I am from Basel and I frequentely to Zürich just for the sound and a dance......
Usually I go to the Rohstofflager, my favorite spot, you stay quite anonymous and can still talk to strangers without being looked at. And there is also the hive and the supermarket, bit more dressed up clubs.
What are your favorite clubs?
(I'll never get over seeing someone eat a Hamburger with a knife and fork though)
Zuri Bar - Nice bar, decent beer, seems likely to want to host an open mic night but so far no commitment from the staff Likely to bump into
a) Chinese man who insists the barman is diabetic
b) Swiss man with blonde goatee who "sells dreams to travellers"
c) Various random EF'ers who will shout at you for a good 15 minutes before you notice them
Safari Bar - very cool bar, music ranged from early 80's french electro-pop to reasonably modern british indie rock (bloc party). Acceptable conversation topics that are of clear interest to the bar's regulars included
a) travel times from Zug to Zurich
b) the reason that two English blokes were dripping wet on arrival and dripping on the bar
c) A general semi-drunken dissection of british politics, with for and against arguments on John Prescott, the current state of the NHS, the dissolution of the Home Office, John Reid, James Blunkett, and Tony Blair as an envoy to the middle east
In all honesty, the latter was the most intriguing to the locals - while there were only 5 of them there at the time, they all stopped drinking / talking, and just sat and listened to me and my pal generally bantering each other and taking the piss (as two politically opposed friends may have a wont to do when drunk)
Lastly, but by no means least,
Bonnie Prince Charlie
Recollections of this pub are limited. We met an American called Paul. Neither of us remember much about Paul, except that he greeted us with "Hey, what part of Englandshire are you from!" and that neither of us liked him very much at all.
Sorry, Paul.
I have just moved to Zurich from US for a short assignment and would love to get some recommendation for bars. Mainly looking for good food, music and a place to relax and enjoy Zurich culture. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
As an aside, many supposedly independent restaurants and bars are actually part of a chain. For example, Bindella owns 17 restaurants in Zurich, including Pulcino, Bianchi, Terrasse Bar, Hechtplatz, Terroir, Conti, Contrapunto, Cantinetta Antinori, Santa Lucia (6 branches), Spaghetti Factory (2 branches), and the Bindella restaurant itself. Similarly, Yoojis, Nooba, Iroquois, Bohemia, Cheyenne, Toto, Boilerroom, Rush, Weindepot, and Wink are joined together. There are 7 Suan Long restaurants in Zurich and 17 Molino restaurants in Switzerland and 6 Pickwicks pubs.
Anyhoo, in alphabetical order...
01 –
1001 –
Adler - fondue restaurant, presumably for tourists. The place responsible for the smell of raclette on the Niederdorf. It can be smelt for tens of metres in each direction. Usually has a few tourists seated outside and sampling fondue, in mid summer. I’m sure the standard is ok, it’s just that fondue and raclette shouldn’t be sold to tourists as a mid summer experience.
Aelpli Bar -
Alexi’s Bar –
Andorra - Nice place. Good beer selection. Staff can be a bit poncy. Not a place to bring someone in a wheelchair, as you'll end up having to carry them down the stairs to the loos, as we did. http://www.andorra.ch/
Artige – a little bar with an art gallery
Babalu -
Ban Song Thai –
Barfüsser – a combination gay bar and sushi bar...
Bar noon -
Barrique – wine bar. Has a good location and wine list, but is let down by having some of the worst serving staff in Zürich. It’s one of those places where the staff will be utterly oblivious to your presence.
Bauernschänke –
Restaurant Bianchi -
Bierhalle Wolf - Surreal. One litre beers, grab a granny, and a schlager cover band with mullets. Also a chance to clap along to mimed family favourites, and perhaps even some fake yodelling. Visiting girls may be hit on by drunken 60-somethings. The beerhall-style food seems to be ok. The beer price varies during the day.
Big Ben - a very average English-themed bar, by and for the Swiss. You can sit on the Niederdorf and have a pint and watch passers by. It’s beside the Calypso bar, if that helps you locate it...
Blockhus –
Blue Cherry -
Blue Monkey Cocosin – Thai restaurant. Expensive, small portions, but very good indeed. The food is cheaper downstairs. Has tables on Rosenhof. Part of Zunfthaus zur Schneidern?
Bodega Espanola -
Bonnie Prince Charlie – an “English” themed pub with horrible décor. Guinness on tap.
