Hotel & Restaurant Reichsküchenmeister

The Restaurant

Reichsküchenmeister — 'Imperial Cook-Master' — occupies a half-timbered building on Kirchplatz, directly across from the late-Gothic St James's Church (Jakobskirche), in the geographic heart of Rothenburg's old town. The hotel has been in continuous operation since the 1880s and the dining rooms span three linked spaces plus a summer courtyard garden that seats forty-eight.

The kitchen cooks traditional Franconian at generous scale: Schweinebraten with dumplings, Schäufele, Franconian bratwurst with sauerkraut, Tafelspitz, and a Sauerbraten that is among the best in the region. The set menus at €45 and €65 run as five or seven small courses and are the ordering recommendation for groups. The house beer is Landwehr-Bräu from Steinsfeld, served on draft from a century-old cellar tap.

The courtyard garden is the distinguishing feature — a walled summer-only space with linden trees, lantern lighting, and enough room for long tables of twelve to twenty. In winter, the beer cellar (an excavated 15th-century storage room) opens for private events. For any larger gathering in Rothenburg that wants a historic Franconian setting and generous kitchen output, Reichsküchenmeister is the default.