Menyu

Local guide · Canton of Zurich

Run a restaurant in Zurich? One menu in several languages, allergens made clear

In Zurich, 33.9% of residents are foreign nationals, Germans and Italians first. For a pavement café, the city reckons on about three months of planning procedure. Your menu needn’t wait: it can be read in several languages now, allergens included, with its prices in francs.

See my menu online from its linkMake my allergen chart

Café table in a lane of Zurich’s old town on a winter evening, with a red QR code stand, Pizokel dumplings with cabbage and a glass of kombucha
AI-generated illustration

Key facts

Zurich in figures

residents on 31 December 2025 according to the FSO, Switzerland’s largest city1
440,935
of residents are foreign nationals, according to Statistik Stadt Zürich2
33.9%
MICHELIN restaurants in and around Zurich offer vegetarian options3
88 of 98
or so for a pavement café’s planning permission, if nobody appeals4
3 months

Growth

The country’s largest city

On 31 December 2025 Zurich had 440,935 residents according to the Federal Statistical Office, more than twice Geneva. The city gained 4,384 in a year (+1.0%), with 34,779 arrivals and 31,275 departures.1

Statistik Stadt Zürich publishes its own count: 452,421 residents, a record according to the city.2

For your menu

More than 34,000 arrivals in a year means as many new neighbours to show your menu to before they walk in.

Visitors and languages

One resident in three holds a foreign passport

According to Statistik Stadt Zürich, 33.9% of residents are foreign nationals. In June 2026 there were 32,798 Germans, 18,349 Italians, 9,134 Spaniards, 6,934 Portuguese and 6,040 French nationals, provisional figures.2

Across the country, more than 60% of people have German as their main language. The Swiss foreign ministry points out the gap between the spoken language, Swiss German, and the written one, standard German.5

For your menu

A menu written in standard German, with dishes also in Italian, Spanish or English, speaks to a good share of your dining room.

Local food

98 MICHELIN restaurants, two starred ones meat-free

For Zurich and its surroundings the MICHELIN Guide lists 98 restaurants: 4 with two stars, 15 with one star, 17 Bib Gourmands and 62 selected addresses. Its filters find vegetarian options at 88 of them, vegan at 50 and gluten-free at 59; 74 have a terrace.3

Two starred restaurants in the 2025 selection do without meat: KLE, whose cooking is entirely vegan, and Neue Taverne, vegetarian with vegan options.678

For your menu

Nine in ten restaurants in the selection have a vegetarian option: on your menu, a filter brings it up in one tap.

Local rules

Pavement cafés: planning permission, then a police permit

In Zurich, a terrace on public ground (a Boulevardcafé, -restaurant or -lounge) needs planning permission, and the authority inspects it before it opens. The administrative police must first agree to the use of public ground: without that, no planning application can be filed. The permit then sets the opening hours, the number of seats and the areas. Only an existing restaurant with a valid licence (Patent) can get one.49

The planning procedure takes about three months if nobody appeals; the police permit follows 10 to 14 days after you show the decision is final. Budget about CHF 230 for the police permit, CHF 300 for planning permission and CHF 125 to publish the application in the official gazette, plus fees for the use of public ground.4

First contact goes through the Vollzug Wirtschaftspolizei (+41 44 411 72 77). There are separate forms for summer and winter pavement cafés; when no new planning permission is needed, the application goes in at least four weeks before opening, or urgency fees may apply. A menu board (Menütafel) in the pavement café follows the rules for advertising boards on public ground.49

For your menu

During the three months of procedure, nothing stops the online menu from working indoors, behind a QR code on each table.

According to the guides

Five MICHELIN Guide restaurants, from the Rennweg to the hills above the city

All five are in the 2025 MICHELIN Guide Switzerland selection, in force on 21 October 2026: one two-star restaurant, two one-star restaurants, one vegan and one vegetarian, and two Bib Gourmands. The 2026 selection comes out on 2 November.

These restaurants are not Menyu customers and were not approached. They come from the MICHELIN Guide; on 21 October 2026 each one’s website showed its hours, menu or bookings.

