We’ve got the whole great food thing in common with our Sister City of Leipzig. Every day we spent exploring the town was a day very well fed. Here are some of our favorites for you to drool over!

Viet Village

We found this cozy, neighborhood eatery just south of the city center completely by accident. No one spoke English and the menu had Vietnamese-named dishes described in German. I mean, we know more Vietnamese than we do German. Thanks to Google translate’s camera option, we managed to order some beers, fried wontons and a couple entrees — a warm noodle salad off the veg menu for Anastasia and a surprising rice dish that had all sorts of veggies, chicken and a fried egg for me. This place was absolutely adorable and the food hit the spot for us.

Vleischerei

It’s easy to think an all-vegan eatery has nothing for us meat eaters, but seriously. Germany has some amazing vegan food. We got a vegan cheeseburger, fries and tofupida to split. The burger was amazing — I mean, it doesn’t taste like beef at all, but it’s delicious. The fries were also a big win, as was the beer we had too.

Umaii

This cute Ramen spot in city center was a little over priced, but solid for a quick bite. There were plenty of vegan options. Anastasia got the Yaki soka — ramen noodles with sesame, and I got the gyu beef ramen. Neither had much spice, sonwe asked for hot sauce or Sriracha and they DIDN’T HAVE ANY. Asian place without sriracha?!? They gave us an unopened bottle of chili powder, confirming the fact that we Texans are the only people to have had this spice concern.

Handbrotzeit

Handbrot is a bread filled with cheese and other goodies. I got the ham and cheese, but there was mushroom and cheese and a specialty one. That day’s specialty was hummus and olives. The bread is crunchy and the cheese is plentiful. Ooey gooey and topped with sour cream and chives. Proceed with knife and fork.

Kleinert

It was late one evening when Anastasia had us go a different way back to our hotel in pursuit of new restaurants. She found a fry stand and I drooled over a bakery’s window where there were several types of Leipziger lerche. The pastry dates back way into Leipzig’s history. It used to be made with lark (a bird… a BIRD!) that was roasted with herbs and eggs in a pastry crust. It was a very popular dish in the Leipzig area until the 1870s. Now the pastry is sweet, with marzipan, nuts and a cherry, which apparently represents the heart of the bird (!!!!). It has a crusted X across the top and kind of looks like a mini pie!

Kleinert in the city center would be where I recommend to go! I had a couple Leipziger lerches and this one was my favorite. I had the pistachio flavor.

Food Kurt

This cafeteria-style eatery is actually pretty freaking adorable. The decor is great — woody feel with pops of greenery. Very nature. Much plants.

We went for brunch and served ourselves. Basically, you pay for the size of your plate, which is great because you can just pile it on! Lot of different types of potatoes and German classics, like schnitzel (which is just fried chicken basically). They also have yum cake and coffee if you don’t want a full meal.

Panorama Tower

We were moderately impressed to find there was a vegan option in a super touristy spot that overlooks the entire city. A spot like this in the US definitely would not. They’d be like, “uhhh, salad?” But we got the lunch special — 11€ for three courses. the serving sizes looked small but ended up being very filling as we watched the whole city of Leipzig!

Caffe Baum

This spot is a historic museum and cafe with overpriced coffee, of course. I got to try the lipziger lerche, which I had heard about a few times. It’s a classic Leipzig dish. The story goes that long, long ago, the people of Leipzig took larks and baked into pastries but the king outlawed it as they got endangered so now it’s marzcopone and jam in a crumbly cookie.

Frittz

A spot that sold ONLY fries sounded like heaven, but dang this heaven was a little overpriced. I got the BBQ beef one, and was impressed with how much meat they piled on and entertained with what Germans thought was BBQ. Anastasia did her own thing, limited to vegan options, and got BBQ sauce and guac. Ours were the SAME price: 7 euros. Wut. However yum and filling it was, 7 euros for fried is just silly.

Telegraph

Telegraph wouldn’t be at the top of my list to recommend you, but it’s a cute place right near the city center with a great patio and… wait for it… breakfast until 3 pm. We had some pastas, which totally hit the spot on this sleep-deprived sunny day. Bit overpriced, but delicious.