What to Eat in Frankfurt (and Where to Find It)

Frankfurt gets typecast as a city of bankers and layovers, which suits the locals fine — it keeps the apple-wine taverns to them. Beneath the skyline sits one of Germany's most distinct regional kitchens. Eat it dish by dish.

Key facts

• Signature drink: Apfelwein (apple wine), tart and lightly sparkling, served from ribbed jugs
• Where the food lives: the taverns of Alt-Sachsenhausen, south of the river, and the Kleinmarkthalle market
• What it costs: tavern meals are honest and affordable by big-city standards

Grüne Sosse: the green sauce

Frankfurt's most famous dish is a chilled sauce of seven fresh herbs — traditionally borage, sorrel, cress, chervil, chives, parsley, and salad burnet — blended with sour cream or yogurt and served over halved boiled eggs and potatoes. It is spring in a bowl, and locals take it seriously enough that the city has celebrated it with its own festival. Legend ties the recipe to Goethe's family table; whatever the truth, nearly every traditional tavern serves it, especially from spring onward when the herbs are in season.

Frankfurter Würstchen: the original frankfurter

The thin smoked pork sausage that conquered the world under this city's name is protected in Germany — genuine Frankfurter Würstchen must come from the region. Locals eat them simply: gently heated in water, never boiled hard, with bread, mustard, and horseradish.

Handkäs mit Musik

A pungent, translucent sour-milk cheese marinated in vinegar, oil, and raw onions — the onions are the Musik, the music. It arrives with dark bread and butter and pairs perfectly with apple wine. It is an acquired taste worth acquiring.

Apfelwein in Alt-Sachsenhausen

Cross the river to the cobbled lanes of Alt-Sachsenhausen, the historic apple-wine quarter. The drink — locally called Ebbelwoi — is poured from a ribbed stoneware jug, the Bembel, into diamond-cut glasses. Long-established taverns such as Apfelwein Wagner have been serving it for generations at shared wooden tables alongside schnitzel with green sauce and roasted pork knuckle. Order it pur (straight) rather than diluted, and let the mild sourness grow on you.

Graze the Kleinmarkthalle

Frankfurt's beloved covered market packs dozens of stalls under one roof: butchers famous for their hot sausages eaten standing up, cheesemongers, wine counters upstairs, and produce from the surrounding countryside. Come at midday when the aisles hum. It typically closes on Sundays — plan around it.

Something sweet

Finish with Frankfurter Kranz, a crown-shaped buttercream cake crusted with caramelized brittle, or Bethmännchen, small marzipan domes studded with almonds that appear everywhere around Christmas but can be found year-round in traditional bakeries.

Tip: Apple-wine taverns prize tradition over reservations systems — arrive early in the evening for a table, sit where there is space, and expect to share. The communal squeeze is part of the meal.

Frankfurt will happily sell you sushi and steak in the shadow of the towers. But the city's soul eats green sauce with its hands wrapped around a diamond-cut glass, and for a day or two, so should you.