34 Best Restaurants in Vienna, Austria

Made famous by its illustrious guests, the Café Central is one of the most famous cafés in all of Vienna. The soaring ceiling and gigantic columns are hallmarks of the landmark, which was home to Viennese literati as well as world game changers at the turn of the last century, including Leon Trotsky, who mapped out the Russian Revolution here beneath portraits of the Imperial family. There is more than the standard café fare here, with the kitchen serving salmon fillet sprinkled with roasted pine nuts; or try the Mohr im hemd for dessert, chocolate hazelnut cake dusted with powdered sugar and served with hot chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Piano music fills the marble-pillared hall in the afternoon; it can get packed with tourists, but it's worth the crowds.

A favorite of politicians and theater stars (the Burg is next door, the Rathaus across the street) since 1873, this was Sigmund Freud's favorite café. If you want a great meal at almost any time of day, including options of several schnitzels, or just a slice of decadent cake, there are few places that can beat this one. During Ball Season, you'll spot tired but chatty groups of gowned and tuxedoed Viennese repairing here for breakfast after their night of dancing. An air-conditioned glass veranda has added contemporary flair to this venerable location.

Arguably the most famous café in Vienna, it is the home of the legendary Sacher torte, a dense chocolate torte with fresh apricot jam in the center. This legend began as a delikatessen opened by Sacher, court confectioner to Prince von Metternich, the most powerful prime minister in early-19th-century Europe. War-weary Metternich must have been amused to see a battle break out between Sacher and Demel—a competing confectioner—as to who served the real Sachertorte. Sacher puts its apricot jam in the cake middle, while Demel puts it just below the icing. If you're not a sweets person, try a savory alternative: Sacher Würstl (slim sausages served with freshly-grated horseradish, mustard, and home-baked bread). Mirrors and chandeliers add glitter, and there is live piano music every day from 4:30 until 7 pm.

The display cases are filled to the brim at the world-renowned Demel, a 200-year-old pastry shop and chocolatier famous for sweetmeats. Chocolate lovers will want to try the Viennese Sacher torte (two layers of dense chocolate cake with apricot jam sandwiched between and chocolate icing on top) and compare it with its competition at Café Sacher. Don't forget to watch the pastry chef at work in the glassed-in courtyard. Beyond the shop proper are stairs that lead to ornate dining salons where the decor is almost as sweet as the goods on sale.

Situated in the courtyard of the Stephansplatz, with a direct view of stunning St. Stephen's Cathedral, this teahouse is a rare find in a city steeped in the tradition of coffeehouses. It is a cozy tea parlor, indeed, with a selection of more than 200 brews and a particularly splendid afternoon tea menu with fancifully named options. Presented on the obligatory three-tier tea rack, the traditional finger sandwiches come with all sorts of fillings and are accompanied by scones with strawberry jam, clotted cream, and a selection of petits fours. They also have an extensive breakfast menu with bakery items, egg dishes, waffles, and pancakes, as well as substantial lunch or early dinner items including salads and plates of pasta.

In a stunningly short time, Filippou has made a remarkable impression on the Vienna dining elite, evident from its Michelin star and its Gault Millau Chef of the Year award. A seat at the prized kitchen table allows a view into the kitchen to watch the chef preparing the meal, including the famous escargot seasoned with horseradish and watercress. The dining room itself is an invitation to stay awhile; crisp, ice-blue walls are a cool complement to warm, blond-wood floors and pine tables. An abundance of natural light further softens the ambience during daylight, which is when many of Filippou's customers come to enjoy a multi-course business lunch that changes weekly. Dine outside in the garden in spring and summer and you won't regret it.

This gourmet establishment at the Palais Hansen Kempinski Hotel earned a Michelin star within months after opening. Now chef Thomas Pedevilla has taken over and serves an Alpine-Mediterranean menu. The interior is elegant, not opulent, with ivory walls and ebony-covered chairs complementing the stark white table linens. There are two entrances, one from the hotel lobby and one on the street, a nod to locals that this restaurant is for them, too. Five-, seven-, and nine-course dinners are available for a fixed price.

The classic Austrian dessert, the Sacher torte, resulted from a family saga that began with Franz Sacher, Prince von Metternich's pastry chef, and ended with Franz's son and his wife, Anna, opening the 19th-century hotel. Today, the Restaurant Grüne Bar continues the tradition of creating some of Vienna's finest cuisine, with modern takes on classic meals in multicourse tasting menus including a six-course "blind date" menu. The slightly less formal Rote Bar, at the front of the hotel, always has fish and meat classics on offer à la carte.

