In the city’s kitchens, bold ideas blend with laid-back curiosity and a genuine love of good food. Chefs draw inspiration from local ingredients, hand-picked wild herbs, and the bounty of lakes and forests. At the same table you’ll find grandma’s homemade berry juice alongside flavor memories from far-off travels. At the heart of Tampere’s food scene are humor and the joy of doing things together. You can feel it as a customer, too: here you’ll get top-level food, but you’re welcome to enjoy it casually, just as you are, without any unnecessary stiffness. And yes – Tampere is still remembered for the black sausage. These days, you can even get a vegan version of it!
Here we have listed eight exciting restaurants everyone should try.
Restaurant Kajo is Tampere’s first restaurant to be featured in the Michelin Guide. Its Ode to Nature menu is a fascinating culinary expedition into Finnish cuisine, presented in a completely unique way. Kajo uses the most exciting seasonal ingredients, produced and foraged nearby. Your plate may even feature wild herbs picked by the restaurant owner himself! Local ingredients are paired with flavors inspired by world travels, creating something truly distinctive. At the core of Kajo’s concept are responsibility and sustainability – they inspire the restaurant to discover new ways of preparing food and to explore endless possibilities in the kitchen. Here, ingredients are pickled, fermented, dried, and used from start to finish without waste.
Be sure to also try Kajo’s sibling restaurant, Villit ja Viinit, located right next door! The restaurant offers a constantly changing menu with a handful of excellent dishes. Its cheerful blend of wine bar and restaurant serves nature-inspired drinks, playful wines, and familiar flavors presented in exciting new ways.
The food at Restaurant Apaja draws from the rhythm of the Finnish seasons, making creative and versatile use of various preservation methods. Fish is highly valued at Apaja and used extensively. The restaurant also highlights underappreciated (but delicious) freshwater species. Traditional Finnish hunting culture is deeply respected as well. Apaja incorporates mushrooms, wild herbs, and berries into its dishes – everything nature provides at any given time.
The location of Restaurant Apaja is an experience in itself. The restaurant sits within the walls of an old railway building, tucked beneath the trees of a courtyard surrounded by classic Tampere apartment blocks. This well-hidden outbuilding has served many purposes over the years, including a communal laundry room and, most recently, the caretaker’s residence.
Apaja’s sister restaurant, wine bar Airo, offers a relaxed flavor journey of good wines and small bites. Its flavors follow the same philosophy as Apaja’s – quality and closeness to nature.
Huber has become a true institution among meat lovers. Its open kitchen is the heart of the restaurant, where meats aged in the in-house dry-age cabinet are grilled over charcoal. The charcoal grill also gives the side dishes a delicious touch. Vegetable sides and sauces complement the meats perfectly. Sharing meats and sides with your group is part of the fun – and something the restaurant actively encourages. Along with the delicious food, the relaxed and lively atmosphere keeps guests coming back to Huber again (and again and again).
Unpretentious and adventurous, Restaurant Nonni is located in Tampere’s Tammela district. Nonni is built around curiosity, creativity, and seasonal ingredients. There’s no stiff formality here: everyone can mix and match the wallet-friendly starters, mid-courses, and mains according to their taste and appetite. The drinks are equally well curated. The restaurant manager is also involved in wine importing, so the wine list features mostly distinctive bottles from small producers.
Tip! Stop by for cocktails next door to Nonni. Pitkän päivän ilta has brought skillful cocktail craft to Tammela.
Food, drinks, and disco vibes. That sentence pretty much sums up the entire restaurant philosophy of Bistro Eloisa. The wine-forward menu features relaxed yet ambitious bistro dishes that shift with the seasons and available ingredients. Playful, ever-changing plates can be mixed and matched to suit the mood of each visit. Eloisa is also known for its excellent wines. The diverse selection offers something for every taste. The rough-around-the-edges, bohemian space invites you to stay longer. Disco ball hanging from the ceiling: check! A playlist full of disco and house classics: check!
Restaurant Madame is a unique, relaxed experience in the historic heart of Tampere, inspired by togetherness and French cuisine. Madame’s food and drink selection blends French bistro traditions with local flavors. The interior draws influence from mid-20th-century France, featuring authentic bistro furnishings from the 1930s to the 1960s. The lunch starter table charms every visitor. On weekdays, breakfast is served, and brunch crowns Madame’s weekends. Dinner focuses on a few carefully chosen dishes – delicious, yet reasonably priced.
The same restaurant owner opened Boulangerie Marco a couple of springs ago, and in its very first year it was voted Tampere’s best café.
The old industrial area of Hiedanranta is one of Tampere’s most intriguing places to visit. Its gritty mix of graffiti, industrial buildings, and red brick gives the area its distinctive look and atmosphere. Restaurant Väst operates here year-round. Embracing Nordic cuisine and clean flavors, the restaurant is housed in the area’s former design office. Everything, down to the dishes, has been chosen with care. The playlist features Finnish classics, and the menu includes a dish called Midsommar, letting you slip into a midsummer mood even in the middle of winter. Be sure to also check out the neighboring Café Kartano!
Bistro Henriks, recently refreshed with a new look and approach, has its roots in the long-standing Restaurant Henriks. The relaxed bistro atmosphere is at once warm, stylish, and approachable. The kitchen focuses on French-inspired bistro cooking and seasonal ingredients. The menu features high-quality meat, fish, and vegetarian dishes, and at lunchtime there is also a three-course option. Housed in a Jugend-style building, the restaurant is also praised for its carefully curated drinks list.
Don’t miss these other highlights:
- Serlachius in Mänttä combines a world-class art museum, an art sauna, and the top-notch restaurant Gösta.
- Näsinneula is a Tampere classic. Dining 124 meters above the city is an experience you simply must try!
- Ravintola Mummola, translated as grandma’s brings Finnish culinary tradition back to modern settings at Tampere Market Hall.
- Restaurant Periscope, with its rooftop terraces and stunning views, is truly breathtaking.
- Explore the city’s sauna restaurants, Kuuma and FLOU, in the world’s sauna capital.
You can find more of Tampere’s delicious and diverse restaurants on our website.
Visit Tampere is not responsible for changes.
Last updated December 3, 2025.
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