7 Best Restaurants in District 2/Leopoldstadt, Vienna

Dine at Vienna's poshest restaurant while taking in the stunning, 360-degree panoramic vistas of the city's skyline from the 18th floor of the Sofitel Stephansdom. The gourmet meals, often made with seasonal, locally-sourced fare, are just as fabulous as the view. A four-course tasting menu may include roasted foie gras, fresh panfried pike perch from nearby Neusiedler Lake, and crispy lamb crown, with a dessert of peanut-butter-yogurt mousse with butterscotch ice-cream and caramalized chocolate. The ambience is centered on the spectacular ceiling, designed by Swiss multimedia artist Pipilotti Rist. She has created a magnificent visual feast, which is best viewed at sunset, as the changing colors outside have a lovely dance with the colors playing out on the ceiling above you.

This "beautiful pearl" is one of the most popular dining spots for locals in Leopoldstadt. It offers traditional Austrian comfort food, including Tafelspitz—boiled beef, the favored dish of Emperor Franz Josef—and Wiener schnitzel, but its real palate pleasers are the wide selection of vegetarian dishes on the menu. Avocado salad, pumpkin cream soup, spinach ravioli, and red lentil soup are among the top favorites. The interior is surprisingly spacious, so the restaurant can get crowded, but not cramped. The staff is friendly, and seems to tolerate well the children who can't resist roaming the vastness.

When you're at the Prater, try to eat at Schweizerhaus, which has been serving frothy mugs of beer, roast chicken, and Stelze (a huge hunk of crispy roast pork on the bone) for more than 100 years. The informal setting, with wood-plank tables indoors or in the garden in summer, adds to the fun.

Many restaurants have set up shop in former stalls on the market square in the artsy neighborhood that has sprung up around Karmelitermarkt, just across the Donaukanal, including Skopik & Lohn. The menu features international fare, such as roast chicken with figs and chestnuts, and linguine with fresh chanterelle mushrooms (which only grow two months out of the year). The interior is rather minimalist and modern, except for artist Otto Zitko's massive doodling spree on the ceiling. The black-and-white art creeps like a vine onto the walls---you'll want to get out your markers and color it in.