12 new Vienna food & drink spots you need to try to start off your new year

Category: lunch, dinner, quick bites, Mexican

Quality variants of the Mexican street food that fits in your hand, tacos, are hard to come by in Vienna. Until now. Taco Tante is the new taqueria bar bringing the lively vibes of Mexico to the city’s old city center with their menu (which is in the shape of a taco) packing tacos (which are tame, but full of flavour), burritos, quesadillas and more of the Tex-Mex favourites (including a burger with avocado on it). Latino music is playing on the speakers and they stock a few quality Mexican beers (yes, not just Corona) while their cocktails come potent with doses of mezcal and tequila. This is one fun place to get messy with some Mexican street food with friends.

This little cafe is super fresh and new, with only having had their soft launch last week. But there’s no doubt this is going to become a favourite amongst many. You see, this cafe may be little (around 20 seats in a magnificent setting of the Volkskundemuseum) now, but in the warmer months it will grow immensely. When the sun starts showing its face again, Cafe Hildebrandt will lay claim to one of the best inner courtyard Schanigarten in the center of Vienna, so expect to hear things about this place in spring. However, it’s charming cosy interior is already worth checking out now.

Category: cafés

Just a few blocks from the Naschmarkt, this new café is already making a name for itself and this may have something to do with the charming setting it’s housed in. Propeller 1050 is THE new cafe to be at, especially during breakfast time on the weekends. Expect plenty of avocado and other good looking breakfast favourites. The decor is wood-heavy and rustic and the windows are big – two great assets of any cafe. The menu is a real cosmopolitan mix, with a few Austrian classics thrown in.

Category: cafés

You won’t find a tea bag in sight at the new artisan teahouse in Vienna’s first district, but it is the only place in the city where you can have the heart-warming Chinese fermented Pu’erh tea experience. Sergei is our tea-cher (get it?) on this teahouse visit, and he’s the kind of person that is so passionate about something, his passion becomes contagious. So much so that we were googling, ‘Duck shit legend’ on our way home from the place (check out the story of the tea that carries this name). And this teahouse he’s created is a space where the rich and fascinating stories and culture that surround a humble cup of tea, can be appreciated.

Check out our full review of the place!

Category: café

The exposed brick walls, red tiled floor and wooden furniture all come together to create a cosy atmosphere at the newly opened, Café Trabant. They’re rocking a menu that mixes Austrian beer (there’s even Schremser on tap!), thoughtfully made cocktails (try their Moscow Mule) and pastries (Flambée tart, anyone?). With its bright yellow façade and wooden interior, Café Trabant is a pop of colour and warmth in the middle of the 18^th district. It’s got the charm of yesteryear, with a young crowd providing the cool vibes.

Category: cafés, cocktails

When a place calls itself a cafe and a cocktail bar, we tend to get suspicious, however, as we’ve heard this super new bar, cafe, whatever-you-want-to-call-it, is serving kickass cocktails, Le Funk is in this list as something worth checking out. They’re open every day fairly early in the morning and keep going until night time, so you can pop in for anything from breakfast to a cocktail after dark (or a cocktail for breakfast if you’re that way inclined). You’ll not believe the cool street art mural they’ve got on their walls! It’s all colourful, vibrant & funky – plus they host live music acts every Friday! Plus, we like the name. We’re guessing the music on the speakers is…

Category: lunch, dinner, steak

It’s another one for the meat lovers of Vienna! At this new joint, it’s all about juicy & tender steaks and big, fat burgers! Their specialty is the flat iron steak, while they serve up all kinds of special cuts. Mama and the Bull’s got that bare brick wall and neon light signs kind of look to it, which almost has a red light district, primal kind of atmosphere to it. The concept is tight, and if you dig meat, it’s worth checking out.

Category: lunch, early dinner, cocktails

On the other side of the Danube, across the greeny Wiener Prater, there’s a new charming restaurant in town and it’s called Volee. The menu is Austrian, with cosmopolitan twists involved. Dishes range from light bites, like a variety of Flammkuchen variants, to modern takes on those hearty Austrian plates, like Schnitzel, Goulash, and so on. You’ll also find international inclusions, like a club sandwich hiding amidst the menu. It plays the role as a lunch option when you’re looking for that familiar comfort food, and also as a cosy night spot to get intimate with a cocktail, or wine, or somebody you just happen to find rather sexy.

Category: cafés, breakfast

Good News for Jonas Reindl lovers: they just opened up a new store in the heart of the 7^th district! Already famous for their tasty specialty coffee and pastries, the folks from Jonas Reindl are keeping it up at their new address. Well, they’ve even taken it one step further by building their own roastery at the new address. These guys and gals are obsessed with coffee as you’ll see if you stand by and stare all creepy like while they’re making you one. Plus, they’ve got all those delicious fresh coffee smells happening here. MMMMM , cooooffffeeeeee.

Tip: try their cheesecake – it’s absolutely to die for.