Cabaret Voltaire – the home of the Dadism movement.
Café Bar Annabelle -
Café Walthi -
Caffe Bellavista –
Cana – harmless vag uely Ca ribbean bar. It’s like somebody saw a picture of a tiki bar and decided to make one for themselves, inside. Colourful local characters. The DJ is in a world of his own, or rather, off the planet. When was the last time you heard the birdie dance?
Cantina - Italian rest aurant. Good food. Has a huge outdoors section, so you can indulge in people watching. Tina Bar is upstairs.
Casa bar - has live jazz, and no cover charge - because it's built into the drink prices. Don't come here for a night on the turps, because the prices will start to bite.
Casa Romero - a nice tapas selection, but everything is pre-prepared - all hot dishes are via the microwave.
Dynasty Club -
Kantorei –
Klein Istanbul -
Le Cedre – Lebanese. Sister restaurant to the one on Badenerstrasse. Quite busy. Obligatory belly dancer. You may feel invisible at times, as everybody else gets served before you and gets their meals before you. The two times we were there, we waited for two hours for our mains to be delivered. Other people have had an ok time there, but that has not been my experience. Never again.
Restaurant Liquria –
Restaurant Carrousel -
Centrale - Piano bar - generally has a piano/midi player most nights. The bar tends to be full of bored hotel guests; show them a good time! Specialises in champagne.
Chopsticks - Malaysian takeaway. Cheap-ish and reliable. A good place for that Nasi Lemak / Rendang / Laksa fix. The cook does go home fairly early on a quiet night though - just like everyone else, really...
Corazon – looks suspiciously similar to the Andorra, right down to the same propeller in the roof. Nice place. Seats can be a problem , unless you are into beanbags, but they do have good wine. Ok staff. http://www.corazon.ch/
CP First -
Cranberry – cigar lounge and gay bar
Dialog – great Italian restaurant. Good service. Near the hammam.
Edi’s Weinstube -
Havanna Club -
Restaurant Hirschberg -
Isebähnli – lovely little restaurant and wine bar, down a little side street. Great wine selection. Ancient building. If you sit outside then the waiters may not realise that you’re there.
Forecast - next door to Bierhalle Wolf, and a good place to chill after visiting that rather interesting place. Can be very young downstairs.
Restaurant Garten Laube -
Gesellschaft zum Schneggen -
Graebli - another local place that never seems to be particularly busy. No English spoken. It's an ok place, with little carvings everywhere. Don't alienate the locals.
Gran Café -
Haifisch-bar –
Restaurant Haue -
Havanna - this used to be a "nightclub", but it moved upstairs and the bar moved downstairs. Now it seems pretty dry.
Johanniter – pretty good Swiss food, of a similar style/standard to Zeughauskeller. The bar is rather downmarket.
Restaurant Karl der Grosse -
Khans - "Indian" restaurant. Ok, I guess. Been there a few times. Standards have fluctuated here over the years; of late it has been pretty good. Menu isn’t huge. I went there midday once, with an Indian friend. The place seemed closed, but my friend heard some people in the kitchen speaking Hindi, his mother tongue. So he pokes his head through the door to the kitchen, and asks in perfect Hindi if the place opens for lunch. They reply to him in English that it is closed...
King's Cave - the grill restaurant below the Hotel Centrale. Has hotel prices ( eg CHF 50-60 for a steak ) but the standard is pretty good. If someone visiting town wants a good steak then this is a good place to take them. It’s not cheap though.
Kon Tiki –
Restaurant La Pasta -
Le Dezaley - a good Swiss/French restaurant. Good place for fondues. You may need to reserve.
Lee’s Asian – Asian takeaway. Cheap large portions.
Lobby -
Restaurant Madrid – ok Spanish restaurant, with a few Swiss twists, eg Mistkratzerli. Good staff. I haven’t tried the Paella.
Restaurant Marion -
Restaurant Mere Catherine – good European/Mediterranean restaurant. The food can be *very* salty.
Restaurant Mohre Chopf -
Restaurant Molinos – pizza restaurant in a similar vein to Santa Lucia and Spaghetti Factory. http://www.molino.ch
N-68 – bar next door to Johanniter
Nachtflug – an ok bar, next to the Blue Monkey. It opens out onto Rosenhof, and its tables there always seem to be busy.
