Café Rüdigerhof — Restaurant in Vienna

Everything that happened to Ester Aka in her review, also happened to me. Read her review.

But with a twist. I was quietly enjoying a beer outside under the trees. This was after mistakenly sitting at a table that didn’t have a “reserved” sign, but a scribbled small bit of paper with a time on it, hidden under a paper-weight thing as the server pointed out. So I knew now how the “reservation” system worked: they taught me.

It started to rain, I went inside, like everybody else. Tried to find a small table, seeing as I was solo. Asked if I could get a table, they said no, everything is booked inside.

Place was hopping with everybody coming in from the rain, they stopped paying attention to me. So I sat at a table that had no reservation on it. Server came with a group in tow, found me at the table he intended for them. He said “I told you when you were outside, there was no room inside”. Wow, gaslighting. But I’m really very tired of this gimmick, hate being taken for a ride, and said right back “No you didn’t”. He tried again. I answered back: “I never asked you about inside. There was no reason to ask, when I was outside.” Then he said it was reserved for the people outside. I said: “but I was also outside, and there is no reservation note on this table”, and showed him - remember, he had just taught me. My broken but serviceable German from my student days meant he couldn’t really mumble his way out, or pretend like I didn’t understand, and I could answer (finally, that paid off!!). After 2 out of 3 gaslighting attempts, I started using my broken German because I really didn’t care if it was correct anymore. He relented, basically implicitly admitting that he was bullshitting me. Just said “Well ok. This table is just not available” and started to seat a group of 6 strangers all around me (solo woman…).

By then I was pretty incensed. I got up and decided I was going to wait - just to get what I wanted. There was another empty table with a reservation note on it: 18:30pm, and 7-8pm. It was 9 o’clock. I told the waiter in German: all these times are past, they’re a no-show. He said they’re still coming.

So, I stood guard at the door, I was going to wait as long as it took to make them “eat crow”. Then a twist of good fortune happened. 3 regulars showed up, 2 sisters and their friend. Lovely people, they stood in line behind me. They knew a few people inside, were sending greetings, one friend came to see them at the door to chat.

Server asked them if they were waiting for a table. They said yes, but stretched their arms toward me and said: “but she was here before us”, in the most lovely gesture and smiling. We had been chatting a bit in the line. So the waiter looked at me and said “You still want to wait?” Let me tell you, I planted my eyes straight in his to say “Yes” in the crispest audible way. As in: I dare you (Think squinting eyes at the “OK Corral” before the shots get fired). Then he knew I was not going to let him get away with this. Oh no. He really wanted to seat this group of regulars with their friends inside. he could turn away all groups that would show up behind me; or If he tried to seat those other people before me, he would make them unwillingly complicit after they had just pointed out how he was supposed to behave. Bad behaviour on full display to people who know them and would be back, or fixing it. So he chose to fix it. And I got a table, thank you very much.

I tell this story because it is my most epic adventure of the sort in the hospitality industry, and I travel and I eat out a lot.

Now I am aware that by telling you this story, I may be playing right into their hands of keeping tourists away (or solos, or both, I don’t know).

But I am begging you, don’t avoid this place, SWARM IT. Like a plague of locusts.

May the most fun loving ones among you take it as the fun challenge that it can be, kind of like legendary Wong Kei in London, or Karen’s Diner. Go on. It will make their day (and night!) to have worthy patrons...

Awful experience. Let me recount my first-ever restaurant review on Google, inspired by an experience so terrible that I had to create a new account just for this. Brace yourselves for a tale of culinary woe like no other.

Upon our arrival, we were seated perilously close to a noisy railway track, with the added bonus of a sewage smell that could make a skunk blush. To clarify, it was us who asked to switch tables due to the stomach-churning stench, not their idea of a welcoming dining environment.

Now, let's dissect the star of the show – the Viennese schnitzel. Picture a gray, dried-up disaster on a plate, so far removed from the concept of flavor that it could make shoe leather seem appetizing. And the kicker? They had the audacity to charge a small fortune for this gastronomic calamity, as if it were some kind of gourmet treasure.

But wait, there's more. In a world where cards reign supreme, this place insists on living in the past by accepting only cash, as if they're secretly plotting to keep us in the Stone Age.

And then, our waiter, the crowned prince of arrogance, decided it was time to showcase his impeccable service. He snatched away one of our dips with an air of superiority, claiming, "It's not yours; you were supposed to get only one." Mind you, it was his mistake entirely, and this bizarre episode unfolded as I was mid-bite, leaving me feeling like I'd stepped into a bizarre culinary twilight zone.

In summary, dear fellow diners, if you're on the hunt for an unforgettable dining experience that seamlessly blends horrendous ambiance, tasteless cuisine, and astonishingly inept service, look no further. This establishment is your one-way ticket to culinary despair....

I understand if your restaurant is very busy and a popular spot - good for you and your business. However, leaving guests confused on whether you are a walk-in restaurant, or if there is a wait, whether they should order at the counter, or get served by your staff, is highly unprofessional.

It was very busy, so we sat at a table at around 8pm, which was reserved for 18:30, so we thought that the reservation was a no-show. We went up to the counter to ask whether we should wait for a server and they said yes. We were finally noticed by a member of staff, who said that we can not sit at that table. When we asked why, they said that the group of people who reserved that table were outside. We do not understand how a group of people can sit both outside and inside and occupy empty tables. We were also perplexed at this because it was raining outside.

The server then indicated to us that we should leave. When we noticed about 5 more empty tables in a small upper floor, he also said no. We left the restaurant feeling very disappointed, as this was meant to be our final dinner our last night here in Vienna.

We were very excited to try the restaurant's food, but at this point, we have no intention...