Dengg
Holds a Gault Millau toque, Michelin fork and seems to be mentioned often by locals when asked for good local meals. Go for the unusual polenta cream soup, then crayfish with vegetables in sour cream sauce. At Riese Haymon is another Gault Millau winner where you should try the young onion soup, and the lamb carpaccio with pesto. The Goldener Adler has served a whole list of luminaries engraved in marble outside the door. Try the cream soup with parsley, the roast goose and top it off with ice cream with plum sauce or enjoy bananas in Grand Marnier. Lunch menus are very affordable.
Fischerhäusl
Claims to be one of the oldest. Other good Tyrolean restaurants in the old town include Ottoburg and Weisses Rössl. Outside of the old town try Bierwirt in Amras around the corner from Kapeller Restaurant. Locals swear this is the area’s best regional cooking. In Igls enjoy a meal at Batzenhäusl . In Lans, not far from Igls is the award-winning Wilder Mann featuring exceptional Austrian meals. In Patsch try Grünwalderhof and enjoy great panoramic views of Stubai valley from the garden. For a special panoramic meal on Friday and Saturday, take the cablecar up to Seegrube and enjoy a meal in the restaurant at the cablecar station with the lights of Innsbruck glittering far below you. Call 293375 for reservations. The cablecar runs at a reduced rate for the dinner guests.
Maquin
Introducing innovative ideas in cuisine. It combines traditional Austrian dishes with Eastern specialities. The menu changes every week.
Thai Li Ba
Has a great vegetarian selection, making for a good break from its heavier Austrian competitors. It is very popular with locals; you’ll be seated next to smartly dressed Austrians chatting on their cell phones over a plate of Thai Noodles or Lemon Pepper Yellow Fin Tuna. Expect to pay about €10-20 for main dishes; their fine selection of Austrian wines begins at €20. If forced to wait, go to the next door cocktail bar Havana or the bar on the 5th floor of Hotel The Penz for a smooth drink before dinner.
Cammerlander
A bright family place right on the riverbank just outside the old city center. Enjoy pizzas and pasta dishes, some Asian soups and steaks in a nice setting.
Papa Joe’s
Serves Americanized buffalo wings, Caribbean jambalaya and Texas steaks just inside the Altstadt. It’s a younger, single, sports bar spot.
Sahib
Serves good Indian meals from hot and spicy curry to creamy sags. Canton China is a good Chinese spot, with €4.50 midweek specials (Monday to Thursday, not holidays). This has attractive, upscale decor and prices are quite reasonable. It is not at all your run-of-the-mill Chinese food. This may be the best Chinese in town.
If you need a hometown fix there are the ubiquitous McDonalds and Burger King. But even though the names are American, the prices are not and seem to be a little high, even for Austrians.
