Mannheim: Cafes, gastro pubs and restaurants

Eating out organic in Mannheim is different than in other cities: First it means vegetarian and vegan-friendly (almost) without exceptions. Second there seem to be no places serving national kitchens – no German Wirtshaus, no French cuisine, no Turkish fastfood and not even a mock Italian place. And finally organic here means organic for everyone, not just for a wealthy, hip and urban clientele. As a result you may miss cleverly designed cool places as much as refined coffeehouses or classy gourmet restaurants. The good news is that Mannheim's organic restaurants and cafes are extremely affordable.

Inner city

For breakfast (or a snack or coffee during the day) head for Bio-Bäcker Bihn on the ground floor of the Stadthaus housing the city library and other communal facilities and staging the city's part of the Mannheim/Heidelberg International Film Festival. Enter the complex from the north-eastern entry facing Paradeplatz, and you'll find the unpretentious bakery cum self-service cafe at the right hand site. The breakfast options served on work- and Saturdays until noon are sufficient for two not too hungry ones; you can choose from a menu which also boosts three vegan varieties or combine yourself. Coffee or tea on the go is possible, but you should rather bring your own refillable cup (or buy one on the spot) as a one-way paper beaker righteously will be charged with 25 cents. For breakfast, lunch or in between freshly prepared sandwiches are available, too (though no longer in the evening). The coffee comes from an automat, and the rather cheap-looking interior design maintains a low threshold. If you come with a family or friends pay together which will give you a small discount (10% above 20 €, 12% above 30 € and 15 percent of a total above 50€).

If you fancy a better coffee in the Schwetzingerstadt neighbourhood you may step by Eddie's, the city's zero waste grocery store.

For an organic coffee, spritzer (of fruit juice and sparkling water) or wine head for the north-western neighbourhood of Jungbusch. The vegetarian, vegan-friendly gastro pub Kombüse serves Mexican-style fastfood as well as a daily changing soup and main course, on availability (but not reliably) using organic veges. It keeps open until late and may give you an impression of the city's subculture. The place also offers a take away service, but kindly invites guests to bring their own re-usable cups and jars. You will be charged the extra expense if you insist on one-way packaging.

South of the main train station

Interestingly the hippest and most expensive places aren't located in the very city centre but south of the railway tracks. The first one is the Glückstein in Lindenhof south of the railway tracks, a short way from the banks of the river Rhine. This organic vegan restaurant took over from Frankfurt-based raw eatery Rohkosteria. You can choose from the menu which still contains a lot of raw dishes (bowls and salads, burgers, wraps, falafel, vegetable "pasta", smoothies, shots, cakes and cookies), and two warm and filling daily specials at 8 EUR (I had a simple, yet very tasty lentils-based lasagna). Although the place is open in the evenings no alcohol is being served here, and you can also have caffeine-free lupin-based "coffee" drinks. The pleasantly designed interior and the unexcited atmosphere make it an ideal place to stay for a while.

If you have a bicycle take the chance to visit the neighbourhood of Neckarau where you will find two real gems: The first one opened in 2019: Hedonist is another modern, thoroughly designed eatery, friendly, but less homely than Glückstein, rather the type of place where you expect busy business people to have a recreational and healthy lunch break (but no worries, the audience isn't that uniform). You can buy everything to take away, much of it in returnable glass jars with a deposit of 2 EUR – salads, desserts, falafel and burger sandwiches, pasta, but also German-style pork and fish main courses. On weekdays a set menu consisting of a main course and a dessert is available at lunch time. On the Thursday I was there it was (very filling and quite dry) falafel with some salad, a spoon of pickled beetroot, a small amount of lentil salad, prefectly crisp potato chips and tasty (though too cold) potato salad. While the food is being served guests may collect the generous glass of dessert from the fridge. I had the so-called cheesecake which wasn't actually a cake but a cheese cream with oranges and sponge biscuits. There were also tiramisu and blueberry or raspberry mascarpone cream. The entire vegetarian meal came at 8 EUR, if you choose a fish or meat main course the price tag increases to 11 or even 15 EUR. There's also a rack of selected wines, pickles and condiments to buy home. The place is fuelled by renewable energies.

Right next to the Hedonist you'll find the second place, a carefully curated and decorated cafe cum wine shop cum organic delicatessen dubbed Bittersüß ("bitter sweet"). Too beautiful to call it an owner-run organic grocery store you can buy all daily necessities here – fresh fruits and veges, and dairy products as well as organic bodycare. But on top of all this you'll find French sweets, selected cognac and other spirits, an abundance of wine, delicate chocolates, and last but not least the delicious products of the organic ginger bread bakery Friedmann in the same neighbourhood. Between noon and 2pm vegetarian lunch is being served on weekdays – the daily changing menu you'll find on a hand-written piece of paper at the cashier desk.

