Figlmüller Vienna Review: My Honest Take on the Famous Schnitzel Spot in Vienna, Austria
If you ask people to name the most famous restaurant in Vienna, Austria,
there’s a good chance
Figlmüller Figlmüller will be the first place they mention.
If you don’t book ahead, the wait can be brutal,
so it’s definitely best to reserve as early as possible.
If you’re visiting on a weekend,
you may need to book not just a few days ahead
but even a few weeks in advance
to get the time slot you actually want. That’s how hot this place is.
Luckily, Figlmüller has two locations,
so the crowds are split up a little.
On the map above, Pin A is the original location and Pin B is the second location,
and they’re basically right next to each other,
so honestly, it doesn’t matter much which one you book.
Before this trip, I hadn’t even planned my itinerary
or researched much of anything.
Thankfully, I have a German friend who lives in Vienna, and she made the reservation for me in advance.
I met up with my friend that evening and snapped a quick commemorative photo first.
We had a reservation at the second location,
but since we still had a little time before our slot,
we walked over to check out the original location too.
If you head down this little alley,
you’ll find Figlmüller’s original restaurant in Vienna, Austria.
That slightly darker-than-Starbucks green
seems to be Figlmüller’s signature color.
The original location doesn’t allow walk-ins,
so there was no line outside,
and only the second location takes on-site waiting lists!
When we got to the second location, there was a long line outside.
It was around 6:20 p.m., so it was right in the middle of peak dinner time.
We went inside, told them we had a reservation, and waited for a moment.
Once they confirmed the booking, we were seated right away!
The people waiting outside definitely looked a little jealous.
Figlmüller doesn’t have a break time,
so if you want to eat here without much of a wait,
I’ve heard the sweet spot is that awkward 3 to 4 p.m. window.
But to spoil my verdict a little early…
I’m not totally convinced this is a place you absolutely have to go out of your way for.
The restaurant is spread across the ground floor and basement,
and since these are old buildings,
the lower level is divided into several little rooms, almost like an ant tunnel maze.
This was the room we were shown to.
Thanks to my friend, getting in was completely stress-free!
Having a local with me felt incredibly reassuring.
Once we sat down, I went straight into full menu-reading mode.
The print is tiny, but there’s English on the menu,
so if you take your time, it’s totally manageable.
To quickly sum up some of the main dishes:
Figlmüller Menu Highlights in Vienna, Austria: Original pork schnitzel €20.9, Viennese veal schnitzel €25.9, chicken schnitzel €20.5, vegan schnitzel €22.5, calf liver €18.5, veal goulash €19.5, sirloin steak €25.9, green salad €6.9, Figlmüller grape juice €4.2, sparkling grape juice €3.5, Ottakringer beer €6.9
That’s the rough overview.
From that list, we ordered
the original pork schnitzel,
the vegan schnitzel for my vegetarian friend,
and the sirloin steak.
This was the Figlmüller grape juice!
The serving is small, but it’s made from grapes harvested from their own farm,
so it’s a little pricey.
My friend ordered the sparkling grape juice,
a grape juice spritzer,
and the color was noticeably lighter.
The sirloin steak was the first dish to arrive.
It came topped with crispy onions
and a single pickle on the side,
and honestly, the presentation looked a lot like an old-school Korean Western-style diner plate.
Then the rest of the dishes started coming out one after another.
We got the schnitzels and the jam that comes with them,
the sirloin steak came with fries,
and the vegan schnitzel was served with a salad.
That yellow potato salad in the upper left
wasn’t something I remember ordering separately,
so I’m guessing it must have come bundled with one of our dishes,
but I’m not totally sure.
Since there were three of us,
it was nice to order a wider variety of dishes.
The schnitzel really was as giant as people say.
That said, it was pretty thin, so honestly,
it felt like two people could probably finish one together.
There are a few famous schnitzel restaurants in Vienna,
and I was curious because so many people said this one was especially good.
But honestly… to me, it was just a dry pork cutlet.
If you look at the Google reviews, people describe it as tender, juicy,
and delicious, but I genuinely didn’t get that at all.
At the end of the day, it’s just fried pork.
The only sauce-like accompaniment was a sweet raspberry jam,
and all I could think was how badly I wanted to dunk it in tonkatsu sauce and add a little wasabi.
It wasn’t awful or anything,
but I definitely kept wondering, why is this so famous?
The sirloin steak was thin too,
and it wasn’t really what I think of when I hear “steak.”
Still, this one had a familiar, almost tonkatsu-sauce kind of flavor,
so it was easier for me to enjoy.
The salad tasted exactly like what you’d expect from a basic green salad,
and since the vegan schnitzel belonged to my vegetarian friend,
I didn’t steal a bite.
I was told the Ottakringer beer, an Austrian beer,
was pretty good.
I wanted to try it too, but I was pregnant, so that was a little sad.
Time for the bill check: our total came to €94.3,
which is about 150,000 KRW, or roughly $70.
I was curious about tipping in Austria,
so I asked my friend.
She said you can either add around 10% to the total
or just round up and pay a little extra.
So for example, since our bill was €94.3,
you could simply say, “Please charge me €100 including tip,”
and that would be perfectly normal.
Figlmüller was a little disappointing compared to its reputation,
but I was still glad I got to try such a famous place.
That said, after this meal,
my expectations for schnitzel completely disappeared,
so during the rest of my five-night stay,
I never ordered schnitzel again.
After dinner, we headed out for ice cream at
Zanoni & Zanoni.
The gelato was so good.
It’s close to Figlmüller, so I definitely recommend it for dessert!
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