Your Winterthur restaurant: the menu changes, the QR code stays

On 31 December 2025 Winterthur had 120,741 residents according to the Federal Statistical Office, making it Switzerland’s sixth-largest city.^1,2

The City’s residents’ register, which also counts people registered with a secondary residence, had 122,758 people on the same date, 292 more than a year earlier. At 0.2%, growth was the slowest in fifteen years: no additional homes were built in 2025.^2,3

The population still turns over: 7,367 people arrived in 2025 and 7,326 left. Since 1985 the city has gained almost 38,000 residents.^2,3

At the end of 2025, 72.9% of Winterthur’s residents were Swiss nationals, down from 73.1% a year earlier. Their average age was 40.6.³

In the City’s 2025 survey of new arrivals, culture, leisure, education and transport links stand out as Winterthur’s strengths; 87% of newcomers say they are satisfied or very satisfied with their housing.²

Albanifest, Winterthur’s biggest festival, takes place every year on the last weekend in June; the next one runs from 25 to 27 June 2027. For three days, 70 local clubs run food tents and stalls in the old town, with cooking from every country.⁴

To run a festival food tent, the City asks for the licence application two weeks before the event; a late application can incur express fees.⁵

In Winterthur only the holder of a restaurant licence can be allowed to put tables and chairs on public ground in front of the premises. The building department (Bauamt) first approves the area; the application then goes to the city police, who send the permit by post.^5,6

The City’s regulation (SRS 7.9-1) requires a detailed plan; the police set the size and layout after hearing the neighbours, and the permit lasts one season at most. Third-party advertising is banned, as are sausage stands and vending machines, and the holder cleans the area every day.⁶

Fees follow the city police’s scale, and public ground used without a permit can be cleared at the offender’s expense. For the licence itself, the City wants the file four weeks before opening. Contact: the administrative police, Obermühlestrasse 5, +41 52 267 58 68.^5,6

To close later, a venue must sit in a zone with noise-sensitivity level 3 or 4 and have the owner’s consent; the City first grants a provisional permit for one year, then a permanent one if there have been no complaints.⁵

According to the Winterthurer Zeitung, the 2026 Gault&Millau keeps Rosa Pulver at 15 points and Taggenberg at 14. Two newcomers make the guide: the National, by the station, with 13 points, and Menoir in Oberwinterthur.⁷

The MICHELIN Guide also includes Rosa Pulver and Menoir in its Winterthur and surroundings selection, which lists 92 restaurants. That is the 2025 edition; the next one will be unveiled on 2 November 2026.^8,9,10

At Taggenberg the dishes are built as vegetarian, with meat or seafood as an option. At Menoir, vegetarians get a menu just as meat eaters do.^7,11