Odeon - a Zurich stalwart. Has been here for decades. Good for people watching.
Restaurant Oepfel Chammer - restaurant and wine bar. No beer. The place where people try to climb over the rafter. Has a list of regulations as long as your arm... http://www.oepfelchammer.ch/Dokumente/Oeli_Reglement.pdf
Restaurant Ostia –
Pacifico Bar –
Papa Joes – American-styled restaurant. Pretty popular. Good for burgers and Mexican-ish food.
Piadina Bar –
Restaurant Predigerhof -
Rheinfelder Bierhalle – another Swiss place in the style of Johanniter. Apparently famous for its monster cordon bleu.
Rosenhof area in general - a nice place in Summer. It always seems to be going off, with heaps of people hanging around. On Thursdays and Saturdays is the hippy market, where it's rumoured to be possible to buy that "special" hemp filling for your pillow. In the evenings there are sometimes bands busking. Be aware that it is a residential area, and they stop selling alcohol at midnight.
Pigalle - it's hard to figure out what this place is. It's got a Paris red light district name, and the staff are useless at serving drinks, but unlike similar establishments they have tables outside...
Restaurant Pulcino –
Restaurant Raclette-Stube -
Restaurant Rechberg -
Restaurant Regenbogen -
Safari - unknown
Saftbad -
Santa Lucia and Spaghetti Factory – pizza restaurants. Both part of Bindella . . Make good Italian style thin crust pizzas. There’s not much to tell them apart... http://www.bindella.ch
Restaurant Schaluch –
Restaurant Schoffel -
Splendid bar - another piano bar. Upstairs bar is nice but is closed until fairly late.
STK Gastro –
Superzero -
Tank Grill and Bar –
Restaurant Tasca Romero -
Restaurant Terrasse –
Tip Top –
Restaurant Turm Navarro Tony -
Twist - Zurich's Rugby pub. Lots of sport. Full of expats, especially when there's a game on. The garden bar is rather cold outside of mid Summer. Food is very avera ge; cris ps passing as fries/chips on the meals. Always seems to be busy. Pints and burgers. Part of the Pickwicks chain. http://www.pickwick.ch
UU bar - has a large outdoors section and a dartboard, but they’re pretty much the only redeeming features. Never seems to be busy inside. Shabby loos.
Velvet - unknown
Weiss Rose - a nice little local Swiss place, with half a dozen tables and friendly staff. English not spoken. Small menu. Tables outside in Summer. It's lovely - don't ruin it.
Restaurant Weisser Wind –
Wings - A bar founded by former Swissair staff and apparently with an aircraft theme. There is a token nod to the occasional food trolley and aircraft seat in the décor, but apart from that it's actually quite hard to tell. Quite popular with locals. Staff seem fairly good.
Wüste Bar – great for people watching
Zax-Bar - unknown.
Restaurant Zhong Hua -
Zic Zac - hard to quantify. It's almost like a local version of Hard Rock Café, but without the merchandise or the music videos. Has a huge bar. Always seems to be busy. Girl ratio is quite high. Khans is upstairs.
Restaurant Zum Grobe Ernst –
Restaurant Zum Schwarzen Chessel -
Restaurant Zum Turicer -
Restaurant Zum weissen Kreuz - unknown
Restaurant Zum Weissen Schwann -
Restaurant Zunfthaus zum Grünen Glas – guildhall
Restaurant Zunfthaus am Neumarkt - guildhall
Restaurant Zunfthaus Haus zum Rüden – a guildhall on Limmatplatz. Has a stubli and a restaurant dating from the 1300s. Pretty expensive but the standard is very high. Entrees can be 30 francs and mains up to the 70s. Dessert trolley is to die for. This is a place for a special occasion. www.hauszumrueden.ch
Restaurant Zunfthaus zur Saffran – guildhall
Restaurant Zunfthaus zur Zimmerleuten - guildhall
Zuri Bar - fairly downmarket, but even so, they'll always serve you
As you can see, there's quite a few bars and restaurants in this area...
Johanniter has ripped out its formerly dodgy bar to fit in more tables for diners. That's a plus I guess.
We were in Big Ben last night. It has Guinness and Kilkenny and Staropramen(sp?) and Feldschloessen on tap, and one other Irish stout whose name escapes me at the moment. It's also got pretty dismal toilets.
You forgot to mention the Strip joints!