An indepth guide to Gothenburg’s best restaurants, must visit cafes, coffee and fika!
I have now officially lived in this city for a year and am still yet to visit all the best in Gothenburg – best restaurants, best cafe’s and best coffee! There are just too many to choose from! We eat out quite often and have probably visited more places than your average person so writing this list it was quite difficult to cut it down to just a few. I have included a few restaurants and cafes from most price points and types of cuisine. These are all places that I have genuinely loved and would love to return to at some point (some we have returned to multiple times already)!
Gothenburg is known for its food culture and people say that life is slower here because of it. People really take the time to enjoy the what restaurants have to offer, both in terms of food and social culture.
If you are visiting Gothenburg, or Sweden in general, make sure to check out the White Guide for some of the best places to eat!
Where to Eat in Gothenburg
What to eat when you visit Gothenburg
Being on the West Coast, Gothenburg is known for its fantastic and fresh seafood. You are most likely going to find that every restaurant sells some sort of shrimp sandwich (räksmörgås or skagenröra) and fresh fish dish, as well traditional Swedish cuisine such as meatballs with lingon jam (köttbullar med lingon), pickled herring (sill), and maybe some rye crisp bread with cheese (knäckebröd).
Kaffe Magasinet – Great restaurant for lunch and fika as well as photography! 
Da Matteo, Magasinsgatan – Gothenburg’s best coffee and outdoor restaurant area
What is fika?
When it comes to sweet things you are likely to see or hear the word “fika” a lot. It is a massive part of Swedish culture and means much more than just a coffee break. It is hard to translate into English because there is so much meaning behind the experience of Fika that doesn’t really exist anywhere else.
Visit Sweden translate it to “Fika is much more than having a coffee. It is a social phenomenon, a legitimate reason to set aside a moment for quality time”. It is more about taking a break from the day to really enjoy another’s company than just taking a coffee break. Saying that, sweet treats are VERY important when it comes to Fika! You will probably see a lot of cinnamon buns (kanelbullar), punsch rolls (dammsugare my favourite), chocolate balls, as well as more universal treats like carrot cake and biscuits! I have included some of the best cafes and restaurants in Gothenburg in this post, as well as my favourite cosy places to take a Fika with friends!
Giant cinnamon buns or kanelbullar from Cafe Husaren in Haga, Gothenburg 
Semla – a Swedish traditional easter pasty – from Mr Cake, Gothenburg’s most creative bakery/ cafe
The Best Cafes and Restaurants for fika in Gothenburg
Cafe Husaren – the best cinnamon buns!
Cafe Husaren is maybe the best cafe in Gothenburg when it comes to traditional Fika. It is located in the heart of Haga, the oldest area of Gothenburg, and is known for serving giant cinnamon buns! The atmosphere here is super cosy, and at christmas time they have a stall outside where they serve hot chocolate and coffees and a big arrangement of buns, including their giant cinnamon buns and giant lussekatt (a traditional Swedish saffron bun).
Brogyllen Hamnen – The best coffee!
A more classic style of Cafe, Brogyllen Hamnen is a very traditional place to meet for fika. Whenever we go here I get the feeling we are meeting for a high tea rather than just your every day coffee!
Kopps
Kopps is the best cafe in Gothenburg to study or meet up with friends. The sell delicious sandwiches and salads and are open until the early evening. The back section is filled with cosy seating areas with pillows and a shuffleboard there is a table! This is the best cafe to visit if you have dietary requirements (Gluten Free, Lactose Free or Vegan) as they always have great choices and alternatives for everyone!
Ahlströms Konditori
Ahlströms is my new favourite cafe! It looks small from the outside but when you go in you find there are multiple rooms all with different feelings, and then a beautiful courtyard area out the back! They do simple but good coffee and a whole range of pastries!
Da Matteo – The best place to be in the summer!
On a sunny day, whether it is in the summer or the middle of the winter, this is the best cafe for an outdoor fika! There are two De Matteo’s here, both as good as each other so it doesn’t matter which you choose because the selling point is the outside courtyard that they share! They sell the best coffee here and there are always two different brews to choose from!
Le Petite Cafe – The best cakes!
This cosy little cafe is also located in Haga and has a much more homemade feel to it. They have so many delicious cakes, with the flavours changing ever day! It is one of the best cafe’s in Gothenburg for meeting friends in the afternoon for a fika, or visiting alone to study or read a book!
Ahlströms Konditori is my personal favourite cafe! I love the vibe in here, it feels very traditional and cosy! 
Fika from Ahlströms Konditori 
Le Petite Haga do the most amazing cakes! 
Brogyllen Hamnen is more of a traditional cafe with good coffee and cakes
The Best Lunch Restaurants in Gothenburg
One of the best things about eating lunch in Sweden is that most places to daily lunch deals (Dagens Lunch). This deal usually means a choice of a fish, meat or vegetarian dish, with a salad buffet, coffee, and cake, for around 100kr. It is the best way to eat out here, especially if you are travelling on a budget! Most restaurants do this, so if there is somewhere a bit more pricey that you want to try out then this is usually the best way to do it! If you’re only visiting for a short time it is a great way to fit all of Gothenburg’s best restaurants in to your itinerary!
