Stadtkeller

This is a very touristy location and you may be fine with that. They pack you in like sardines though so that isn’t my idea of a nice time. I expected to watch a show of local traditions and eat local foods. But the mass produced food was mediocre. The show had some yodeling and folk music. So there was a little bit of the Swiss tradition.
But there was also someone dressed up as a cow, a conga line, audience members beer chugging on stage. This was not my idea of entertainment.
I’d suggest going to a nice restaurant for dinner as you will enjoy yourself better and have edible food.

Definitely touristy and expensive. Beer was good. Crowd was engaged in the show. Very loud. So visit if you are up for the experience, but otherwise there are better options.

Probably the best beer I’ve ever had.
Touristy as hell, expensive, and GODDAMN did I have a good time here.
A lot of tours (like Trafalgar) use this place as it has a LOT of room and is made for entertaining a lot of people. It’s got your requisite Swiss cuisine (including fondue), along with a stage where folks play music (hammered dulcimers and even brooms), and blow those big horns that you used to see on the Ricola commercials. Lot’s of fun, and even more fun when you’re drunk.
Maybe not for everyone, but me and my whole family are fans of this place. I just wish they exported that beer to the U.S.. .

My family and I had an wonderful evening of Swiss folklore with our Cosmos tour group here at Stadtkeller back in July of 2010. My brother and I were teenagers at the time and thoroughly enjoyed the experience; coming here was one of the highlights of our trip. The entertainers were wonderful: they sung melodies, yodeled, blew the alp horn, played the accordion, and performed traditional dances. There was also a dancing cow that came around to all of the kids. The performers and servers made you feel right at home and were exceptionally friendly.
The most memorable components of the three course dinner (55 EUR per person back then) were the cheese fondue and the Swiss flag-​shaped ice cream cake. While expensive, the experience was like no other and well worth the cost. If I am ever lucky enough to come back to Lucerne I will definitely be dining at Stadtkeller again.

Touristy but fun. The fondue was excellent especially the steak fondue. The tomato soup and beef broth with egg was also quite taste and delicious. The traditional Swiss group was very entertaining! Amazing what bored villagers can come up with to keep their winters exciting! A bit pricey but you get to check off quite a bit off your Switzerland to do list. Heads up be ready to yodel and you will get a free beer. What happens in Lucerne stays in Lucerne!

I absolutely fell in love with Switzerland when visiting Lucerne. The beautiful scenery as well as the people were all so overwhelming. My family and I traveled with Globus Tours and signed up for an excursion which included dinner at this restaurant. I did not know what to expect but out tour guide informed us that it was definitely a traditional Swiss dinner with folk music and yodeling. I was excited and nervous since there would be audience involvement which kind of scared me.
I was blown away with the food and service since both were absolutely amazing. The food was full of flavor and the service was phenomenal. Everyone was so kind and the performers made you feel right at home. It was a great experience and I hope to come back soon.

I visited the place with my family and was blown away by the food, and the service.
Let’s start with reservation process which I found absolutely painless and highly useful. To reserve a table all you have to do is go to the website, select a date, number of people and whether you will be there for lunch or dinner. Boom. All done, and if a table is available you’ll get an email confirmation.
I was here on the 27^th June, a Saturday evening and to top it there was a festival in the city. So I was a bit sceptical whether they would hold the table for me but thankfully they did.
The place isn’t a usual run of the mill restaurant but a restaurant with live music, folk dance and a local brewery.
We had the vegetarian set menu which was a delight and the fish and breaded chicken which were perfectly cooked.
All of this complemented with their in-​house beer. The house beer is comes in two varieties a blonde and a bitter. I highly recommend the bitter one.
On to the stage performances — these are split into many segments of dance, music, local musical instruments, and some yodelling at the end. Audience participation is encouraged and appreciated.
The restaurant is pricey but you pay for the experience. There is a CHF 17 charge if you plan to dine during the folk music hours (19.30 — 22.00) but this included in the set menu price. You have to pay separately only if you order la carte.

We came here with a tour. The beer steins are super huge. The fondue was really good. We had the veal with a creamy sauce and side of potatoes which were like hash brown. The potatoes were the best part of the meal; I looked it up and I guess it’s called rösti. The dessert was more cute than delicious. It was ice cream with a picture of the Swiss flag. The show was entertaining and they made people in the audience come up to dance or yodel. It was a memorable experience in Switzerland.

Food and services are ok… the portion is large good enough to share… not much interesting choice… if u r hungry this is the place

I’m going to start off by saying that I didn’t come here for the food. However, the tea is quite nice, whether or not you combine the meringue with it.
I came here solely for the entertainment; a dancing cow (which happily poses for pictures, if you ask politely), and the yodeling (which is pretty awesome, and not at all inappropriate, like some random online review mentioned).
If you happen to be experiencing a panic attack, or an unusually rough patch of homesickness, the red phone booth *does* comfortably fit two.

