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 dishes: Char in beeswax, Tasting menu
Must order: The full chef tasting; the wax-cured char from Reitbauer's own water is the canonical course.
Tip: The ground-floor Meierei in Stadtpark serves breakfast and a 180-cheese trolley without the dining-room wait list.
Address: Am Heumarkt 2A, 1030 Wien, Vienna
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
Order: The chef tasting; the counter seats put you across from the pass.
Tip: The sibling O boufes on the same block pours the same kitchen's small plates with no booking lead time.
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
Order: The full evening tasting; dinner only, no a la carte.
Tip: Dinner Monday to Friday only; the room takes weekends off entirely.
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
Order: Tafelspitz vom Schulterscherzel; the cut Franz Joseph is said to have favoured.
Tip: Open daily 11:30 to 23:30; the kitchen runs lunch through dinner without a break.
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
Order: The Original Figlmueller Schnitzel; one is plenty for two appetites.
Tip: Book ahead; the room runs at capacity from 11:00 every day, kitchen closes at 21:30.
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
Order: Wiener Schnitzel vom Kalb; the veal version is what the dish was originally meant to be.
Tip: Less of a crush than the two pork outlets around the corner; book the Schnitzel Academy upstairs to learn the technique.
Skopik & Lohn on Leopoldsgasse in Vienna's Leopoldstadt cooks modern Viennese classics under Otto Zitko's hand-painted ceiling, the 2nd district's most-recommended room.
Signature: Wiener Schnitzel, Backhendlsalat
Order: Wiener Schnitzel with potato salad and lingonberries; the canonical version of the dish.
Tip: Open Monday to Saturday from 18:00 to 01:00; the bar at the front runs later than the kitchen behind.
