Which cities in Switzerland have the best (and worst) restaurants?
By Jan de Boer
A new analysis from re:spondelligent has revealed which cities in Switzerland have the best and worst-rated restaurants. While foodies are generally positive about dining options in the alpine nation, some cities’ eateries are worse reviewed than others.
Over 66 percent of Swiss restaurant reviews give five stars
In the report, re:spondelligent found that of the 2.000 online reviews analysed, patrons gave restaurants in Switzerland a five-star rating 66,3 percent of the time. Four-star reviews made up 18,2 percent of all reviews, while only 6,3 percent of guests gave a one-star review.
When it came to the negative reviews, the report found that the quality of the service was the most common bone of contention. Service standards were mentioned in 40 percent of negative reviews, while the food itself was only mentioned 30 percent of the time. The price of the meal was the third most common complaint in Switzerland.
Diners have become more critical of restaurants in Switzerland
The study noted that reviews of Swiss restaurants have gotten more critical over the last year, with experts giving the country an re:Score - an average score out of 100 based on review scores and reviews' quality and frequency - of 83,6, slightly less than the year before. This was blamed on more critical reviews for restaurants in Zurich, Basel and St. Gallen.
It also means that restaurants in Swiss cities are no longer the highest-rated in the DACH region. For 2023, that honour went to Klosterneuburg in Austria with 86,3 points. Restaurants in Switzerland and Austria were similarly rated, while those in Germany were given lower scores on average.
Best Swiss cities for food: Winterthur top, Lausanne bottom
For 2023, Winterthur was named as having the highest-rated restaurants in Switzerland with a re:Score of 85,6. The second city of Canton Zurich usurped St. Gallen at the top of the Swiss list. Chur and Locarno rounded out the top four.
By contrast, the city of Lausanne was rated as having the worst restaurants in Switzerland. The report noted that the capital of Vaud’s position at the bottom of the ranking reflected the fact that reviewers were most critical of eateries in French-speaking Switzerland, followed by those in Ticino - hence why Lugano was the second-worst rated in the country.
Swiss cities with the best and worst-rated restaurants
In all, here are 16 Swiss cities with the best and worst-rated restaurants as of 2023:
For more information about the study, check out the re:spondelligent website.
Thumb image credit: Keitma / Shutterstock.com
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Jan studied History at the University of York and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Sheffield. Though born in York, Jan has lived most of his life in Zurich and has worked as a journalist, writer and editor since 2016.
While he has plunged head-first back into life in Switzerland since returning to the country in 2020, he still enjoys a taste of home at pub quizzes and karaoke nights.Read more