Mister Sarkis is developing a comfortable, affordable, worthwhile spot in a formerly grim Austrian restaurant. Excellent humus and chicken skewers. Stiegl on tap.

The house-made beers are pretty good, although some are a bit silly (chili and rauch) and aimed at the non-beer-drinker crowd.

They used to have a great IPA that they've removed from the menu, so that's a semi-tragedy.

Food is okay. At first I really liked it, but then I realized every dish tasted exactly the same no matter what it was -- I think they must use old oil, and lots of it. However, it's prett tasty nonetheless and not very expensive.

At least they are somehow connected.

I thought the rooms were perfect. They basically moved into an old style "old man" restaurant and left it intact with only slightly hipped-up accessories. Then, they stuck to the local menu, but focused on delivering slightly higher quality products. It's good, but not amazing. Compared to other nearby Wiener Küche places, though, it's awesome.

One huge problem, though, is the fact that even though there are two big rooms, neither of them is designated as non-smoking. This is a total fucking bummer.

However, one can get "to go" coffee from here while doing your shopping on Kaiserstraße. The coffee is pretty much standard Vienna quality, i.e. not very good. But you're used to that, right?

I recommend it for "to go". Especially after Fair u. Mehr ripped me of for €4,50 for a to go Latte a few months back.

While I applaud the move to go "indie", the bagel quality has suffered. Where once upon a time one could hope for bagels approaching standard NYC level, the bagels are now uniformly too "cake-like" (i.e. too spongy and soft).

Still, everything is handmade in the shop, the coffee can be okay, and even though it is now a more disheveled and erratic affair, you'll find me here at least twice per month for a weekend bagel fix. Sorry if we take your seats.

Lovely five-spiced (?) beef soup was delicious and satisfying. Very friendly tri-lingual (or more) staff with a good attitude and work ethic (they actually try to please their customers and drum up business -- almost unheard of in Vienna)

The coffee here is slightly better than the usual Vienna coffee.

The outdoor area is nice for a soda zitron or a beer on a warm day. I particularly like their grill parties.

That being said, any place with the audacity to call itself "espresso" had better have a good product, and this place, sadly, does not. The coffee is terrible -- very typical, unremarkable, uninteresting and, often, poorly made.

Disappointing considering the fact that when I moved here I thought I had won the lottery because I lived very near Espresso. You see, being somewhat of a coffee nut, I was thrilled to find this place and, although it was closed at the time, an article from a magazine that they had posted in the window declared this shop to have the "best espresso in Vienna."

This, my friends, is a sad joke.

If you don't have high expectations, and want to feel a bit of the rapidly disappearing Neubau vibe, this place is worth a visit.

There's a no smoking area in the very back which is appreciated, but hardly spacious or that effective.

Decent food here, but the menu is limited to breakfasts and a couple other main dishes. The coffee is not so good, but the staff members are very nice, there's a non-smoking section and outdoor seating on the sidewalk.

In fact, I'd say this place barely qualifies as a mexican restaurant. Still, the drinks are good, the ribs are good, the platter of appetizers is great to share,and the garden-based location is a fine place to relax in the Prater. Worth a visit.

Just don't expect Mexican food.

Having been very disappointed with most Mexican and latin food in Vienna, this place really delivers an approximation of the San Francisco burrito experience.

Things I liked: the meats were well-spiced, the burritos were big and the ingredients were fresh. The staff was very friendly. Overall: very tasty.

Things I didn't like: only 1 kind of salsa, no hot salsas, no cilantro.

Overall, very worth a visit!

My friend, an artist, took me here. Otherwise, I would never have known it existed: no sign, nothing. Good spot, though.

The menu changes frequently and is always seasonal. The quality is very good and the prices quite reasonable for this level.

Recent dishes have included a lovely "fledermaus" of pork in a slightly spicey stew with dumplings and a walnut-stuffed pasta.

The outdoor area is fantastic in summer, and they maintain a complete nonsmoking room. Service is usally very good.

Make the effort to go there instead of Zanoni, Frateli or Schwedenplatz and you will be well-rewarded. Fresh, natural flavors. The pistachio is natural-colored and tastes as good as any I have had in Italy. My daughter is over the moon for the Zitron (lemon) flavor, which tastes of frozen lemons and nothing more. Not too sweet like Schwedenplatz or Zanoni and not too creamy like Frateli.

