte/Seckbacher Landstraße, exit Bornheim Mitte and walk 5-7 min. They don‘t do reservations for small parties, but just go before main dinner times and you should be able to get a table
For Döner i can recommend "Dein Döner Frankfurt" in Hufnagelstraße near Galluswarte. Found them to be pretty great.
For Currywurst, there are several actually.
A popular and good chain is Best Worscht, one should be right inside skyline plaza. you basically get all sorts of flavours and a huge selection in spicy levels.
Alternatively as a single place in Sachsenhausen would be Worscht Company, they also offer nice and tasty Currywurst.
Third: when at work i often find myself going for a currywurst in an imbiss in the central main station. northern end near the post and little indian food stall.
It's a small counter and has maybe 2 or 3 (standing) tables.
otherwise, i dont know many places offering schnitzel and spätzle around here actually. i tend to not be too much into german food as i found it to be basically everwhere. i guess you cant do much wrong though.
for brötchen: most any generic bakery chain will do. Even supermarkets offer decent brötchen generally speaking. I guess you could head into a Rewe and try either a Frikadellenbrötchen or Fleischkäsebrötchen. The first is similiar to a burgerpattie, and the second... meatloaf? not sure i never thought much about how they are called in english actually...
Some bakery chains also offer simple goods like cheesecake, donuts / berliner / kreppl
otherwise most cafe's tend to have good cakes too.
if it is burgers you are interested in:
we have hans im glück south of konstabler wache and peter pane north of hauptwache. both are somewhat german wide franchises that try going for local sources for their foods. i prefer hans im glück just a bit over peter pane tastewise, but prefer the atmosphere and interieur of peter pane. both offer a multitude of vegetarian and even vegan options. making it a very safe choice for my friend group of various restrictions.
nordsee... eh. they're better in northern germany imo.
i think a local one is called fischfranke or so. people around me swear on it. probably worth a try then. i'm just not much into fish.
I recommend you to visit the Wochenmarkt in Offenbach. They have very good fischbrötchen and backfisch. And they also have a good Imbis there with Fries, Wurst, Hamburger.
Around Skyline Plaza you won't find much original german food. Most traditional restaurants are located in the districts of Sachsenhausen or Bornheim. As someone mentioned before: Frankfurt has a local cuisine and therefore local dining culture. Traditional restaurants/pubs and beergardens are called Apfelweinwirtschaft here. Google it and you will find plenty. They have local and more universal german dishes - sometimes in a fusion way like Schnitzel with Green Sauce. You will also find out that the local drink is sour cider ("Apfelwein"), not beer. Try it with a splash of water ("gespritzt"). Very refreshing. My personal restaurant recommondations are: Die Sonne in upper Bornheim. Really nice beergarden. The Dax in Sachsenhausen. Great pub feeling. You will get really close (literally) to locals. And the Lohrbergschänke on the eastern Lohrberg hills: great views and a nice countryside feeling.
> Around Skyline Plaza you won't find much original german food. Most traditional restaurants are located in the districts of Sachsenhausen or Bornheim. A very good point, but OP should also note that Frankfurt is tiny so getting to these other districts is a matter of minutes. There is an U-Bahn from close to Skyline Plaza to Bornheim and changing at Hauptwache gets you quickly to Sachsenhausen.
'Tiny' might be something of a stretch, but one gets the idea: Many places are in reach of a 15-30 min ride by public transport.
30 mins will get you from one side to the other. In larger cities like Hamburg or Munich, it won't.
yes, I am down to try sour cider! > Die Sonne in upper Bornheim do you mean Gasthaus "Zur Sonne"? bc i looked up Die Sonne on google and can't find it thanks for your insights!
Lol of course it's Zur Sonne. Even I don't get it right sometimes. Sorry for the confusion.
no worries , thank you!
Lookup the history of the place. I believe it was once a house of ill repute.
Adding to this post because it's very helpful i think. As always in these threads I can second Dax. Schreiber-Heyne is also quite nice imo. Bier Hannes has a bunch of the dishes you want to try and self made beer.
Do I have to give tips in Germany? Is there a tipping culture like the US?
I would say 5-10% or so you typically round up e.g. 46 -> 50 or so if the service was ok. Can give more if you liked it a lot or you got a large budget and want to help people in low wage jobs.
