Vienna's food geography follows the Ringstraße inward and the Gürtel outward in concentric layers of quality and tradition. The 1st district (Innere Stadt), bounded by the Ring, contains the city's most formal and historic dining: the Palmenhaus in the Burggarten serves Viennese classics in an extraordinary cast-iron greenhouse; the Restaurant Steirereck in Stadtpark (two Michelin stars, consistently ranked among Europe's best) is the pinnacle of Austrian haute cuisine; and the coffeehouses of the Inner City — Café Central (1876), Café Landtmann (1873), Café Hawelka (1939) — are the most civilized places in Europe to eat breakfast.
The Naschmarkt, Vienna's most famous food market, stretches along the Wienzeile in the 4th and 5th districts for nearly a kilometer. Open Monday through Saturday, it combines everyday produce vendors at the western end with more touristy restaurant stalls in the east and an extraordinary Saturday flea market attached to its southern edge. The Turkish and Middle Eastern vendors at the western Naschmarkt sell the freshest olives, dried fruits, cheeses, and spices; the fishmonger stalls in the middle have excellent smoked trout and Austrian freshwater fish. Saturday morning at the Naschmarkt is one of Vienna's great experiences.
The 7th district (Neubau) and the adjacent 6th (Mariahilf) have emerged as Vienna's most interesting contemporary food neighborhood. Burggasse, Kirchengasse, and the side streets of Neubau are lined with specialty coffee shops (Kaffeefabrik is the city's best), natural wine bars, and the kind of intimate restaurant scene that serves Vienna's creative class. The Spittelberg area's cobblestoned streets have excellent bistros and wine bars that fill with locals rather than tourists.
Austrian cuisine operates at two registers: the grand Viennese classics (Wiener Schnitzel, Tafelspitz boiled beef, Backhendl fried chicken, Zwiebelrostbraten onion-topped roast beef) served at the city's traditional Gasthäuser, and the Austrian-Mediterranean hybrid cooking that has developed in the city's new restaurants. The Wiener Schnitzel debate is perennial: Figlmüller Wollzeile in the Inner City is the most famous; Figlmüller Bäckerstraße is the original; Gasthaus Pöschl on Weihburggasse is favored by Viennese purists.
Vienna's wine culture is extraordinary in part because the city itself has vineyards. The Heuriger (wine tavern) villages of Grinzing, Sievering, and Nussdorf on the city's northwest fringe operate from spring through autumn, serving the new wine (Grüner Veltliner and Riesling from their own vines) alongside cold buffets of bread, cheese, and smoked meats. The Mayer am Pfarrplatz Heuriger, on a vineyard lane in Heiligenstadt, is the most celebrated in the city.
