Frequently asked questions.

No. Walk-ins get a free table, and on busy nights tables keep turning over — you wait at the bar. If you want to be sure, book online, around the clock. Groups of eight or more, please always book.

Yes, the high tables at the bar serve the full menu. No booking needed, as long as there is a seat. Many people come for exactly that: dinner at the bar, and the evening carries on without moving.

Fifteen minutes past the booked time. Running late? Give us a quick call and we hold it longer. Without word we pass the table on and you go back on the waiting list — on busy nights other guests are waiting for it.

Until 9 pm we plan two hours per table so the next guests get theirs. From 9 pm the table is yours for as long as you like.

Individual bookings can be cancelled free of charge at any time — just let us know in good time so the table does not stay empty. For groups of eight or more, special menus and busy dates, a deposit or separate cancellation terms may apply — they are shown before you book.

The current kitchen hours are on the contact page. You can order until 15 minutes before the kitchen closes.

No. Thell is open 365 days a year, holidays included. Opening hours are in the footer and in the reservation system.

At Thell, Viennese world cuisine combines traditional Viennese dishes with seasonal, modern cooking and international influences. One example is the Schinkenfleckerl, a classic of the house. Alongside them are dishes whose ingredients, spices and ideas reach beyond Vienna.

Yes, on every menu, and they are marked. Some dishes are “vegan on request” — say so when ordering and the kitchen swaps the component. The menu is online with all markings if you want to plan ahead.

Tell us — ideally when booking, at the latest when ordering. Allergens are listed with every dish, and the kitchen accommodates where it can. What we cannot promise is the absence of traces: everything is cooked in one kitchen.

Some dishes are gluten-free by nature, others can be adapted — ask when ordering, the team knows what works. We cannot rule out traces. If you have coeliac disease, please say so explicitly.

Thell is an evening place. Children are welcome and we have high chairs — no children's menu, though, and from 8 pm it gets loud and full. With kids, the best time is between 5 and 8 pm.

Yes, free of charge. Tell us when booking and we bring it out at the right moment. Or leave it to us: we bake birthday cakes ourselves — order a few days ahead.

A house since 1973, a kitchen that cooks when others have closed, and a bar in the same room: at Thell, dinner is the beginning of the evening, not its end. Add green velvet, marble and brass from the 2015 renovation — and the Schinkenfleckerl that have been on the menu since the Motto days.

Because it has been there since 1973. Franz Thell founded Motto as an open place, Helmut Lang carried plates here, and the ORF documentary “Wiener Zeitgeist” names the house in the same breath as the U4 and the Arena. The Vienna Tourist Board still lists Thell among the addresses for dining after midnight. Fifty years on, the house is the same — with a new name.

Because the house carries its founder's name. Franz Thell opened it in 1973, back then as Motto. Since 2013 it has belonged to Tom Sampl and is run independently. On 1 January 2023, in its fiftieth year, Motto became Thell. Nothing was sold, the owner is the same, and so are the Schinkenfleckerl.

Yes. The house was founded in 1973 by Franz Thell as Motto and has been an institution of Vienna's dinner and nightlife ever since. Tom Sampl has owned and run it independently since 2013, and since 2023 it is called Thell — after its founder. Many Viennese still say Motto, and that is perfectly fine with us.

No. Thell is the original house on Rüdigergasse where it all began in 1973. Motto am Fluss, Motto Catering and Hotel Motto belong to the Motto Group, which later grew out of this house. The two went their separate ways in 2011, and Tom Sampl has owned and run Thell independently since 2013.

Yes, under a new name. The place at Schönbrunner Straße 30 with its entrance on Rüdigergasse has been called Thell since 2023. The address, the house, the owner and the Schinkenfleckerl are all still the same. Booking works online, as always.

The address is Schönbrunner Straße 30, but you come in via Rüdigergasse — around the corner, twenty metres. The Thell neon sign shows the way.

Unfortunately not — the house dates from 1973 and is not step-free. If you come with a wheelchair or walker, please call ahead: we tell you honestly what is possible and help where we can.

Yes. Well-behaved dogs are welcome at Thell — inside and in the garden. Water comes without asking.

Take the U4 to Pilgramgasse or Kettenbrückengasse, a few steps either way. Buses 59A, 13A and 14A stop at Pilgramgasse / Schönbrunner Straße, practically at the door.

The streets around the house are a short-term parking zone — paid Monday to Friday until 10 pm, free after that and at weekends. There are no garages nearby — the closest are at Naschmarkt near Karlsplatz and at Hundsturm. Honestly, the U4 is easier.

The taxi rank is at Pilgramgasse, two minutes' walk. Or just tell us — we are happy to call one while you finish your drink.

On the Rose Garden terrace out front. The courtyard jungle and the house are non-smoking.

Yes, restaurant and bar are air-conditioned. In summer it is pleasant inside, even when Vienna glows outside.

Cash, debit card, Visa, Mastercard and Apple Pay. We do not take American Express.

Gift vouchers are available online, never expire and are valid for everything at Thell — food, drinks, events. Show it when paying, on your phone or printed. We cannot pay it out in cash. Any remaining balance stays as credit.

From twenty guests the events team plans with you — flow, menu, area. Smaller groups simply book a table. We need the final number of guests seven working days before the date.

170 seats in the restaurant, 80 in the bar area, plus around 70 in the garden in summer. Up to 170 people can sit at long tables across the restaurant.

Yes. For big parties the house is all yours — restaurant, bar and, in summer, the garden. Just ask.

A single long table seats up to 35. Bigger parties spread across several tables — up to 170 across the whole restaurant.

Four: the seasonal group menu, à la carte, flying buffet in the bar area, or drinks only. The events team will tell you honestly what fits.

In summer, yes — on request. Whether and how depends on the event: we sit in the middle of Margareten, and the neighbours live closer than you think at midnight.

For group events and private parties the bar stays open longer — in Advent on regular nights too. In the garden the neighbours set the rules. Garden parties are by arrangement.

As much as you want: food, drinks, service staff, a mobile bar and, on request, complete party planning. Book a single format or the whole package — we arrive with everything the party needs.

Yes. Bar catering works on its own: mobile bar, cocktail list and team — even if the food comes from somewhere else.

Yes. Party planning comes as a full service: flow, music, decoration, staff, food and bar — one contact, one invoice.

Wherever the party is — apartment, office, garden or hall. Tell us the place and we will say honestly whether it works for us.

Yes. Behind Thell at yours stands the same team as in the house — Viennese world cuisine that travels. We plan the menu together, to fit the occasion and the place.

It depends on the format — private dinner, buffet, flying buffet, bar or full party planning — and on the number of guests and the place. After a first conversation you get a concrete offer, no surprises: one team, one invoice.

Yes. A weekend with a reception, dinner and brunch we plan just like a single evening — one schedule, one team, one invoice.

Send us the place, the date and the number of guests. We come back with a concrete proposal and tell you honestly what works — and what does not. Then we talk menu, bar and schedule.

Yes, all of it. From the dress to the cake, from the technology to the dinner — over one day or a whole weekend. We help choose the location, organise flowers, make-up, music, staff, food and bar, and we are there on the day.

At yours, at Thell — or with our partners: a castle, a fortress and a hotel in different beautiful places. Which location fits, we settle in the first conversation.

Everything you want to hand over: concept and schedule, location, menu and cake, bar and wines, flowers and decoration, dress and make-up, technology and music, staff — and the coordination on the day. You decide how much you keep in your own hands.

Yes. Catering, bar or flying buffet are available on their own — planning the whole celebration is an offer, not a condition.