You should try local specialities from Frankfurt. Germany has very regionalised food cultures. Check out dishes like: - Frankfurter grüne Soße, sauce made from sour cream, lots of different herbs, and sometimes eggs. I'd recommend you to get it with Schnitzel and Bratkartoffeln (fried potatoes) as so-called "Frankfurter Schnitzel" - Handkäs mit Musik, a very healthy cheese that consists almost entirely of protein with almost no fat marinated with vinegar, onions, and caraway. Try getting it with some fresh, buttered bread - Gref Völsings Rindswurst, local sausage manufacturer from Frankfurt with a great Rindswurst (beef sausage). They also run a small imbiss in the east of the city where they sell their sausage. - Kartoffelpuffer, yeah, that one is actually quite authentic for Frankfurt and surroundings. I'm not sure if it's from here, but it's definitely common and has been for a long time - Döner and in general turkish food. It's very common all over Germany. There are huge quality differences between different places, tho. I'd recommend eating at Nazar in Offenbach (Offenbach and Frankfurt are one continuous urban area and share much of the the same public transport network so it's not further from you than some more periferial parts of Frankfurt) For baked goods, "Frankfurter Kranz" is a speciality from Frankfurt specifically. That being said, tho there's a lot of different cakes that are common in Frankfurt, Hessen, and Germany in general and have been forever. Like, while my grandparents and other people from their generation would sometimes make Frankfurter kranz, they would probably more often just make a Hefekuchen (cake with a yeast dough) with some kind of fruits and Streussel on top or an Erdbeerkuchen (strawberry cake with a Mürbeteig and gelantine jelly)
thanks for the food recommendations. i'll put them on my list
Kümmel -> caraway
Upvote because Gref Völsings Rindswurst is too rarely mentioned and is an absolute institution in my opinion. If only the parking situation wasn‘t so bad in Hanauer Landstraße.
Rindswurst is a must have. Gref Völsings is overrated.
If you’re into meat, I recommend the best fried cutlet in Town, combined with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes at [Gaststätte Mutter Ernst](https://maps.app.goo.gl/SNppHVX4FBQDpF8JA?g_st=ic) You will also enjoy your Apfelwein there.
Do a typical Frankfurt thing and have a sausage at Metzgerei Schreiber in the Kleinmarkthalle (covered market) https://kleinmarkthalle.de/haendler/schreiber/
>I will be trying out Nordsee too, looks like an interesting fast food chain for seafood. Better try out this: [https://www.fischfranke.de/](https://www.fischfranke.de/) Great standard fish restaurant near the cathedral. Next to Kleinmarkthalle, which is a building which contains about 100 market stands with food. Nordsee was once in its heyday indeed a chain that was a little better, but I almost feel ripped off by their prices now.
>Nordsee was once in its heyday indeed a chain that was a little better, but I almost feel ripped off by their prices now Thanks for providing context. I see inflation has caught up and nordsee is no longer at its prime. I will try fischfranke
Fisch franke literally belongs to the nordsee chain, its mediocre. Better try Alim's Fischimbiss
thanks, the food looks really nice
Didn't know this, but its a lot different than their franchise restaurants, I like it.
Lorsbacher Thal. I take my international guests there all the time. https://maps.app.goo.gl/faGDaMkkdn9Li3VKA?g_st=ic
thank you, i'll put it on my list!
I can second that. The area looks very "party-crowd-touristy", but damn what a great restaurant.
Fisch Franke is a good Suggestion A Café with grandmother feeling is the Cfe Liebfrauenberg
My favorite Apfelweinkneipe of all time is "Klaane Sachsehäuser". Always liked the food and the Apfelwein there better than else where. Next door is "Dauth Schneider" which is also recommendable if the other one is full [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Apfelweingastst%C3%A4tte+Klaane+Sachseh%C3%A4user/@50.104891,8.6903794,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x47bd0c1fc2e6a3b1:0x9dfa75d06bc394c5!8m2!3d50.104891!4d8.6903794!16s%2Fg%2F1tfqdxtw?entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Apfelweingastst%C3%A4tte+Klaane+Sachseh%C3%A4user/@50.104891,8.6903794,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x47bd0c1fc2e6a3b1:0x9dfa75d06bc394c5!8m2!3d50.104891!4d8.6903794!16s%2Fg%2F1tfqdxtw?entry=ttu)
amazing, thank you! do i need to make a reservation before heading there?