North of the Neckar river

Bicycle lovers must not miss out the city's first bike cafe in the Neckarstadt north of the river Neckar. The Café Flamme Rouge (dubbed after the red flag displayed one kilometer before the end of a bike race) was established in 2005 and serves organic bread and rolls from the Lummerland organic bakery with biodynamic vegetarian spreads, partially organic coffee, home-made pesto, pancakes and a lunch dish (the menu changes on Mondays and Thursdays).

Also located in Neckarstadt Ost the Café Pfau has a focus on regional, but unfortunately not organic ingredients. Organic products are used in the kitchen here and there, and the milk is always organic, though neither the (locally roasted) coffee or tea.

• Bio-Bäcker Bihn, Im Stadthaus N1, 1, Mon–Sat 8–19
• Alnatura, N7, 12, Mon–Sat 8–20
• Kombüse, Jungbuschstr. 23, Tue–Thu 11–23, Fri(Sat) 11(17)–1
• Glückstein, Lindenhofstr. 62, Mon–Tue(Wed–Fri) 12–14,17–21(22), Sat 17–22
• Hedonist, Friedrichstr. 8a, Mon–Sat 11:30–21
• Bittersüß, Friedrichstr. 10, Mon–Fri(Sat) 7:30(8:30)–18(13)
• Café Flamme Rouge, Lenaustr. 27, Mon–Fri(Sat) 8(9)–18(15)
• Café Pfau, Lange Rötterstr. 76, Tue–Fr(Sat,Sun,PH) 9–14(17)

More to try

The following place I had on my research list but could not make it there:

• Kleines Café, Eichendorffstr. 8, daily 9–18 (organic eggs, lemonades, and tea)

No longer organic

The Wohnhunger gifts and things shop does no longer offer organic soups or stews for lunch, and does not use organic milk for their coffee drinks. The coffee itself may occasionally be organic (as they also sell organic beans) but usually isn't.

Closed

Of the following places you may find remnants on the web but be assured: They do no longer exist.

• Café Vogelfrei, C3, 20
• Bio-Bäcker Bihn, M3, 7(moved to Stadthaus)
• envita Bio-Restaurant, Im Stadthaus N1, 1 (replaced by organic bakery Bihn)
• Hellers Vegetarisches Restaurant & Café, N7, 13–15
• O’ Dog Café, M5, 8 (Hot dogs)
• mundgrün veganerie, T3, 7 (vegan) (preceeded by Sonnenblume Naturkost)
• Veggie-Stadel (formerly Bio-Stadel), Lindenhofstr. 62 replaced by Rohkosteria
• Rohkosteria, Lindenhofstr. 62, replaced by Glückstein
• Bio-Bäcker Bihn, Kurfürstenstr. 7

Mannheim: Sustainable Shopping

If you prefer to set out on a shopping spree on a bicycle and prefer a rented bike that is not tracking you pay a visit to Fahrrad Schieber, a more than one hundred years local bicycle workshop located a few steps from the Wasserturm landmark within the squared part of town, the "Quadrate". For 10 EUR a day (as of 2019) you will be provided with a well maintained used bike. If it against all odds breaks during your trip, do not hesitate to step by, it will be fixed promptly.

Founded almost 25 years ago your first stop could be HautNah, a fashion boutique specializing in ecologically and fairly produced clothes made from natural materials. The shop is a member of the International Association of Natural Textiles (iVN) and aims at those looking for classical long-living cuts rather than at cutting-edge fashionistas (for trending fashion you may try the shops listed below). Needless to say that HautNah also offers an assortment of healthy outfits for babies and toddlers.

For shoes proceed a few steps along the Kaiserring to Fußspur ("foot trace"), a small local chain specialising in environmentally friendly produced and European-made shoes.

Leaving the ring road and entering the Quadrate through Kunststraße you'll find a tea shop of the Tee Gschwendtner franchise. Although this specialist chain is selling conventionally produced teas and tisanes in the first place its shops have proved to be a trustworthy source of organic teas and herbal infusions for years. You can buy all kinds of loose teas and herbal infusions as well as high quality tea bags and even pre-fab iced teas, and there will usually be organic options. Although most teas will be filled into bags before your eyes there's always a minimum quantum you have to buy (usually 50 or 100 grams), and you have to buy standardized packages (bigger sizes being 250 or 500 grams).

