Wirtshaus Galliker

A tavern with centuries of history

The Wirtshaus Galliker is one of the oldest eating houses in Lucerne. The name first appears in 1681, and in November 1856 the Galliker family arrived and fed people here for four generations, until 2023. Today a new team runs it with the same idea: traditional Swiss cooking, with recipes handed down from one generation to the next, in a wood-panelled dining room where lifelong locals and visitors sit together. It is on the Schützenstrasse, on the left bank of the Reuss, a short walk from the Spreuerbrücke and about ten minutes on foot from the station.

GaultMillau gives it 13 points and singles out exactly what you come to eat: the Chügelipastetli as a starter and the rösti with sausage and onion sauce.

What to eat

The menu is uncompromising Swiss tavern fare. There are dishes that are now hard to find, such as calf's head, tripe (Kutteln) or liver with rösti (Läberli), and classics such as cordon bleu, rösti with pork sausage and onion sauce, and the Lozärner Chügelipastetli: the Lucerne vol-au-vent, a puff pastry case filled with meat in a creamy sauce that is the city's signature dish.

Some dishes go by the day. The pot-au-feu, the stew of meat and vegetables, is prepared on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays; on Friday it is larded braised beef with mash. If you want a particular one, plan your day around it.

Hours and reservations

It is open Tuesday to Saturday, at lunchtime from 11:15 to 14:30 and in the evening from 18:00 to 0:30. Closed on Sunday and Monday. The house strongly recommends booking, even on weekdays, and bookings are made by phone: +41 41 240 10 02. It does not publish prices on its website: it is a mid-priced house for Lucerne.