Haus Hiltl, on Sihlstrasse a short walk west of Bahnhofstrasse, has been a vegetarian restaurant since 1898 — making it, by some distance, the oldest meatless eatery in the world. It has been continuously family-run for five generations, and has long since outgrown its 19th-century origins: today the operation includes a substantial buffet-style restaurant, a smarter à la carte dining room, a cocktail bar, a cookery school and a takeaway shop.
The standard meal is the buffet — pay by weight, roughly forty different salads, Indian curries (a Hiltl speciality since the family added Indian dishes in the 1950s), pastas, grain bowls, desserts. Quality is consistently high. Reckon 25–40 francs for a substantial plate. The à la carte menu is worth booking for a special evening; the bar does excellent cocktails late.