I really wasn’t all that crazy with this place. The place was part of our tour and the place is super touristy. I remember forcing myself to stay awake during the «entertainment.» This place does handle large groups quite well though.
The food:
Swiss Cheese fondue– in Switzerland, you think of Swiss Cheese, of course. But the cheese had such a strong alcohol taste that it kinda killed it for me. The cheese itself was nice but I couldn’t get over the alcohol taste. I also tried waiting for the flame to cook off some of the alcohol but that was to no avail.
Swiss Cake– it was essentially a vanilla and strawberry cake, it was just OK. Nothing great really, it was plain ice cream.

The entertainment was awesome! I totally loved it!
I got the vegetarian option for my meal and I liked it too. (Others who had their veal weren’t too happy though.)

We went here after reading a glowing Unilocal review and it was probably the worst decision of our trip.
First of all, it was EXCEEDINGLY expensive, especially for the quality of the food. The portions, however, were huge (my wife and I split a meal package, and it was more than enough food for the two of us). The fondu was good, the veal was mediocre, and the dessert was awful.
In terms of the «folklore show», we had high hopes as our friends had a positive experience with folklore and storytelling in Ireland. This, however, was something that should be performed by puppets at a theme park — about as far from legitimate swiss culture as you could get.
Worst of all we met some other friends from Zurich here — highly embarrassing to be here with actual Swiss people.
This is your place if you want to spend a lot of money for an incredibly touristy, kitschy experience. If you want actual history or culture, look elsewhere.

With the New Year, I saved the centennial review milestone for a significant & memorable 2012 spot that I likely won’t have the good fortune of visiting anytime soon.
I was on whirlwind tour of Europe in July 2012 with Trafalgar tours. Our tour group was an eclectic mix of Canadians, Americans, Aussies, young & old. This extra excursion was where people took off their masks, and people revealed their true colours.
AND IT WAS AMAZING!
On our tour itinerary, it was known as the ‘FOLKLORE EVENING AND DINNER’. As part of the package, it cost my wife & I 98 Swiss Francs (about $ 105 CDN each). We had a fantastic time. Yes, it was redonculously spendy, but it ended up being absolutely worth every Rappen/​centime/​centesimo.
If given the choice again, I would choose the Stadtkeller Swiss Folklore Restaurant over the Moulin Rouge in Paris.
It’s not surprising that people will complain about the damage, but seriously — get over yourselves. Do you realize where you are? Switzerland is an insanely high-​priced locale.
It was approximately $ 12 FOR A BIG MAC. Just for the sandwich! AND THEY CHARGE YOU EXTRA FOR KETCHUP. And you pay to use the washroom. Just sayin.
Lucerne/​Luzern is very big ticket, so why not enjoy some entertainment with savoury sustenance? It was first rate buffoonery, but you have to be agreeable absurdity and willing to laugh at yourself.
The Stadtkeller Swiss Folklore Restaurant is a beer hall and a primeval place of merriment in central Lucerne. The fun & facetious show is quintessential Swiss cultural experience.
It was a full house, as our tour group was just one of many. My wife & I were seated near the entrance, but were still able to see and actively participate.
My lovely celiac wife was ecstatic that they offered gluten free options. We started with legendary cheese fondue and cubed bread. It was too rich for my taste — I’m not very fondue of fondue. I wish I had tried the raclette.
I took full advantage of the drinks being included. I also drank on behalf of a couple of lovely ladies who did not drink alcohol. I thoroughly enjoyed drinking the house brewed Stadtkeller beer out of ginormous steins. The beer is brewed with spring water from the Pilatus mountain.
I indulged in a tasty Swiss meal — Zurich veal style veal in mushroom cream sauce with rösti potatoes. Somebody needs to do rösti in Ottawa. I also partook crisp white wine.
The Swiss Folklore show fully embraces Green Day ideology with scores of audience participation. I credit Gwen Stefani with people embracing the opportunity to yodel in front of complete stangers.

The house band entertains all night on stage. The multitude of muscians enthrall you while playing a plethora of traditional and non-​traditional instruments. They play traditional Swiss and German polkas. The audience was invited to try playing the ridiculously long Ricola commercial horns, as well as other instruments.
Then the band started showboating, with their flagthrowing skills. ;)
The Stadtkeller Swiss Folklore Restaurant beyond any doubt caters to tourists, but the staff clearly enjoys their jobs and embrace customary Swiss entertainment.
This was a very memorable dinner out. If you want a touristy fun and frolic experience in Lucerne, this is the place to do it.
¹⁄₃₀ — Unilocal Ottawa’s 30 Day Challenge!