Falstaff Restaurant Guide 2025: The best Viennese bistro
Beisl, but hip: Julian Lechner dusts off pub favorites such as baked meat and offal with flair and verve, while Simon Schubert always has just the right bottle at the ready.
For decades, authentic tavern cuisine has been served in a rustic inn atmosphere. The best basic products form the basis, and beloved classics from Krautfleckerl to Beuschel are the result.
Under the aegis of Martin Pichlmaier and thanks to refined dishes by Roman Artner, the Herkner is experiencing a real heyday. Fantastic, leafy inner garden. Tip: four- or five-course menus. Great wines!
Only a few inns can boast 110 years of tradition. The Pruscha family runs their cozy and rustic restaurant with a very personal touch. Great wine selection! Tip: Only cash is king here.
At first glance, the “Stern” in Simmering might look like your average Viennese restaurant. But nothing here is ordinary. It starts with a peek into the refrigerator in the entrance area, where a hare chili is always in stock among the dishes displayed across the aisle. The trail leads to owner Christian Werner, who is as crazy about hunting as he is about wine. His second passion is to thank for a wine list featuring nearly 700 entries. Actually, that’s not quite right—there are two wine lists, one for reds and one for whites. Elsewhere, Prosecco as an aperitif is considered the height of luxury; here, you can even enjoy a glass of Roederer Cristal at a reasonable price. And following Peter Zinter’s departure for the “Gogosch” in Donnerskirchen, here’s the next unusual twist: The new chef is Armin Hagenhenrich, originally from Münster. He conceived the unusual Austrian-German restaurant “Die Botschaft” in Copenhagen and also cooked at the iconic Berlin spot “Clärchens Ballhaus.” Now it’s Vienna’s turn: “It’s always been on my list. You can still make a difference here.” He wants to streamline the menu to focus on precision. Here’s what that tastes like: When owner Werner has 200 pheasants on hand, Hagenhenrich turns them into 15 liters of consommé, served with egg yolk and sherry—simply brilliant. Also new: “Organic veal tongue salad,” subtly Asian-marinated and served with frisée. Recently added to the “tasting menu” (6 courses for a reasonable 95 euros): brain baked in a delicious French langoustine bisque. And recently announced on Facebook: “Pierre Koffmann” pork trotter—a legendary dish by the French chef from his former three-star restaurant in London’s Knightsbridge. Hagenhenrich clearly still has plenty of plans in store.
Even after the successful takeover by Janette and Alexander Civic, the Meixner has remained what it always was: a restaurant for everyone and all occasions. Top: the tripe and the wine selection.
Living pub culture with Viennese soul: excellent cuisine, a casual pub atmosphere and a hostess with charm. Warmth is what counts here - with schnitzel and beer, everything just feels right.
Successors for an inn are rarely sought with such publicity through calls for help in the media and social media posts. The landlords of the "Stafler" offered South Tyrolean cuisine in the jewel with the magnificent "Bretschneider" brand bar. The new operators who were eventually found found "Zum Bretschneider" to be the perfect name. Jürgen Sattler and Klaus Silberbauer are known as the patron and restaurant manager of the chic "Sattlerei" in Vienna two, which disappeared in 2024 after economic turbulence. Here in the heart of Meidling, the two want to keep the locals happy with affordable lunches. At the same time, they want to join the small, fine list of pubs that cultivate the Viennese recipe canon and appeal to the wine-loving public. On the former: the wittily written menu includes a "Bretschneider Brettl" with melt-in-the-mouth bacon and home-made sausages, veal tongue sulz, old Viennese baked meat "classically from boiling meat" or an "Andauer Beuschl", where a kind of accompanying text announces that it is "a family recipe only with heart & tongue in a creamy roux" - in other words, not Viennese style. A recommendation, but very different from what we are used to. The striking meat quality is explained by Höllerschmid as the general supplier. Only the very compact Somlauer Nockerl would benefit from an overhaul. The brew comes from Weitra, Zwettl, Augustiner Edelstoff is also available. And then there's the wine list. Four pages of superbly selected Austrians and just as many with Germans, Burgundy, Bordeaux and Champagne - all with suburban pricing. Vienna has a new old good restaurant.
Rustic dining rooms, shady garden. Michael Kantor and his team run the restaurant with a sense of tradition and gentle innovation. Specialties: Fried chicken, veal liver, fish soup. Great wine selection.
Green lamperies, intimate wooden boxes - it looks as if it has always been there. Yet the restaurant was only reopened in 2011. Wiener schnitzel, veal liver, Kaiserschmarrn - all the classics are here.
People have always met in this Viennese pub to chat, philosophize and feast: the schnitzel is legendary. The fact that Trumer is on tap makes going home that little bit harder.
Also part of the Figlmüller empire, but not quite as crowded as the two pork schnitzel outlets around the corner. Alternatively, you can get the original veal schnitzel and all kinds of other classics here.