Aarhus City Map Anders Husa & Kaitlin Orr

Aarhus is the second largest city in Denmark. Despite being the little brother of Copenhagen in terms of population, it has an equally passionate food scene. In this foodie map, we have gathered all our Aarhus favorites. You’ll find everything from coffee shops and bars to bistros and high-end restaurants. Navigate the map easily either by scrolling through the list on the right or by clicking the points on the map. Places are listed in a geographical order.

Substans is our favorite restaurant in Aarhus. Head chef René Mammen and creative head chef Nicolas Jørgensen have created a beautiful space with equally stunning and creative dishes. Local, seasonal, and organic produce presented on hand-made ceramic and rough wooden tables. New Nordic in style and more than worthy of the one Michelin star.

The latest addition to Aarhus’s fine dining scene is Ghrelin, named for the hormone that causes hunger in your body. Chef partners Anders Kuk Kristensen and Nicklas Friis Nielsen have put together a three, five, or seven course menu for guests to indulge in. Our favorite course was the caviar tasting, featuring four different caviars: Siberian Classic from Caviar Giaveri, and Osietra, Baerii & Gold selection from Rogn Caviar.

The coolest place to hang out in Aarhus is Reduktivt, the new natural wine bar and bottle shop founded by Rasmus Koller. A fun selection of white, orange, red, and bubbly wine is offered by the glass or bottle, and some small plates are available. On our visit we drank Super Tak by Bodega Cueva By Mariano and Peach of Mind by Anders Frederik Steen – two of our absolute favorite juices at the moment! We loved the wine, the vibe, and the people at Reduktivt – definitely a place to return to!

Domestic was awarded one Michelin star in 2017, in addition to winning the Michelin Young Chef Award for Europe. Through an entrance in a back alley, you'll find inside an exposed brick wall dining room. Vintage teak and modern Scandinavian furniture is the setting for a multi-course meal. A large selection of snack kicks off the dinner, and an equally big number of petits fours end it.

Not only is La Cabra one of the best coffee bars in Aarhus, they also serve the best pastries in town! This is a great breakfast spot, and you'll always get excellent coffee whether you like it black or with milk. We shared an amazing almond croissant, an even better canelé, and a great Ethiopian pour over, too! Their Nordic style light-roasted beans are sold and shipped all over the world.

Stiller's Coffee (formerly named Great Coffee) is possibly the greatest coffee bar in Aarhus. Situated in a back alley of the Latin Quarter, in a brick wall building with a rough, industrial style interior that still shows traces of the old chocolate factory. A combined roastery and coffee shop by the award-winning coffee roaster Søren Stiller Markussen who works in a close relationship with the coffee farmers. Here, you'll get coffee served the way Søren makes it, and not how you prefer it (don't ask for sugar!).

This food bar serves an a la carte menu focused on sustainable, ecological ingredients. Their wine list has the same philosophy, focusing on natural, honest wines from some of our favorite producers: La Sorga, Le Coste, Partida Creus, and Frank Cornelissen. We tried some of Møf’s signature dishes, and especially loved their beef tartare with berber, smoked mayonnaise, potato chips, and salted lemon, as well as their chocolate cake!

One of our favorite attractions in Aarhus was Den Gamble By (“the old town”). It was so cool to step back in time and explore what it was like to live in Denmark in the 1800s, and try the traditional pastries from back in the day! Proper old-school Danish pastries are for sale in this preserved mid-1800s bakery inside this open air museum.

For well-balanced flavors and good quality produce, check out Pondus, the casual spot from the Substans team. Simple dishes burst with flavor, like our main course of Danish pork cooked in chicken fat, with a creamy carrot and buttermilk sauce, topped with kale and hazelnuts. Their Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand is well-deserved – this was a meal highlight for us in Aarhus! Thanks to Rene and Louise Mammen for being the creative force they are in Aarhus’ dining scene.

Dancing your way through the Rainbow Panorama at the ARoS Art Museum is a must when in Aarhus. This is one of the coolest art exhibits we’ve ever seen – an elevated circular walkway overlooking the city with rainbow-tinted windows. The rest of the museum’s art collection is equally impressive, including modern paintings and sculptures from the likes of Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, and more.

Nordisk Spisehus is a modern Danish bistro by day, where you can enjoy lunch dishes like tartare with potato chips or cod with cauliflower and almonds. Evening come, the level goes up a notch and the concept changes to a cooperation menu between Nordisk Spisehus and other famous restaurants around the world. Some dishes stay true to the classic courses of the partner restaurant, while others are Nordic interpretations.

A cocktail a day keeps the doctor away, right? That’s the philosophy behind St. Pauls Apothek, an old pharmacy turned restaurant and cocktail bar. On our visit, the bartender nailed our taste based on simple explanations. We enjoyed a few fun, flavorful, and well-balanced drinks – the best medicine of all!

Mikkeller Bar Aarhus is centrally situated in the vibrant and busy street Jægergårdsgade. The famous Danish nomad brewery by Mikkel Borg Bjergsø stay true to its style, serving 20 rotating taps with beer from Mikkeller and other great craft breweries, in a stripped-down venue.

We can’t resist pizza and natural wine! In Aarhus we found the city’s best Neapolitan-style pie at Pizza Propria, and enjoyed a bottle of Denavolo’s Dinavolino Bianco on the side. We also enjoyed the blank coloring pages and crayons left on the table!

Hærværk is the punk rock hipster among restaurants in Aarhus. Think destruction, anarchy, and chaos ... or just a reaction to the establishment. The wine is natural, or raw as they call it, and most of the produce are locally sourced. Expect fermented flavors in the food as well as the drinks. Enjoy kombucha and home made liqueurs.

One Michelin-starred restaurant Gastromé in Aarhus is the picture of Nordic fine dining. The changing, seasonal menus celebrate local Scandinavian ingredients, and lots of the produce such as herbs, root vegetables, berries, and apples come from the restaurant’s own garden. Chefs Søren Jakobsen & William Jørgensen originally ran their restaurant in the city center of Aarhus, but moved to a new location in 2022, inside a beautiful villa in Risskov, just a ten minute drive from the city.

Aarhus' most renowned restaurant, Frederikshøj, is located a short ride outside of the city. Acclaimed chef Wassim Hallal, who is Danish-Lebanese, received his first Michelin star in 2015 and has kept it ever since. The style is Nordic-French with focus on technique and luxury ingredients. The restaurant may have white tablecloths, but the meal is anything but stiff and boring. You start by picking fresh “carrots” and “tomatoes,” move on to a few incredible seafood and meat dishes (the Jerusalem artichoke spheres with lumpfish roe was our favorite), and finish with spectacular desserts (that are also not what they appear to be). It's a gorgeous, delicious, and super fun meal.

Located about an hour outside of Aarhus is Restaurant Moment, which serves only the food of the “moment” – as seasonal and local as possible. The meal here is completely vegetarian, but the produce and flavors are so great you won’t miss meat for a second. Some standout dishes were the baked onion with mascarpone, and the vegetable bao with sauerkraut, fermented pumpkin, chili and dill. A majority of the food comes from their own greenhouse and garden! We also loved the natural wines and housemade kombuchas served with our tasting menu. Restaurant Moment received a Bib Gourmand from the Michelin Guide in 2019.