Fancy something new? You should know these 4 restaurants in Innsbruck

21 January 2026

Post originally written in: Deutsch

There are people who like to eat well. And then there are those who not only eat well, but could talk about it for hours. Perhaps they have already tried to perfect a dish or two themselves, have traveled far and wide and immersed themselves in different culinary philosophies. Some of them turn their passion into a profession and open their own restaurants & bars.

Whether you are a passive or active connoisseur of Innsbruck's culinary scene, these four restaurants are worth a visit - and a chat - in the new year.

We start our culinary tour with a view of the colorful row of houses along the Inn and stroll across the Inn Bridge. Since last year, Guuzen Ramen & Izakaya has been located right at the beginning of Höttingergasse. You can't make a reservation here, so you may have to wait a little. But it's definitely worth the wait! You can expect large portions of ramen, delicious flavors and a friendly team. At the back, there is bar seating with a view of the kitchen, where the hot soup pots are steaming. To the right, you can see the Japanese noodle machine, which will also be in operation during opening hours in the future. Anyone who chats with owner Julian Dittrich quickly realizes that there is a lot of passion and experimentation behind the products.

Julian, what distinguishes your ramen from other offerings in Austria or the Alpine region?

We cook our ramen according to original Japanese recipes that I learned and cooked myself in Japan. We don't use any flavor enhancers or similar, but create our taste with the right ingredients and techniques. And what also sets us apart in the Alpine region are the home-made noodles on our noodle machine, which is also Japanese.

Unlike others, homemade means that we actually produce them in the restaurant, fresh twice a week. The noodles alone are a science in themselves.

The ingredients we use for the soups are mostly sourced locally, where possible and practical. We get the chicken for the broth from an organic poultry farm in Mieming, the vegetables also come from the region and we also work with local butchers for the pork. Unfortunately, this is not possible for products such as seaweed, oils or soy sauce, which we import directly from Japan.

How much time and manual work do you actually put into a broth?

Our tonkotsu (pork broth) takes about two days from start to finish, with a cooking time of 15 hours. The chicken broth is a little quicker, but requires a lot of preparation, as the bones and chickens have to be prepared more thoroughly. Our chicken stock is on the stove for about 10 hours.

What role do Japanese traditions play - and where do you consciously allow yourself to deviate?

Japanese tradition is really important to me and the great thing is that there is still so much to learn! When cooking ramen, we adhere very strictly to the rules of the art, although in Japan this is often not as strict as some self-proclaimed ramen connoisseurs believe. The variety and freedom of interpretation of the dish is ever increasing. If you get involved, you will find ramen made from pork bones, bear bones, tomatoes and much more in Japan! The rules are very flexible and make this one dish so endlessly exciting.

I will concentrate here on some of the classics: Tonkotsu (pork broth), chicken shoyu & miso. But it's also important to me that there are no compromises for vegetarians and vegans.

We always make specials, such as a duck shoyu ramen with sous vide cooked duck breast as chashu in the past, or a vegetarian kimchi ramen. And we still have endless ideas that we want to cook & create!

You are a ramen store + izakaya - what dishes would you recommend to a (non-fussy) first-time visitor? Appetizer, main course + dessert + drink tip.

My go-to is currently:

Agedashi tofu - deep-fried tofu in a fine, slightly sweet cold broth made from shiitake mushrooms and kombu algae
Followed by a Chicken Shoyu Ramen: fine chicken flavor with our slightly firm to the bite homemade noodles, buttery soft spicy pork belly and the classic soft-boiled, pickled ramen egg.
For those who like it a little more special and exotic: definitely the Tonkotsu!
For dessert, there is no way around the Warabi Mochi, simple & interesting in consistency and taste and also great for sharing.
The yuzu lemonade is the perfect drink to go with it: Japanese citrus fruit that is addictive!

Incidentally, our guests are most enthusiastic about our homemade black sesame ice cream with sesame oil brittle and yuzu gel, a creation by our chef Felix!

Do you have 1 or 2 favorite ramen restaurants (in Japan or worldwide) that you particularly like?

Ramen Afro Beats in Tokyo has the best tori paitan I've ever eaten (creamy chicken broth with a shio base, pork shoulder chashu and few "frills"). Kikanbo Ramen also in Tokyo has very good miso for someone who hasn't made it to Sapporo yet and loves it spicy!

