Capital of the coffee house, the schnitzel, and the Gemischter Satz pour.
Vienna eats deliberately, drinks loyally, and treats the coffee house as a public living room. Wiener Schnitzel and Tafelspitz are the city's two civic dishes: the schnitzel hammered thin and fried in clarified butter at Figlmüller on Wollzeile since 1905, the boiled-beef Tafelspitz pulled apart at Plachutta with apple horseradish and rösti. The Kaffeehaus is older still: Café Central since 1876, Demel since 1786, Sperl since 1880, Landtmann since 1873, each ringed with marble tables, newspapers on bentwood frames, and a Mélange served on a silver tray with a small glass of water. The serious dining room has come along: Heinz Reitbauer's three-star Steirereck im Stadtpark cooks Styrian terroir in a glass pavilion in the park, while Paul Ivić's Tian holds a green Michelin star for vegetarian fine dining inside the first district. North in Heiligenstadt the Heuriger taverns pour their own Gemischter Satz wine under chestnut trees, and the Naschmarkt fills six mornings a week with stalls and small kitchens on the Wienzeile.
Every restaurant, cafe, market and bar we cover in Vienna, pinned. Click a pin for the page.
The plates that define eating in Vienna.
A veal cutlet hammered paper-thin, dredged in flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs, then fried in clarified butter until the breading lifts off the meat in a golden hood. The signature plate of the city, served with potato salad, lemon and lingonberries.
Where: Figlmueller Wollzeile, Lugeck Figlmueller, Meissl & Schadn, Plachutta Wollzeile, Skopik & Lohn
A piece of boiled beef, typically from the rump cap, slowly poached with root vegetables and served in copper pans with a clear broth, apple horseradish, chive sauce, roesti and creamed spinach. The plate Emperor Franz Joseph is said to have eaten daily.
Where: Plachutta Wollzeile, Plachutta Hietzing, Restaurant Rote Bar, Zum Schwarzen Kameel, Gasthaus Ubl
A two-layer chocolate sponge cake split with apricot jam, enrobed in a thin, glossy chocolate glaze and served with a quenelle of unsweetened whipped cream. The most photographed Viennese dessert, and the subject of a long legal-history dispute between Hotel Sacher and Demel.
Where: Cafe Sacher Wien, Demel, Cafe Landtmann, Cafe Central, Kurkonditorei Oberlaa
Paper-thin strudel pastry stretched until you can read newsprint through it, wrapped around grated apples, raisins, cinnamon, sugar, and toasted breadcrumbs. Baked golden and served warm with vanilla sauce or whipped cream.
Where: Demel, Cafe Landtmann, Vollpension, Cafe Sperl, Cafe Korb
A pork sausage with cheese pockets distributed through the meat, cooked on a roller grill until the casing blisters and the cheese inside melts to a near-liquid. Served with a Semmel, mustard, and a Pfiff beer at any of the city's Wuerstelstaende.
Where: Bitzinger Wuerstelstand Albertina, Wuerstelstand am Hohen Markt, Wuerstelstand LEO
A beef gulasch slow-cooked with onions, sweet paprika and marjoram into a thick, dark sauce. Served with a Semmel (white roll) and a fried egg on top in the Beisl tradition, or with bread dumplings as the dinner plate.
Where: Cafe Anzengruber, Gasthaus Poeschl, Gasthaus Wolf, Plachutta Wollzeile, Glacis Beisl
A handful of the places we send friends to when they are in Vienna.
Heinz Reitbauer's three-star Steirereck in Stadtpark cooks Styrian terroir from the family farm at Pogusch inside a mirrored glass pavilion in Vienna's Stadtpark.
Signature: Char in beeswax, Tasting menu
Konstantin Filippou's two Michelin stars on Dominikanerbastei in Vienna cross Austrian product with Greek and Mediterranean accents over a tight tasting in a serene downtown room.
Signature: Tasting menu, Crab and koji
Mraz und Sohn holds two Michelin stars in a family-run Brigittenauer room on Wallensteinstrasse in Vienna, with the Mraz brothers cooking a long modern Austrian tasting under their parents' roof.