Gelateria Hoher Markt provides the only good gelato in the first district.

The only drawback is the fact that Hoher Markt is a congregation point for the obnoxious-smelling and totally senseless Fiakers of the first district. You will need to walk elsewhere if you don't want your gelato to smell of horse shit.

Both the vanilla and pistachio had a sort of fake chemically flavor and the pistachio had bits of some sort of malted cereal in it. WTF?

The "schokobanana" was okay, but very sweet and it, too, had a sort of chemical agent flavor. I am guessing they use some sort of flavoring syrups that contain artificial sweetener or they need to clean a machine somewhere ;-)

Still waiting to have great ice cream in Wien.

Suffered a lot from "austro" syndrome (dulled flavors, less spice, pre-prepared foods).

A retail shop with great service and a knowledgeable, friendly staff in Vienna. I almost had to tell the owner to end his sales show because I had already decided I was buying the product -- he was so keen.

The new location is fantastic: roomy for strollers, great selection.

However, the last time I went, the waiter was so rude that I'll never go back. In fact, I now actively oppose this place!

The staff is nicer, the room is nicer, the non-smoking area is actually available, and the food is as good if not better.

For pizza and simple pastas, this place rocks.

By the way, I figured out that many of the staff are Albanian, which may explain why they are so nice!

The service can be grumpy and it gets quite crowded, but the pizzas are awesome and the rest of the menu, which changes seasonally, is solid to excellent.

Hits include the pizza pecorina, with chunks of aged pecorino toscana atop a perfectly-cooked, perfectly handled pizza crust. Bisteca Fiorentina cooked in the mouth of the wood-fired oven is a rare (literally) treat.

As yet, there is no "non-smoking" room and this place gets quite "geraucht", so it is a bit of a bummer.

For me, it's my second or third favorite spot for pizza. They get excellent marks for the quality of the crust, the balance in the sauce and the freshness and quality of the toppings. However, I find the lack of even one or two more "interesting" pizzas a hindrance to giving them the coveted fifth star.

I am not asking for California Pizza Kitchen type "gourmet" pizzas, but how about a nice pie with aged pecorino Toscano? Every place has the corn and ham, so why do you?

I got food poisoning here once (I guess the arugula wasn't well-washed), but I return!

However, I love Ilona Stüberl.

The tiny room is almost always just crowded enough that one feels like one is having a cramped, Old Europe experience. The friendly family running the place manages to put out a pretty good plate of Hungarian delights, and they even gave us one of their specially-printed dinner plates to send to our NYC-based niece who shares a name and Hungarian roots with this locale.

Overall, a winner!

The claim on Mexican food is tentative at best -- they simply "Austrianize" a bit too much. HOwever, a few dishes are quite good and, until my last visit, they've traditionally had the best, freshest guacamole in the city. It's just a pity that they sometimes succumb to the Vienna plague of stale tortilla chips.

The back garden is a treasure in the 4th, and the service/owners are always very friendly.

Happy hour cocktails are a bargain and the margaritas are the second or third best in the city.

As far as "standard" Mexican restaurants, this place is the best. The only better ones are more casual: Tacos Lopez and Fresco Grill.

Don't expect much: Czech Budweiser on tap, house brand brews, full bar and flat breads with various toppings cooked in a wood-fired oven.

The setting is in one of the oldest buildings in Wien in one of the most charming old streets. They have a small outdoor area for enjoying yourself but they close it relatively early out of respect for the neighbors.

Kolar is worth a visit for a refresher when you're in the neighborhood or even as a destination for a casual get-together with friends.

Warning: this place gets SMOKED OUT and has no nonsmoking area.

I figured it would be high quality with such a plush location and perch. Sadly, that's not the case. The food is barely edible, the coffee is some of the worst I've had in Vienna, and the waitress had some sort of awful lip thing going on and kept licking her fingers.

The soda zitrone was good, though.

I ate here with a large party consisting of two families. We had excellent, friendly service and an amazing amount of excellent food.

We started with the totopos, crispy tortilla chips with three different delicious accompaniments.

The kids had a delicious chicken soup and quesadillas.

