Lunch in Salzburg: Three Casual Stops

A casual lunch in Salzburg can be a Bosna from Balkan Grill Walter, pizza slices to look for at Metzgersteig, or an arepa-based meal at Bistro de Marquez near Mirabell Palace. The choice depends as much on whether you want to sit down as on what you want to eat: a handheld order keeps the break short, while a small café gives lunch its own pause.

Choose a casual lunch stop

Typical spending per person includes food and a non-alcoholic drink. Eating allowances are estimates, excluding ordering and queues.

Criterion	Balkan Grill Walter	Metzgersteig	Bistro de Marquez
Area	Getreidegasse, Old Town	Alter Markt, Old Town	Schrannengasse, near Mirabell
What to order	Bosna sausage sandwich	Pizza slices to look for	Arepas to look for
Typical spend	€7–12	€10–18	€15–25
Estimated eating allowance	10–20 minutes, standing	15–30 minutes; longer seated	30–45 minutes, seated
Weekly closing day	None	None	Sunday and Monday

Choose Balkan Grill Walter for a modest handheld lunch. Choose Bistro de Marquez when a seat matters. Metzgersteig suits a flexible counter order, with a garden option in good weather. At the cheaper end, keep the order simple rather than turning a small bite into a succession of extras.

A single pizza slice may be a snack rather than lunch. Choose enough food for your appetite, and treat an arepa-based meal as a seated break rather than a quick mouthful. The eating allowances leave time to enjoy the food, but a queue or a garden pause can extend the visit.

Walk up for small counter orders. For a group or a fixed seated lunch, arrange a table rather than relying on spare seats. The lower end of each spending estimate assumes a simple order, while extra food and pricier drinks move you towards the upper end.

Balkan Grill Walter

Balkan Grill Walter’s defining order is Bosna, a grilled sausage sandwich made to eat on the go. It is usually served in bread with onion, mustard and a curry-spice seasoning: a compact lunch rather than a plate of food. Getreidegasse puts this stop alongside an Old Town walk, so you need not build the outing around a restaurant meal.

Order at the small window, where sausages are grilled and the sandwiches assembled before being handed over. Staff take orders and prepare food alongside one another, which helps the lunchtime line move, but the wait varies with the queue. Have your order decided when you reach the counter.

There is no customer seating, so choose this stop only if standing to eat suits you. A sandwich can cover a lighter appetite, but if you need something more substantial, decide whether an extra order is worth the extra spending before joining the line. The drink is part of the comparison’s allowance, not an addition to it.

Metzgersteig

Metzgersteig on Alter Markt suits a lunch assembled from small counter bites, with pizza slices the order to look for. Treat a slice as a starting point rather than assuming it will be a full meal: a lunch-sized order depends on the size of the slices and your appetite. Keeping the order to pizza and a simple drink helps contain the bill.

In good weather, you can eat your purchases in the neighbouring Wirtshaus am Alten Markt garden. That makes the takeaway order a chance to sit down on Alter Markt rather than eat standing. Allow more time if you want to linger there, and do not rely on outdoor seating when the weather is poor.

The service window runs from 11:00 to 23:00, so lunch need not be tied to a narrow midday sitting. Choose this stop when you want to decide how much to eat at the counter and whether to turn the break into a garden pause.

Bistro de Marquez

Bistro de Marquez on Schrannengasse, near Mirabell Palace, suits a casual lunch with time at a table. Look for arepas, filled cornmeal patties, as the basis of your meal. Fillings and the amount you order determine how substantial lunch becomes, so start with your appetite rather than assuming one small item will be enough.

There are only a few indoor tables, plus weather-dependent outdoor seating. A spontaneous visit may work, but a spare seat is not guaranteed. For a seated lunch, the small indoor dining area is the more dependable option when the weather is poor.

The lunchtime opening window is Tuesday–Saturday, 11:30–14:30. Arrive with enough time to order and enjoy the meal, particularly if you want hot food rather than just a café pause.

Sources & fact-checking

Checks against the sources below cover: key figures, opening hours, and closures.

• CRAZIAN’s — key figures
• Edenred Austria — key figures
• Wirtshaus Metzgersteig — opening hours
• Bistro de Márquez — opening hours
• Salzburg Tourism — closures
• Hans Walter — key figures