€ Very cheap eats
While you won’t experience any culinary extravaganzas with these options, they certainly are a good option for getting your stomach filled with some delicious food for an apple and an egg. The best options to start with, are the ubiquitous bakeries that offer baked goods, sandwiches, and lots of different kinds of pastry. Chains such as Ströck, Der Mann, and Anker literally can be found on any street corner, as well as smaller independent bakeries. Yet, when a steady diet of cakes, cookies, and bread won’t suffice anymore and you’re lusting after something hearty, try the following options. For less than 5 euros you can fill up with decent food here:
Wiener Deewan
An all-time students’ favorite and especially busy around lunch-time when all of them raid this Pakistani Eat-all-you-can, pay-as-you-wish restaurant. The idea is simple: There’s a small buffet with bread, rice, and 6 Pakistani dishes, usually 3 vegetarian and 3 for omnivores. The food is simple, yet very delicious and reminiscent of some Indian dishes, especially the curries. There also is the option to have salad and a dessert, water is provided at the tables, free of charge. You take as much as you want, sit or lie down in the eating areas, and enjoy the delicious food and your company. When you leave, you pay as much as you feel, the meal was worth. Sometimes, there even is life-music, as well.
Wiener Deewan, Liechtensteinstr. 10, 1090 Wien,
Hours Mon- Sat, 11am-11pm
U2 Schottentor
Würstelstand (Hot dog stand)
The Viennese classic. While a hotdog sounds very familiar to home, the Viennese turned the concept of the hotdog stand into a science of itself. To start with, they don’t sell just one kind of sausage, but several variations, with a cheese filling, different kinds of meat, and they come in different sizes. You can also try some Leberkäse (a kind of meat loaf) there, a specialty most popular in Austria and southern Germany, usually made from beef or veal (Leberkäse), but sometimes of horse meat (Pferdeleberkäse), too. Usually you have either of them with a bread roll, mustard or ketchup, and a can of beer. At some of the long-established stands, a special kind of slang, similar to that of American diners, is still spoken. People order “a sanious one with a hunchback, blood, and a 16 metal.“ This refers to sausage with a cheese filling, the cut-off of a loaf of bread, ketchup, and Ottakringer beer (from the 16th district).
You can find hotdog stands all over the city. Here is an example:
Bitzinger’s Würstelstand Albertina
This is a modern version of the hotdog stand in the central area of the city. It’a close to the Hofburg, State Opera, Hotel Sacher, and other tourist attractions. This is also a good place to have a late night snack.
Augustinerstraße 1, 1010 Wien
Hours: Mon-Sat, 7am-4am, Sunday and on public holidays, 10am-4am
U1/U3 Stephansplatz
Kebap
The classic for getting the most for the least. Kebap stands, hole-in-the-wall take-outs, and sit-down restaurants are everywhere, almost on any street corner, at the major subway stops (usually where two or several lines meet), and on the markets. It’s not hard to find one, but not a piece of cake to find a good one. Some things you should consider when buying Kebap there are these:
Check the customer turnover. First of all, popularity is a good indicator for quality. Even more significant, it ensures that the meat needs to be cut freshly from the skewer, and won’t be reheated in oil for hours. Do have a quick look at the meat on the skewer, too. When it’s light brown and has a slightly rosy color when cut, it’s good. In general, quality isn’t much of a problem but some cautionary measures should be taken.
A very good bet for some Kebap variations is to have take-out at one of the branches of levante. It’s cheap and simply very good.
Levante branches
Wallnerstrasse 2, 1010 Wien, U3 Herrengasse
Wollzeile 19, 1010 Wien, U3 Stubentor
Mariahilferstr. 88a, 1070 Wien, U3 Zieglergasse
Josefstädterstr. 14, 1080 Wien, U2 Rathaus
Hours: 11am-11.30pm daily
Maschu-maschu
The name already points it out- maschu-maschu means fantastic in Hewbrew. These joints have the best Falafel in town and offer several options at different price ranges. You can either get your Falafel to sit down and have it there, or as a take-out. The restaurants have excellent locations in terms of strategy. One is located in the infamous Bermuda triangle and a very good bet for providing a kind of base before heading out to party there. The other one is close to Mariahilferstraße, Vienna’s biggest shopping street.
Branches
Rabensteig 8, 1010 Wien, U1, U2 Schwedenplatz
Hours Sun-Wed 11.30am- 12pm
Thu-Sat 11.30am- 4am
Neubaugasse 20 (corner of Lindengasse 41), 1070 Wien, U3 Neubaugasse
9.30am-12pm daily
Treszniewski
Another Viennese institution, Trszniewski is famous for their bread (mostly dark) with all kinds of different toppings. In the 1920s, in times of economic desperation, the owner had the idea to cut breads into smaller portions so that everybody could affort them. They have kept this practice until today. While bread certainly doesn’t sound too enticing after some bakery orgies, you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover in this case. The toppings are fantastic, of course a well kept secret of the business, and offer something for all tastes, Vegetarian or not. Try a couple of different variations, this won’t set you back too greatly, and maybe you can discover the secret behind the great taste. It might just be the way they’re preparing the eggs, some speculate. Find out for yourself.
Branches
Dorotheergasse 1, 1010 Wien, U1, U3 Stephansplatz
Mon-Fri, 8.30am-7.30pm
Sat 9am-5pm
Rochusmarkt, 1030 Wien, U3 Rochusgasse
Mon-Fri 8.30am-7.30 pm
Sat 9am-5pm
Mariahilferstr. 95, 1060 Wien, U3 Zieglergasse
Mon-Fri 8.30am-7pm
Sat 9am-6pm
http://www.trzesniewski.at/cms2/index.php?idcat=home
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