The adults sampled the chilaquiles (fried tortillas chips with green salsa and a perfectly-cooked flank steak), a lovely special shrimp dish with a sauce made from freshly-roasted chiles, an assortment of tacos including a delicious spicy sausage, and other delights.

The margaritas are perfection and reasonably priced considering the punch they pack, and the buckets of iced Mexican beer are MOST welcome. Los Mexikas also cranks out chelada and mechelada, which are beer with lime and chilies and totally delicious.

If you're familiar with the Mexican food scene here in Vienna, there are a handful of relatively fun and adequate spots, but only two serious contenders for delicious and authentic. Tacos Lopez and Los Mexicas. Of the two, Los Mexicas wins for a more varied and delicious menu and a more soulful, passionate approach to create good food.

The first time, I was floored by the fresh preparations and unique take on Austo-centric grub. The second trip, I ate horrible overcooked pork on a bed of what tasted like canned red peppers. I'll try it again, though, because good food is hard to find in Vienna and the first trip was a winner.

Service was okay the first time if a bit grumpy. Second trip there, the lady was super nice and efficient, but she was the ONLY server working the entire outside area and was totally overwhelmed. This being Vienna, nobody running the restaurant thought it was a good idea to get another server out there to help out.

Seriously. You pay.

That being said, this is probably the finest grocer in the city and, without question, the most diverse and high quality selection of edible delights in Vienna under one roof.

But, like I said, be prepared to pay.

I went to buy a turkey here and the price was something like 130 Euros! Needless to say, I walked out without a turkey. The same sized turkey ended up costing something like 50 Euros from the butcher in Naschmarkt and, had I had a bigger refrigerator, I could have had a much fresher and larger turkey from the islamic butcher in Naschmarkt for about €65.

Delicious and mostly very authentic. Heavily focused on Szechuan, which is my favorite!

Sure, one can get an "okay" cup of coffee in this town, but overall, it sucks. Mocca Club is here to rescue us! In addition to the excellent coffee selections, Mocca Club also features amazing hot chocolates, teas and has a great Hawaiian-ish atmosphere and wifi.

(WARNING: the ownership changed and this review applies to the previous owners' operation)

Unfortunately, smoking is allowed throughout with no dedicated non-smoking area, so that's a big negative and prevents Mocca Club from attaining that fifth star. Food is okay, but nothing special -- you didn't come for the food, did you?

It's larger than you'd thing, and very "Old Vienna" inside. The menu is small and focused: Wiener Kuche. However, I've found that the food here far surpasses most other Viennese Cuisine places that I have tried.

The Tafelspitz here was the best I've had. It was perfectly spiced and cooked, and served with the most delicious potatoes and creamed spinache as well as two sauces. The Wienerschnitzel looked great (I didn't try it) and comes with a special glass duck for squeezing the lemon (You have to see it to believe it)

Unfortunately, this place didn't live up to them at all.

First, the positive: it's a nice room, decent location, nice, laid-back decor and the Sol beer with lime I had was delicious. I imagine it might serve some decent cocktails and for the poor souls who have to rely on coming here, I guess it's a decent option.

Now, the negative: the food was really pretty terrible. We made the mistake of showing up on Sunday for the brunch. Of course, we tried to call to see if they were open or serving the full menu, but their phone goes straight to voice mail. Since the buffet looked horrible, we opted for menu items: some tacos, some enchiladas and some black bean chili. The taquitos (they did not produce what I would call a taco) came out "okay", but the rest was bland, boring, poor quality and just crappy.

Finally, the service was bad -- even by Vienna standards. I've lived here long enough not to expect much, but open disdain, surly, gruff treatment and flat out acting like I'm a nuisance for showing up to eat at your restaurant are just too much for me to endure. Yes, that was *NO* tip that I left you, asshole.

Just to explain. First, we showed up and the guy didn't even acknowledge our "hellos". OK, whatevs. I don't care. I asked if they had a non-smoking area, and he sort of said, "ya, outside" and walked away. It was 30 degrees in the sun with no umbrellas out there, so I chased him down and said, "no, inside." He pointed us to an area "ganz hinten" which was fine, but stuffy.

He asked if we were taking the buffet and I said, "we'll look at it, but do you have a menu?" "Only a few little dishes." Fine. Just bring it. That's okay.

