Restaurant in Waiblingen, Germany
Michelin-verified. Small town. Book early.
Bachofer holds a Michelin star in both 2024 and 2025, scores 4.9 from 320 Google reviews, and operates at €€€€ on Waiblingen's historic market square. It is the strongest case for out-of-city creative dining in the Stuttgart region — but it is a Hard book, tasting-menu territory, and requires planning several weeks in advance.
The most common mistake visitors make is treating Bachofer as a convenient local option on the way to somewhere bigger. Waiblingen sits in the Stuttgart commuter belt, and the assumption runs that serious cooking stays in the city. That assumption is wrong. Bachofer has held a Michelin star in both 2024 and 2025, operates at the €€€€ price tier, and scores a 4.9 from 320 Google reviews — a combination that places it firmly in the conversation with Germany's better-known creative kitchens. The case for booking here is stronger than the postcode suggests.
Bachofer is a creative-cuisine restaurant at Marktplatz 6, at the centre of Waiblingen's historic old town. Chef Bernd Bachofer runs the kitchen, and the address on the main market square means the physical setting is immediately readable: a half-timbered town square, preserved architecture, the kind of backdrop that reads as decorative but actually tells you something useful. You are eating at the civic and geographical centre of the town, not in an industrial conversion or a hotel annexe. For the explorer-type diner who wants context alongside technique, that placement matters. The room and setting reinforce rather than contradict the ambition on the plate.
The cuisine type is listed as Creative, which in the German Michelin context typically signals multi-course tasting formats, high technique, and a kitchen that does not anchor itself to a single national tradition. At €€€€, you are operating at the same price tier as Germany's three-star rooms, which means Bachofer is not trading on discount , it is asking you to judge it on quality, and the Michelin committee has twice said that quality holds up.
One thing worth flagging for anyone planning around the full experience: at a €€€€ creative tasting restaurant in Germany, the drinks program is rarely an afterthought, and Bachofer's setting and price point suggest a wine list built for pairing, not just accompaniment. Germany's Swabian region , which Waiblingen sits within , produces some serious Riesling and Lemberger that a kitchen at this level would be expected to reference. Whether the list skews regional, international, or a combination of both is not confirmed in available data, but at this price tier and with this level of Michelin recognition, the expectation is a list curated to work alongside tasting menus rather than operate independently. If you are visiting primarily for the drinks experience, confirm in advance what the pairing options look like. If you are visiting for the food with wine as a supporting element, the combination of the setting and the star-rated kitchen gives you good reason to commit to whatever pairing is on offer.
Bachofer works leading for diners who treat the full tasting-menu-and-pairing format as the point of an evening, not a concession to the kitchen's preferences. At €€€€ in a mid-size German town, you are not paying city-centre surcharges, which means the value proposition is real if you are comparing like-for-like quality. Couples and pairs are the natural format here , the market square setting, the creative cuisine register, and the booking difficulty (see below) all point toward an occasion that rewards planning and suits a focused, smaller group.
If you are an explorer-type diner who has already worked through Stuttgart's creative options and wants to extend into the wider Swabian area, Bachofer is the clear next stop. It is also worth considering if you are travelling between Stuttgart and other German destinations: Waiblingen is accessible by S-Bahn from Stuttgart city centre, which removes the logistical objection most visitors use to skip it.
Booking difficulty is rated Hard. A twice-starred Michelin restaurant in a small market town does not have the volume of seats that city-centre venues use to absorb demand, and a 4.9 Google rating from 320 reviews indicates consistent, concentrated word-of-mouth interest. Book as far ahead as the reservation system allows , for a weekend dinner, four to six weeks minimum is a practical target. For special occasions aligned to specific dates, start earlier. Walk-in availability at this tier and in this format is effectively zero.
Pearl rates this booking as Hard. That rating is not a warning against booking , it is a reason to book immediately rather than treat it as a fallback option.
Address: Marktpl. 6, 71332 Waiblingen, Germany. Price tier: €€€€. Awards: Michelin 1 Star 2024, Michelin 1 Star 2025. Google: 4.9 (320 reviews). Booking difficulty: Hard. Cuisine: Creative. Chef: Bernd Bachofer.
For more options in the area, see our full Waiblingen restaurants guide, including Brunnenstuben for country cooking and Untere Apotheke for modern cuisine. If you are planning a broader trip, Pearl also covers hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences in Waiblingen.
Among Germany's €€€€ creative kitchens, Bachofer occupies a specific and useful position: Michelin-verified quality in a location that does not carry Munich or Hamburg pricing pressure. Compare it to Vendôme in Bergisch Gladbach, which operates at three stars and a correspondingly higher difficulty level, or Aqua in Wolfsburg, where the Italian and Japanese creative register differs significantly. Bachofer is the easier book at comparable price, and the more approachable entry point into German starred dining for someone who has not navigated a three-star room before.
For purely creative-format dining, CODA Dessert Dining in Berlin takes the format in an entirely different direction , dessert-led and conceptually distinct , while Schwarzwaldstube in Baiersbronn offers a classic French anchor if you want more structural tradition at the same price tier. Bachofer is the better choice if creative cuisine without a fixed national framework is what you are after, and if getting out of the main cities is part of the appeal. JAN in Munich and The Table Kevin Fehling in Hamburg are city-based alternatives worth benchmarking against, but neither removes the logistical ease of Bachofer for anyone already in the Stuttgart region.
If you are building a multi-day creative-cuisine itinerary across Germany, Bachofer fits naturally alongside Schanz in Piesport or ES:SENZ in Grassau , both one-star creative rooms in smaller German towns that reward the same kind of deliberate, out-of-city planning. For international creative-cuisine comparison at the leading end, Quique Dacosta in Dénia and Arpège in Paris represent the broader category at three-star level, and give useful context for what Bachofer is working within at one star.