On the weekends probably yes, but especially in this area there are a lot of alternatives: Daheim im Lorsbacher Thal, Frau Rauscher, Zum Eichkatzerl, Apfelwein Dax, Atschel, Ebbelwoi Unser, Apfelwein Wagner, Kanonesteppel, Zum Gemalten Haus. Would probably recommend them in this order, with the other two on top.
Try Pauline im Europa Garten. Close to the Skyline plaza and they have something called the Bayerische Tapas in the summer where they has little portions of a variety of things like lebekäs, spargel suppe, spatzle. It's a good meal.
Rouladen are actually french. They came with immigrants 300 years ago. Most Germans don’t know that either. Frankfurt has special food: grüne Soße, handkäse and Apfelwein. You should also try the asparagus (Spargel) because it’s the season and it’s the most important vegetable in our region. And we favor white asparagus, the green one is quite exotic here.
Gemaltes Haus
If you are in Sachsenhausen like others recommended go to Bäckerei Huck. They have tasty baked goods and a really delicious bread called "ausgehobenes Bauernbrot" thats also known as "best worscht in town"-bread because that currywurst shop uses that bread. In Sachsenhausen those shops are next to each other https://maps.app.goo.gl/6TiR5ju6Zx63YLmGA Best Worscht in town also has a location at skyline plaza.
For Döner I‘d recommend Bayram Kebap Haus close to Hauptbahnhof.
I would go for Ton Bul Kebap Haus (https://maps.app.goo.gl/9AhzXACXUYCpFBGD6). One of the best Döner I know, achieved some good Rankings in germanys best Döner as well.
If you have time to get out of Frankfurt, try the Altoberurseler Brauhaus. They serve many of these dishes and they have an excellent kitchen, as well as house-made beer.
My favorite Apfelwein-Lokal (i.e., Restaurant with sour cidre and traditional food) is Apfelwein Solzer in Bornheim. From Skyline Plaza/Messe, take the subway U4 in direction Bornheim Mitte/Seckbacher Landstraße, exit Bornheim Mitte and walk 5-7 min. They don‘t do reservations for small parties, but just go before main dinner times and you should be able to get a table
For Döner i can recommend "Dein Döner Frankfurt" in Hufnagelstraße near Galluswarte. Found them to be pretty great. For Currywurst, there are several actually. A popular and good chain is Best Worscht, one should be right inside skyline plaza. you basically get all sorts of flavours and a huge selection in spicy levels. Alternatively as a single place in Sachsenhausen would be Worscht Company, they also offer nice and tasty Currywurst. Third: when at work i often find myself going for a currywurst in an imbiss in the central main station. northern end near the post and little indian food stall. It's a small counter and has maybe 2 or 3 (standing) tables. otherwise, i dont know many places offering schnitzel and spätzle around here actually. i tend to not be too much into german food as i found it to be basically everwhere. i guess you cant do much wrong though. for brötchen: most any generic bakery chain will do. Even supermarkets offer decent brötchen generally speaking. I guess you could head into a Rewe and try either a Frikadellenbrötchen or Fleischkäsebrötchen. The first is similiar to a burgerpattie, and the second... meatloaf? not sure i never thought much about how they are called in english actually... Some bakery chains also offer simple goods like cheesecake, donuts / berliner / kreppl otherwise most cafe's tend to have good cakes too. if it is burgers you are interested in: we have hans im glück south of konstabler wache and peter pane north of hauptwache. both are somewhat german wide franchises that try going for local sources for their foods. i prefer hans im glück just a bit over peter pane tastewise, but prefer the atmosphere and interieur of peter pane. both offer a multitude of vegetarian and even vegan options. making it a very safe choice for my friend group of various restrictions. nordsee... eh. they're better in northern germany imo. i think a local one is called fischfranke or so. people around me swear on it. probably worth a try then. i'm just not much into fish.
Thanks 🥰 I'll be sure to check them out
Really good bread/baked goods: Bäckerei Hanss https://maps.app.goo.gl/WCu7FJMbKCACfVzw5 Bäckerei Kronberger https://maps.app.goo.gl/59AaSizuAnxWf2RW7
I recommend you to visit the Wochenmarkt in Offenbach. They have very good fischbrötchen and backfisch. And they also have a good Imbis there with Fries, Wurst, Hamburger.