  1. Widder Restaurant

    Old town, Rennweg (Widder Hotel)1011 · Modern French, contemporary cuisine · €€€€

    • 2 MICHELIN Stars 202538

    Stefan Heilemann offers two menus of four to six courses, one of them vegetarian; his recommendations can also be ordered à la carte.10

    Guide MICHELIN listingRestaurant website11

  2. KLE

    Near Zürich-Wiedikon station6 · Vegan, modern cuisine · €€€

    • 1 MICHELIN Star 202538

    Zineb Hattab cooks entirely vegan food with Moroccan and Mexican influences; in the evening a surprise menu of four to six courses showcases regional, seasonal produce.6

    Guide MICHELIN listingRestaurant website12

  3. Neue Taverne

    Glockengasse, central Zurich713 · Vegetarian, sharing plates · €€€

    • 1 MICHELIN Star 202538

    A seasonal menu built for sharing, three to four dishes each, and a two-course business set menu at lunch.7

    Guide MICHELIN listingRestaurant website13

  4. Gül

    Tellstrasse, in an inner courtyard14 · Turkish, Mediterranean cuisine · €€

    • Bib Gourmand 20253

    Modern Turkish dishes from the grill and the wood-fired oven, from mini lahmacun to manti, as small plates or large sharing dishes.14

    Guide MICHELIN listingRestaurant website15

  5. Rigiblick

    On the hills above the city, by the Rigiblick funicular16 · Market, regional cuisine · €€

    • Bib Gourmand 20253

    Ronny Zipfel cooks regional, seasonal produce; in fine weather the green terrace opens.16

    Guide MICHELIN listingRestaurant website17

With Menyu

A Menyu menu in Zurich, limits included

Menyu publishes your menu behind a QR code in your colours. In Zurich the point is languages and dietary needs; prices show in francs, but the menu’s buttons stay in French or English.

  • Dishes in Italian, Spanish or Turkish

    Your dishes can show in 25 languages: German, English, Italian, Spanish, French, Turkish, Greek or Ukrainian, among others. Menyu translates them automatically and you review before publishing. The buttons (basket, filters) stay in French or English, and the opening status in French, even when dishes show in German.

    • Dishes translated into 25 languages, translation to reviewIncluded
    Everything a Menyu menu does

  • Vegetarian or gluten-free, in one tap

    Guests sort the menu themselves with the vegetarian filter and one filter per allergen. Each dish shows its allergens, chosen from the 14 groups of the Swiss list.

    • A vegetarian filter and one for each of the 14 allergensIncluded
    • The 14 allergens, dish by dishIncluded
    Make my allergen chart

  • A QR code on the table, prices in francs

    Once Swiss francs are chosen in the settings, you type your prices in francs and the online menu shows them with nothing converted. The QR code, in your colours and with your logo, always leads to the same address; when the seasonal menu changes, the content follows without reprinting.

    • QR code in your colours, with your logoIncluded
    • Fixed address, content you change without reprintingIncluded
    • Prices in Swiss francs, typed with no conversionIncluded
    Create my menu QR code

  • Bring new neighbours back

    With Premium, a game on the menu (wheel, scratch card, dice…) wins a prize sent by e-mail, valid once, and can point to your Google listing.

    • Games on the menu, single-use prize sent by e-mailPremium
    Try the games

Limits

What Menyu does not do

  • The menu’s buttons and the dashboard exist in French and English only; German applies to the translated content alone.
  • No online payment for a Zurich venue: payment accounts can only be opened in France.
  • The optional sign-up phone field expects ten digits in French format: a +41 number is rejected and a 044 one would become +33. Leave it blank.
  • Menyu’s subscription is billed in euros, even when your menu shows its prices in francs.

Questions

Questions and answers

How do I get a pavement café in Zurich?

Start with the police: the Vollzug Wirtschaftspolizei (+41 44 411 72 77) must approve the use of public ground before any planning application. Planning permission takes about three months if nobody appeals, then the police permit follows in 10 to 14 days.

Budget about CHF 230 for the police, CHF 300 for planning permission and CHF 125 for publication, plus usage fees. You need an existing restaurant with a valid licence.49

Can I put a menu board in my pavement café?

