The 11 Trendiest Restaurants In Vienna in 2023

Bruder is the coolest restaurant in Vienna at the moment – it’s downright icy! If hipster weren’t such a loaded word, I’d deploy it in this writeup, but instead I’ll say that Bruder is the type of place where servers wear baseball hats and tattoos, where jars of fermenting vegetables line the walls, and where natural wines come from countries such as Czechia. Crucially, though, Bruder is a serious establishment and there's no trace of the blithe arrogance that often plagues some comparably minded restaurants in Vienna.

In line with the New Nordic-school, the plates are packed with seasonal produce and homemade preserves, as was the case with my trout salad enlivened with fermented chickpeas and peanuts. The pure-tasting bratwurst with sauerkraut arrived, playfully, on a plate resembling a paper tray, the standard delivery vessel for sausages at the city's famed Würstelstands. My favorite was the poppy-seed noodles – a classic across former Habsburg lands – and elevated with mint leaves and apple variations: chutney, sorbet, and a sip of brandy. Daring and delicious. The three-course prix fixe, for €53, will leave you with a full stomach (options also include a two- and a six-course meal). Reservations are a must.

For the past decade, Mochi has been the go-to restaurant for Vienna’s well-heeled and well-informed Millennials. Show parents the place across the Danube Canal they keep hearing about? Mochi. Friends visiting from abroad? Mochi. Jazz up that dreadful covid-plagued Saturday evening? Mochi (delivery).

Mochi's short menu is centered on sushi and sashimi but other Japanese classics also appear. The karaage, bits of crunchy and tender chicken thighs, is as good as at a Tokyo food vendor. The yakitori – grilled and skewered meat anointed in a soy and mirin-spiked sauce – is charred and smoky. The wine list runs deep, with “classy” and “wild” options from Austria and abroad. A full meal and a drink comes out to €45 or so per person, less than in some other cities for similar fare; no surprise that Mochi received a Bib Gourmand award from the Michelin guide.

The success prompted the owners to expand the brand and today the group has three additional locations in Vienna, with concepts ranging from ramen to specialty Asian food retail. All of them well-oiled operations. Advance reservation is a must.

Tian Bistro is the more casual sister restaurant of Tian, the swanky Michelin-starred fine dining temple in downtown. The Bistro is located in the hip part of Vienna, in District 7’s Spittelberg neighborhood near the city center. The claim to fame of both places is their vegetarian-only lineup (guests can also opt for vegan).

Without the crutch of meat protein, these seasonal veggies pack more flavors than most of us are used to. You’re here for the €51 six-course tasting menu – the professional servers arrive with impressive-looking plates where colors, textures, and flavors play off against one another, as with the creamy, crackly, and charred zucchini variations filled with polenta. Or with the baby corn appearing as a paste, on the cob, and as pop corn. The cheesecake topped with chunks of marinated rhubarb is shockingly good.

There's an excellent wine list heavy on Austrian producers. All around, a highly recommended dining experience. After your meal, for a change of pace, you can drop in to one of the alternative watering holes around the corner from Tian: Bukowski or Kreisky.

Nil is a chic Middle Eastern restaurant smack in the middle of Vienna’s District 7 in Siebensterngasse. Unlike with many nearby establishments, service here is pretense-free – it’s no surprise they’re packed every night of the week with well-off Viennese thirtysomethings.

The menu features reliable mid-range Levantine fare – muhammara, bab ganoush, falafel platters, tabbouleh, moussaka, kebabs and other grilled beef and lamb – with lots of vegan options and lively flavors. Given the consistent food and kind service, Nil is a safe destination for plunging into Vienna's most fashionable district while avoiding a potential disappointment. Mains are €18-22; wines, beers, and cocktails are also served.

Busy with restaurants and bars, Vienna’s Lerchenfelder Strasse straddles the edgy-hip District 7 and the calmer and more residential District 8. Accordingly, even the trendier establishments, such as Oreno Ramen, have a neighborhoody feel. Four kinds of ramen – soy, miso, and salt-based broths, and a vegan version – lead the tiny menu into ever-more delicious territories.

The Korean fried chicken, crunchy bits of sweet-spicy thigh meat drizzled with daikon and sesame seeds, for example, is as wonderful as are the flavor bombs of fried gyozas. Food is prepared behind a steaming izakaya-type open kitchen, which is wrapped around by low tables and communal benches packed with happy-looking Viennese zoomers and Millennials. Reservations are recommended (by phone). For a post-meal drink, head to Cafe Anno up the street.

Rundbar is a natural wine bar and restaurant smack in the heart of Vienna's fashionable District 7. As often with such places, an inflated sense of cool afflicts the servers here – a waiter the other day made a habit of pouring the wines on the go, two at a time, with varying degrees of success – but on good days, Rundbar can be more than just a feel-good hangout for uninspired Viennese hipsters.

The place is the project of Weinskandal, a leading natural wine distributor, meaning that the wine selection is deep, especially the Austrian and French labels (pet-nat? yes! orange wines? of course!). The concept is small plates; especially good are the croquetas de jamon, the marinated catfish, and the cold cut selections. Beware, a few of those with a couple of glasses of wine will set you back by €50 or so. Advance reservation is recommended; closed on weekends.

Vienna’s young and fashionable fill the tables at Der Fuchs und die Trauben, a lively restaurant located in a District 7 side street. The short menu features small plates, some of them Spanish tapas (croquetas, padron pepper, jamon platters), others inspired by the food of Austria and Japan. A separate burger menu also exists, but you can safely bypass it.

You’re here for the atmosphere, which is fun thanks to a full house most evenings and the kind group of servers. Note the above-average cocktails and the solid wine list, with both natural and conventional producers. A meal with a drink comes out to about €35 per person. Next door is the similarly hopping though pricier Cafe Kandl, to compare and contrast. Reservations recommended.