Yes, and it is better suited to special occasions than most one-star restaurants in Germany because the setting does real work. A Michelin-starred creative kitchen on a historic market square in Waiblingen, at €€€€, gives you the formality and the visual context that a hotel dining room or city side-street address often does not. The 4.9 Google rating from 320 reviews suggests consistent delivery, which matters when the date is fixed. Book pairs and couples here; larger groups should confirm availability and format in advance.
No dress code is confirmed in available data, but at a €€€€ Michelin-starred creative restaurant in Germany, smart casual is the practical floor. Think of what you would wear to a one-star room in Stuttgart or Munich , jacket optional for men, nothing that reads as weekend-casual. Waiblingen is not a fashion city, so you will not feel underdressed in smart separates, but you will feel out of place in jeans and trainers at a room operating at this price and recognition level.
Three things. First, the location in Waiblingen's market square is easy to reach from Stuttgart by S-Bahn, so do not let the address put you off. Second, at €€€€ with a creative cuisine format, you are almost certainly looking at a tasting menu structure , this is not a venue where you drop in for a single course. Plan the full evening. Third, book well in advance: Pearl rates this as Hard to book, and a 4.9 from 320 reviews means demand is real and consistent. First-timers should also look at Victor's Fine Dining by Christian Bau for context on what German creative dining at this tier looks like elsewhere.
Within Waiblingen, Untere Apotheke offers modern cuisine at a lower price point, and Brunnenstuben covers country cooking for a completely different register. Neither operates at Bachofer's Michelin level. If you want a starred alternative in the wider region, the Stuttgart city options are the natural next step. See our full Waiblingen restaurants guide for the complete picture.
Four to six weeks minimum for a weekend dinner. For a specific date tied to a birthday, anniversary, or other fixed occasion, start eight weeks out. Bachofer is a Hard book , a twice-starred Michelin room in a small town has limited covers, and the Google rating confirms that demand is consistent. Leaving it to two weeks before is a gamble worth avoiding.
At €€€€ with two consecutive Michelin stars and a 4.9 Google score from 320 reviews, Bachofer is delivering at its price tier. The value argument is stronger here than at comparable city-centre addresses because you are not paying an urban location premium. If creative tasting menus are your format, and if travelling slightly outside a major city for the experience is not a barrier, the answer is yes. If you want a la carte flexibility or a shorter, lighter meal, this is the wrong venue regardless of price.
At a €€€€ creative kitchen with consecutive Michelin stars, the tasting menu is not just the recommended format , it is almost certainly the only format the kitchen is built around. Chef Bernd Bachofer's recognition is tied to the full experience, not individual dishes. Comparable one-star creative rooms across Germany, including ES:SENZ in Grassau and Schanz in Piesport, operate on the same model. If you are committed to the format, the Michelin validation over two consecutive years is the clearest available signal that the menu justifies the spend.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bachofer | Creative | Michelin 1 Star (2025); Michelin 1 Star (2024) | Hard | — |
| Schwarzwaldstube | French, Classic French | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Aqua | Contemporary German, Italian/Japanese, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Vendôme | Modern European, Creative | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| CODA Dessert Dining | Creative | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Tantris | Modern French, French Contemporary | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
Yes, and it is better suited to occasions where the meal itself is the event. Two consecutive Michelin stars (2024 and 2025) under Chef Bernd Bachofer, a €€€€ price tier, and a creative tasting format give it the weight a significant occasion demands. The small-town Waiblingen setting also makes arrival feel deliberate rather than incidental, which adds to the sense of occasion rather than detracting from it.
Dress as you would for a Michelin-starred tasting restaurant in Germany: jacket for men is appropriate and fits the room, though a strict dress code is not documented in available venue data. At a €€€€ creative restaurant in a historic market square, arriving underdressed will stand out. Err toward business casual or above.
Bachofer is a tasting-menu restaurant, not a place to drop in for a single course. Chef Bernd Bachofer runs a creative kitchen at Marktpl. 6 in Waiblingen's old town centre, and the €€€€ price tier reflects a full-commitment format. First-timers should plan the evening around the meal, account for drinks pairing on top of food costs, and book well in advance — availability is limited for a twice-starred venue in a small market.
There are no documented Michelin-starred alternatives within Waiblingen itself. For comparable creative fine dining in the broader Stuttgart region, Schwarzwaldstube (three Michelin stars in Baiersbronn) is the benchmark if budget and distance are not constraints. Within the city of Stuttgart, other options exist at lower price tiers, but none match Bachofer's current award standing at its price point in this specific market.
Book at least four to six weeks out as a baseline; further for weekend dates and special occasions. Bachofer is rated hard to book: a twice-starred Michelin restaurant in a small town operates with limited covers, and demand consistently outpaces supply. Leaving it to the week before will almost certainly result in no availability.
For diners who want Michelin-verified creative cuisine outside Germany's major city centres, yes. Two back-to-back Michelin stars (2024–2025) at a €€€€ price point in Waiblingen represents a concentration of quality that would cost significantly more in Frankfurt or Munich. If you are paying €€€€ for a tasting menu and pairing, the award pedigree and Chef Bernd Bachofer's continued recognition make the case clearly.
Yes, if the tasting format suits how you eat. Bachofer's Michelin recognition is built on its creative kitchen, and the tasting menu is the primary vehicle for that. At €€€€, you are committing to the full experience, including drinks on top. If you prefer à la carte flexibility or shorter meals, this is not the right format regardless of quality — but for the full-commitment diner, the stars are earned.
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