Yes, provided it follows the city’s rules for advertising boards on public ground (the Merkblatt Reklametafel, known as the Passantenstopper), which also apply inside a pavement café.9

Which languages should a Zurich menu add?

Look at your dining room. Statistik Stadt Zürich counts 33.9% foreign residents; in June 2026 there were 18,349 Italians, 9,134 Spaniards and 6,040 French nationals.

Menyu translates dishes into 25 languages, Italian, Spanish, French and English included; the translation should be reviewed. The menu’s buttons stay in French or English.2

Is Menyu’s dashboard available in German?

No. The dashboard is in French and English, like the buttons of the public menu. German applies to the content: your dishes, categories and descriptions.

Do I have to state where meat and fish come from?

Yes, in writing. The Swiss food safety office (FSVO) lists the origin of meat from domesticated hoofed animals, poultry and fish among the information that must always be written, along with the country where the bread was made. The other national menu rules are on the Switzerland page.18

Swiss menu rules
Can my Menyu menu show francs?

Yes. Choose Swiss francs in the settings, then type your prices in francs: the menu shows them as they are. For restaurants, the price-indication ordinance requires the actual price in Swiss francs.

Menyu’s own subscription is billed in euros.19

Will my Zurich phone number work at sign-up?

No. The optional field expects ten digits in French format: a +41 number is rejected, and a 044 one would be saved with the +33 code. Leave it blank.

Do the restaurants listed use Menyu?

No. They come from the 2025 MICHELIN Guide selection, which lists 98 restaurants for Zurich and its surroundings, and we did not contact them. The guide publishes its 2026 selection on 2 November.320

Method

How this page was made

Written by the Menyu team, a publisher based in Montpellier. Figures, rules and addresses come from the pages cited, read on 21 October 2026: the FSO, Statistik Stadt Zürich, the Zurich city police, the Swiss foreign ministry, the FSVO, Fedlex, the MICHELIN Guide and the restaurants’ websites. Distinctions are those of the 2025 MICHELIN Switzerland selection. The restaurants listed are not Menyu customers. The illustration is AI-generated and shows no real venue.

Sources

  1. Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS), Bilan de la population résidante permanente, par canton et ville, de 1999 à 2025dam-api.bfs.admin.ch · accessed 21 October 2026

  2. Statistik Stadt Zürich, Nationalität und ausländische Bevölkerungstadt-zuerich.ch · accessed 21 October 2026

  3. Guide MICHELIN, Restaurants MICHELIN, Zurich et ses environsguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  4. Stadtpolizei Zürich, Merkblatt betreffend Boulevardcafé-Bewilligungenstadt-zuerich.ch · accessed 21 October 2026

  5. DFAE, Présence Suisse, Languesaboutswitzerland.eda.admin.ch · accessed 21 October 2026

  6. Guide MICHELIN, KLE, Zurichguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  7. Guide MICHELIN, Neue Taverne, Zurichguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  8. Guide MICHELIN, La liste complète des étoiles du Guide MICHELIN Suisse 2025guide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  9. Stadt Zürich, Stadtpolizei, Boulevardgastronomiestadt-zuerich.ch · accessed 21 October 2026

  10. Guide MICHELIN, Widder Restaurant, Zurichguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  11. Widder Hotel, Site officiel de Widder Hotelwidderhotel.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  12. KLE, Site officiel de KLErestaurantkle.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  13. Neue Taverne, Site officiel de Neue Taverneneuetaverne.ch · accessed 21 October 2026

  14. Guide MICHELIN, Gül, Zurichguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  15. Gül, Site officiel de Gülguel.ch · accessed 21 October 2026

  16. Guide MICHELIN, Rigiblick, Zurichguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  17. Rigiblick, Site officiel de Rigiblickrestaurantrigiblick.ch · accessed 21 October 2026

  18. Office fédéral de la sécurité alimentaire et des affaires vétérinaires (OSAV), Informations sur les aliments vendus en vracblv.admin.ch · accessed 21 October 2026

  19. Fedlex, Ordonnance du 11 décembre 1978 sur l’indication des prix (OIP), RS 942.211fedlex.admin.ch · accessed 21 October 2026

  20. Guide MICHELIN, La cérémonie du Guide MICHELIN s’installe à Andermattguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026