{"id":24745,"date":"2020-04-25T05:19:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-25T04:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=24745"},"modified":"2025-04-07T09:38:49","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T08:38:49","slug":"vegetarian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/vegetarian\/","title":{"rendered":"Vegetarian Vienna"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/veggiesmall1.jpg\" alt=\"Pumpkins\" class=\"wp-image-52868\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/veggiesmall1.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/veggiesmall1-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Vegetarianism as a major movement came late to Austria (even if Vienna once hosted a vegetarian congress in 1886). But today&#8217;s cosmopolitan capital has many options to keep vegetarians like me happy and fed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Enjoy some tips on what to expect on a meat-free trip, with a small glossary of key German words to finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Book a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiqets.com\/en\/food-tours-vienna-tickets-l205283\/?partner=visitingvienna&amp;tq_campaign=LG_FandD\" rel=\"sponsored\">food or drink experience<\/a>* in Vienna<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/traditional-food-drink\/\">Traditional food and drink<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Jump to:\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#culture\">The vegetarian culture<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#restaurants\">Restaurants &amp; caf\u00e9s<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#grocery\">Grocery stores<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#vegan\">Vegan festivals &amp; ice cream parlours<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#german\">Useful German words<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"culture\">The vegetarian culture<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/greenpeppers.jpg\" alt=\"Green peppers\" class=\"wp-image-52866\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/greenpeppers.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/greenpeppers-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Bell peppers: notoriously free of meat)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I arrived in Austria back in 1994, I asked someone where you can buy semi-skimmed milk. They expressed immediate concern for whatever gastrointestinal disease I must have suffered from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Surely no healthy human would want something as exotic and rare as milk without all the fat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I give you that story just to illustrate that Vienna and Austria joined modern dietary movements somewhat later than many others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Times have changed. (Fortunately.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A survey published in March 2024 by the EU-funded Smart Protein project, for example, found 5% of the Austrian population identified as vegan (the largest number among the countries surveyed), 5% as vegetarian, 5% as pescatarian and a whopping 37% as flexitarian (rather than omnivore).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Back in early 2021, Nestpick <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nestpick.com\/vegetarian-cities-index\/\">rated<\/a> Vienna as the fourth best city in the world for vegetarians out of the 200 they surveyed. Only London, Berlin and Munich ranked higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So being a vegetarian is nothing unusual and the grocery stores and restaurants have adapted accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As well as the usual arguments, vegetarianism in Austria has benefited (in my amateur opinion) from synergies with the country&#8217;s widespread organic food movement. Go into any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/supermarkets\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"70\">Vienna supermarket<\/a> and the astonishing range of organic products available may surprise you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"restaurants\">Restaurants &amp; caf\u00e9s<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The traditional Austrian diet has always been rather meat-heavy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps the most iconic Viennese dish is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/food\/wiener-schnitzel\/\">Schnitzel<\/a>, often served as a plate-sized piece of fried pork where the non-meat component involves a slice of lemon and (if you&#8217;re lucky) a thimbleful of potato salad. I&#8217;m exaggerating&#8230;but not by much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a result, restaurants sticking to truly traditional menus may still seem light on meat-free options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Such locations often simply rebrand &#8220;old school&#8221; dishes as vegetarian (like the ubiquitous Greek salad). <em>K\u00e4sesp\u00e4tzle <\/em>makes another good example: a traditional kind of pasta\/dumpling dish involving melted cheese and fried onions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Help is at hand<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Fortunately, more and more restaurants now include dedicated vegan and vegetarian dishes that go beyond historical coincidence. As you&#8217;d expect, this is particularly true of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Places used to serving international guests (caf\u00e9s and restaurants in tourist areas ought to have sufficient meat-free options, but snack bars are another matter)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Student haunts. Around the centre, look for places near to the&#8230;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>University of Applied Arts Vienna<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Academy of Fine Arts Vienna<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>University of Vienna<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>TU Wien<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Medical University of Vienna<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vienna University of Economics and Business<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Outlets whose cuisine lends itself to vegetarianism. We often get takeout from the Akakiko chain, for example, and noodle bars have begun popping up everywhere<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>And then we have a growing number of dedicated vegetarian or vegan restaurants, with numerous in Vienna&#8217;s old town (Google Maps, Trip Advisor, and similar will be happy to recommend some to you).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We don&#8217;t eat out much, so I can&#8217;t make personal recommendations unfortunately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Milk?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/cafespubsbars\/coffee-houses\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"7689\">coffee houses, caf\u00e9s and similar<\/a> I go into now offer at least one plant-based alternative to milk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oat-based milk (German: <em>Hafermilch<\/em>) seems most popular, followed by soy-based milk (German: <em>Sojamilch<\/em>). Sometimes the choice is free, but some places may charge a small premium for the plant-based option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The seasonal markets?