Restaurants in Copenhagen: 10 places to eat on your first visit
This guide lists restaurants in Copenhagen: old dining rooms serving smørrebrød, seasonal evening menus and casual dinners in the old centre. It helps you choose where to have lunch and dinner on your first visit: every place has an address and a short description, and photos open in the card.
Danish lunch: smørrebrød and dishes from old recipes
Evening with a seasonal menu: dinner in several courses
Casual dinner near Strøget and Tivoli: familiar European dishes
Restaurants in Copenhagen for a first visit on the map
The map shows only the places on this page: tap a point to open the card with the address and description.
Which group suits you
This page is useful if you want to try Danish classics at lunchtime, spend an evening over a seasonal menu or simply have dinner on the day you arrive.
| If you want to | What to look at | Which group fits | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Try smørrebrød | The words “smørrebrød” and “lunch” (Danish: “frokost”) in the description | Danish lunch | The place's own opening hours: many close in the late afternoon, and some are closed on Sundays |
| Have dinner on the day you arrive | An address near Strøget or Tivoli | Casual dinner near Strøget and Tivoli | When the kitchen closes: it is earlier than the restaurant itself |
| Spend an evening over a seasonal menu | The words “tasting menu” and “season” (Danish: “sæson”) in the description | Evening with a seasonal menu | The latest arrival time when you book a table |
| Have lunch and dinner in the same quarter | The streets Sankt Peders Stræde, Studiestræde, Larsbjørnsstræde and Nørregade in the address | Danish lunch and Evening with a seasonal menu | The break between lunch and dinner |
| Eat without meat or without gluten | The words “vegetarian”, “vegan” and “gluten-free” (Danish: “vegetar”, “vegansk”, “glutenfri”) in the description | Any group | Write to the restaurant when you book |
| Eat out on a Sunday or Monday | The opening days on the restaurant's own website | Both evening groups | Some places are closed or open later |
How to choose a restaurant for your first visit
- Smørrebrød is a lunch dish: restaurants built around it usually close in the late afternoon.
- For the evening there are two routes: a seasonal menu in several courses or a casual dinner.
- Almost every place on this page is in the old centre, Indre By.
- The metro from the airport to Nørreport takes 15 minutes, so you can eat out on the day you land.
Start by deciding when you want to eat: in the middle of the day or in the evening. In Denmark smørrebrød is eaten at lunch, and the restaurants that specialise in it open during the day and close the kitchen in the late afternoon. So plan the Danish classic for the middle of the day, and check the opening hours with the place itself before you go.
In the evening the choice depends on how much energy you have left. A seasonal menu of three to five courses takes the whole evening, and the restaurant sets a latest arrival time, which you are told when you book a table. If you have come straight from the plane, look at the group “Casual dinner near Strøget and Tivoli”: there you order familiar dishes and leave when it suits you.
You will not have to walk far. Many of the places are in the Latin Quarter and the streets around it, and the metro from the airport to Nørreport takes 15 minutes: you can eat out on the very day you arrive. All the city's restaurants in the catalogue are in the category Restaurants, and districts and transport are described on the Copenhagen page.
What to check before you go: booking, kitchen hours and holidays
- Book a table on the restaurant's website. If you are 15 minutes late, the table may go to someone else.
- The kitchen closes before the restaurant does: ask about last orders if you are arriving late.
- In summer and between Christmas and New Year restaurants close for holidays.
- From mid-November it is the season for julefrokost, the Christmas lunch.
- Service is included in the bill, and cards are accepted almost everywhere.
Booking is normal here, even for lunch. The restaurants on this page take table bookings through their websites, and some say it plainly: if you are 15 minutes late and have not called, the table goes to other guests. The busiest time is early in the evening.
Look at the kitchen hours, not just the opening hours. A card may show how long the restaurant stays open, while the kitchen stops cooking earlier. People in the city eat early, and after a late flight a casual dinner is a safer choice than a five-course menu. Check the times with the restaurant itself before you go.
Check the dates if you are travelling in summer or in December. Restaurants close for holidays: it can be a week in August, several weeks in July and the days from 24 December to the first days of January. Lunch restaurants with traditional cooking may be closed on Sundays and public holidays. From mid-November until Christmas it is the season for julefrokost, the Christmas lunch: tables for December are taken as early as the autumn, but some of the lunch places also open in the evening during those weeks.
The bill holds few surprises. Service is usually included in the price, and tips are not expected; if you want to say thank you, 10 per cent is enough. The main bank cards are accepted almost everywhere, and prices are given in Danish kroner (kr.).
Danish lunch and Nordic dinner: what the words on the menu mean
- Smørrebrød: a slice of rye bread topped with fish, egg, potato or meat.
- Pickled herring traditionally comes with beer and snaps.
- “Frokost” means lunch, and a tasting menu is a dinner in several courses.
- A Nordic menu changes every few weeks.
Smørrebrød is a slice of rye bread topped with pickled or fried fish, egg, potato or cold meat. The dish has been known since the 1800s and is eaten at lunch. By tradition it comes with a cold beer and a snaps, a strong spirit based on aquavit, most often alongside the pickled herring.
A few Danish words in the card descriptions and on menus tell you about the format before you book a table. “Frokost” is the midday meal, so a “frokostrestaurant” is open during the day. “Tasting-menu” promises a dinner in several courses, “à la carte” that you choose single dishes, and “sæson” that the menu follows the season. Some of the restaurants have a website and a menu in English: the link to the website is in the card.
Nordic cooking is built on seasonal produce: over the past thirty years Danish chefs have rediscovered old recipes, local vegetables, fish and herbs. In practice a menu does not last long: the restaurants on this page change theirs once a month or every six to seven weeks. A dish named in a card description may no longer be on the menu today: look at the current menu on the place's website.
Questions and answers
Start in the old centre: almost every place on this page is there, and lunch and dinner fit into one walk. Choose the group “Danish lunch” for the middle of the day and one of the two evening groups for dinner.
Go for smørrebrød at lunchtime, in the middle of the day: it is a midday meal. Restaurants of this kind are in the group “Danish lunch”; some do not open in the evening, and a few are closed on Sundays. Check the opening hours with the place itself.
The page does not show prices: the bill depends on what you order. Some of the places publish a menu with prices on their website, which is linked from the card; service is usually included in the bill.
Most of the places on this page: they are in Indre By, the historic centre, in the Latin Quarter and by the pedestrian street Strøget. Look for the streets Sankt Peders Stræde, Studiestræde, Larsbjørnsstræde and Nørregade in the card's address.
Yes, some places mention them in the card description: look for the words “vegetarian”, “vegan” and “gluten-free”, in Danish “vegetar”, “vegansk” and “glutenfri”. The page does not guarantee it: the menu changes with the season, so tell the restaurant about your needs when you book.
Help us keep this page up to date
Has a place closed, moved or changed its opening hours? Leave a comment at the bottom of the page and we will correct it and set a new date.
How this page is made
The places on this page are chosen by the DenmarkGuide editorial team. Payment affects neither the selection nor the order. The order within the groups is free and says nothing about quality.
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