The 5 Apfelwein Tavern Sachsenhausen You Can’t Miss in Frankfurt
Frankfurt does not really have an “apfelwein district” so much as one street that never stopped being one: Alt-Sachsenhausen, on the south bank of the Main, where cider taverns have poured Ebbelwoi from ceramic Bembel jugs since well before the rest of the neighbourhood turned into bars and clubs around them. We went through the apfelwein taverns with a Google Business listing across that stretch — Schweizer Straße, Wallstraße, the narrow lanes off Abtsgäßchen — and weighted each one’s rating against how many people actually left it, because a 4.6 from four thousand reviews and a 4.1 from nine thousand are not making quite the same claim. Five came out clearly ahead, and between them they cover most of what a Frankfurt apfelwein tavern can be: a lunch-through-midnight neighbourhood Wirtschaft, an evening-only cider den tucked down an alley, a family Stammlokal with its own devoted regulars, and two of the genuinely historic names in the whole tradition, one of them open since 1931.
Apfelweinwirtschaft Atschel, Frankfurt-Süd
The most-reviewed name on this list after Adolf Wagner, and the highest-rated of the two: Atschel holds 4.6★ across 4,028 Google reviews on Wallstraße, a short walk from Frankfurt Süd station rather than deep in the Alt-Sachsenhausen tavern knot itself. Google lists it simply as a German restaurant, and the hours back up a straightforward neighbourhood-Wirtschaft read: open from noon every day of the week, running to 11:30 PM on weeknights and Sunday, and stretching to midnight on Friday and Saturday. Phone 069 619201 for a table.
Ebbelwoi Unser, Alt-Sachsenhausen
The one tavern on this list that doesn’t open for lunch at all. Ebbelwoi Unser, on the narrow Abtsgäßchen right inside the old tavern quarter, opens at 5:00 PM every day and runs to midnight (1:00 AM Friday and Saturday) — an evening-and-night-only rhythm that matches the address, a lane built for after-dark drinking rather than daytime dining. 4.5★ from 3,174 reviews. Phone 01520 4302659.
Apfelwein Dax, Sachsenhausen
On Willemerstraße, a few streets back from the Main, Apfelwein Dax keeps the widest all-week door of the five: noon to midnight, every single day, no early closing and no evening-only gap. 4.6★ from 2,824 reviews, the smallest review base on this list but matching Atschel’s rating exactly. Phone 069 616437 for reservations.
Zum Gemalten Haus, Sachsenhausen
Open continuously since 1936 and run across three generations by the Ullmer/Hanauske family, Zum Gemalten Haus is the closest thing on this list to an institution — locals say they’re going “ins Gemalte,” not to a restaurant with a name. The kitchen’s prize-winning Grüne Soße and its Rippchen mit Kraut (pork ribs with sauerkraut) are the dishes it’s known for beyond the cider itself, alongside Handkäs and a rotating daily Stammessen, and a Brezelbub still circulates the wood-panelled dining room with fresh pretzels, a custom the tavern has kept rather than retired. 4.3★ from 4,672 reviews on Schweizer Straße, reachable by the U1-U3 and U8 lines to Schweizer Platz. Closed Monday and Tuesday; open Wednesday to Sunday from 11:00 AM, to 11:00 PM most nights and midnight on Friday and Saturday. Phone 069 614559.
Adolf Wagner, Sachsenhausen
Family-owned since 1931 and, on Google, the single most-reviewed apfelwein tavern in this entire cluster by a wide margin — 9,600 reviews, more than double the next name on this list — Adolf Wagner sits directly across Schweizer Straße from Zum Gemalten Haus, giving the two oldest names on this list the same short block. It calls itself a Traditionslokal and leans into that: reservations by phone or online, a dedicated street-sales “To Go” menu for cider and food on the move, and its own merchandise line through the Hessen Shop alongside the everyday business of a working tavern. 4.1★, the lowest rating on this list but earned across the largest crowd by far — open daily 11:00 AM to midnight. Phone 069 612565, with group bookings handled separately for parties of 21 or more.
All five, on the map
The interactive map has all the qualifying apfelwein taverns we found across Alt-Sachsenhausen and the streets around Schweizer Platz, these five marked and numbered, and a button that hands the walking route between them straight to Google Maps on your phone — useful here specifically, since Zum Gemalten Haus and Adolf Wagner sit close enough to visit both in one evening without much walking at all.
Getting the most out of an apfelwein crawl in Sachsenhausen
These five sit closer together than a typical Frankfurt night out — Atschel, Ebbelwoi Unser, Dax, Zum Gemalten Haus and Adolf Wagner are all within about fifteen minutes’ walk of each other on foot, which makes Alt-Sachsenhausen one of the easier tavern crawls to do properly in a single evening. If you’re flying into Frankfurt Airport for it, a local eSIM from Airalo means Google Maps and the U-Bahn app both work from the moment you land, and a booked transfer from Welcome Pickups gets you from FRA into Sachsenhausen without working out the train yourself first. Cider, Handkäs and Rippchen add up in small charges across five stops, and paying in euros without a foreign transaction fee on each one is where a Wise card earns its keep over a full night out. And if the tavern crawl is one evening inside a longer Frankfurt visit, Tiqets covers skip-the-line tickets for the museums along the nearby Museumsufer, so the rest of the trip isn’t spent queueing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the best apfelwein tavern in Frankfurt?
By rating, Atschel and Apfelwein Dax tie at the top of this list at 4.6★, though Adolf Wagner’s 9,600 reviews make it by far the most reviewed name in Sachsenhausen and Zum Gemalten Haus is generally considered the more historically significant of the two oldest houses. “Best” depends on what you want: Atschel or Dax for a straightforward all-day Wirtschaft, Zum Gemalten Haus for Grüne Soße and three generations of the same family, Adolf Wagner for the tavern the largest number of people have actually rated.
What is apfelwein, exactly?
Apfelwein — also called Ebbelwoi or Stöffche in the local dialect — is a dry, still fermented apple cider, Frankfurt’s signature drink and the reason this entire tavern tradition exists. It’s traditionally served in a Bembel, a grey-and-blue stoneware jug, and poured into a Gerippte, the diamond-cut glass made specifically for it.
Which of these taverns has been open the longest?
Adolf Wagner, open since 1931, by five years over Zum Gemalten Haus, which has run continuously since 1936. Both are still family-run across three generations and sit across the street from each other on Schweizer Straße.
Are these taverns open every day of the week?
Four of the five are — Atschel, Ebbelwoi Unser, Apfelwein Dax and Adolf Wagner all list seven-day hours in Google’s current data. Zum Gemalten Haus is the exception and is closed Monday and Tuesday.
Can I get a table without a reservation?
All five accept phone reservations and it’s worth using them, particularly at Adolf Wagner and Zum Gemalten Haus on weekend evenings when both taverns fill with regulars; Adolf Wagner also has a separate booking process for groups of 21 or more.
- 1. Apfelweinwirtschaft Atschel — Wallstraße 7, 60594 Frankfurt am Main
- 2. Ebbelwoi Unser — Abtsgäßchen 8, 60594 Frankfurt am Main
- 3. Apfelwein Dax — Willemerstraße 11, 60594 Frankfurt am Main
- 4. Zum Gemalten Haus — Schweizer Str. 67, 60594 Frankfurt am Main
- 5. Adolf Wagner — Schweizer Str. 71, 60594 Frankfurt am Main
