The BEST Restaurants We Ate At in Zermatt, Switzerland!

For a tiny, car-free mountain village, Zermatt has an unreal number of highly rated restaurants, and narrowing them down can feel extremely overwhelming.

I personally hate searching for the best restaurants on vacation for this exact reason!

Luckily, my restaurant-obsessed best friends took that job very seriously before my 30th birthday trip to Switzerland. They did all of the research, booked the reservations, and all I had to do was show up hungry. Best birthday gift ever!!!

My only requests were great food, reasonable prices, and cozy vibes, and boyyy did they deliver! Every place we ate was a 10/10 in my opinion, so I’m not even going to bother “rating” these for you.

This is a list of everywhere we ate during our 3 days and 4 nights in Zermatt as a group of six, including on-mountain lunches, cozy fondue dinners, après-ski spots, and more!

Before You Book: Seasonal Closures + Dinner Reservation Times in Zermatt

Before you start planning out your meals in Zermatt, there are 2 things you should be aware of that might affect your planning.

1. Many restaurants close between seasons. 

Zermatt runs on two main seasons, summer and winter. A lot of restaurants close in the fall and don’t reopen until late November or early December, when the ski season starts.

Many on-mountain restaurants also close for a few weeks in spring.

We personally visited Zermatt during the second week of December, and every restaurant on this list was open.

But if your trip falls in October – November or April – May, I highly recommend double checking each restaurant’s opening dates before you get your heart set on it!

2. Some restaurant’s dinner reservations often come in two waves. 

Many restaurants seat dinner in two rounds: an early seating around 6:00 to 6:45pm and a later one around 7:30 to 8:30pm.

This isn’t a huge deal unless you have a reason for needing to sit down to dinner at 7:00pm on the dot, lol.

But it is worth knowing as you plan your days!

For example, on the day we went skiing in Zermatt, we decided to book a later seating (8:00pm) so we had time to get back, shower and change for dinner.

But on the day we were just hanging around town, we knew we could easily make the early seating!

Tip: I highly recommend booking dinner reservations a few weeks ahead if you are visiting Zermatt in winter, especially during the peak weeks around the holidays!

Complete List of Zermatt Restaurants (Our Favorites!)

Important Note: This price key is relative to the costs of Zermatt, which are higher than other European countries. For dinners, I did not include alcohol in the price estimates.

• Budget (CHF 5-10 per person): $
• Casual (CHF 10-25 per person): $$
• Moderate (CHF 25-50 per person): $$$
• Splurge (CHF 50-100+ per person): $$$$

Of course, your total costs will depend on what you order, if you are drinking alcohol, etc, but this is a good starting point!

1. Le Gitan Grill

• Location: Bahnhofstrasse 64, center of town
• Price: $$$$
• What to try: Lamb chops or steak from the open-fire grill
• Good to know: Dinner only, from 6pm. It’s small (about 50 seats), so book ahead!
• Website Link

If you want a cozy but slightly more upscale dinner in Zermatt, Le Gitan is it. The restaurant is built around a huge brick oven, so a lot of the entrees are cooked over an open fire.

As expected, the vibe of the restaurant was dark, warm, and cozy. The waiter was extremely friendly and all of his recommendations were spot on.

We ate here on our last night in Zermatt and enjoyed it soo much. With the open fire, their specialty is meat dishes, everything from beef skewers to lamb chops.

Most of our group got some form of meat and were not disappointed. Make sure to get the potato gratin on the side! And the salads were delicious too.

They were even kind enough to bring me out a birthday dessert with a candle in it – so sweet!

We spent $520 for our group of 6 here – pricey but so worth it!

2. Schäferstube

• Location: Riedstrasse 2, southeast side of town
• Price: $$$
• What to try: The Zermatt lamb, plus raclette and fondue to share
• Good to know: Dinner only, with two seatings: one from about 6pm and a second at 8:45pm. Book online in advance!
• Website Link

Schäferstube is a rustic, chalet-style restaurant underneath Hotel Julen. The entire restaurant was warm and cozy, with a large oven in the center, wood-paneled walls, and animal heads on the wall.

In fact, “Schäfer” means shepherd, and “stube” translates to a cozy lounge, parlor, or tavern room. So it’s appropriately named!

When picturing a restaurant in the mountains of Switzerland, this is exactly what I envision!

The restaurant is famous for its lamb, much of which comes from the Julen family’s own farm!

I usually don’t really like lamb, but decided to try it here (when in Rome, right?!). It was absolutely delicious and didn’t taste at all like the lamb back home in the USA! Highly recommend.

We also shared raclette and fondue for the table, which is a must here as well.

Our group of 6 spent around $350 here for dinner. One of our least expensive dinners but so delicious!

3. Swiss Chalet

• Location: Bahnhofstrasse 18, center of town near the train station
• Price: $$$
• What to try: The herb cheese fondue!!!
• Good to know: Closed on Wednesdays. Dinner from 6pm.
• Website Link

Swiss Chalet was our very first dinner in Zermatt, and my first-ever Swiss fondue, and it delivered!!

