Food & Drinks in Cologne

The best restaurants, cafés, street food spots, wine tastings & beer tastings in Cologne

Cologne eats well. And not just in a quiet little room or at your favorite Italian restaurant around the corner, but loud, colorful, sociable and best of all outside with a Kölsch in your hand. Anyone looking for food events in this city will find the full program in the calendar of events: from relaxed street food markets and cooking courses to wine tastings that will turn even the most die-hard wine amateurs into real connoisseurs. Let's start with Thursday evening, which in Cologne belongs to the meet & eat evening market on Rudolfplatz. Every Thursday from 4 pm, the square is transformed into a street food paradise, where the weekly market and food happening go hand in hand: from vegan street food to organic barbecues, from fresh herbs to home-made cold cuts. It's not a festival with a lot of effort and an entrance band, it's simply a good evening after work. If you want to delve even deeper into culinary delights, we recommend taking a look at the cooking courses offered by Erlebniskochen Köln, which take place regularly at Marieneck in Ehrenfeld. Here you can cook your way through themed evenings such as Asian cuisine, pasta by hand or creative street food, all together, which automatically makes the evening more sociable than any restaurant reservation. The kitchen is the new living room, and this was understood early on in Cologne. Those who prefer drinking to cooking will find regular wine tastings, tasting sessions and stand-up tastings at the Kölner Weinkeller, where sommeliers explain why the difference between two glasses of red wine is not a matter of imagination, but of terroir. Also good for the palate and general education are the wine seminars at the Genuss Werkstatt in Cologne's Südstadt district, which offers interactive formats and where playful discovery is expressly encouraged. For those who prefer a big culinary trip around the world, the annual Street Food Festival on the Helios grounds in Ehrenfeld is a must. It is firmly anchored in Cologne's calendar of events and, with food trucks from all over the world, shows just how much world there is in a bowl. And in summer, the Feierabendmarkt on Neptunplatz in Ehrenfeld is a regular street food highlight that invites you to feast together every second Friday of the month. Cologne is a city that takes indulgence seriously, without being stifling. Whether you're a discerning foodie, a curious novice chef or a wine connoisseur looking for your next favorite glass, you'll find food events for every appetite and every occasion. So check the events calendar, bring your appetite and get out there.