Free-range chicken jointed into eight, dredged in flour, egg and Semmelbroesel, fried in clarified butter or pork lard until the breading puffs and crisps. Served with parsley potatoes, cucumber salad and lemon.
Backhendl was an aristocratic dish in the 18th and 19th centuries when chicken was a luxury; it became the Sunday plate of the Wiener bourgeoisie and a Heuriger staple. The Schweizerhaus in the Prater still cooks the canonical free-range version with potato salad; Plachutta runs the classical bone-in eight-piece preparation.
4 editor picks for Backhendl in Vienna, ranked by editorial score. All Vienna signature dishes · Backhendl across every city.
Schweizerhaus ★ 4.6
leopoldstadt · Strasse des Ersten Mai 116, 1020 Wien
Schweizerhaus in Vienna's Prater is the city's most famous beer garden, the Karlovary-style pork Stelze and unfiltered Budvar tap drawing crowds from March.
Plachutta Wollzeile ★ 4.6
innere-stadt · Wollzeile 38, 1010 Wien
Plachutta on Wollzeile in Vienna is the canonical Tafelspitz address, the boiled-beef pot served in copper pans with rösti, apple horseradish.
Figlmueller Wollzeile ★ 4.5
innere-stadt · Wollzeile 5, 1010 Wien
Figlmueller has hammered Vienna's most famous Schnitzel on Wollzeile since 1905, a plate-overhanging pork cutlet fried in three fats and served.
Lugeck Figlmueller ★ 4.4
innere-stadt · Lugeck 4, 1010 Wien
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.