I Carusi — Restaurant in Vienna

We are 4 visiting Americans; stopped at I Carusi for dinner. Man who greets us (we later learn he is owner) shows us to yucky table(right next to front door, AND along front window with view of metal scaffolding on sidewalk); my (adult) son asks politely in German if we could have a table in the back dining area, which looked cozy (rainy day) and had carpeting and posh seating. Owner takes look around corner to back room and says no, we should just take the table he first offered us. Okay. I see a table in same DR we are in that’s the corner part of a long cushy bench seat, but it’s a table for two and even though there is an empty table of two right next to it, I don’t ask if we can push the tables together and sit there, because I have a feeling he’ll refuse that request. (Side note — this is what happened to us a lunch that day at Vietnamese restaurant. We were having very late lunch (3 pm) and only two other parties eating in DR, so when hostess gave us a table for four that had view of gross back room, we asked if we could skooch down to two tables of two (pushed together), out of sight-line of gross back room - “No”, the hostess says, nonchalantly. “Just take that one.” Was she expecting a surge of couples at 3:30??) Before we even order our drinks, I see four guests have been seated at corner table I wanted, and I berate myself for not asking for it. A couple minutes later — that group of 4 is suddenly gone, no longer sitting at corner table. I immediately ask owner “Sir, could we move to that table?” and point to it. “Uhhhh…” he says, and then reluctantly says we can take it. As I’m walking up to new table I happen to glance into back dining room and guess who is sitting at one of the tables he had refused us?? The four people who were originally at the corner table we were now sitting at!! Why wouldn’t he allow us to sit in back room when we asked? Weird. Oh - forgot to mention - when we were first seated my son asked if we could have three English menus. Owner said they didn’t have any. Okay, I can live with that (even though every other restaurant we’ve gone to — in Salzburg, Hallstatt, Waidhofen an der Ybbs, Vienna — had English menus). It’s a German-speaking country - they shouldn’t have to cater to English-speakers; I’m cool with that. But then to make it worse, the owner says something about why would we need English menus, it’s Italian food, “it’s just ‘spaghetti’ or ‘tortellini’.” He says this in kind of a jokey, haha way, but NO, it’s not as easy as that — they have a variety of dishes, with different sauces, some w/spinach, some w/garlic, some w/chicken, etc, etc . How ridiculous to suggest we wouldn’t need to know what the menu says when it’s describing the entrees!! Not a move I would make, if I were him, as he had been barely hospitable to us at that point. So - the entrees for 3 of us come out. 5 mins later — still no entree for one of our sons. Did the owner come back to check if we had all gotten our food, see if we needed anything? No. So I flagged down a wait staff/runner and explained my son hadn’t received his meal yet. The waiter did not speak English or German but immediately you could tell he was concerned, apologetic; asked what dish my son ordered, and then went back to check on it. Returned and said it would be a few minutes (it took longer, but not his fault). He was very warm, concerned. Owner walks by a bit later and sees the dish hasn’t arrived and says “It’ll just be a few minutes”, but doesn’t apologize for the delay, doesn’t offer to bring my son a free drink or dessert — by that time it’s been 10+ minutes since the rest of us had received our (no longer hot) meals. Dang - running out of room! Have to sum it up: our entrees = our opinions ranged from fine to really good. Got dessert menu from Sweet Waiter, but after waiting 10-15 mins for owner to come by so we could order, we just decided to leave. (Owner missed out on about $28 right there.) On way out I gave Sweet Waiter 5 euro bill, and explained why HE was getting it, and why our waiter...

Our favorite restaurant during the few nights we spent in Vienna. Our party of four was seated immediately outside at the last available table.

We started with aperol spritzes - different flavor each and we all enjoyed. I also had the Captivo Puglia which was excellent given the price ($6).

To start, we had the Bruschetta and bread basket. The pesto that came with the bread was excellent - we all loved it. For the main, we ordered the carbonara, tortellini, penne arrabiata, and pizza diavola - again, we all loved it. We would have had dessert but we were stuffed.

Lastly, the service was excellent - which was a welcome contrast compared to our other experiences. They checked in on us frequently, were very friendly, took our picture, etc. I did not get their names, but our waiters were the younger man with dark long hair (pony tail) and an older gentleman with short grey hair - give...

The staff is friendly, attentive and professional. The food is fairly decent although I personally didn't quite enjoy their Lasagna. It tasted like they just heated it up in the microwave. Other than that: The staff does pay attention to their customers. I would consider the wait for the foods and drinks decent. In their dinner hours they are usually more busy, but the waits are understandable considering how occupied they are with almost all tables being occupied. Their prices are fair, the Pizza is good and fresh. The atmosphere is fitting, the music is decent and the drinks are good as well.

I've been going there every now and then for the past 2 years. They have improved quite a lot. I've always enjoyed my stay and went with a full stomach and with a satisfied smile home. I can only recommend it. Enjoy your stay, thanks for being one of the best Italian...