Ribs of Vienna review: best menu picks and how to book in Vienna, Austria
Before my trip to Austria, one Vienna restaurant kept showing up every time I searched.
That place was Ribs of Vienna.
As the name suggests, it specializes in pork ribs, and since I’d heard it was especially popular with Korean and other Asian travelers,
I went in without sky-high expectations.
But honestly? It ended up being one of the most satisfying meals I had in Vienna.
Ribs of Vienna location and exterior
Ribs of Vienna is right in central Vienna, Austria,
and it’s easy enough to find on Google Maps
that it barely needs directions.
Hours are daily from 12:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.,
and on weekdays there’s a break from 3 to 5 p.m.
On weekends, they stay open straight through with no break.
We booked for 5:00 p.m.,
and left early so we could arrive about five minutes ahead of time.
This is what the entrance looks like. The sign isn’t huge,
but it’s not hard to spot.
You go in here, and the restaurant itself is downstairs in the basement.
There’s also a menu posted outside the restaurant.
How to make a reservation at Ribs of Vienna
This place is seriously popular,
so as soon as your Vienna itinerary is set, I’d recommend booking right away.
How to reserve Ribs of Vienna is very simple.
Just click the link, check what time slots are still available,
(the same booking link is also on Google Maps)
and once you enter a few basic details, your reservation is done.
That said, once you actually open the booking page,
you’ll see that most decent time slots are already gone about a month out.
There are also plenty of dates that are completely full and not even selectable.
So if you can, book as early as humanly possible.
Otherwise, your only option is trying your luck as a walk-in.
We hadn’t booked in advance, but my husband somehow managed to grab a 5:00 p.m. reservation the day before,
so even though it was an early dinner, we showed up feeling very relieved.
Even before 5:00, the entrance was already packed like this,
and most of the crowd looked like travelers from Korea, China, and Japan.
As soon as it hit 5:00, everyone headed downstairs.
People kind of rushed in all at once, whether they had reservations or not,
but once inside, the staff called in guests with reservations first
and sent the walk-ins back out to wait.
The people standing in front of us must all have been walk-ins,
because we ended up being among the first ones seated.
Ribs of Vienna walk-in tips without a reservation
You can visit without a reservation,
but in my opinion, you absolutely need to line up right at opening.
On weekdays, there’s a break in the afternoon,
so you get two chances: lunch opening and dinner opening.
On weekends, there’s no break,
so you really only get one opening-time shot at lunch.
They fill the reserved tables first,
and then seat some walk-in guests with whatever is left.
But if you don’t get a table in that first round,
you’ll probably be waiting around an hour
for the next turnover.
Our meal took about an hour,
but that was because we ordered first. Other tables got their food later,
so I’m guessing their meals took even longer.
If you’re going without a reservation, definitely show up early for opening
and make sure you’re near the front of the line.
Inside the restaurant
Because we got in first, I was able to snap a photo of the dining room while it was still empty,
and the atmosphere was so good.
The layout feels deep and cave-like,
and besides the main area you can see here,
there was another separate section off to the side too.
We picked a table somewhere in the middle.
The room filled up fast almost immediately.
One thing to know: because it’s underground, my phone had no signal.
Thankfully, they do provide Wi-Fi, so it was fine.
Once you sit down, they bring out place settings based on your party size,
and then it’s time to check the menu.
Menu at Ribs of Vienna
The drinks and alcohol menu comes first,
and the food dishes are in the back section.
There are a lot of options, so if you’re not sure what to order,
I think choosing anything marked with the red Top Seller label is a safe bet.
A lot of people order the classic Ribs of Vienna,
but we went with the sous vide version next to it,
Gourmet Spareribs.
We also added the fried mushrooms, since I’d heard they were good,
and ordered the French onion soup too.
Best menu picks at Ribs of Vienna
In the end, everything we ordered
was genuinely delicious,
so I’d happily recommend all of it.
First up, my husband’s beer.
I think it was the Kaiser Premium 0.5L.
The first dish to arrive was the fried mushrooms,
Fried mushrooms with sauce tartar.
It had the Top Seller mark on the menu and cost €9.90,
which is about $11.
It looks pretty simple at first glance,
but however they fry these, they come out incredibly juicy and flavorful.
If you think you’re not really a mushroom person,
this might be the dish that changes your mind.
The tartar sauce was great too—creamy, but not heavy or greasy.
This next one didn’t have a Top Seller label,
so the French onion soup felt a little more like a wildcard order.
But this was such a good call too.
The potato soup, which is one of the bestsellers, also sounded good, but potatoes felt a little too carb-heavy, so I picked the onion soup instead—and it was absolutely worth it.
There’s no spice at all, and with the cheese melted in,
it was rich, savory, warm, and deeply comforting.
There were also a few pieces of bread in the soup,
so it was more filling than I expected.
And then the main event: the Gourmet Spareribs sous vide.
At €26.90, about $29, it’s a little more expensive than the basic ribs,
but the portion is generous.
Truffle fries and an arugula salad come with it, and it’s definitely enough food for two people to share.
From other people’s reviews, I saw that some diners order one full rack per person,
but the serving is actually pretty big,
so unless you’re a serious eater,
I’d recommend one ribs dish for two plus a side or two.
Apparently it’s not just the sides that are different—
the sauce is different between the classic Ribs of Vienna and the sous vide version too.
After reading a few reviews,
a lot of people seemed to think the sous vide one we ordered
was tastier and a bit more familiar or crowd-pleasing in flavor.
For us, it was definitely a great choice.
The fries came with two dipping sauces,
but I remember craving something a little brighter, so we asked for ketchup
and ended up eating them that way.
The meat was incredibly tender,
came cleanly off the bone,
and made for a seriously delicious plate of ribs.
Here’s the receipt. I rotated the photo, so it’s a little awkward to read,
but our total for two came to €52.20, or about $56.
That included beer and Coke too, so the value felt excellent.
Vienna isn’t exactly a cheap city,
and pretty much everywhere else we ate, we spent closer to about $68 for two.
So the fact that this ended up being our tastiest meal and still came in cheaper was kind of amazing.
For tipping, you can round up to the next whole number
or add around 10%.
I’ll admit I sometimes avoid places that get really popular with big Korean tour groups,
just because I assume they might be overhyped.
But this one was a total success.
If you’re planning a trip to Vienna, Austria,
I really do think Ribs of Vienna is worth putting on your list.
-The End-