44 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.

Dine at Vienna's poshest restaurant while taking in the stunning, 360-degree panoramic vistas of the city's skyline from the 18th floor of the Sofitel Stephansdom. The gourmet meals, often made with seasonal, locally-sourced fare, are just as fabulous as the view. A four-course tasting menu may include a caviar sandwich, sweetbread, fresh pan-fried pike perch from nearby Neusiedler Lake, and a dessert of melon with Yuna chocolate, parsley, and hazelnut. The ambience is centered on the spectacular ceiling, designed by Swiss multimedia artist Pipilotti Rist. She has created a magnificent visual feast, which is best viewed at sunset, as the changing colors outside have a lovely dance with the colors playing out on the ceiling above you.

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.

Considered one of the world's 50 best restaurants and holding two Michelin stars, this eatery is definitely the most raved-about place in Austria. Winning dishes include delicate wild boar's head with "purple haze" carrots; turbot in an avocado crust; or char in beeswax, yellow turnips, and cream. At the end of the meal, an outstanding selection of more than 120 cheeses awaits. The restaurant is in the former Milchhauspavilion, a grand Jugendstil-vintage dairy overlooking the Wienfluss promenade in the Stadtpark, the main city park on the Ringstrasse. If you don't want the whole gala Steirereck experience, opt for a bite in the more casual lower-floor Meierei, which is still stylish, with its hand-painted floor and furniture in shades of milky white.

A winding walk up a tree-lined lane brings you to the garden of one of the city's most well-known heuriger. Here you will find one of the finest, most peaceful views around along with specialty wine like the Grüner Veltliner. The tables in the ample garden overlook Vienna's vineyards, from which you can see part of the cityscape. Malvasier (also a Viennese white) and Chardonnay are among a host of others served up. ManyAustrians go for the heuriger hallmark drink "spritzer"—wine mixed with sparkling water. The buffet is a bounty of traditional dishes, including Wiener schnitzel, fried chicken, vegetable strudel, pickled vegetables, and cheese and meat platters.

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.

If you're lucky, you can snag a table in the idyllic garden of this low-key pub, hidden away inside a delightful Biedermeyer cobbled courtyard. The staff is young, hip, and carefree, and will gladly serve you breakfast until 3 pm. Dinner is modern Viennese—with a handful of vegetarian options. Vines and ivy provide cover from the intense summer sun while walls of the passageway leading from the courtyard are lined floor to ceiling with concert placards. In winter, there's nothing cozier than to sit inside and sip the ginger apricot punch.

This "Neo-Gasthaus" spot has an interior like a traditional gasthaus, but a modern and unexpected concept and menu. The menu, served family style, changes almost daily and focuses on seasonal products, many sourced regionally.

Run by a Georgian couple with Lebanese roots, this stylish and airy restaurant is part modern Viennese coffeehouse, part Mediterranean escape. The light-filled interior features a beautifully tiled bar area with Lebanese tile, ornate lamps, and vases filled with fresh flowers, while the shady terrace is a perfect spot to slowly enjoy specialties like kinkhali (meat-filled dumplings) and kwerebi (Georgian ravioli), along with Georgian wines, and specialty teas and coffees. Make a reservation for breakfast here as the Georgian breakfast of cheese-filled bread with an egg in the middle has made it one of Vienna's most popular breakfast spots. Come with a group so that you can sample the Russian breakfast (with vodka) and a Viennese breakfast, too.

Pay what you like for vegetarian Pakistani comfort food (think curries, dahl, and rice) at this casual little gem.

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.

The best place for a bite of traditional food near the Kunsthaus Wien and the Hundertwasser House is Gasthaus Wild. Formerly a wine tavern, it's now a down-to-earth beisl (the equivalent of a pub, also called a gasthaus), where the menu changes regularly but almost always features local dishes. Chef Robert Titz sources most products locally and they also make their noodles and sourdough bread in-house. Check out the selection of wild game when in season. The restaurant also offers fine wines (mainly Austrian) and an extensive dessert menu.

One of the friendliest places in Vienna, this wonderful wood-paneled old cellar—just across the street from the Konzert Haus—offers some of the heartiest home cooking in town. Come here to enjoy dishes that hail from Carinthia, like the tafelspitzsulz mit kernöl und zwiebeln (cold cut of beef in aspic served with onions). You'll want to use the semmel (white bread roll) to sop up that last drop of dark-green pumpkinseed-oil dressing. In suitable weather, the outdoor area has an appealing beer garden atmosphere.

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.

In the heart of the vine village of Neustift am Walde, this inn dating from 1609 sticks to tradition. The selection of white wine includes Grüner Veltliner, Riesling, and Chardonnay, and reds of Blauburger and Zweigelt. All help to wash down the traditional Viennese dishes served, including pork schnitzel and fried chicken.

An unassuming facade conceals a contemporary space for drinks and appetizers. The menu features Mediterranean bites with a touch of Asian, like the spicy octopus with grilled vegetables or the tempura cauliflower with roasted almonds and gomasio cream cheese. Their shops sells wine and spice blends, many of which you can experience in their dishes. 

Heiligenstadt is home to this heurige in one of Beethoven's former abodes; he composed his 6th Symphony, as well as parts of his 9th Symphony ("Ode to Joy") while staying in this part of town. The à la carte offerings and buffet are plentiful, and include traditional Viennese dishes like Tafelspitz (boiled beef with horseradish). You'll also find creative seasonal menus built around in-season ingredients like chanterelle mushrooms in late summer, pumpkin in fall, and asapargus in spring. There's always a good a mix of Viennese locals among the visitors here.

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.

This upmarket Asian takeout joint from the famed Japanese restaurant Mochi offers fresh ramen, sushi, and maki, plus coffee, matcha, and sake.

This traditional, white-tablecloth spot is known for its tafelspitz, a boiled-beef dish popular in both Austria and Germany and great on a chilly winter day. If that's not your thing, they also do a few hearty seafood plates, but this is a meat-focused classic local institution.