So he comes to take our order, and, having noted it said "other food is available, just ask!", and, also having noted the chips and salsa already being served on the buffet, I asked if it was possible to get some chips & salsa. "No! I already told you - only what is written here." "Yes, but I just thought I'd ask, since it says "other food is available, just ask!" and -- "Bitte? he cut me off. Screw this guy and screw this place. Never again. Everything he said was with a sneer and with the half-open, disinterested gaze of a stereotypically mean-spirited and out-of-his-element Viennese waiter.

Also, they won't serve cocktails 'til after 6 and the 3 tortilla chips that came with our chili were stale. They don't make their own tortillas and basically this is seriously lousy and you'd be much better off just skipping it. Maybe they have a nice schnitzel.

What a surprise. I had no idea. A friend suggested we eat here for lunch one day and the pizzas were the best I have had yet in Vienna.

The selection is limited, but you don't need much more than a good pizza and a beer, right?

The crust was obviously made from a good dough. The pizzas themselves came from the oven cooked to perfection: bubbly, slightly crispy crust with just the right amount of chew, with centers that were solid yet almost gooey. Really, really good.

There are some other nice pizzas to be had in Vienna: il Mare, i Carusi, il Sestante. But this one seems to have the best combination of attention to detail, quality ingredients and just enough love.

This place has a killer fried rice with crunchy onions. Avoid the sushi. The staff is super nice.

When I first moved here, I had quite a few meals here until I discovered higher quality and all-around better pizza places. Still, this place is better than 94% of all other Viennese pizza spots, just a rung below the best tier.

The menu is expansive and the staff is extraordinarily friendly. The food is of relatively high quality and is pulled off pretty well. While it's not astonishingly good, it is better than most.

Rochus has a lot on offer and, here's something most won't know, the coffee is some of the best in the city -- especially if you steer toward the Italian section of the coffee menu.

"

My daughter had chocolate and strawberry. The chocolate tasted like icy cool, cream chocolates. THe strawberry was great.

I had apricot and pear. The apricot tasted like less-sweet Staud's marille jam, but frozen and served on pillowy cream. The pear tasted like a totally ripe pear served in a river of freezing cold cream.

So far, this is the best ice cream I have found in Vienna -- by far!

I was turned onto it by a guy who knew I'd like it if he introduced it as the place where everyone was using Macs. Nice, mellow vibe, decent food.

But you can't deny the Budweiser here is some of the tastiest, and it's always nice to sit outside and drink. You *do* have to be careful about the bill, though. Those waiters are crafty and come with pre-poured beers when you're about 10% from finished. Willpower! Also, the Stelze is pretty great for the rare occasion when you want to eat, oh, a kilogram of pork knuckle.

But this place has probably the best location in the 7th. Whenever I see this little square, which also has a few other restaurants and bars very nearby, it just seems to look exactly like a nice little urban Euro tableaux from my dreams.

I suppose the cocktails are the thing here, but I don't really drink them. As an "American" bar, that would be the supposed specialty. However, the outdoor area here is superlative for chilling out with a beer or sodazitrone and chatting the evening away. Streetcars cruising by only add to the vibe.

The room is lovley and, depending on your taste, you'll either love it or hate it. But there's no denying it's friendly, bright and festive.

The focus here is on a few traditional Viennese breakfasts and various Austrian dishes done with much higher quality and dairy products. The selection of cheeses is among the best in Vienna, and one can order milk in numerous guises. Cheese plates come with lovely, crusty bread and the Viennese Wedding Soup is a wintertime favorite.

This place is a great way to sample the quality associated with a Michelin-starred restaurant (upstairs) while maintaing a casual, affordable approach.

Highly recommended, but doesn't have a nonsmoking area.

I am a freak for Mexican food and, especially, I love burrito and tacos done like they do them in the Americas (including Mexico). In the States, it's not very hard to find a really good burrito, with almost any city of any considerable size having a "pick-and-wrap" serving line where fresh ingredients are combined to order and you are sent on your way with a tasty, flavorful bomb of happiness.

Well, Vienna only has one place that even closely approximates that experience, which is Fresco Grill. Taco Grill? I'm not even sure where to begin.