Jinx Food Truck Pork Bao
Jinx Food Truck is hands down the best bao I have had in my life and the best lunch restaurant in Gothenburg! They are only open from 11.30 – 3 on weekdays and 12 – 3 on weekends and the queue can get quite long but it is so worth it! The food truck is located on Magasinsgatan so we often get coffee from De Matteo and bao from Jinx and sit and eat them in the courtyard in the sun! They do also do a vegan boa which is equally as delicious!
Andrum – The Best Vegetarian
Andrum is a vegetarian, Indian style restaurant that do a lunch buffet for only 99kr. They usually have 2 or 3 warm dishes and then a selection of salads, dips and warm sides to go with it! This is a great place to go if you are super hungry and are looking for something that gives great value for money! The food is delicious do you don’t miss out on the quality this way! If you have dietary requirements they always have gluten and lactose free options as well!
Beijing 8 Dumpling Bar
This is more of a street food style restaurant than a sit down place. They do lunch deals here but we found the best things were their bao and the salad bowls! This is a regular stop for us if we are after a casual late lunch or early dinner! The food is the best and it is great value for money!
Kafe Magasinet
Another popular restaurant because of its beautiful aesthetic and delicious food! At lunch time they are more of a cafe, with the best salads in Gothenburg, as well as some sandwiches and cakes. In the evenings the cafe turns into a busy restaurant, serving mostly pizza and beers! The style is very known and probably the first cafe anyone thinks of eating at when they visit Gothenburg!
Lindholmen Street Food Market
We are totally obsessed with this place. Saluhalls or food markets like this are quite common in Sweden, but this is by far our favourite! It is located in an old industrial warehouse that has been renovated into a big entertainment space on the Lindholmen side of the river. Every week different restaurants have a space where they serve 2 or 3 different dishes from their menu. When you visit, you buy tickets at the entrance that you then swap for dishes from the different vendors inside. Some weeks there are special themes such as “day of the dead”. The best thing about this restaurant is that you never know what restaurants will be there each week!
Andrum – the best vegetarian restaurant in Gothenburg 
Jinx Food Truck – the best Bao in the city! 
Kaffe Magasinet sell salads and sandwiches at lunch and pizza in the evenings 
Lindholmen Street Food Market is the best place to g for a mix of different dishes and to discover new restaurants!
The Best Restaurants in Gothenburg for Dinner
The Barn Burger Restaurant
The Barn is my absolute favourite place to eat a burger in Gothenburg! The restaurant has a very farmhouse cross elegance feel with both sit down booths and a bar! It’s a great place for a romantic date night as well as a big group get together! The chilli cheese balls are DELICIOUS, and they always have really unusual burgers on the menu! Next door they also own The Bar next door, which is a very cosy bar area with unique cocktails and beers that we often visit before going to dinner! If you are visiting in the summer, you should visit The Barn’s other restaurant on Smögen! It has a much more summery seaside vibe to it and is one of our favourite summer restaurants!
Happy Monkey Asian Fusion
This is definitely one of the best restaurants in Gothenburg. The company own 3 restaurants in the city but I would definitely recommend the one on Magasinsgatan over the others! The vibe here is very casual chic, with an upstairs bar area and bigger downstairs area that feels like you have just entered an underground cocktail bar! This restaurant is a little more expensive, especially if you are ordering cocktails, but definitely a somewhere you should eat you have the money to spend! We love to order the chefs menu (the biggest of them), which is usually way too much food for the two of us, but worth it to try everything!
Tacos And Tequila
This is definitely one Gothenburg’s best restaurants! It is a bit more casual than some of the others, but they definitely sell the best margaritas in the city and have some amazing tacos! It is a regular restaurant for us, especially in the summer when it’s warm enough to sit outside! The atmosphere at Tacos and Tequila is very urban, with industrial style interiors and an open kitchen! My best recommendations would be the spicy mango frozen margaritas and the surf and turf taco (if they still have them on the menu)!
Natur
This is my favourite of Gothenburg’s more high class restaurants. Everything they serve is organic and the wine is all natural! They use really interesting flavour combinations and the restaurant vibe is really romantic and cosy! They also sell the best beef tartar I have has in Gothenburg!
Tugg is an indutrially themed burger restaurant with great food! 
Restaurant Norda is do a great “bubbles and beats” West Coast inspired lunch on Saturdays! 
Beijing 88 for the best quick asian fusion food 
Takame does amazing and colourful Japanese food 
Tacos and Tequila is my favourite restaurant – a bit more of a party vibe than the others! 
Hello Monkey is the best Asian fusion restaurant! 
The chef’s menu at Hello Monkey is always so good! 
Part of Norda’s brunch buffet
The best coffee in Gothenburg
Victor’s Kaffe
Victor’s Kaffe focus on great coffee from all over the world. They work with high quality roasters to bring in delicious beans! It is always quite busy here to be prepared to wait for a table!
De Matteo
De Matteo is my favourite coffee shop for so many reasons! We usually visit the one on Magasinsgatan as it has a much more open and summery vibe to it! They usually have two different blends of coffee, one dark and one light, as well as a selection of unique teas!
Alkemisten Kaffebar
This coffee shop is a little outside of central Gothenburg but worth a visit! They are by far the most adventurous with their coffee brewing and offer many speciality bean blends!
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Discover Gothenburg’s best restaurants, cafes and coffee shops as told by a local! Including the best photo locations and fika spots so you can make the most of Sweish food culture when you visit Sweden!
