Frankfurt's cold green sauce blends exactly seven herbs with soured cream, poured over halved boiled eggs and potatoes. It is a main course here, not a condiment, and the city argues about every family's ratio.
Grüne Soße belongs to Frankfurt the way pesto belongs to Genoa. The canonical seven herbs are borage, sorrel, garden cress, chervil, chives, parsley and salad burnet, most of them grown in the Oberrad district, which styles itself the city's herb garden. Legend ties the sauce to Goethe's mother, and the city now stages a week-long Grüne Soße Festival each May where restaurant versions compete on the Roßmarkt. Season traditionally opens around Maundy Thursday, when the first bundled herb packets appear at the markets.
4 editor picks for Grüne Soße in Frankfurt, ranked by editorial score. All Frankfurt signature dishes · Grüne Soße across every city.
Apfelwein Wagner ★ 4.6
sachsenhausen · Schweizer Strasse 71, 60594 Frankfurt am Main
Apfelwein Wagner is the Sachsenhausen tavern Frankfurt sends first-timers to, pouring its own Ebbelwoi beside Grüne Soße plates daily since 1931.
Zum Gemalten Haus ★ 4.5
sachsenhausen · Schweizer Strasse 67, 60594 Frankfurt am Main
Zum Gemalten Haus keeps the painted-parlour version of Frankfurt tavern culture alive on Schweizer Strasse, with Bembel service running since 1936.
Gasthaus Zur Sonne ★ 4.4
bornheim · Berger Straße 312, 60385 Frankfurt am Main
Gasthaus Zur Sonne has stood at the top of Frankfurt's Berger Straße for over 250 years, a half-timbered Bornheim tavern with a big chestnut garden.
Edel's Hausmannskost (Kleinmarkthalle) ★ 4.4
innenstadt · Kleinmarkthalle, Hasengasse 5-7, 60311 Frankfurt am Main
Edel's Hausmannskost dishes Grüne Soße and Hessian home cooking from stand 24 of Frankfurt's Kleinmarkthalle, the fastest honest lunch in the centre.