A friend of mine had an unpleasant experience in a restaurant in Vienna on New Year's Eve. She is not a member of the board, but wanted to get the word out, so I am posting here about her misadventure.

**Note: this is second hand knowledge but I wouldn't post it if I didn't know and trust the source.

She went with a group of 8 friends to Vienna for the New Year's holidays for the 4th time. They went to a restaurant in the center, Zum Weissen Rauchfangkehrer in Weihburggasse 4, for New Year's Eve. She describes the restaurant as very nice but not oozing in luxury. There was a fixed menu for the evening and they did not ask the price beforehand, which they now realize was a mistake. They knew it was New Year's Eve and expected high prices accordingly. But they never expected to pay 320 euro per person.

She says they ate well and had good wine but nothing really out of the ordinary to justify this price. The only thing they requested special was champagne and even then the bottle was not brought to the table to be opened; instead they were brought glasses that contains what she described as a small amount.

They decided not to discuss the bill on the premises (they were afraid they might hear "the usual Italians") but to write to the Vienna Tourism Board as well as the restaurant once they returned to Rome.

I’ll let you know how this develops.

Has anyone else been to / heard of this restaurant?

Steph

Webfabbrica di Roma
Web Design & Search Engine Optimization

That does seem a bit high. I looked into Cafe Quadri (one of the most expensive restaurants in Venice) for NYE in 2002, and I think it was around 200 Euro per person, without wine. (We ate Chinese food instead.) But I suppose they should have checked. Do they still have the bill? It must have been itemized somewhat - if they were charged 30 Euro for a glass of Champagne they should write to the owner.

You know you should post this on chowhound - maybe their miscellaneous board, there are lots of discussions like this over there, and most replies are from extreme foodies and restauarant people. Check it out.

Chowhound Misc. Board

Shannon
www.chowbellabooks.com

What a terrible story! I was interested in this post because we were just in Vienna, a few days before New Year's. We didn't eat at this restaurant. I checked my trusty Frommers Guide, though, and it is listed there as a "inexpensive" restaurant. It's also listed on the Frommers website (not as one of their "favorites"). You or your friend may want to send an e-mail to the Frommers editors about this experience-- or also do a posting on the Frommers Austria message board. I think there's a higher level of interest in Austria there than on Slow Travel...

We were in Prague for New Years and talked with the concierge at our hotel (the Marriott) about New Year's Eve dinners. Every restaurant she suggested had some type of "special" dinner, and all were very expensive, though not as expensive as your friend's meal in Vienna! We opted for room service in our room and had a great meal for three in front of the tv set for about $30 USD.