Walking around Zurich, and ran into the oldest vegetarian restaurant in Europe. Just happened upon it and went to the upstairs formal dining area. The service, food, ambiance, wine selection were all superb. Definitely worth it if in Zurich and are tired of bratwurst and potatoes.

During my first night in Zurich, I walked here not knowing what to expect. They have endless options of plant based foods. The food options are from many different backgrounds- Indian. Thai. American. European etc. Just gotta keep in mind they charge weight- it can add up quickly.

Had dinner here while in Zurich because the friends we were traveling with preferred vegetarian options. The restaurant has buffet style dining downstairs and a full service a la carte dining upstairs. I had a mushroom risotto that was very good. In fact it's one of the best vegetarian restaurants I've been to.

The oldest vegetarian restaurant in the world! Certified by the Guiness book of World Records (supposedly). The service was excellent. They were super friendly. You can order a la carte, by weight, or buffet style. Buffet for children under a certain age is a lot cheaper. We were there first thing in the morning when they opened because of major jet lag. If you do buffet style you get 3 drinks: cold one, hot one, and prosecco. If you don't drink alcohol you can an extra hot or cold drink. The hot chocolate was excellent as was the passion peach drink. OJ was fresh squeezed and pretty good. The buffet was amazing. There are so many things to try. Tons of cold dishes. Only 2 hot dishes, eggs and potatoes but those were probably the 2 best things. There were 20+ choices. Tons of sauces. 4-5 desserts. Only 1 fresh fruit, but the melons were excellent. Out of the 20+ choices, I liked almost every single dish. There were only 2 that I didn't care for. Definitely worth a try, even if you're not a vegetarian. The server heard us talking about simosas. They usually don't serve them until lunch time but she had them made just for us!!

I see now why all of the hype. This place is amazing. We loved all of the food we had here. We ended up going to with their a la carte menu since we liked those options a bit more but we loved that we could still grab things from the buffet and just weight our plate and pay for what we took. It is also so nice that they let the table decide if one person goes to the buffet and the other can order from their a la carte menu. Different from other places that if one person does the buffet then everyone on that table need to do the same. Their drinks are delicious, the place is gorgeous and the service was great. Would definitely come back when in Zurich again!

I was in Switzerland so I had to go to the world's first ever vegetarian restaurant! What a treat this experience was. It's essentially a buffet that you pay for by weight. It's is a vegetarian restaurant but has plenty of vegan options. I've honestly never been somewhere with such an amazing variety of foods to choose from. The interior is extremely beautiful and impressive, and although it's pricey the food was absolutely delicious and filling. Totally worth visiting!

Hiltl claims to be the oldest vegetarian restaurant in the world, operating since 1898, and expanding to many different locations. Their recipes, though, have definitely kept up with the times, and their self-service pay-by-weight buffet featured everything from Indian, Mediterranean, and East Asian flavors. There were plenty of fried items including pakoras, samosas, kachoris, and falafels; as well as cold salads/dips and hot dishes. Some of the standout items for me included the Palak Paneer, made of pan-fried paneer cubes in a spinach gravy and topped with fresh spinach leaves; and the (imitation) salmon tartare, a paste that tasted surprisingly like real salmon and was even topped with classic accompaniments of capers, dill, and sour cream. Overall, however, the food here seemed to be of just average quality and not always at peak freshness (since it's a buffet). The prices seemed expensive for vegetarian fare, but were certainly nothing unusual for Zurich.

This is the oldest vegetarian restaurant in the world, and its hundred year history alone merits a visit. The dining area is HUGE and decorated very chicly. Despite the price tag and upscale ambiance, it's not pretentious. They provided wax crayons so that kids could scribble on the glass surrounding the staircase, which I thought was super cute and a great idea. We made a reservation, and were seated at a table upstairs on the second floor. There was initially a damp, musty smell when we walked into the room but it dissipated when we got to the table. We opted for the buffet, which meant that we had to take a long walk downstairs when we wanted to get our food, then weigh our plates on the scales provided upstairs. The waitress did a great job explaining the system. The buffet is stocked with a plethora of vegetarian dishes, ranging from traditional European fare to Asian fusion. A literal vegetarian smorgasbord. I imagine that the spread was probably even more impressive back in the day when all-vegetarian restaurants were rarer and ethnic eateries harder to find. Nonetheless, an impressive variety of options and this style is a great choice if you're eating with a group of people who have trouble deciding on one specific cuisine. The buffet is priced by weight, and can add up quickly. We tried to be conservative and take very small portions of things, but we wanted to try a lot of things so the bill added up quickly. (Pro tip - recommend getting the smaller bowls so that you're not tempted to overfill a huge plate!) There were some hits and misses. Our favorites - for me, a potato gratin, and for my boyfriend, Singapore noodles with mock duck. The buffet comes with a free piece of bread or free papadam - the roll was pretty dry but the papadam was decent. Ambiance was pleasant, service was top notch, variety was bountiful, and most of the food was very tasty. It was an experience worth trying for sure, but definitely on the pricey side. Eating out in Switzerland in general can be $$$. While the food is high quality, it is all vegetarian and a buffet, so I do think the cost was a tad high considering. To be honest, I wouldn't make this a regular splurge but it was a good meal and I would certainly try it again.

When in Zurich, of course you must go to Europe's oldest vegetarian restaurant. Researching or spending a few days in Zurich, it will seem like there are a lot of places that do buffet style (and this is true.) This isn't all that Hitl offers but it is certainly a big draw for them. My partner and I opted to order from the main menu instead, since buffets aren't always a great deal if you don't plan on eating a lot of food. But before we get to the food, I was a little surprised how nice it looked inside for being an old restaurant. While I would still consider it casual dining, the sit down experience has an elevated air to it. The service was attentive, reasonably quick, and pleasant. I got the kebab sandwich, which was enjoyable though not particularly memorable. Meaning, it wasn't the best kebab of my life. And given that everything in Zurich is so expensive, you would hope the dinners would be memorable! Maybe I would have been more happy with the buffet? Still, I would recommend this place to vegetarians/vegans. On the latter, there are plenty of options to choose from, so don't worry about the 'vegetarian' designation.

I visited here before they introduced the buffet. My first order of business after dropping my luggage at the hotel was finding Hiltl. It was easily reachable, large, upscale, and very busy. However, don't be put off the upscale atmosphere; I felt comfortable & accepted in my casual jeans and tennis. I suggest reservations if you have a party and you plan to sit in and eat; I did not plan to do so, but ended up staying anyway. I ordered the vegan Steak Tartar (surprisingly much tastier than it looked), vegan paella (no longer on the menu. It was so-so. I wasn't impressed), and Red Thai Curry, which was delicious! My waitress was very friendly and humorous. Expensive, as was expected in Switzerland, so I have no gripes there. Definitely worth a visit if you're in Zurich.