Hopfen & Malz Craft Beer Pub & Walthers Weinbar for Lagrein
Bolzano sits at a crossroads of Austrian beer culture and Italian wine tradition, and the city's drinking scene reflects that glorious tension. Two addresses in particular capture the local flavour with honesty and no tourist markup.
Lagrein at Walthers Weinbar
Tucked just off Piazza Walther, Walthers Weinbar is a narrow, candle-lit room where the wine list reads like a love letter to South Tyrolean terroir: Lagrein, Gewürztraminer, Vernatsch, and Pinot Blanc grown on slopes you can see from the door.
Ask the staff to pour you a Lagrein Riserva from the Santa Maddalena or Gries subzones — the grape produces a wine that is simultaneously dark and velvety yet lifted with violet and dark cherry, unlike anything you'll taste elsewhere in Italy.
Craft Beer at Hopfen & Malz
A ten-minute walk away on Via Andreas Hofer, Hopfen & Malz is a convivial pub that brews its own South Tyrolean-style ales and stocks a rotating selection of regional craft beers alongside hearty Tyrolean bar snacks.
The Speck board — thin-sliced, cold-smoked mountain ham aged for at least 22 weeks — arrives with dark rye bread and horseradish cream and is one of the finest €10 decisions you will make in the Dolomites.
The Food Culture Around Bolzano
Bolzano's restaurant scene blends Italian and Austrian DNA: you'll find Schlutzkrapfen (spinach-and-ricotta half-moon pasta) on the same menu as risotto, and Kaiserschmarrn (shredded caramelised pancake) appearing alongside tiramisu.
The Mercato Ortofrutticolo (the covered fruit and vegetable market on Via Museo) opens weekday mornings and is where locals buy Vinschgau apples, golden plums, and fresh Speck directly from the producers — a far more honest food experience than any souvenir shop.
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