Gerstner K. u. K. Hofzuckerbäcker | Schloss Schönbrunn | Café Restaurant — Restaurant in Vienna

If I could put 0 stars, I would. Amongst the overwhelmingly positive reviews, this might be surprising, however, I am heavily disappointed in the experience at this restaurant.

The food was underwhelming and expensive. The cut of schnitzel you got was laughable for the price of 23 euros (no side dish included). That anorexic piece of meat wouldn't fill up even a child. Never mind that you have to pay an additional 7 euros for a side dish. If you got lucky and ordered a cucumber salad, you got a quarter of a cucumber sliced thinly, which I presume it's so it looks more luxurious than it actually is (no, seriously. It's literally just a quarter of a cucumber for 7 euros).

Now, if I thought the national dish of Vienna was ridiculous, I would be in for a surprise. Since the schnitzel was at least tasty, which can't be said for the Hungarian paprika chicken. First of all, the "egg pasta" was cut in such disproportionate pieces, it looked like it was food for pigs. Unfortunately, it tasted like it as well, as if no one but a novice in the kitchen had cooked it. The meat was nothing special either, just 2 cuts of boiled chicken for 23 euros. Frankly, I feel bad that I left half the dish for the staff to throw away, maybe the zoo animals would have at least pretended to enjoy it. :D

The least problematic point were the drinks. However, the lemonade was literally just mineral water with a pinch of whatever flavour you thought you were ordering. Quite underwhelming as well, but at the very least, the price was somewhat okay.

Then, you may think to yourself...surely, the dessert would be nice. Surely this decades old restaurant which is advertised for its sweets, would pull through. Well, here's where it gets interesting. I had actually visited this exact same restaurant 2 years ago. I have the pictures of the menu items which I ordered then (they were delicious and reasonably priced). I ordered the exact same dessert (the pancakes) and was surprised to see my dish come with pieces of dry pancake with literally just powdered sugar on top. Here's where I remind you again that I have been here before just 2 years ago, and the dish was served with 2 glasses of apple puree and stewed plums. Now? Oh now you could only get some plums as a side dish and pay extra, rather than have it included in the pancake order. Because of course, it is reasonable to serve dry pancakes with absolutely nothing but powder sugar on it. Apparently, the pancakes were caramelized in orange butter. However, only the chef would have known what was put in there, since, once again, you literally just got a plate of dry pancakes for 12 euros.

You may think to yourself... surely, this has to be over. However, yet again, you can't leave peacefully with your life. As I was paying for this God awful experience, at one of the most sought-after sightseeing places, I was stolen from. Indeed, in normal and civilised restaurants, the waiter will kindly ask you if you'd like to leave a tip. Here, however, the waiter has decided that my 1.80 euro was his to take, without any permission or question. A wonderful end to an already unpleasant experience.

Tl;dr: As someone who has visited this place 2 years ago, I was completely disappointed in the food and experience now. Overrated and expensive with mid to bad food. If you value your money and/or your taste buds, my advice is to look for another place to eat. As for the restaurant staff, if you will be reading this, I will never set foot in your establishment again; and please, for the love of God, work on your food presentation. If you can't cook, at least make it look nice, or feed it to the zoo pigs and not your...

A Masterclass in How Not to Run a Restaurant – Lunchtime Edition

If you're looking for a textbook example of how arrogance, chaos, and unprofessionalism can ruin even a simple lunch, this place delivers — just not in the way you'd hope.

We came in expecting a decent midday meal and left feeling like we had accidentally sat in on a dysfunctional workplace meeting — complete with snide looks, muttered frustration, and a team falling apart at the seams. The main waiter, who clearly sees himself as too important for actual hospitality, set the tone: aloof, cocky, and thoroughly unbothered by the mess around him.

But the real drama was happening between the commis — the helpers. From where we sat, it was hard to ignore the constant eye-rolling, glares, and passive-aggressive maneuvering as they tried to do their jobs amid confusion and lack of leadership. At times, they seemed one plate drop away from a full-blown meltdown.

The result? A table never cleared. Dessert served on top of dirty dishes. Coffee that took forever. When I finally asked about the delay, the waiter responded with a smug, deadpan line: “I ordered 100 coffees.”

Oh, well then — that clears everything up.

And when I pointed out that this kind of service was unacceptable, his final defense was: “This isn’t McDonald’s.”

Correct — because McDonald’s has systems, speed, and staff who don’t engage in cold wars across the dining room.

If you’re in the mood to witness workplace dysfunction over your salad, and enjoy being treated like you’re inconveniencing the staff by existing, this place has you covered. Otherwise, go anywhere else where lunch doesn’t double as a front-row seat to a...

I always knew that eating next to a major tourist location is not a good idea in most cases, but then I thought, why not just eat?

The place was crowded, the waiters were rather busy, and, at this time of day (early afternoon), they looked already tired.

The entire place was operating on an industrial scale, catering to the large crowd of people.

The food quality was somewhat satisfactory, but the parsley potatoes, a featured and recommended item on the menu, were very disappointing.

In Europe, potatoes are no longer in season in May, but they were still listed as a recommended item on the menu.

What was I hoping for?...

I guess the place does not keep the menu current - they just do the same thing again and again.

The atmosphere was somewhat stressful with tables placed close together and waiters going here and there and new guests arriving and getting seated and so on.

In terms of price, it is clearly overpriced.

The waiter asking you to choose the amount for the tip (with 0% included in the options) for the team on the card reading device seemed totally out of place and unwelcommed request to pay extra for the effort which was not delivered to satisfaction.

A mild annoyance, which this dining experience was, suddenly condensed into a sense of a rip-off attempt.

Common, really?

I had a feeling that the waiter, who undoubtedly has years of experience, sensed my frustration and was not happy about asking for the tip either.

But hey, that's just work.

Anyway, as hunger was relieved,...