Restaurant guide: 100% sustainable restaurants and pubs

VIENNA: With the newly updated 2025 edition, the Austrian Restaurant Guide has set the course for a sustainable future - 100% sustainable restaurants with outstanding quality. From now on, the new Guide 2025 will only include restaurants that have to fulfil at least 80% of the sustainability criteria that have been seriously tested in order to be included in Austria's only sustainable restaurant guide. Secondly, they must offer outstanding quality, making the Wirtshausführer Austria's only guide to good and sustainable restaurants in the country.

"'Nachhaltig Wirten', which we initiated in 2019, is now a business model for the landlady and the landlord and, in combination with outstanding quality, a model for success," explain Wirtshausführer Österreich editors Renate Wagner, Elisabeth Egle and Klaus Egle. For the publishers, this relaunch was one of the reasons for bringing Werner Ringhofer on board as editor-in-chief. The well-known food journalist is characterised by professional expertise and the greatest possible understanding of food and drink enjoyment. Renate Wagner-Wittula and Elisabeth and Klaus Egle say: "For many restaurants, sustainable catering combined with outstanding quality is a challenge. It requires new thinking and new actions at a time when the general conditions for the catering industry are already extremely challenging. But it is also a business model with a future." Five years ago, the Wirtshausführer publishers Renate Wagner-Wittula, Elisabeth and Klaus Egle created the term "Nachhaltig Wirten" ("Sustainable Catering") and, based on a questionnaire, awarded the "Green Heart", the symbol for sustainable catering, to those landlords and landladies who run and manage their businesses in a particularly sustainable way.

More and more guests are consciously looking for restaurants where they can enjoy their meal with a clear conscience. And for them, the new Restaurant Guide 2025 with Austria's best sustainable restaurants is the compass they can use to find their way around. In addition, there are 250 top wineries, 60 of which are organically farmed and 85 Nachhaltig Austria winegrowers. 40 new restaurants have been added, you can search for e-charging stations, vegan restaurants and railway stations and, most importantly, which restaurants are open on Sundays.

Presentation of the annual awards

The Wirtshausführer 2025 awarded the coveted "Wirtshausführer Wirt 2025", "Wirtshausführer Winzer 2025" and "Wirtshausführer Weinmensch 2025" awards. The Wirtshausführer culinary editors acted as the jury together with the publishers.

Wirtshausführer Wirt 2025: Stockerwirt, Sulz im Wienerwald: The Stockerwirt in Sulz im Wienerwald is an institution that is celebrating its "centenary" in 2025 and is enjoying excellent health and prosperity. Built in 1896 as a mill, the building was turned into an inn in 1925 and is now run with passion and impressive drive by Katharina and Georg Stocker. "You have to offer your guests exactly what you would like to have yourself when you are a guest in a restaurant," says Georg Stocker, summarising his philosophy. This includes high-quality cuisine, which is based on many organic and regional products and includes the use of whole animals as well as full transparency when it comes to suppliers, all of whom are listed on the menu. There is also a professional and attentive service with long-standing staff and a wine cellar with 2,700 items and a corresponding glass culture at the table.

Wirtshausführer Winzer 2025: Rainer Christ from Weingut Christ, Vienna: He started out as a "young, wild winemaker", caused a sensation with his "full moon wine" and has already been named "Heurigenwirt of the Year" by Falstaff. But all of these are just highlights of the overall picture of Rainer Christ, who is first and foremost an excellent winemaker with an unconditional commitment to quality and the necessary flair for great wines. His arena is the Bisamberg, where he draws on the different sites and terroirs and excels with white and red wines alike. Numerous awards, including an almost legendary five-fold success at the 2018 Vienna State Wine Award, confirm the high standard of work here.

Restaurant Guide Wine Man 2025: Rainer Pariasek - supported by Zalto Glas: Rainer Pariasek is without exaggeration the most famous face of Austrian sport. He has been presenting sporting events for ORF for 35 years, from skiing and football to major events such as world championships and the Olympic Games. The sports reporter is well connected in the local wine scene, can regularly be found at wine events and many winemakers are among his friends. Pariasek is married to a winemaker's daughter and lives in Hollenburg in the ideal location, in the middle of the fantastic wine-growing regions of Traisental, Kremstal, Kamptal, Wachau and Wagram. When it comes to wine outside of Austria, Pariasek, who spends around 100 days a year travelling, is an avowed fan of white Burgundy.

Wirtshausführer Weinwirte 2025 - supported by Österreich Wein Marketing: Special achievements in the area of combining pub and wine culture,

• Vienna: Der Stasta, 1230 Vienna
• Burgenland: das Fritz, Weiden am See
• Carinthia: Gipfelhaus Magdalensberg, Magdalensberg
• Lower Austria: Fischerwirt, Ernsthofen
• Upper Austria: Jaidhaus, Hinterstoder
• Salzburg: dahoam, Leogang
• Styria: Kreuzwirt im Landgut am Pößnitzberg, Leutschach
• Tyrol: Dresch, Erl
• Vorarlberg: Traube Braz, Braz

Wirtshausführer Aufsteiger 2025 - supported by METRO Austria: Particularly innovative and successful inns that have newly opened or have surprised with a significant qualitative improvement or have proven their form curve through long continuity

• Vienna: Panigl, 1080 Vienna
• Burgenland: Heiligenkreuzerkeller by Steinhöfer, Winden
• Carinthia: Zum Mundschenk, St. Georgen am Längsee
• Lower Austria: FEINSINN-Genuss Lokal, Rorhendorf
• Upper Austria: Zum Goldenen Hirschen, Gmunden
• Salzburg: Merkel & Merkel, Salzburg
• Styria: Gasthaus Rainer - Trautentalwirt, Geistthal
• Tyrol: Erbhofa at the Farm Resort Geislerhof, Gerlos
• Vorarlberg: Löwen/Gaststube Brennar, Lingenau