Vienna’s 3 best places for finger-licking ribs in winter

Ribs of Vienna is one of those places you may have discarded as a tourist trap too quickly. The restaurant attracts a lot of tourists, and you may find a pretty massive line outside the restaurant during busy lunch hours, but (and here’s the but) the ribs may be the best you’ve ever had! Keep that in mind when you’re snubbing your nose at the place. For 18 years, this big-ass restaurant buried underground in the 1st district has been priding itself on it’s ribs. Looking at the menu, we feel like we’re in a Disneyland for rib-lovers, as our eyes dart up and down the long list of spare ribs in it’s varying prep’ styles and sauces. What draws most underground below the arched roof is their ‘1 meter spare ribs’ claim to fame (we feel like that deserves to be blinking on some big billboard in neon lights somewhere). The top hits at Ribs of Vienna are ribs in the flavours of ginger, dijon, and diabolical. In December, the restaurant is bringing a spicy Christmas flavour in the name of ‘gingerbread’ spareribs to the menu…MMMM, nothing more seductive than some festive fleisch!

A few minutes walk from the U4 station, Hietzing, you’ll find Brandauer Schlossbräu. This place is a unique creature – unpretentious from the outside, old-school Habsburg grandiose on the inside. A large, multi-level dining room with a hexagon shaped bar takes center stage and greets visitors on their way in. Look up for some cool chandeliers and paintings of long-gone Habsburgers looking down at you. It’s as good a place as any to munch on some ribs.

We’re seated in one the small concaves, overlooking the rest of the restaurant. Settling down with one of their house brews, we can’t wait for our ribs to arrive. The serving is generous – two large strips of ribs, accompanied by fried potatoes, red onions and three different dips on the side.

From our first bite, it’s quite clear that these ribs are freshly grilled. They’re crunchy on the outside, yet tender on the inside. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t dip them into the sauces with vigor, though. We’re not proud to say that we asked for extra portions of sauce with a carnivorous look in our eyes. The waiter knew better than to leave the sauces empty again, and continued his friendly service throughout lunch. We were never left wanting for anything, and he was quick to fill up our glasses.

For 17.50€, it’s a good price for the portion you have slapped in front of you. Also, the side of fried potatoes means you can skip on the appetizer. It’s also enough to share for two people. As suckers for Kartoffelsalat (potato salad), we ordered this as a side, which came highly recommended. It’s that perfect mix of greasy, finger-lickin’ good ribs and vinegary potato salad that will have you eating more than you planned to at Brandauer

Plus: go all out and couple your ribs with their house Zwickl beer. Also, in summer, their Biergarten is amazing.

Ribs and a riverside view attract the masses to Strandcafé where the waiters are warriors, those who don’t reserve are long-waiters, and the summer vibe is palpable during the sunny months.

During winter, this place only sees those craving their famed BBQ, especially their ribs.  The sight to be seen playing out in the open kitchen will give away what they’re famous for here – an army of cooks tend to piles of ribs on a sweeping charcoal BBQ, Steckerlfisch ( a spiced fish grilled on a stick in a traditional way ) is roasting away, and rows of the famed fresh Strandcafé Bratwürste sausages make smoke. A lot of people recommend this as THE place for ribs if you ask, and while they were more-ish and had us behaving in a way that we wouldn’t want our lovers to see (let us break it down for you in slow motion – teeth tearing at meat, no serviette found so fingers are wiped on shirt, sucking on bones, forearm used to wipe away grease and mess from mouth region…ok, the chin and neck region, too) we’re just saying – don’t expect your tastebuds to be tap dancing. At most, we’d say they’re a solution to sate the craving in a city where a demand for quality BBQ outstrips supply. However, ribs are best when fresh, which means judging by the turnover here, you’re in good hands.