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Incidentally, gastronomy stalls at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sightseeing\/christmas-markets\/\">Christmas<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sightseeing\/easter-markets\/\">Easter<\/a> markets now feature vegetarian options in addition to the traditional meat-based wintry fare: spicy lentil soup alongside goulash; leek sauce toppings for your baked potato rather than chopped ham and cheese; falafel as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/food\/sausages\/\">fried sausage<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"grocery\">Grocery stores<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/billaplus.jpg\" alt=\"Billa Plus in Hernals\" class=\"wp-image-46810\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/billaplus.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/billaplus-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Supermarkets now have extensive ranges of products for vegetarians)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The situation looks even better for vegetarian (and vegan) food shopping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vienna has plenty of health food shops and organic grocery stores or chains (like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denns-biomarkt.at\/\">Denn&#8217;s<\/a>, for example) that often stock a decent number of options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the last couple of years, the big <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/supermarkets\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"70\">supermarket chains<\/a> scaled up their specialist vegetarian and vegan options significantly. One such chain (Billa) even has an entirely plant-based store (BILLA PFLANZILLA below Gerngross department store at Mariahilfer Stra\u00dfe 38-48).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Look, in particular, for dedicated vegetarian sections in the refrigerated areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Various choices exist, but, for the record, our trolley tends to contain these brands when we&#8217;re not cooking with unprocessed food:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <em>Vegavita <\/em>range of meatless products (mostly just their tofu)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <em>Veggie <\/em>own-brand range of vegetarian and vegan products in Spar supermarkets<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Soy drink (as a milk replacement) from <em>Ja Nat\u00fcrlich<\/em>, an in-house organic brand of Billa Plus and Billa supermarkets. Importantly, they use domestically-grown beans<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I believe plant-based milk alternatives cannot by law be packaged as milk products in Austria, so you usually see them described as drinks or similar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In my experience, vegetarian &#8220;sausages&#8221; here are a bit hit and miss. And mostly miss. And often unpleasantly expensive: we tend to stick to the other products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Needless to say, your typical supermarket also has plenty of pulses, cereals (including quinoa, amaranth, etc.), vegetables, fruit, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"vegan\">Vegan festivals &amp; ice cream<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/veganicecreamparlour.jpg\" alt=\"Vegan ice cream parlour\" class=\"wp-image-45975\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/veganicecreamparlour.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/veganicecreamparlour-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(A popular ice cream chain)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two notable festivals to consider:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/events\/veganmania\/\">Veganmania<\/a> (usually on two dates toward the start and end of summer): one of the city&#8217;s biggest street food and open-air market events is entirely vegan<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/events\/vegan-planet\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"53794\">Vegan planet<\/a> (normally late autumn): an indoor fair dedicated to an animal-free lifestyle&#8230;fashion, food, accessories, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m not a big ice cream eater, but have noticed of late that many of Vienna&#8217;s ice cream salons offer a surprisingly-large number of vegan ice cream options for your cornet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We even have a chain of vegan ice cream stores: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.veganista.at\/\">Veganista<\/a> (last time I checked their website, they also supplied Spar supermarkets). They have a branch in the very centre at Tuchlauben 12, close to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/cafespubsbars\/cafe-korb\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"13325\">Caf\u00e9 Korb<\/a>, for example, as well as one in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sightseeing\/vienna-museums\/mq\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"4030\">MuseumsQuartier<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And finally&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"german\">German vocab for vegetarians<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Vegetarier \/ Vegetarierin : male\/female vegetarian<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Veganer \/ Veganerin : male\/female vegan<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>geeignet f\u00fcr Vegetarier \/ Veganer : suitable f\u00fcr vegetarians\/vegans (so vegetarian dishes on menus are often marked with a V symbol)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fleisch \/ Tier : meat \/ animal<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>fleischlos : meat-free<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Soja : soy or soya<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>sojafrei : soya-free<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sojamilch: soy milk<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hafer: oat<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hafermilch: oat milk<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mandel: almond<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mandelmilch: almond milk<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pflanzen : plants<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>pflanzliches Eiwei\u00df : plant protein<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>tierisches Eiwei\u00df : animal protein<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ei \/ Eier \/ H\u00fchnerei : egg \/ eggs \/ chicken eggs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>K\u00e4se \/ Milch \/ Milchprodukte : cheese \/ milk \/ dairy products<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vegetarianism as a major movement came late to Austria (even if Vienna once hosted a vegetarian congress in 1886). But today&#8217;s cosmopolitan capital has many options to keep vegetarians like me happy and fed. Enjoy some tips on what to expect on a meat-free trip, with a small glossary of key German words to finish. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24745","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eatingdrinking","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24745"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82013,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24745\/revisions\/82013"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}