Westphalian food is hearty and unpretentious, and Osnabrück is a good place to eat it properly. Osnabrücker Schinken — a dry-cured ham aged for months — appears on most traditional menus, alongside dense dark rye bread, blood sausage, and warming stews built around local potatoes and cabbage. The local spirit is Korn, a grain schnapps that locals take seriously and tourists sometimes do not; it is worth trying alongside a beer rather than instead of one.
The Saturday market on the Marktplatz brings local producers in from the surrounding farms, and it is the best way to see what the region actually grows and makes. For sit-down meals, the Innenstadt has a reasonable spread of traditional restaurants alongside the inevitable international options. The quarter around the university has a livelier café scene, with places that serve food well into the evening. Prices are modest by German standards.