Back when Beethoven dined at the Black Camel, it was already a foodie landmark. Since then, it has been renovated (but only in 1901) and more recently split into a delikatessen and a restaurant. Try the former if you're in a hurry—fresh sandwiches are served at the counter. If time allows, dine in the elegant, intimate, Art Nouveau dining room, which serves full meals. The beinschinken (Viennese ham) is the specialty of the house and is renowned throughout Austria.

You can retreat to Café Frauenhuber, billed as Vienna's oldest café, to find some peace and quiet away from the busy shoppers on Kärntnerstrasse. Breakfast is a go-for-broke affair, and might include a pot of tea (or coffee), a glass of prosecco, fresh-squeezed orange juice, toast, and fresh salmon with a dash of horseradish. The original turn-of-the-20th-century interior is a visual treat, with the obligatory red-velvet seating and somewhat tired upholstery (if you don't suffer from back problems you'll be fine). Despite the history, you'll generally find fewer tourists here than in other typical cafés, and more of a local feel, which it's had since it opened its doors in 1824.

Practically a shrine, the Hawelka was the hangout of most of Vienna's modern artists, and the café has acquired an admirable art collection over the years. The Hawelka is most famous for its buchteln, a baked bun with a sweet filling, served fresh from the oven. While cakes, sausages and other hearty fare are on offer, this is a place where many come for just a cup of coffee or a casual drink. Ask to look at the guest book, itself a work of art, with entries including some illustrious names (including Elias Canetti, Andy Warhol, and Tony Blair). Back in the 1960s, the young John Irving enjoyed the atmosphere here, too, as you can see when reading The Hotel New Hampshire.

The café, named after the monument to Mozart (now in the Burggarten) that once stood outside, is overrun with sightseers, but the waiters manage to remain calm even when customers run them ragged. Crystal chandeliers, a brass-and-oak interior, comfortable seating, and delicious food—the tafelspitz is excellent—add to its popularity. With the Opera just behind the café, this is a fine place for an after-performance snack; be on the lookout for opera divas here for the same reason.

Located near the Hotel Imperial, this is an ideal spot for a coffee and cake or a meal after a performance at the Musikverein or Konzerthaus, both just a couple of minutes away. Open until midnight, it has a good choice of food and pastries. Wall-to-wall mirrors reflect the elegant clientele perched on dark-green leather seats. Even though the waiters can be a little snobby, the overall atmosphere is still nice enough to encourage longer stays. Piano music can be heard until late on Wednesday and Friday, and from 5 until 7 pm on weekends. Sit outside when the weather allows and appreciate the lights on Schwarzenbergplatz.

When you're ready to collapse after taking in all the art at the fabulous Albertina, take a break at the museum's on-site eatery where you will find a variety of options including sushi, Mediterranean, and Italian. In summer you can sit outside on one of the city's nicest terraces and enjoy the view of the Burggarten.

This spot opened in 1683 as one of the city's official stadtheuriger (wine taverns), to provide Turk-fighting soldiers with wine before going off to battle. Below the Esterházy palace, the atmosphere is like that of a cozy cave, with the maze of rooms offering some of the best wines of any cellar in town, plus a typical Viennese menu noontime and evenings. Ordering seems back to front: food orders are taken at the counter, while a waiter comes to the table to take your order for drinks. The best choice for meat lovers is roast pork with dumplings and cabbage. The wine tavern is closed July and August, but the restaurant and garden are open all summer long.

This Wiener schnitzel institution might be touristy, but it's known for breaded veal and pork cutlets so large they overflow the plate, and it still attracts locals, too. The cutlet is hammered—you can hear the mallets pounding from a block away—so that the schnitzel winds up wafer-thin. It's delicious because the quality (as well as the size: half a pound each) is unrivaled; don't forget to add lemon juice. The potato salad made with Styrian pumpkin seed oil (the oil is an Austrian specialty) is the best in town, and if you want to try the recipe at home, you can even buy its cookbook. If this location is full, try the one just around the corner, at Bäckerstrasse 6.

Dating back four centuries, this engaging old-world house sits in the heart of Old Vienna. It is one of the country's top addresses for beer connoisseurs and serves brews, both draft and bottled, dunkeles (dark) and helles (light), from the Gösser brewery in Styria. Of the four eating areas, many diners opt for the covered courtyard, where beer seems to taste better no matter the weather. Beyond the obligatory (but first-class) Wiener schnitzel with potato salad, another good choice is the Kas'nocken (pasta dumplings topped with melted Tyrolean mountain cheese).

Neatly tucked away in a quiet and quaint area of the Old City, this ancient inn goes back half a millennium (Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert all dined here). Yes, it's touristy, but the food—including classic hearty dishes like goulash soup, Wiener schnitzel, and apple streudel—is as good as that in many other beisl. You can hear its age in the creaking floorboards when you walk through some of the small, dark-wood-panel rooms. The Mark Twain room has walls and ceiling covered with signatures of the famed who have been served here.

