What's the food culture in Salzburg?

Salzburg eats later than you might expect. Breakfast runs 8:30 to 10am, and it's a spread, not a quick plate. At Café Tomaselli on Alter Markt, in operation since 1700, a typical order is a basket of Semmeln (bread rolls), butter, apricot jam, a plate of Schinken and Emmentaler, and a Melange (half coffee, half steamed milk) for about 14 EUR. The rolls arrive warm and crackly. Lunch is the main meal, served between 11:30am and 2pm, and it's heavy. Dinner tends to be lighter, often cold cuts and bread, and restaurants start filling around 6:30pm. Kitchens close early. Most shut by 9pm or 9:30pm, even on weekends. If you walk in at 9:15 expecting a full meal, you'll likely get a polite but firm no.

The Grünmarkt runs Monday through Saturday, roughly 7am to 1pm, directly behind Mozart's birthplace on Getreidegasse. This is where Salzburgers do their actual shopping. Stalls sell Bergkäse (mountain cheese aged 6-18 months, firm and nutty), smoked trout from Salzkammergut lakes, and Kürbiskernöl, a dark-green pumpkin seed oil from Styria thick enough to coat a spoon. In July, look for Marillen (Wachau apricots) at 4-5 EUR per kilo. The market smells like cut herbs and cured meat by 8am. To be fair, the Grünmarkt is small compared to Vienna's Naschmarkt. Maybe 30 stalls on a good day. But there are no craft-souvenir stands pretending to be food vendors. Saturday mornings draw the thickest crowds. Midweek visits between 9 and 11am are calmer.

Stiftskeller St. Peter has served food since 803 AD, which likely makes it the oldest operating restaurant in central Europe. The dining room is candlelit, the stone walls are cold to the touch even in summer, and the food is solid. Main courses run 20-30 EUR. Order the Tafelspitz or the pan-fried Reinanke, a whitefish from Wolfgangsee. For the city's best street food, find the Balkan Grill at Getreidegasse 33, a takeaway window that has sold Bosna since the 1950s. About 4.50 EUR. It's messy and sharp with onion, and you eat it standing in the pedestrian zone. On the left bank, Augustiner Bräustübl in Mülln is a gravity-fed brewery beer hall that has been pouring since 1621. Buy a 1-liter Masskrug for about 8 EUR, then fill a plate from the deli counters inside. Roast pork, Obatzda cheese spread, pretzels. Friday nights are loud.

The Altstadt on the right bank is where most visitors eat, and where most of the tourist traps live. Getreidegasse menus lean toward Wiener Schnitzel at 22-28 EUR and generic plates with "traditional Austrian" in the English subtitle. Cross the Staatsbrücke to the left bank and walk 10 minutes into the Andräviertel for a different price point. Gasthof Auerhahn on Bahnhofstraße serves Kasnocken (pan-fried cheese spätzle with crispy onions, rich enough to ruin your appetite for dinner) for about 14 EUR. Triangel on Wiener-Philharmoniker-Gasse fills with Mozarteum students and Festival musicians after rehearsals. Their Frittatensuppe, a clear beef broth with sliced crêpe strips, is 6 EUR. The smell of stock reaches you before the bowl does. That said, the menu is German-only. Point at what someone else ordered, or know your way around "Kasspressknödelsuppe" without help.

Salzburger Nockerl is the city's signature dessert, and it's specific to this place. Three peaked mounds of sweet soufflé (egg whites, sugar, a touch of flour) baked golden on top and still soft and steaming inside, meant to represent the Mönchsberg, Kapuzinerberg, and Festungsberg. Baked to order, takes 15-20 minutes, feeds 2-3 people, costs 14-18 EUR at most traditional restaurants. Café Fürst at Brodgasse 13 invented the Mozartkugel in 1890. It's a pistachio-marzipan-nougat ball dipped in dark chocolate. The original is wrapped in blue-and-silver foil. About 1.50 EUR each. The red-wrapped Mirabell versions sold at every souvenir shop are factory-made and noticeably sweeter. Neither will change your life, but the Fürst original is worth trying once for the texture. The marzipan is grainier and less sweet than the mass-market versions.