The place to seek out the very best sausage stands in Vienna

“Würstelständes are the heart of Vienna,” says Sebastian Neuschler, proprietor of Alles Wurscht, one of many metropolis’s new-wave sausage stands, set simply behind the Vienna Stock Exchange constructing. “They allow people, from small children to 90-year-old grandmothers, to meet and connect — bringing the city together.”

Vienna’s ardour for sausages was ignited in 1805 when German butcher, Johann Georg Lahner, launched town to his pork-and-beef frankfurter recipe. However, it wasn’t till the early 20^th century that the würstel (sausage) turned a street-food staple, led by First World War veterans who turned to cellular merchandising for work. Their carts, serving scorching, smoky frankfurters to manufacturing facility employees, politicians and celebrities alike, laid the foundations for at present’s würstelstände (sausage stand) as casual hubs the place totally different social teams work together and sophistication boundaries blur.

Traditionally, menus ranged from sliced bratwurst (fried, flippantly spiced German sausage) and frankfurter (parboiled pork and/or beef sausage) to Vienna’s personal käsekrainer (flippantly smoked pork sausage with melted emmental), every sometimes served with sharp mustard, horseradish and a slice of dense rye bread. While classics stay, at present’s stands are reimagining the standard würstel with new, inventive variations. These have accomplished a lot to assist protect Vienna’s würstelstandkultur — a culinary tradition recognised in Austria’s UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage listing in 2024 for its significance to Vienna.

Driven by boundary-pushing cooks, at present’s sausages are dusted with the likes of fiery Peruvian chilli powder or sandwiched right into a Vietnamese-inspired bosna — a bread roll of Serbian origin — served with two bratwurst, curry sauce, onions, mustard and parsley, and even paired with Moët champagne.

From an city, back-street storage to a high-society opera outpost, right here’s the place to seek out the very best of Vienna’s würstel.

Hidden within the entrance of a brutalist automotive park in Vienna’s 7^th district, this edgy sausage stand lures a spirited crowd of younger locals. Outfitted with a dartboard and flat-screen TV for sports activities viewings, it’s a preferred late-night hangout the place raucous chatter drowns out the sounds of a battered speaker enjoying techno music. While the klassich bosna — crammed with a beef bratwurst — käsekrainer and vegan various are crowd favourites, the Waldviertler würstel embodies the daring depth of Vienna’s sausages, its taut pores and skin and scorched flavour slicing sharply by means of a pint of beer from Zwettler, a brewery set simply west of town. Käsekrainer with bread, mustard and ketchup €5.50 (£4.75).

Look inside this modest kiosk on Schwarzenbergplatz and also you’ll spot 5 gleaming Falstaff Awards. Crowned Vienna’s finest würstelstände on the prestigious journal awards, from 2016 to 2020, it’s helmed by fine-dining veteran René Kachlir, who’s put some punch into town’s sausage tradition. Perfected over 16 years, his curry sauce is sprinkled with fiery chilli powders, from scotch bonnet to the uncommon Peruvian charapita (€45/£39 per kilo). To make the nostril stream, attempt it with the käsekrainer — its molten, velvety cheese centre oozing into the wealthy curry sauce pierced with the sharp charapita warmth. Käsekrainer with bread, mustard and horseradish €5.80 (£5.05)

Despite proudly owning three outposts throughout Vienna, Mike Lanner doesn’t compromise on high quality. The 47-year-old proudly operates town’s first organically licensed würstelstände, on the nook of Pfeilgasse and Strozzigasse, serving additive-free sausages, Salzburg-brewed Mülln beer and house-fermented pickles. Beyond sliced würstels, the menu diversifies to incorporate fried corn ribs in creamy, chilli aioli and the Bologna Wü — a bosna filled with fennel sausages, Swiss raclette and olive tapenade. With ample courtyard house, the Spittelau department holds open mic nights, reside music and dance battles till 1am — including dinner and a present to the würstelstände’s evolving providing. Käsekrainer with black bread, mustard, ketchup, combined pickles €10.90 (£9.51)

With its neon signal and hot-pink accents casting a glow on Vienna’s venerable industrial artery, Taborstrasse, this up to date kiosk lives as much as its identify by placing worldly twists on the würstel. It’s set on quiet nook in Vienna’s 2^nd district, the place its white-washed exterior juxtaposes imaginative creations such because the Banh Wü — a Vietnamese-inspired bratwurst bosna layered with pickled cabbage, carrots, cucumber and bunched coriander that cuts by means of a candy, hoisin-peanut mayonnaise. While the mouthwatering, savoury aroma of grilled frankfurters and 100% beef käsekrainers entices meat-eaters, vegetarians can tuck into deep-fried tofu, halloumi, cauliflower and oyster mushroom sausages to fulfill their urge for food. Käsekrainer with sourdough, mustard and ketchup €6.20 (£5.37)

Run by former fine-dining chef Sebastian Neuschler, this upscale kiosk serves refined road meals at an inexpensive value. Overlooked by the Vienna Stock Exchange, its wraparound counter invitations workplace employees to bask in kalbsbratwurscht (veal sausage), house-recipe käsekrainer or premium-blend beef tartare — two-thirds fillet, one-third brisket — served with mustard mayonnaise and a brioche bun for €12.90 (£11.20). While dishes reminiscent of calamari fritti, with a salty, golden crunch flip heads, the bosna stays Sebastian’s bestseller. Having offered 18,000 in 2024 alone, it’s elevated with an natural, miso sourdough roll for added chew and a delicate sweetness. Käsekrainer with mustard and ketchup €6.50 (£5.61)

Hidden behind the Vienna State Opera, family-run Bitzinger is arguably Vienna’s most glamorous sausage stand. Set towards the ornate Albertina Museum, it attracts town’s most elegant crowd — discovered with Moët in a single hand, a bratwurst bosna within the different, layered with coriander reasonably than parsley for a floral, peppery tang. While frankfurter scorching canines (hollowed and crammed with ketchup and mustard) show hottest with vacationers, go for the single-serve würstels to pattern six sausage varieties — from the darkish, double-smoked Waldviertler to the Bitzinger’s personal seppreziner, laced with paprika and spices for an intense warmth. Käsekrainer with bread, mustard and ketchup €6 (£5.18).