This landmark café is on one of the most charming squares in Vienna. The "Little Cafe" is open daily for coffee, cocktails, and light snacks, and few places are more delightful to sit in and relax on a warm afternoon or even into the night. In summer, tables are set up outside on the cobblestone square where the only sounds are the tinkling fountain and the occasional chiming of bells from the ancient Franciscan monastery next door. The cafe can be seen in the film Before Sunrise. Service can be slow at peak hours. 

Down and down you go, into one of the friendliest cellars in town, where stelze (roast pork) is a popular feature, along with outstanding regional wines—Grüner Veltliner among them—by the glass or, rather, mug. This was originally the storehouse for wines from the Melk Abbey in the Danube Valley and dates from 1438, but was rebuilt in the 18th century. It's a complex of six cavernous rooms; the most atmospheric has low-arched vaults right out of a castle dungeon. The menu has the usual Austrian fare like schnitzel plus seasonally changing vegetarian meals.

Night owls flock to the bar at Motto am Fluss until the wee hours, but this sleek eatery serves an inspired selection of dishes when the sun is up, too, like tuna steak with creamy avocado sauce. The building overlooks the Danube and resembles an ocean liner, with a retro 1950s interior of checkerboard floors below and gigantic, globe-mirrored lamps above. Chairs and tables are of a heavy, varnished, dark timber. The dining room is sprawling and has huge windows through which you can watch the city's twinkling lights. The café and terrace have a less expensive bistro menu.

Popular with the locals and a great value, you'll find irresistible confections such as the Oberlaa Kurbad cake, truffle cake, and chocolate-mousse cake here. The lemon torte is filled with a light, fruity lemon cream and a thin layer of almond paste. The Maroni Obers Torte is a dark chocolate cake, filled with chestnut and milk-chocolate mousse, garnished with maraschino cherries. There are many Oberlaa branches to choose from, including Landstrasser Hauptstrasse 1 and Babenbergerstrasse 7. Included among the tasty delights are gluten- and lactose-free treats. Candy can also be wrapped as a lovely gift to take home.

In case its name doesn't give it away, the proximity to the opera house should be a clue that among the dinner guests will be many of the city's regular operagoers, sitting for a meal before the show. Located on a side street near Kärntnerstrasse, this restaurant focuses on traditional Austrian dishes. Other favorites on the menu include pork roast with sauerkraut and dumplings covered in a light caraway gravy, and vegetarians can indulge in cabbage pasta or roasted porcini mushrooms. The decor is stark white and the interior long and narrow, making it the perfect contrasting canvas for the warm comfort food it serves. Pleasant outdoor seating is available in the summer.

This fashionable establishment is in the basement of the 19th-century Vienna Stock Exchange and shares an enormous space with the flower shop Lederleitner. The chef creates a new menu of Mediterranean specialties each week. If you have a light appetite, ask for a smaller portion. Although this eatery is named after Theophil Hansen—the ornament-crazy architect of the Börse—the decor is sleek and modern.

Set within the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK), this warm and stylish restaurant offers fresh, locally grown fare under high, coffered ceilings and with furnishings and flatware to feed appetites for design. Dishes emphasize organic meat and poultry, while fish comes from Austrian lakes. Everything is either made on-site or commissioned from independent local enterprises. 

Vienna's most popular vegan ice cream maker has 11 locations scattered across Vienna's districts, but the one in the first district is closest to Vienna's major sights (there is a weather-permitting kiosk at the MuseumsQuartier, too). They're known for traditional flavors as well as nods to local and seasonal tastes like poppy seed and damson plums. Try the popular ice cream sandwich cookie (with vegan cookies, of course), cleverly named the "Inbetwiener" (Vienna is spelled "Wien" in German). Their ever-rotating flavors are listed each day on their Instagram and Facebook pages.

Vienna's favorite vegan restaurant has two locations in the city. The menu is varied, with wraps, burgers (veggie, of course), tofu dishes, and delicious quinoa concoctions.

Attached to the Burgtheater, this was once the carriage vestibule of the emperor's court theater. Today, the dining room is full of splendor and a menu that changes frequently, but diners can expect the best from one of Austria's most celebrated chefs. Dishes often include fish, beef, or lamb meals, and, of course, Wiener schnitzel. 

Down an old cobbled lane between Singerstrasse and Schulerstrasse and a stone's throw from the cathedral, Weibels Wirtshaus is one of the coziest places to have a lazy lunch or a quiet dinner. The dinner menu changes with the season; in summer try the Andalusian gazpacho soup, tafelspitz (boiled beef), and apricot pancakes for dessert. Try to reserve a table upstairs in the intimate Galerie where there are only a few tables. On sunny days, opt for outside seating in the delightful garden. In winter, Wiener schnitzel with beer is about as cozy as it gets.