somebody should mention the xenix - cause although it's an old one, it's still a classic to start ur night on weekends. and for weekend afternoons in spring or autumn time another classic is bäckeranlage - it can get a little crowded and tones of children runing around but it's has its own charm for sure.
and a current must is the theaterspektakel on the landiwiese till end of august..

Hey there ! An Americana, I assume. I amn not there yet, but will be as off mid Oktober.
Maybe we can explore the city together, speak Englush (please !) and have some girls nights out !

@Sequelle: thx sooo much 4 all those suggestions!! Sound great, all of'em! How comes ur english's that brilliant? better than mine, actually...
And by the way, did u see the picture in the newsletter today? I took it!! Those guys EXACTLY are what i meant with "cowboy" - ya know... They're briliant... playing all this jimi hendrix stuff... just 4 fun an all 4 free... Fantastic!!! fell in love with all of'em...and their music 2, o'course!!
That's zurich the way I like it... love it...

It is supposed to say sentimentality where the three dots are. The end of the word was cut off!!

oh, once you're at Reithalle, go over to EL Lokal, which is a good place to hang out outdoors too. Great Grill-Food, too! They are football addicts and have a Sailor-who's-always-cruisin'-and-has-no-home-senti... which reflects in the Decoration of the place. It's quite fun. They have great concerts, too, and show almost EVERY Football-match that's on TV inside the bar.
Good music, too, at Helsinki, they have a website: www.helsinkiklub.ch Aad Hollander Trio is sth like the resident Band there. Good, hard rockabilly, unornamental, honest. Usually not my style, but live I adore them.
So much for now. Gotta work!!
:-(

Thanks for getting the Cowboy-question straight! Thought it was a new slang-expression I had never heard of!
For recommendations: Schweppes and massa have made a good start, I think.
I like the stairs on the shore of the limmat at sunset, with a friend, a tiny picknick and a glass of wine. They're beyond Escher-Wyss-Platz, on the other side of the river and part of the Wipkingerpark.
The Reithalle Restaurant at Gessnerallee in Summer is nice, too, as you can eat outside, in a backyard in the middle of the city, protected from the noise of the streets and with tons of other people (but usually there is space, and it's not obnoxious to have the others around, it is a good background).
Gave you just outdoor-options, the weather will be good!!

ah-hua is definitively not the best thai in zurich.
to charge you extra money for a bit steamed rice with your twenty-something meal in this unspectacular place is just cheeky.

@sequelle: cowboys&girls = people who take their lives the "easy goin" way, who don't care what was yesterday&what comes next. people who live just in the moment... cool and open minded guys who like good music (country no Must, but nice also)... Easy Riders, easy livin... ya know what i mean?
@the others: thx so far 4 lovely "tipps" as you might say...

some of my favourite places: the hamam at the münsterhof-gym in the oldtown (niederdorf), rietbergmusem (museum for asian/african art, in a beautyful old park near the lake), the terrace of the ziegel oh lac on a sunny weekendafternoon (big terrace next to the lake, at the rote fabrik), the "aha"-shop at spiegelgasse (small and funny shop with interesting objects about physics and mathemathics), the barfussbar at the frauenbadeanstalt (www.barfussbar.ch), the "new" botanic garden in the seefeld area (www.bguz.uzh.ch), the ufnau (small, quiet and romantic island, which belongs to the kloster einsiedeln. sunbathing and swimming are forbidden, but there is an oldfashioned and very nice restaurant, where you can sit under old trees. you can get there only by boat and it takes about 1 1/2 hour from bürkliplatz). another interesting place which isn't in zurich but which is quiet near: the fotomuseum in winterthur (international expositions about photography. www.fotomusuem.ch).

What is a cowboy or a cowgirl for you? People loving country music or just the adventurous kind that loves the endless and lawless sands of the prairies? ;-) If it is lovers of country music.. I cannot offer a lot of help..

a lot of things to recommend: first me, then some places:
idaplatz, unterer letten, botanischer garten, ahua (best thai restaurant)...stoppp, i shouldn't talk about my zürich-treasures....what about you: age, gender? i am 29, male, funny, interesting, open minded,,,(but that tells everybody) :) ...greeting...s