First, I guess that they really are trying to mimic Taco Bell, which is an international, American-based fast food restaurant. It's not terribly good, but it's not horrific, either. It's cheap and popular among those on a budget. God knows that I ate a lot of it in my student days until I discovered a local Taqueria that was matching Taco Bell's prices for homemade, hand-wrapped burritos on homemade flour tortillas straight of the griddle and lovingly stretched by a hairy-armed man smoking a cigarette. Perfection, really.

Anyway, assuming Taco Grill is attempting to mimick Taco Bell, the restaurant doesn't succeed and is actually of much lower quality. The meats were dry, the tortillas were stale. I'm not sure what they claimed to be salsa was, but it sure as heck wasn't salsa. The choice of spices in the various fillings were not inedible, but they definitely did not taste like anything I've had in the Americas, Mexico or anywhere else for that matter. The quesadilla was basically cold, the menu was weird (fried cheese???) and, overall, I cannot recommend this place but for two redeeming factors:

1) The room and location are really cool. I love things in the Stadtbahnbögen (under the former U6 tracks). They obviously put a lot of money into this place, which brings into question the business judgement of the owners. Just, exactly, how many tacos does one have to sell to pay the rent?

2) They have self-serve sodas and, unlike most locations in Vienna, their Coke does not taste weird or off-flavor, but is rather almost the same as an American Coke. Now, I don't go around drinking a lot of Coke because it's not good for you and my kids would want it all the time if I did, but when I *do* want one on occasion, I'd like it not to taste like stale, sweet monkey ass like most of the Coke does in Vienna. This place actually had a good Coke.

I wish this place would have been good. I don't know what they can do to revamp. The vision is so flawed with the menu and the execution is so poor that I just don't see the owner taking a trip to, say, San Francisco or Los Angeles and seeing the light, retooling and providing a top notch fast food burrito and taco experience.

It delivers, in my opinion, the best Mexican dining experience in Vienna.

The food is mostly authentic and any quibbles I have with the menu items are a matter of preference. For example, I prefer my guacamole to be very simple: lime, avacado and salt. Tacos Lopez adds onion. I can deal with that, because at least, unlike every other Mexican place besides Jalisco, they use real avacados instead of powder mixed into sour cream.

In short, this place is excellent. The service is friendly and the menu is diverse enough to feed any posse.

Menu items to try include the plato (some of everything), the mole tacos, the tampiquena, the gorditas with nopales (cactus), the guacamole and the wonderful beer-mixed-with-chilis and lime: mechelada!

The habitats are good, the animals seem healthy and the educational focus is excellent. If this progress continues under the new Director, I expect nothing but a world class zoo.

The yearly membership is a great deal, by the way, and pays for itself in just a couple visits.

That being said, food is so-so, coffee is terrible. Objectively, I'd give it two stars. However, I'll tack on a third star for the place being a survivor and offering a solid basement for music and youth.

The courtyard is amazing on a nice evening.

Went to Zum Reznicek last night for the first time and I *loved* it. Very big non-smoking room in the back and excellent "Old Vienna" style food. You need to ask for the specials, because we ordered off menu. What did we get? Fried brains and calves' lung stew. Fantastic!

The key to eating brains, I'm told, is that they must be very fresh and expertly prepared. These were almost like fried meat-flavored cheese. The crisp breading yielded to the bite, revealing the soft, creamy brains inside.

My dining companion is a native of Vienna who grew up eating "beuschel" of all varieties cooked by his Viennese Grandmother and he said the Beuschel at Zum Reznicek rates near his grandmother's.

Zum Reznicek has Schwechater Zwickl, Lager or Märzen style, on tap.

Great and highly recommended.

It is, admittedly, not inexpensive. We ordered almost exclusively off of the "new" menu and found it to be well done and standard "yuppie restaurant" fare of great quality. The traditional dishes are hard to wrap one's mind around in a city where you can get Schnitzel that weighs 4 kilos for 10 Euros. However, for the quality level, it is reasonably priced. H

The big negative I found was the service. The people were nice enough for Vienna, butfor these prices, the service needs to be much better. We sat staring at dirty plates far too often.

The room is stunning at first glance, and we were lucky with our seating. However, I noticed that some of the seating is just bizarre and downright uncomfortable.