Even longer west in the Quadrate area, located between the castle and parade square the new Umgekrempelt ("rolled up" and/or "turned inside out") clothes boutique offers both, fairly traded and organic slow fashion as well as a repair service and upcycling workshops. In addition you'll find a lot of accessoiries and gifts here, and even plastics-free degradable glitter. Note that this likeable shop keeps closed both, on Mondays and for a (rather late) lunch break.

Leaving the Quadrate for the eastern part of town the Wohnhunger gift shop next to Eddie's zero waste supermarket offers a selection of organic delicatessen like coffee, soups, chocolates, liquors, herbs and spices, some zero-waste items like natural soap and cotton dish washing clothes and a lot of other cosy things. Unfortunately the organic coffee isn't used at the coffee bar, and the milk for the coffee drinks isn't organic. About three years ago the shop also offered an organic soup or stew for lunch, but these are songs from the past.

On your way you'll also pass Weinrefugium, an upmarket, carefully designed wine shop offering a good selection of natural and organic wines. (For more and only organic wines visit the Bittersüß delicatessen in Neckarau.)

• Fahrrad Schieber, R 7, 39, Mon–Fri(Sat) 10–18(13)
• HautNah, M 7, 13, Mon–Wed(Thu–Fri) 9:30–18:30(19), Sat 10–18
• Fußspur Riemann, N 7, 13, Mon–Sat 10–18
• Tee Gschwendner, O 3, 1, Mon–Fri(Sat) 10–18:30(18)
• Umgekrempelt, M 2, 15a, Tue–Fri 11–14,15-19, Sat 12–18
• Wohnhunger, Seckenheimer Str. 23, Tue–Fri(Sat) 10–19(16)
• Weinrefugium, Seckenheimer Str. 19, Tue–Fri 11–14, 15–18:30, Sat 10–13

More to try

Here's a list of shops which I had on my list for research but didn't manage to visit myself. Let me know about your experience!

• Weltladen, S 2, 3, Mon–Sat 10–18 (fairly traded goods, often organic)
• Freudenhaus, Q 5, 2, Mon–Sat 11–19 (fair and organic fashion)
• Ecoshowroom, Villa Lanz, Erzbergerstraße 18, Tue 17–20, Sat 15–18 (organic, fair and sustainable fashion with own label soome)

Greenwashed

The city's online tourist guide suggests to get yourself a "bio" picnic basket for a stroll at the embankments. Don't fall for it! The only organic items that come with this "Wellness-Korb für Vegetarier" are two bottles of the organic bionade soft drink:

• Die Metzgerei, Rheinparkstr. 4 (bistro in the Lindenhof neighbourhood)

Closed

The following places do no longer exist, although you still might find references to them on the web:

• Fairbrothers, C 8, 18 (fairly traded organic fashion)

Mannheim: Zero Waste

Light and spacious instead of small and crammed -- Mannheim's package-free vegetarian supermarket Eddie's with its large shop window front is easy to find between two tram stops of line 6, Werderstraße and Pestalozzischule. Not everything here -- some herb blends to give an example -- is organic, but everything organic (which is the majority of items) is clearly marked "bio" on the shelves. In addition to a small selection of fruit and veges and all you need of dry food the shop's section of plastic-free household items offers alternatives when you need to replace plastic boxes, toothbrushes, drinking straws and the like. The bodycare and household chemicals section is very well assorted and -- unlike other zero waste shops which usually restrict themselves to liquid detergents -- also offers washing powders and soda by the kilogram. Students will get ten percent discount on Wednesdays, and the place has also gotten itself a decent coffee machine -- for a coffee at the spot or into the mug you provide. (If you buy a reusable mug the first shot is free.)

By now all supermarkets of the Basic chain should be equipped with at minimum one dry food refill station, and allow you to take home cheese, antipasti, cured meat and sausages from the meat and dairy counters in your own containers. That's exactly what the Mannheim branch at the tram stop Schloss offers -- partially supplementing but certainly not replacing the selection at Eddie's.

For coffee or ready-made meals head for the Kombüse gastro pub in the Jungbusch neighbourhood. Everything on their menu is available to take away, and they kindly ask you to come with your own jars. One-way packaging will be charged with a small surplus.

And last but not least: Naturally the organic bakery Bihn will happily put your purchase in the bags and boxes you provide.

• Eddie´s, Seckenheimer Str. 21, Mon– Fri(Sat) 10–19(16)
• Basic, B 1, 3–5 (Kurpfalzstr.), Mon–Sat 8–20

Germany: Mannheim

• Eateries, gastro pubs and cafes
• Shopping
• Zero waste