What does Tachles mean? The name and why it stayed

„Tachles" comes from Yiddish and means: get to the point, speak openly, say what matters. Whoever talks tachles leaves out the detours and says what it is about.

That is the short answer. The longer one has to do with the fact that this name is older than we are — and that it is the one thing we did not touch when we took the place over.

The name was here before us

There has been a café on Karmeliterplatz under this name since 1991. The Tachles you know today has existed since 2010. That was when we took the place over — and the name along with it.

After that we changed almost everything: the concept, the kitchen, the cellar, the walls. Today the walls carry posters of the Polish poster school of the 1960s, the speakers play Polish jazz or classical music, and black-and-white films run along one wall. Ever since he was young, Marcin had dreamed of a place with a hall for concerts and events. The hall exists. It is in the cellar.

One single thing we left exactly as it was: the name above the door.

Why we kept it

We are in Leopoldstadt, in the Karmeliter quarter, right next to the Karmelitermarkt. A mixed neighbourhood: market, art, neighbours. And a historically Jewish district — the 2nd district has been closely bound to Jewish culture for centuries.

A Yiddish word above the door is therefore not decoration here. We left the name standing out of respect for that history and for the multicultural character of the district. You do not strike out something that was here long before you, just because you are making a new start. We have no further comment on it. The name stands, and that is enough.

On top of that, the word describes rather well how we wanted to work. For us, Tachles is also a statement: authenticity, honesty, good cooking without unnecessary ingredients. Values you can write down are cheap. It gets interesting where they change everyday life.

Tachles on the plate

Pierogi are our speciality. Seven kinds, one of them vegan. In 2026 Gault&Millau called them „probably the best in Vienna". Next to them the menu carries barszcz, bigos and szarlotka, plus a beef broth with noodles that many guests consider the best in the city. Anyone who browses will find palatschinken, sweet pierogi and spaghetti bolognese.

What you will not find on any of those plates: garnish that is only there so that something is there. Magdalena weighs and measures — recipes from our grandmothers and her own — and keeps improving them until nothing superfluous is left. We change the fixed menu every two years, with two seasonal menus alongside. We do not reinvent ourselves every month. We would rather cook well what we can do well.

In the evening the living room turns into a bar. Robert mixes his own cocktails, there are homemade lemonades, wines from Austrian organic estates and coffee from the Alt Wien roastery. The same rule applies there: few things, but chosen with care.

Tachles in the way we deal with people

The tone in the house is the same. We tell you what is good today. If you want to hire the cellar — 80 seats, a piano down there — you ask Marcin and get a clear answer: Monday to Wednesday free of charge if the project fits. Friday and Saturday against a minimum spend. Outside opening hours is possible too. No talking around it, no maybe.

Downstairs the open stage Floorspot runs, and there are readings, concerts and cabaret. Anyone with an idea brings it here.

And some things need no long explanation. Since 2013 we have offered the caffè sospeso, the first place in Austria to do so: you pay for a coffee that someone you will never meet gets to drink. Since 2025 there have been the Pierogi 4 Peace: a portion from which a fixed amount goes to die Gruft, run by Caritas. That is the whole text on the subject. Talking helps, so do pierogi.

A pink stamp

Our mark is a round pink stamp with four words: JETZT ABER TACHLES — now let us talk tachles. It says quite precisely what this place wants to be. Not somewhere to rush through, more of a living room — guests say „like at home" and „the atmosphere of being among friends". You sit, you talk, and at some point you get to the point.

That is exactly why the name still stands above the door. It belonged to this house before it belonged to us, and it still describes precisely what we try to do here every evening. Lucky twice over, we would say.

You will find us at Karmeliterplatz 1 in Leopoldstadt; the current opening hours are at the bottom of every page. What comes to the table is in the menu — and you can book a table here.

We are here for you. Since 2010.