OXBO Vienna Waterfront — Restaurant in Vienna

Great Food, Lovely Setting, But Service Needs Reinforcements

OXBO Vienna Waterfront, located inside the Hilton on the Danube, was my go-to spot during an unexpected extended hotel stay following an accident. Since I couldn’t get out much, I ended up dining here multiple times — from breakfast and lunch to dinner and room service — and got a full picture of what the restaurant has to offer.

⸻

Food & Drinks:

The food is solid overall, with some standout dishes. The Viennese goulash was fantastic — rich, flavorful, and a clear highlight. Other menu items were well-prepared and satisfying, with a decent drink menu that’s fairly priced, especially for a hotel restaurant. Room service meals arrived fresh and neatly packaged.

⸻

Atmosphere:

The restaurant has plenty of seating, from the stylish indoor area around the bar to the lovely outdoor terrace and waterfront tables. Sitting by the river with a drink in hand is one of the best features of OXBO. It’s a great setting, whether you’re relaxing solo or having a group meal.

⸻

Service:

Here’s where things get tricky. The service was wildly inconsistent — not because the staff wasn’t friendly or professional, but simply because there weren’t enough of them. At lunch, dinner, and even slower hours, it was clear the team was overstretched. On several occasions, I had to walk up to the bar just to order a drink, ask for a menu, or request the check. One night, I sat on the patio for what felt like an eternity before anyone even acknowledged I was there.

It’s frustrating, but not the fault of the staff — they’re doing their best with what they’ve got. Management needs to seriously address the understaffing issue, especially given the size of the restaurant and the number of guests the Hilton attracts.

⸻

Final Thoughts:

OXBO Vienna Waterfront has the potential to be a fantastic hotel restaurant — and in many ways, it already is. The food is good, the drinks are fair, and the location is hard to beat. But if you go, just be prepared to be patient — or sit near the bar so you can flag someone down. With better staffing, this place could easily be a...

During my stay in the Hilton hotel, I ate in this attached restaurant for all breakfasts and few lunches/dinners. My review is a compilation of all visits here. TLDR: Food is good, slightly overpriced, service is slow, breakfast is excellent.

I had the following dishes. Oxbo Salad - Felt refreshing with a lot of raw ingredients like the cherry tomatoes lettuce. Almost missed the bread buried under the salad, it was very filling.

Apple strudel - I guess this is a very Vienna-special dish. Warm very-small cut apple stuffing in a puff-like bread covering. The stuffing was cinnamon spiced a bit too much. It was accompanied by delicious vanilla ice-cream! It was mild yellow with black dotty things, not the plain white seen usually. There was also whipped cream and some (red currant) berry fruits. It's a decent dessert.

Cauliflower steak -- I was wrong to create a picture of a 'tandoori Gobi ' when I placed the order. It was a mildly sauteed large cut cauliflower pieces with a flurry of little mushrooms and some hummus-like looking cream. There was a cup of chimichuri -- appeared like coriander leaves in oily water -- which didn't add much to the dish or I didn't know how to use it.

Also, the portion/quantum was less, expected more for the price.

Zero Pina Colada -- A non-alcoholic variant of Pina colada with coconut and pineapple juice. I asked for it to be made without ice cubes. Chill and thirst-quenching.

One common theme about all visits is that I felt the staff were a tad too slow or lethargic to my liking. Also, the menu appeared overpriced. 20% lesser would be appropriate.

Breakfast buffets -- Lavish delicious, and nutritious. I loved the avacado guac, beetroot hummus, baked beans, cut fruits, choice of different breads. I had a slow and filling breakfast on all...

We were here 3 times during our stay. Food was really good we don’t have problem with food only with service. We ordered 2 drinks, we waited 20minutes for service no one came or asked us if we would have more. when we came to tell the waitress that we would like to have another, we waited 40 minutes for drinks, not for food. We thought they had forgotten about us, so we decided to go to the cash register to pay, since no one noticed us. We explained to the waitress that we don’t pay for the four drinks that we didn't have and another waitress ran after us with drinks. I can understand when they had a lot, but no one warned us that we would wait so long for drinks, or at least if we knew that they would bring us drinks. No decency no one apologized to us or told us anything. The atmosphere and the food were awesome, we also had live music, but the service was terrible, and for that reason we went out to eat outside the hotel the next few days. Maybe they should also hire people for permanent employment, not just have people there...