Pierogi in Vienna: seven kinds on Karmeliterplatz

If you've never met them: pierogi are filled dumplings from the Polish kitchen, with a habit of disappearing faster than you planned. In 2026 Gault&Millau called ours “probably the best in Vienna”. We try not to bring it up more than twice per conversation. This is the first time.

We serve seven kinds, some of them vegan, at Karmeliterplatz 1 in Leopoldstadt, Vienna's 2nd district. Here's what's on the plate, who's behind it, and how to get a table.

First, what's in a name

Strictly speaking, we're a Kulturcafé – a café, restaurant, bar and cellar stage rolled into one. The recipes come from Polish cooking; that's where the dishes are from, not what it says on the door.

The name “Tachles” comes from Yiddish and means speaking plainly, getting to the point. The café has carried it since 1991. When today's team took over in 2010, they kept it out of respect for the history and the multicultural character of the 2nd district, a part of Vienna that Jewish culture has been closely tied to for centuries. There's more in What does Tachles mean?.

Where the recipes come from

Grandmothers, mostly. Which is lovely, and also a problem, because grandmothers' recipes all share the same flaw: “a handful”, “until it looks right”.

Enter Magdalena Mitura. The kitchen is her kingdom, and she does with those recipes what grandmothers rarely did: she weighs them. She measures. She improves what can be improved – the family recipes and her own get exactly the same treatment. And she keeps an eye on the team.

It's a less romantic trick than you'd hope: a good recipe, a set of scales and someone paying attention.

Marcin Gorski, a trained chef and the soul of the place, works the kitchen just as much as the bar and the floor. There's no sealed-off kitchen here that occasionally sends out plates. The kitchen is the business.

The seven kinds (as of autumn 2026)

Pierogi are the house speciality, so here they are, all seven by name:

• “Ruskie” – potato and quark (a fresh curd cheese)
• Tofu – vegan
• Spinach
• Ham (pork)
• “Bauern” – ham and buckwheat
• Cabbage and porcini – vegan
• Pearl barley and porcini – vegan

They come with fried onions, and you can have one kind or a mix. If you can't choose between the buckwheat and the porcini, that's precisely what the mix is for.

And then there's a quieter corner of the menu: sweet pierogi with strawberry, blueberry or quark, with a vegan option too.

As of autumn 2026 – what's on right now is on the menu. Our regular menu changes only every two years, with two seasonal menus alongside. Pierogi stay put; plenty moves around them.

You'll see them spelled all sorts of ways in Vienna. Pierogi is the plural, a single one is a pieróg, and German menus often say Piroggen. Handy if you're trying to recommend us to an Austrian friend.

What else to order

Next to the pierogi, the menu's calling cards are barszcz (beetroot soup), bigos (hunter's stew) and szarlotka (apple cake). And a quiet tip for anyone who has already done the obvious: the beef broth with noodles. Plenty of guests reckon it's the best in Vienna. We don't argue very hard. More in Bigos, barszcz and beef broth, and the whole Polish kitchen at a glance in Polish food in Vienna.

Why Karmeliterplatz

Because this square has never been just one thing.

The Karmeliterviertel, our Grätzl (Viennese for neighbourhood), is mixed, artistic and built around a market – and it's Vienna's historic Jewish quarter. The Karmelitermarkt actually began right here: from 1671, under market privileges granted by Emperor Leopold I, locals could hold a weekly market on the square in front of the Carmelite church – the spot where Tachles stands today. In 1910 the market moved to its present site. More on that in Karmelitermarkt.

Pierogi 4 Peace

One item on the menu isn't an ordinary order. With Pierogi 4 Peace, a fixed amount from every portion goes to the Gruft, a Caritas shelter for people experiencing homelessness. Not a percentage, not a campaign week – it has simply been running since 2025. The price and the donation are listed with the dish on the menu; the background is in Pierogi 4 Peace.

You order pierogi, somebody else gets something out of it. That's the whole mechanism.

Getting here

Current opening hours are at the bottom of every page. Public transport is easy: U1 to Nestroyplatz, U2 to Taborstraße, tram 2 or bus 5A.

We don't do delivery and there's no online ordering. To book a table, ring us, send an email or use the booking form.

Come in, sit down, take your time.