Kurkonditorei OBERLAA — Restaurant in Vienna

I’m torn how to review this experience , as I’d been getting their tasty gelato daily, of late.

One day I think I came a little early, before the outdoor gelato window was open, and I asked the girls inside behind the counter if I could order some gelato, and one of the ladies went and got me some gelato. All good so far…

I decided to sit at one of the tables inside to eat my gelato, and I decided I wanted a glass of water (to take some medicine). I went back to the counter and asked the ladies if they could get a glass of water and they told me I needed to request it from one of the servers.

no problem, I thought. I asked one of the servers if they could get me a glass of water. I felt a little guilty doing that though because that was all I was asking for, and I hated to take up a servers time merely for a glass of water

well, I got a bill for €2.60… for a glass of water. if they asked me if I wanted sparkling, I probably said yes, so maybe that was the difference, (I don’t remember) but it felt extremely petty.

Perhaps I was confused by the process/protocol? maybe ordering at the counter was only for take-away items, and I should not have sat down to eat what I had ordered at the counter. call me a tourist…

but it seems to be a silly protocol to have to request and pay for items from the glass deli counter (which I have to walk up to see the items anyway) and then pay (and assumedly tip) a server if I want to order something to drink to go with it.

it kind of felt like going into a Starbucks and ordering food at the counter and paying, and being given your food, but then having to sit down to order a drink to go with your food from a server? Odd experience. next time I guess I will wait until the outdoor gelato...

Oberlaa, what a place! If you ever find yourself with a baby in tow, and you're thinking of visiting this establishment, you might want to think twice. Apparently, Oberlaa is all about being pet-friendly, but they didn't get the memo on being baby-friendly.

So, here's the kicker: My wife, decided to grace Oberlaa with her presence along with our baby. Now, relaxing with a 3-month-old is, of course, a piece of cake. Babies, as we all know, have an innate ability to keep calm and carry on without a peep. Except, not really.

My little one, being a baby and all, decided to let out a cry or two. Shocking, right? Well, Oberlaa's staff must have missed the memo about the existence of babies and their tendency to express themselves.

When my precious baby started her symphony, the staff decided to get involved. But don't worry, it wasn't with a warm and empathetic attitude. No, it was more of a cold and condescending approach. They suggested, rather firmly, that my wife move to another corner of the cafe. She was already doing her best to avoid causing any disturbance, but apparently, even that wasn't good enough.

It's impressive how Oberlaa has mastered the art of being pet-friendly while failing miserably at being baby-friendly. And, of course, who needs polite and considerate staff when you can have stone-cold indifference instead? Oberlaa, you've truly outdone yourself.

In all seriousness, it's quite disappointing when an establishment promotes one type of "friendly" but seems to forget the basic human kindness and understanding that should extend to all patrons, including parents...

To the attention of the management: Today 29/11/2024 at time 1500 local time, we arrived at the bar where at the second floor we were approached by a waiter that instructed us to go to a table(not a specific one), some table were reserved, other where free. We looked around at which free table was the best option for us. Another blond female waiter starts shouting to us in Austrian(well understood by my wife), very stressed like a fire was burning the building. She approached us after in English, telling us that we had to sit where her colleague told us in a very uncomfortable and hysterical way. We sat down as the teacher told us to do so... and in the meantime, we ordered some tap water to her as we were thirsty. At first, she didn't understand a basic "May we have tap water, please?" Repeted 3 times(suggestion to go and learn some basic knowledge of English) In an arrogant way, the reply was: "First sat down,relax, and then look the menu." There was just 1 menu for 4 people. The water never arrived, and we proceeded to order with the other not so friendly waiter. The sacher was good for the price. When it was time to pay, we asked for the bill, and as par usual, the waiter pointed out that the tip was not included. We always leave tips, but this time, it was absolutely absurd the way we were treated, so we decided not to leave any. The reaction of the waiter was a mixture of sarcasm and rudeness, of course, expressed in Austrian(translation: Thank you for nothing)

Hopefully, the management will take care...