Signature: Tasting menu, Suckling pig
Plachutta on Wollzeile in Vienna is the canonical Tafelspitz address, the boiled-beef pot served in copper pans with rösti, apple horseradish, and chive sauce in a 1010-postcode dining room.
Signature: Tafelspitz, Beuschel
Figlmueller has hammered Vienna's most famous Schnitzel on Wollzeile since 1905, a plate-overhanging pork cutlet fried in three fats and served with potato-cucumber salad in a 1010-postcode dining room.
Signature: Wiener Schnitzel vom Schwein, Kaiserschmarrn
Lugeck on Lugeck square in Vienna's first district is the Figlmueller family's wider-menu room: the original veal Schnitzel, Tafelspitz, Backhendl and steaks inside a 14th-century building rebuilt in 1897.
Signature: Wiener Schnitzel vom Kalb, Tafelspitz
Vienna's medieval centre inside the Ringstrasse: Figlmüller on Wollzeile, Plachutta's Tafelspitz, Café Central on Herrengasse, Demel on Kohlmarkt, and most of the city's Michelin rooms.
Best for: Schnitzel, Fine dining, Coffee houses, Tafelspitz
Across the Donaukanal: Skopik & Lohn on Leopoldsgasse, Mochi for Japanese, Karmelitermarkt on Saturday, plus the city's strongest cluster of new-wave wine bars and kosher rooms.
Best for: Wine bars, Brunch, Markets, Kosher
South-east of the Ring: Heinz Reitbauer's three-star Steirereck im Stadtpark, the Meierei in Stadtpark for its 150-cheese trolley, and Heunisch & Erben on Landstrasser Hauptstrasse for wine.
Best for: Fine dining, Wine bars, Markets
South of the Innere Stadt: Z'SOM's Michelin star on Gusshausstrasse, Vollpension's grandmother-baked cakes, and the southern half of the Naschmarkt.
Best for: Fine dining, Cafes, Markets
West of the Ring along Mariahilfer Strasse: the Naschmarkt food market, Café Sperl since 1880, Aend's Michelin star on Mollardgasse, and a long run of cocktail bars.
Best for: Markets, Coffee houses, Cocktail bars
The creative quarter: Tian Bistro and Swing Kitchen for vegan, the cocktail rooms of Spittelberg around If Dogs Run Free and Le Troquet, plus Kaffemik and Kafec for third-wave coffee.
Best for: Vegan, Wine bars, Brunch, Cocktail bars
Peak food season: Late August to October for Sturm, new wine, and Heuriger season in Grinzing and Nußdorf. Christmas markets (Christkindlmärkte) run mid-November to 24 December. Spargel (white asparagus) lands April to June. August is quiet: many small rooms close for two or three weeks.
Local dining hours: Lunch 12:00 to 14:30, dinner 18:00 to 22:00, kitchens in classical rooms shut by 22:00. Kaffeehäuser open from 07:30 or 08:00 and run until midnight or later; Heuriger taverns usually open from 15:00 or 16:00. Sunday is a normal restaurant day; most shops close.
Tipping: Service is included by law. Round up by 5 to 10 percent for sit-down meals, tell the server the total before they ring it on the card terminal, and never leave coins on the table. At Würstelstände and counters, a euro is welcome but not expected.
Peak food season in Vienna is Late August to October for Sturm, new wine, and Heuriger season in Grinzing and Nußdorf. Christmas markets (Christkindlmärkte) run mid-November to 24 December. Spargel (white asparagus) lands April to June. August is quiet: many small rooms close for two or three weeks.
Local dining hours: Lunch 12:00 to 14:30, dinner 18:00 to 22:00, kitchens in classical rooms shut by 22:00. Kaffeehäuser open from 07:30 or 08:00 and run until midnight or later; Heuriger taverns usually open from 15:00 or 16:00. Sunday is a normal restaurant day; most shops close.
Service is included by law. Round up by 5 to 10 percent for sit-down meals, tell the server the total before they ring it on the card terminal, and never leave coins on the table. At Würstelstände and counters, a euro is welcome but not expected.
If you only have one meal, eat Wiener Schnitzel. It is the dish most associated with Vienna.