The inside of the restaurant is absolutely adorable, very similar to Schäferstube, with wooden interiors and even painted walls depicting cozy alpine scenes, including the famous black-nose sheep!

Naturally, they have a huge fondue menu, as well as several meat entrees.

Our group of 6 ordered 2 different cheese fondues (one with bacon and one with herbs) as well as a Fondue Chinoise, which was slices of beef, veal, and chicken that you cook at the table in a clear broth.

All 3 were delicious, but my favorite was definitely the herb cheese fondue. I am still dreaming about it, to be honest.

We also tried some Swiss wine and beer, which definitely hit the spot after a loooong day of traveling from Zurich to Zermatt after an overnight flight!

Our group of 6 spent $420 here, which included several beers and bottles of wine.

4. CERVO Mountain Resort

• Location: Riedweg 156 (uphill from the main town center)
• Price: $$$$
• What to try: Dinner and cocktails at Bazaar
• Good to know: Après-ski starts at 3pm and winds down around 6pm. Recommend taking a taxi in winter!
• Website Link

CERVO is a boutique ski-in, ski-out resort just above the main village of Zermatt with several restaurants and bars: Bazaar, Madre Nostra (Italian), Ferdinand (Swiss fondue and raclette) and a slopeside après-ski terrace with Matterhorn views!

We decided to have dinner at Bazaar for a change of cuisine, and it was soo delicious and definitely worth the higher price tag!

We actually got here a little early to try to catch their outdoor après-ski, but unfortunately arrived right as the party was ending around 6pm.

So instead, we had cocktails and snacks in their lounge area, which was lovely! I definitely recommend their spritzes – they felt very Christmasy!

For our main meal, we did a mix of different dishes family-style, which was the way to go so we could try a little bit of everything.

My favorites were baba ganoush, butter chicken (with naan obviously), and the eggplant! But you really can’t go wrong with anything on the menu.

And of course, my friends also told them we were celebrating my birthday, so we ordered several desserts, including the chocolate brownie and the baklava with pistachio ice cream!

We spent $694 for dinner and drinks here, which was our priciest dinner of the trip, but worth every penny!

5. Chez Vrony

• Location: Findeln, right off the ski slopes above Sunnegga.
• Price: $$$
• What to try: The Original Vrony Burger with roasted potatoes, and a hot chocolate!
• Good to know: Lunch only, 11:30am to 4pm. Reserve early if you want outdoor seating!
• Website Link

Chez Vrony is one of the most famous mountain restaurants in the Alps thanks to its picturesque views of the Matterhorn, so I knew we had to visit!

This is a family-run restaurant, and you can definitely tell. They are one of the only remaining restaurants that use their own organic products, made from animals nourished solely on Alpine grass!!

It’s an adorable chalet in the tiny hamlet of Findeln, which is within the Sunnegga ski area. The easiest way to get here in the winter is to ski/snowboard there (Sunnegga to Findeln piste), but there is also a path you can hike with snow boots and crampons!

We came here for lunch after our ski lesson, which was a bit of a challenge for the beginner skiers in the group! (Blue runs in Europe seemed harder than blue runs in America!).

But the views and vibes were absolutely worth the journey. We sat outside (even though it was freezing) with insane views of the Matterhorn right behind us.

I had the Original Vrony Burger, and it was one of the best international cheeseburgers I’ve ever had! Add a hot chocolate, or an Aperol spritz, or both, and it was the perfect mountain lunch.

The owners were so sweet, too. They came out and sang me happy birthday!

We spent $298 for our lunch here for 6 people, which included cocktails!

6. MANUD

• Location: Hofmattstrasse 4, center of town, across from the ice skating rink
• Price: $$
• What to try: A homemade cake with a coffee, or one of the Asian-fusion dishes
• Good to know: Open 9am to 10pm (ish), with hot food from noon to 7pm. Ramen on Mondays!
• Website Link

MANUD is a relaxed café in the heart of Zermatt’s village (right across from the ice skating rink!) that mixes Swiss and Asian flavors, which makes it a nice break from all the cheese! Their specialities are homemade cakes, yummy tea/coffee, and Bahn mi!

My favorite part of MANUD is how their website tells you exactly where their food is from: their meat from Switzerland, their salmon from Scotland, their bread from Zermatt, etc!.

Inside, there is a long communal table in the center of the restaurant, and it definitely felt like a local hang-out spot.

We ate here for a late lunch after exploring the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise all morning. We were lucky enough to visit on a Monday, which is when they normally serve ramen!

A hot ginger tea and a giant bowl of soup were exactly what we needed to warm up after a morning on the mountain.

I don’t have our exact bill from MANUD, but I believe we spent around 20 CHF per person. The bowls of ramen were huge, so most of us split them!

7. Fuchs Bakery and Pastry Shop

• Location: Several around the center of town
• Price: $
• What to try: Wolli cookie and sausage pastry roll
• Good to know: Grab a pastry here before heading up the mountain or getting on the train
• Website Link

We didn’t try many breakfast spots during our time in Zermatt since our hotel, Hotel Jägerhof, had an incredible breakfast spread included in our room rate. (I highly recommend finding a place to stay that includes this, as it saves both money and time!).

