Schlosscafé im Parkhotel Schönbrunn — Restaurant in Vienna

The hotel (Austria Trend Parkhotel Schönbrunn) is very nice, and this review is not for the actual hotel. The hotel, its rooms, location, and service is five stars. The Schlosscafè, however, is a real mess. Stay away! We tried to order room service from the hotel, which informed us that the Schlosscafè (from which the hotel gets its room service food) was short-staffed, but that we could go and pick up the food ourselves from the Schlosscafè. No problem, so we went down to the Cafe 50 mins before closing. The main waiter sighed loudly and glared at us with a look saying "Why are you here?". We gave him the benefit of the doubt since they were short-staffed. When explaining that the hotel receptionists said it was OK to order and pick up food, he did not want to listen and complained about being short staffed. A bit annoying, but OK. Fortunately a waitress came along and handed us two menus. After 20 minutes of waiting, she took our order. At least so it seemed. After 30 minutes, we thought we were handed the two cheeseburgers we ordered. Although handing us two menus, she believed we only ordered one burger. When explaining that we ordered two burgers, we were told that we did not, and that the receipt said we only ordered one. We tried explaining that the receipt only confirms the waitress' perception, and not our message, and that all we were interested in was having another burger cooked. The waitress responded that she could check with the kitchen if they could fix another burger. After 15 minutes of waiting, while the waitress and the waiter served the remaining 10 guests with plenty other food, she finally informed us that the kitchen could not cook one single more burger. We effectively waited 1 hour and 10 minutes to share a plastic-tasting cold cheeseburger, and stale fries, for 21 EUR or something of the kind. The seats in the restaurants were mucky, the waiter team (of 2 people) made a whole scene of having to serve what seemed like ten guests. If they are not fit for a service job, and unfortunately also bad days at work, they should not have that job. It could be that this cafè is good when there are good staff members at work, but a place needs to hire the right crew (that can take a bad day) to get satisfied customers. It does not matter to us, or the next customers having a bad experience, that a majority of the customers have had a great time - our experience will nevertheless be remembered as bad. We were not expecting the staff to break their backs to help us, only show courtesy and make us feel wanted as customers, instead of sighing loudly and using large amounts of time to cater to our needs. Had the place been filled with 50-100 guests, then we would of course adjust our expectations, but there were at most 10-20 guests there. Instead of arguing with us that we only ordered one burger, the time could have been better spent in just preparing another burger. I hope that particular staff gets better training, and that the remaining staff understands that we are not criticizing the cafe as a whole, just the poor...

The prices here are excellent for the area, especially considering it’s part of a hotel, and the food is above average. The carrot soup was tasty and comforting, though the soufflé was very mediocre and not worth ordering. Unfortunately, the service was awful — at least if you’re dining alone. I was seated right next to the server desk, so there’s no way they could have forgotten I was there, but they completely ignored me unless I hailed them down. Every single thing — ordering, drink refills, even paying — required me to actively get their attention, and they looked visibly annoyed about it.

I noticed this wasn’t just me: other solo diners around me got the same cold treatment, while anyone sitting with another person was greeted warmly, given quick service, and even had friendly conversations with the staff. A table next to me arrived 20 minutes after I did, and still received faster service without ever needing to flag anyone down.

The man serving me seemed like he was just following the lead of the woman on staff, who clearly didn’t want me there. While they were polite and respectful, it was obvious they couldn’t be bothered. Honestly, I would have left if I hadn’t needed a place to rest my feet.

If you’re dining with others, this place might be a good option thanks to its prices and decent food. But if you’re alone, I don’t recommend it — you’ll likely be left...

Disappointing Service and Food Quality

We visited this place for a quiet meal, as it wasn’t busy. We received the menu card promptly, but it took a surprisingly long time for someone to take our order. After ordering an appetizer and two soups, we waited around 45 minutes for them, along with one main dish.

When the food finally arrived, the appetizer’s toast was very cold, and the soup was barely warm. By this point, my partner was already a bit irritated and mentioned that the service was slow, adding that the food didn’t seem fresh—meaning it wasn’t hot, as if it had just come out of the oven. The waiter, however, took offense, insisting that the food was fresh and suggested we leave if we weren’t happy, even sarcastically recommending we go to the McDonald's across the street if we wanted “quick service.”

This response was shocking and highly unprofessional. When I clarified that my partner simply meant the food wasn’t hot, the waiter replied, “I’m not a slave to put up with this.”

The treatment we received was unacceptable; no guest should be spoken to this way. This experience was enough for us to decide we won’t be coming back. It seems this place survives only because of its prime location, not the service or quality...