In Osaka, head to Mugen Ramen for a particularly creamy, meaty tonkotsu.

But if you want to get recommendations, it's best to follow the ramen influencers @Ramenadventures or @Ramenmistress . Both focus on what ramen is all about, the variety and attention to detail and that the best ramen spots can't be found on Reddit or Google.

Guuzen Ramen | Izakaya

Höttingergasse 6, 6020 Innsbruck
Website: www.guuzen.at Instagram: @guuzenramen
Menu: on Google Maps

Tina Utz and Christoph Neuhold have been best friends for 15 years and have always dreamed of "opening something" together at home in Innsbruck. Last year, the dream finally came true: with the help of good friends, the old restaurant was converted and renovated. Its central location makes it the perfect meeting place in the city, and it's up to you to decide whether you want to talk shop in the old walls or just flirt a little. It's actually funny to watch the crowd, the group of men at the back left must have met here many times before the renaming. The two Spanish tourists next to us must have stumbled in by chance and the Innsbruck Land family after their Innsbruck shopping trip are enjoying a selection of snacks, nachos etc. in small bowls. Tina herself is in the store serving.

Dear Tina, where did the name of your bar come from?

I was visiting my boyfriend in Freiburg at the time and in our WhatsApp chat we went back and forth the whole time about a suitable name, at some point I thought to myself "Can't we just talk tacheles now"? And then I thought TACHELES... what a cool name. And what a cool meaning.

Tacheles stands for plain speaking. For honest food, delicious drinks and real conversations. No frills - exactly what we want to offer. Perfect.

As a first-time visitor on a date in your bar: which drink and which dish would you recommend?

For your date, we would recommend a freshly tapped Augustiner beer or a delicious Tacheles Spritz as an aperitif.

On our tapas menu you will find Brazilian delicacies (our creative chef comes from Brazil) ideal for sharing, such as pao de quejio (cheese balls), coxinhas (stuffed fried dumplings), various croquettas or tapioca dices (my absolute favorite!). You also have to try our patatas bravas.

For the second round of drinks, we recommend the Elk's Own with whiskey and port wine from our winter drinks menu or the Red Velvet for gin lovers.

At lunchtime you have your own menu, do your guests already have a favorite?

As we offer many different bowl options, you always have the opportunity to create a new bowl at lunchtime. Everything is freshly prepared and all toppings are homemade and fermented. The "base" favorites are definitely tofu and chicken. And our toppings include pea puree, kimchi, sauerkraut and homemade pickles . The guests' favorite dressing is the tahini-lemon dressing with roasted garlic.

What do you think Innsbruck still needs in terms of bar culture - and what would you like to contribute?

Above all, we want to offer people living in Innsbruck (and the surrounding area, of course) a place where they feel comfortable. Where everything is very friendly and relaxed. No matter whether it's students, the skate/snowboard/ski scene, bankers and office workers who want a drink after work, the grandma who wants to have a hot chocolate with her grandchildren, the girls' group or the "old men's regulars' table". EVERYONE is welcome at Tacheles.

And we believe that it is precisely this mix of guests that creates the great and relaxed atmosphere. The guests enjoy the colorful mix and we love it! Perhaps that's something that's been missing in Innsbruck's bar culture - a place where a wide variety of guests come together, get to know each other, clink glasses and perhaps have an unplanned "an Watter auf tuan" (Watten - card game) at the regulars' table

Tacheles Bar & Bistro

Wilhelm-Greil-Straße 3, 6020 Innsbruck
Instagram: @tacheles_ibk
Menu: on Google Maps

Less than two minutes away from Tacheles, Moritz Waas (Mösinger Pizza) and Georg Waldmüller(Futterkutter) run Pizzeria Raed. The place is small and cozy, and the seats are usually fully booked. Fortunately, you can easily reserve your slot online. Moritz has been tinkering with his perfect pizza for years and is quite liberal with the toppings. Nothing is forbidden: Whatever tastes good and fits together goes on the pizza base. Everything is served with a good pinch of the restaurant's own style, which runs from the Instagram channel to the menu. Experts in good taste are always welcome!

Moritz, what do you serve that no other pizzeria in Innsbruck offers in this form?