However, on our last morning in Zermatt before heading to Basel, we stopped into Fuchs Bakery to get some snacks for the train ride, as we had passed it several times and it always looked delicious!

Fuchs is a family-run bakery that’s been in Zermatt since 1965, with several locations around the village. We visited the one right next to the Kirchbrücke bridge (the best photo spot in Zermatt!!).

Our group got a variety of different things, including pastries, sandwiches, and even a cookie in the shape of the famous Zermatt Blacknose sheep, whose name is Wolli!

But my favorite was the sausage wrapped in pastry dough – soo yummy!

I don’t have our exact prices from Fuchs, but it was definitely the cheapest meal of the trip!

8. Harry’s Ski Bar

• Location: Hinterdorfstrasse 53, in the center of town
• Price: $$
• What to try: An Aperol Spritz, a draft Stiegl beer or a Valais wine
• Good to know: Après-ski starts around 3pm. Get there early if you want a table outside.
• Website Link

You can’t visit snowy Zermatt and not experience the famous après-ski scene – it’s one of the best things to do in Zermatt in winter!

Harry’s is probably the most famous après-ski party in Zermatt, and it’s located right in the center of town.

Because of this, it gets absolutely packed in winter, both inside and out at the stone tables, with dance music and good vibes. The cozy bar itself is a converted former henhouse!

Unfortunately, we never actually got the chance to go inside the bar because it was always so busy. And the one day we got there early enough, it was closed for a private event!

However, after walking past Harry’s every day of our trip and seeing how busy it was, I’m sure it’s worth visiting.

9. Hotel Zermama Bistro

• Location: Matterstrasse 23, directly across the river from the Sunnegga lift
• Price: $$
• What to try: Beers!
• Good to know: Harry’s Ski Bar is only a few minutes’ walk away, so it’s easy to do both
• Website Link

After striking out at Harry’s, we decided to check out the après-ski party at Hotel Zermama, where we could actually get a table! Their après-ski runs from 2pm – 7pm.

Hotel Zermama (one of my recommendations for where to stay in Zermatt) is conveniently located right across from the Sunnegga lift on the northeast side of town.

We popped in right after our ski day in all our gear. Don’t worry – that’s what everyone does! You’ll see people’s skis just propped up in the snow.

Thankfully, they had heaters above the outdoor tables, so we were able to stay warm while drinking our Cardinal drafts (which is a Swiss lager!). We all got half-liters for CHF 9, which felt pretty reasonable for Zermatt!

The outdoor bar area had a super social, fun vibe, while the inside was a bit quieter, but it did have an open fireplace if you’d rather warm up more.

P.S. Worried about staying warm in Zermatt? Check out my full guide on What to Pack for Zermatt in Winter!

10. Brown Cow Pub

• Location: Bahnhofstrasse 41, inside the Hotel Post
• Price: $$
• What to try: A Swiss beer or mulled wine, plus a homemade burger and fries
• Good to know: No reservations, just walk in. Hot food is served from 11am to 11pm
• Website Link

The Brown Cow is a casual pub located inside the Hotel Post, right in the heart of Zermatt.

We happened upon this spot during our first day exploring town, and it was the perfect place to get out of the cold and have a cozy lunch!

Of course, as a pub, we had to try some local Swiss beers here! And a few of us also had some mulled red wine, aka Glühwein in German.

We didn’t eat much here except for French fries and other snacks, but their burgers are supposed to be very good!

If you are looking for a quick lunch in town, this is the perfect spot.

Zermatt Restaurants FAQ

Final Thoughts

If you are visiting Zermatt for just a few days, I know it can feel impossible to fit all the incredible restaurants and bars into your itinerary (because there are soo many!).

We were able to eat/drink at all of the places on this list (except Harry’s) during our 3 days and 4 nights in Zermatt.

If you have less time, my top picks are definitely Swiss Chalet and Schäferstube for that traditional Valais experience!!

For a fancier dinner, Le Gitan Grill and Bazaar at CERVO were both 10/10 as well.

And of course, don’t miss lunch on the mountain at Chez Vrony or somewhere similar if you can squeeze it in.

You really can’t go wrong with any restaurant in Zermatt, but I hope this list made your planning easier!

Just remember to check opening dates if you’re visiting in the fall or early winter.

Check out all of my Switzerland blog posts below! 🇨🇭❄️🫕
A Magical One Week Switzerland Winter Itinerary!
Visiting Zermatt in the Winter: Everything to Know Before You Go
3 Perfect Days In Zermatt, Switzerland In The Winter!
Where to Stay in Zermatt, Switzerland in Winter (with Map!)
15 Bucket List Things to Do in Zermatt in the Winter!
A Complete Guide to Skiing in Zermatt, Switzerland
What To Wear In Zermatt In Winter: Detailed Packing Guide!
Visiting Basel In December: Christmas Markets & Beyond
Basel Christmas Itinerary: 2 Days In Basel In December
Christmas Market Trip To Colmar & Strasbourg From Basel!
What To Wear To European Christmas Markets (Packing Guide)