Zum Englischen Reiter — Restaurant in Vienna

Disturbing Experience Date of Visit: March 27, 2025

I am giving one star only because zero is not an option. I have never written a negative review before, as I believe in acknowledging people's work rather than criticizing it. However, this experience was different. For the first time, I feel compelled to share a deeply upsetting incident my family and I had at Zum Englischen Reiter, where what should have been a pleasant lunch turned into an unsettling and humiliating experience for my brother.

We had lunch at this restaurant on 27/3/2025. The restaurant requires customers to pay €1 at a machine that accepts only coins to access the restroom, with the fee reimbursed upon making a purchase.

My brother, who is Black and adopted, needed to use the restroom but only had a €5 note. He politely asked a waiter if he could provide change, but the waiter refused and told him he needed to leave the restaurant to find change elsewhere. With no other option, my brother did as instructed.

Immediately afterward, my mother, who is white, approached the same waiter with the restroom ticket and asked to exchange it for a €1 coin. This time, the waiter immediately retrieved a pouch full of coins and provided the change—despite having previously refused to do the same for my brother. Seeing this left us deeply unsettled because it appeared that my brother had been treated differently based on his skin color, as the only difference in these interactions was their race.

When I addressed the situation with the waiter, he avoided eye contact and muttered an apology to me, though the person who truly deserved an apology was my brother.

It is deeply concerning that in 2025, such treatment still occurs. This incident left a profound impact on my brother, who felt hurt and humiliated. These are not abstract issues—they have real, lasting consequences for those affected. While I cannot say with certainty what motivated the staff member’s decision, the difference in treatment was clear, and and it felt profoundly unfair. No one should have to experience such discomfort in a public establishment.

I am sharing this experience so others can make an informed decision. Personally, I will not be returning, as I prefer to support businesses where all customers feel...

DON’T EAT HERE, TOURIST TRAP!!!!!!

Food: food was terrible, the breadcrumbs on the deep fried pork chop was thicker than the pork itself. The chicken had peri peri spicy sauce pared with mushroom sauce, which doesn’t match at all, besides the chicken was very salty. The rice was also disgusting as it was tasteless and soggy. The pork knuckles was the worst I’ve ever had, not just it being flavourless, it was also very hard to chew. The only edible food was the beef broth, it wasn’t the best I had but it’s the only reason why I gave the food tier 2 stars.

Service: Terrible. Walked in with a booking but none of the staff even showed to care. Staff were also pretty rude, especially Daniel, exactly after we ordered, we asked if me can change on item we ordered, he said the order is in process, like you haven’t even walked far yet, he’s just lazy and couldn’t care less. After we finished our food, we asked for the bill, Daniel started cleaning up the table after hearing what we said, I’ve never encountered a situation where the waiter cleans the whole table before giving the bill out.

Atmosphere: interior was pretty alright, however it got really humid and hot after a while, there were also various bugs...

Horrible service- please review your receipts and count well if everything matches! We has a dinner there yesterday with my husband, the quality of the food is very low- deep fried (we couldn’t tell the difference between the two dishes we ordered- Wiener Schitzel and a chicken fillet) and the french fries were fried multiple times, they weren’t eatable. But the worst thing is that they try to scam you. The waiter was trying to be nice until we asked him to present a receipt because the bill seemed too high. We ordered french fries and got charged additionally: 2€ for ketchup, 2€ for mayo, 2€ for cranberry sauce that we did not order and also does not figure in menu (6€ for sauces from the plastic, seriously?) When we questioned additional 6€ the waiter got very rude, saying we ate everything (which wasn’t true) and we should pay. He then threw 5€ on the table and left. I must say I have never come across such an outrageous behaviour! They try to scam you and then get angry...