We move away from the classic Italian pizza combinations and try to produce creative pizza creations with lots of seasonal ingredients. In the fall, for example, we serve pizza with kale or pumpkin cream, in the winter we use celery puree or leek instead of tomato sauce. In summer, we had a special with peach and taleggio or zucchini, stracciatella, salted lemons and mint. And all of this on a light, long fermented dough that not only looks good, but also tastes great.

Which pizza is currently your most popular?

The Sweet Spaniard (tomato, mozzarella, chorizo, smoked paprika and chilli honey) is just ahead of the:
Deez Nuts (gorgonzola cream, mozzarella, pickled onions, chilli honey, caramelized walnuts and sage)

Which menu would you recommend to first-time visitors - from starter to pizza to dessert, including matching drinks?

For starters, I would go for the mixed mezze to share. Then you get an impression of all the starters and then one of the seasonal special pizzas. They change regularly with the seasons. The C'est la rie pizza with celeriac cream, stracciatella, pickled onions, chimi churri and pangrattato is my personal favorite from the current menu.
Then for dessert, our cheesecake brûlée. This is a mixture of burnt basque cheesecake and crème brûlée.

I would start with a Pet Nat as an aperitif. Then a glass of Gewürztraminer from our wine list and an espresso martini for dessert.

Which pizzerias do you consider to be among the best in the world - and what do you think makes them stand out?

YLP! is a pizzeria in a small town in Finland and they make mega pizza. I worked there for a summer in 2022 and Nikc (the chef, who comes from a Michelin-starred kitchen) has a great approach. They only use Finnish products apart from olive oil, they have their own gardener who supplies them with fresh vegetables and he sees pizza as bread with toppings on it. Everything is allowed!

BÆST in Copenhagen is incredibly strong! Mega dough, great toppings and almost everything is made on site. Even the nduja and mozzarella.

Unfortunately, I was often a bit disappointed with the pizza in Italy. Innsbruck has nothing to hide here. The standard of pizza is really, really high!

You held a NY Slice Pizza event last year. Which international pizza trends or styles would you like to bring to Innsbruck in 2026?
The Americans have a good nose for it. I find slices and deep dish pizzas really exciting. It doesn't really feel like a restaurant to me, but a small store for take-away and pizza slices for a quick bite to eat would be really exciting..

When we're sitting here again in a year or two: What should we say about Raed Pizzeria then?

I hope that by then we will have made many new people happy with our pizza, that we will still be making innovative creations and that RÆD Pizza will have become the go-to pizza spot for many Innsbruck residents.

RÆD Pizza

Museumsstraße 19, 6020 Innsbruck
Website: www.raed.pizza | Instagram: @raedpizza
Menu: Website

Gourmet food or not, there are days and moments that simply call for chips. Hot, crispy, well-seasoned and with your favorite sauce of choice. Although the dish seems so simple, at second glance it is actually quite complex. Anyone who has ever carved their own chips from scratch, i.e. from potatoes, knows that it's not quite that easy.

Enes Aktaş is one of those people who have dedicated themselves to the science of good fries. He came up with the concept for King Kong's Fingers, the idea and the content. From product development to implementation, everything was clearly thought through from the very beginning. He is supported organizationally and creatively, but the vision and the core of the concept clearly lie with him.

Enes, the fries are the main protagonists. How did the idea come about?

The idea developed over a long period of time and is strongly influenced by the street food scene in Amsterdam. There you can see how a single product can consistently take center stage. At the same time, the focus on the Belgian fries culture was a deliberate choice, as fries are traditionally seen as an independent product of high quality. It was precisely this attitude that inspired Enes. To see fries not as a side dish, but as a main product with aspiration and character.

What distinguishes your fries from others?

The focus is on quality and craftsmanship. We use selected potatoes, a deliberately thicker cut and a controlled frying process. The aim is to produce fries that are very crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and that are also convincing without sauce. They also work without sauce and that was exactly the aim.

What role do toppings, sauces and combinations play?

The fries are clearly the main focus. Toppings and sauces complement the product, adding variety and personality. We are constantly experimenting, testing and developing. The menu remains deliberately dynamic and open to new ideas.

King Kong Finger is currently set up as a pop-up: Are there already plans to establish the concept permanently in Innsbruck in the future?

King Kong's Fingers is currently being implemented as a pop-up in Innsbruck and is planned until the end of February. The concept has been very well received and the feedback has been consistently positive. The aim is to establish King Kong's Fingers in Innsbruck in the long term. A suitable, permanent location is currently being actively sought.