The only formal restaurant that we went to on our recent visit to Vienna was the Steirereck Restaurant that we had written about. Formal restaurants are nice but the meals take up too much time. We decided to have the rest of our meals in the Austrian capital in casual Vienna restaurants with a preference for local Viennese cuisine. Here is a list of the more memorable casual Vienna restaurants that we tried while visiting the tourist attractions of the city. Most of these restaurants are located in the centre of Vienna and walking distance from the St. Stephen’s Cathedral.
Lugeck
Lugeck is a wonderful restaurant that we discovered on this trip. It is restaurant serving traditional Viennese cuisine. It is five minutes walk from St Stephan’s Cathedral. We would not have thought of this restaurant if not for the recommendations made by the locals we met at the Le Cru champagne bar. We had beer (4.50 euros/ pint) and boiled beef (20.50 euros). We would also never think of ordering boiled beef as it sounds so bland. But we discovered why it is a Viennese classic dish. The boiled beef here was delicious, especially eaten with the freshly grated horse-radish. The potato rosti side dish was also very good.
Lugeck 4, 1010 Wien +43 1 512 50 60
Daily from 11:30 to midnight.
Le Cru
Comptoir de Champagne
Not a restaurant, but Le Cru champagne bar is a unique f & b establishment in Vienna. It only serves champagne. We could not resist having a few drinks there when we saw it. Apart from the usual big champagne names, they also get supplies from small producers. We tried their champagne of the day – Bergeronneau-Marion Grand Reserve. It is a name we have never heard of but was brilliant. At 8 euros a glass it was great value for money. Water and biscuit sticks were complimentary. The friendliness of the people were also memorable. They recommended the Lugeck restaurant to us. Le Cru is a stone’s throw away from St Peter’s Church (Peterskirche) where concerts are often held.
Café Sacher Eck Vienna
The Sachertorte is a type of chocolate cake that is synonymous with Vienna. According to Wikipedia, the origins of the cake can be traced to 1832 when the cake was prepared by an apprentice chef Franz Sacher of the Prince Wenzel von Metternich. It was subsequent served in Hotel Sacher in Vienna in 1876 and has been famous since then. We went to the new cafe Sacher Eck on the ground floor of the hotel. Right across the road (the Philharmonikerstraße) is the Vienna State Opera, a major tourist attraction, although it can be said that the Sacher cafe is a tourist attraction by itself.
The place was mostly packed with tourists. Like many of them, we had to try the Sacher cake as well as the coffee – Sacher melange. We also tried the apple strudel. They were all good (although I think good quality cakes such as this or better can be found in many places). But to try the Sachertorte in Vienna was somehow something we had to do.
Sacher Eck Wien
Sacher Hotel
Philharmonikerstraße 4/1010 Wien
Open daily from 08.00 am – midnight
(Mezzanine on 1st floor from 08.30 am)
Meals can be ordered until 11.30 pm
Bitzinger’s Augustinerkeller
Bitzinger’s Augustinerkeller is a restaurant at the ground floor of the Albertina Museum. It is said to be “one of the last ancient monastery cellars in Vienna’s historic city center”. The ancient vaulting of the cellar gave the place a mysterious atmosphere. The restaurant serves Viennese cuisine. We had salad and boiled beef at Bitzinger’s Augustinerkeller. It was good but not as tasty as the one at Lugeck. A musician comes around with his accordion. The place can get quite noisy but that perhaps adds to the atmosphere which to me is the main attraction of this restaurant.
Bitzinger’s Augustinerkeller
Opens Daily
11:00 am till midnight
+43 (0) 1 533 10 26
info@bitzinger.at
Augustinerstraße 1
1010 Vienna
Austria
Landtmann´s Jausen Station
The Schönbrunn Palace is one of the main tourist attractions in Vienna. A full tour of the of the Palace and the Gardens takes at least half a day. Landtmann’s Jausen Station is not an obvious place to eat as it is a cafe located not in the Palace but in one corner of the Gardens.
We think that it is the best restaurant in the Schönbrunn Palace grounds and a nice place for refreshment during a visit there. We had a light lunch of sausages and a platter of cheeses and bread.
Casual Vienna restaurants near tourist attractions 2018
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