Vienna, Austria

[englandmj7]

Couldn't find any specific Superjetset threads on this.....

I will be in Vienna in a week or so for a few days; won't have much time to explore and not really interested in shopping. Staying around Stephansplatz.

Are there any specific bars/restaurants/local places, etc that are unique and worth visiting on a limited schedule?

Hoping to get to a traditional Austrian restaurant one night and possibly a very cool historic, old world type bar...... other than that, open to any suggestions.

I think there are a few SF'ers who live there?

[ProfMonnitoff]

Sorry that I'm too lazy to go look for the addresses, but they should be easy to find. Traditional Viennese culture has pretty much been destroyed by tourism, but the new upscale places tend to reference it quite a bit.

The best modern take on Viennese food is at Meinl (the restaurant that's part of the 'supermarket'), but it may already be too late for a reservation.

Figlmueller is another upscale semi-traditional restaurant, but it has been falling off lately.

Slightly more obscure, Immervoll is great if all you want is a traditional Schnitzel. It doesn't have any of the typical tourist trap BS either that's so common in Vienna. Prices are very reasonable (15 euros for a main course that nobody could ever finish).

Indochine21 is winning all kinds of culinary awards, and is the only "asian fusion" place that I've ever really liked.

Limes is a really nice new place on Hoher Markt. The food is in my opinion better than Do&Co and it's cheaper, and the interior design is breathtaking. But the ceilings are so high that the acoustics are absolutely terrible and having a conversation on a table of eight is difficult.

Do&Co is still very good. I personally prefer the branch near the Opera over the one at Stephansplatz, but you can't beat the atmosphere of an outside table on the 8th floor across from Stephansdom.

My favorite upscale bar is Onyx, which is now integrated with Do&Co. Good drinks, etc. but again the main thing is the nice atmosphere.

It's a shame that most good "museums" in Vienna aren't open to the public. Andre Heller's 1st district house has one of the nicest private collections that I've ever seen. Also, there aren't really any "obscure" museums, the big ones are the ones that are worth seeing.

I know you said no shopping, but Park in the 6th district is great. It's not really a shop in the traditional sense. They're into architecture and furniture and more than half of the items in the store are books. The people working there are great, and they know in person most of the big fashion names that are/were in Vienna. Raf himself stops by occasionally.

First Floor Bar is in the Bermuda Triangle which is absolutely disgusting otherwise, but the place is great and has lots of history.

Planter's has a colonial theme, but they have the most impressive list of drinks of any place in Vienna, and it's surprisingly non-pretentious.

There are tons of old wine bars and beer bars in the various side street of the first district. However, finding one that isn't overrun by students who look like they're on the receiving end of caritas is unfortunately quite difficult.

Unfortunately the Viennese coffee culture has been overrun by Starbucks and its imitators, but there are still a few great places left. My favorites are Cafe Hawelka and Palmenhaus (also a great bar/lounge by the way). They couldn't possibly be at further ends of the spectrum, but they're both great.

If you're into architecture and furniture, the area behind the MQ/MUMOK is superb for that. Mariahilferstr. itself is dreadful, but the surrounding area has kind of turned into the artists' district.

Don't take taxis unless absolutely necessary. Walk or take public transport, it's much more fun. Try to stay away from the biggest streets, you discover so many great places that way.

[MikeN]

You're gonna miss Life Ball by a week, which is supposed to be insane. Some coworkers of mine are flying to Austria just for this.

[englandmj7]

Thanks for the in-depth response Prof; appreciate it. I'll definitely check a couple of those places out.

You're gonna miss Life Ball by a week, which is supposed to be insane. Some coworkers of mine are flying to Austria just for this.

Never heard of it. Interesting.

