3 Best Restaurants in Kelheim, Franconia and the German Danube

Elbow your way past the locals in this favorite family-run restaurant, where you'll dine on homemade Bavarian specialties in a handsome wood-paneled dining room. Though portions are ample, the emphasis is on presentation and freshness; vegetables are crisp and meat and fish are never overdone. Look for the local walleye served in a light herb-butter sauce, veal shank with noodles, or crispy roast pork with sweet red cabbage salad. Other factors in its favor: an outdoor terrace and central location.

A foodie's take on traditional Bavarian fare, the focus here is on homemade, regional, and seasonal. Delicacies like suckling pig, veal tenderloin, and lamb sausage—a house specialty—are all locally sourced, and the venison and rabbit are culled from the local forests. The two handsome dining rooms and outdoor terrace, with a charming beer garden, are popular dining spots, so be sure to reserve.

There's atmosphere to spare at this traditional brewery specializing in wheat beer, the oldest in Bavaria. Seated at rustic wood tables under vaulted ceilings, or outdoors in the spacious beer garden,the spirit is festive and the food and beer plentiful: rib-sticking schnitzel smothered with mushroom sauce and served with braised onions and potato-bacon salad, homemade sausages with horseradish and boiled potatoes, or whole fried fish all washed down with a giant mug of pale wheat beer. If there's room, the towering desserts are worth the effort.