Where to eat in Lucerne
Every hotel guide in Lucerne sends you to the same three restaurants. This one doesn’t. These are the places the Capsule Hotel team actually eats at, the ones they recommend when a guest asks at the desk, and the ones they’d miss if they left. Some are a two-minute walk from the hotel. One requires a short bus ride. All of them are worth it.
Quick lunches
Twiny Station
Rössligasse 13, 6004 Luzern
Picture
A walk-up counter on a narrow street in the heart of the Old Town, and Lucerne’s most argued-about schnitzelbrot. The sandwich is a chicken schnitzel in a freshly baked baguette with your choice of sauce — exactly the kind of thing you eat leaning against a wall by the river and immediately want another one of. Cocktail sauce or BBQ are the team picks. The queue moves fast, but go before 1pm if you want to avoid it altogether.
Mezzogiorno Luzern
Hirschengraben 33b, 6003 Luzern
Two or three fresh vegetarian dishes daily, around CHF 10, and the kind of cooking that makes you wonder why more places don’t just do this. The menu changes every day so you arrive and see what’s there — that’s the point. A reliable, honest lunch spot a short walk from Chapel Bridge.
Shanghai Asiatische Waren AG
Hirschengraben 43, 6003 Luzern
Right across the street from Capsule Hotel TheLab: an Asia shop that also happens to cook very well. The small chicken curry costs CHF 10 and fills up most people. No need to overthink it — one of the best-value lunches in the city.
- Good food in Lucerne. You just need to know where to look.
- Good food in Lucerne. You just need to know where to look.
- Good food in Lucerne. You just need to know where to look.
Kebab
Abi Kebab
Theaterstrasse 13, 6003 Luzern
A solid central option for a steak kebab, with a nice atmosphere and a terrace out the back. Close to the Old Town and easy to reach on foot. The bread is made in-house and the portions are generous by any standard.
Dogan’s
Tribschenstrasse 66, 6005 Luzern
The team’s preference, and worth the walk. Dogan’s has a loyal following across the city for its kebab plates, dürüm and calzone. Turkish tea comes with the meal, the staff are welcoming, and the prices are reasonable by Lucerne standards. About 15 minutes on foot from the Old Town, or a short bus ride.
"The cordon bleu is frequently described as the best in Switzerland. The portions are generous, the prices are fair. It's the kind of place that reminds you not every good restaurant needs a concept."
Dinner
Café La Suisse — Doorzögli
Gerbergasse 11, 6004 Luzern
There has been a restaurant at this address since 1849. Five wooden tables, around 40 seats, locals and visitors sitting side by side on long benches in the Old Town. The cordon bleu is frequently described as the best in Switzerland — the portions are generous, the prices are fair, and the whole place operates with zero interest in being anything other than exactly what it is. Smoking is permitted indoors; there is outdoor seating if you prefer.
Soul Chicken
Löwengraben 31, 6004 Luzern
Lucerne’s original fried chicken spot, and still the best. A short, focused menu, a small room with a personality of its own, and a garlic butter sauce that people plan return trips around — which has literally happened. The chicken is Swiss and free-range, cooked properly to order. It costs a little more than most fried chicken, and it’s worth it. Bookings are recommended, especially on weekends.
Mill’Feuille
Mühlenplatz 6, 6004 Luzern
Right on the Reuss, with the river on one side and the Old Town on the other. Mill’Feuille serves all day — breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner — and the kitchen makes almost everything in-house, from the homemade sodas to the trout bites. The terrace catches the last of the evening sun and Lucerne gets more warm evenings than people expect. One of the better places in the city to sit down and not hurry.
Goki
Zürichstrasse 38, 6004 Luzern
A small restaurant serving dishes from Laos, Vietnam and Thailand on one focused menu, run by a mother, her son and his cousin. The pho broth is made from scratch, the chicken pad thai is the most-ordered dish, and the whole thing comes in at CHF 10 to 20 per person, which is unusual for this city. It also happens to sit directly next door to Capsule Hotel Lucerne Old Town. Open for lunch and dinner Monday to Friday.
Basilico
Hirschmattstrasse 29, 6003 Luzer
Pizza and pasta in the Old Town, done well. The kind of neighbourhood Italian that earns its place on a list like this precisely because it isn’t trying too hard.
Da Marcello
Schachenstrasse 15b, Kriens
Worth the trip out of town. Da Marcello is in Kriens, just on the edge of Lucerne, in a converted pasta factory. The pizza is Roman-style — thin, crisp, made with a dough that rests for at least two days — and it is the reason to go. Take the first bus from Luzern towards Kriens.
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