[AstroWolf]

yo yo my man, your in for a good time, its great there, and super fucking cheap if you have the time to go to the right places. i have a good friend from back in BK who has a radio show out there, ended up living there for years, and my GF lives out there, so i got some good spots in mind as i have visited a few times over the years. more for her than him though but dont expect any kind of list that is cohesive or even helpful, i am wasted most of the time in VIE or locked in a hotel room fucking and watching movies.

so i would say the coolest bar there is definitly right in the first and its called cafe american or loos bar. its really amazing and is talked about in almost every book about bars ever written. it is mixology to the max there, and they love to show new and old ideas of what drinks can be. the hemmingway is amazing, but tell the bartenders your open minded to what to try, i can not say enough about how many hours you can lose in this place, its really great.

there is another spot called the volks garden, its kinda annoying, but is really nice and it has a friendly enough vibe that does not resonate with the whole faciast thing that kinda haunts the town.

another spot featured in the movie before sunrise, is called the kline cafe, really a amazing place to have a beer and chill. right in the center of this little square that looks like motzart is going to walk by and offer you a drink.

there is this bar there called flux or something like that, i can find out for you, and its supposed to have one of THE BEST sounds systems in all of the EU. not the most expensive, but really amazing. its also right on the river, and everyone hangs out outside and sits on all these benches drinking and smoking, you can hear the music fine from outside and chill, but inside is nuts.

also you hve to go get a sacche torte (totally misspelled) its chocolate cake with rasberry jam or something mixed with chocolate covering it. very nice. the cafe grand central, or the motzrt cafe (more mersh) are both good to go get a malange and a piece of cake. the coffe culture there is HUGE.

i would also go to this spot called CAFE KORB. its fucking great VIE soul food owned by a ex super model whos old now and sits in the corner with her hags gawking all night, AMAZING to watch! i get the beef stroganof or the chicken salad. everything on it is good and really what traditional food is like. kinda expensive, but worth the good beer and good old old look. this is what it was like when the war was ragin, there are old men there that just sit. dont do anything, but order one coffee, and sit all day reading newspapers talking shit. the waiter will bust your balls all day, he rocks!

a funny thing about VIE too is that people dont really get weed out there, nothing is good at least. so they are fiends like you never ever seen. its amazing. i have seen girls offer sex to smoke weed there, so if you can, bring some, cause it gets really fucking akward how much these people want weed, and how they cant get it at all. if you stop by A dam i will lace you, trust me, it would be worth it!

anyway, there are a bunch of other things i should tell ya, or i can ask my girl too if she knows anything, PM me if there is anything you would want or be interested in while yer there. mos tof what im talking about is one stop or so away from where your staying if not right near it, so go for yours.

oh yeah, and i started a thread just like this about a year ago, i got some really good answers, if you look at my post history you could find it, or you could have just searched!

peace,

AW

[englandmj7]

Thank you sir. Great advice. I actually saw a couple of those places mentioned in some minor research I did online........

oh yeah, and i started a thread just like this about a year ago, i got some really good answers, if you look at my post history you could find it, or you could have just searched!

I tried! Nothing popped up.......

[ProfMonnitoff]

Volksgarten is awful and you can skip it unless you like newly rich people crowding in a mediocre club, listening to mediocre music, and pretending they're in hollywood.

I'll second Flex though. The clientele is all over the place, but that's what's so great about it. Yeah, the sound system is amazing, the people who built the place are all geeks in the best way possible, they have membranes installed in the floor, it's insane. My favorite night to go to Flex is on tuesday, but it really depends on the program and what type of music you're into.

I also forgot to mention Fluc in the second district, which is both a great lounge type place and a great club, though just like Flex, it's a good idea to look at the program before you go.

Cafe Korb is strange, I think it's difficult to appreciate unless you're part of a certain crowd. I always run into friend's parents when I go there though, which can be either great or awful.

[AstroWolf]

i was jus tbeing a jerk about the serach dude.

if you PM me your email i will have my GF cook you up a better list if ya want.

always nice to help ya out england!

[Blicero]

Not sure if you're interested, but the Kunsthistorisches Museum is one of the best I've been to.

Awesome stuff, great Egyptian collection, great Breugel paintings.

[ProfMonnitoff]

I'm personally more of a Kunstforum/MUMOK person but like any other museum, it depends.