Twenty centimeters long, with a total of 500 kilocalories and 33 grams of fat. That’s how the group at Zürich’s Voderer Sternen Grill brags about its bratwurst on their website. I doubt a public relations agency in America would use the same approach. Perhaps they would rather talk about the fact that this sausage stand serves Anne Mae Bullock, aka Tina Turner, and even the Greek Orthodox Archbishop Iakovos. But most importantly, my guess would be that they feed about 99 percent of all of Zürich! Included on almost every restaurant list and compilation of top Zürich attractions, this unpretentious stand boasts the “best bratwurst in Zürich” according to many. And it’s not just a tourist destination, it’s a local favourite - hence the lines reminiscent of New York’s Magnolia Bakery or Paris’ L’As du Fallafel. The lines don’t detract. Ask the outgoing and always smiling men manning the grill, and they’ll tell you that their bratwurst is for Zürich exactly what the Eiffel Tower is for Paris or the Golden Gate Bridge is for San Francisco: an icon. Halit, below, is a charmer, and along with your sausage, you’re guaranteed a laugh or two for sure.

The menu is not long; it’s really just a matter of a simple question - pork or pork/beef? The item that gets all the raves is the St Galler Bratwurst, the thinner grayish sausage, made of a mixture of beef and pork. The fatter and reddish sausage is the Servelat, made entirely of pork. Both come with a little paper cup of a rather strong yellow mustard. You have been warned: a little goes a long way. Plus a crusty bread roll, real hard on the outside and soft and doughy within, and you’re set. They get their bread from Gold Bakery, which has been making their signature roll since 1907, and many say they’re the best rolls in town. So sausage in one hand, bread in the other - you’ll look like a local in no time. As for eating said bread roll without amassing a generous collection of crumbs around you, that I have yet to figure out.  

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