Restaurant in Ligist, Austria
One Michelin star, rural Styria, fair prices.
Wörgötter Fine Dining holds a 2024 Michelin star and delivers a creative, internationally influenced surprise menu at €€€, making it one of Styria's most compelling value propositions in fine dining. Florian Wörgötter's third-generation kitchen produces considered, contrast-driven plates backed by a curated wine list with pairing options. Book two to four weeks out: weekend covers fill, and Thursday through Saturday evenings are the sessions worth securing.
At the €€€ price tier, Wörgötter Fine Dining in Ligist delivers something that most one-star restaurants in Austria cannot: a creative tasting menu where the bill does not require an apology. For a special occasion in Styria, this is the booking to make first. The surprise menu format means you are placing trust in Florian Wörgötter's kitchen, but with a 4.8 Google rating across 316 reviews and a 2024 Michelin star, that trust is well-placed. If you are weighing this against a trip to Vienna's leading tables, read on before you book.
Wörgötter occupies a position on the Marktplatz in Ligist that is easy to underestimate from the outside. Inside, the fine dining rooms are elegantly decorated, and in summer, a terrace opens onto the square. The visual register here is composed and quiet: this is not a theatrical dining room designed to impress on arrival, but the kind of space that rewards you once the food and wine are in front of you. The bar in the entrance area is worth factoring into your evening. Arriving early for a drink before your table is called, or staying for a nightcap after the menu, turns the booking into a full evening rather than a single sitting.
The dual-concept model is worth understanding before you book. The same family runs a Wörgötter Wirtshaus alongside the fine dining operation, serving regional Austrian cooking at accessible prices. The two concepts share a building but occupy separate dining spaces. If you are travelling with guests who do not want a full tasting menu commitment, this structure gives you options. For a celebration or a serious dinner, book the fine dining room.
Florian Wörgötter is the third generation of his family in this kitchen, working alongside his father Mathias. The cooking is creative and draws on international influences without abandoning its Styrian roots. Combinations confirmed by Michelin include yellowfin tuna with beer radish, jalapeño and shiso, and pork greaves with gyoza, pointed cabbage and brown butter. These are not conservative plates. The flavour contrasts are deliberate, and the construction is considered. For diners who want Austrian produce handled with modern technique and some global reach, this is the right room.
The surprise menu format is fixed: you do not choose courses. If dietary restrictions are a concern, contact the restaurant ahead of your visit. The format works well for special occasion dining because it removes decision fatigue and lets the kitchen tell a complete story across the meal.
The wine list is described as nicely curated, with wine pairings available by the glass alongside the surprise menu. For a restaurant at this price point and ambition level, the pairing option is the right choice for most guests. Styria is one of Austria's most interesting wine regions, and a kitchen that draws on both local and international influences benefits from a pairing that can move between Styrian Sauvignon Blanc and something further afield as the menu shifts. The by-the-glass pairing format also means you are not locked into a single bottle for the entire meal, which suits a multi-course creative menu better than almost any other approach.
If you prefer to select your own bottle, the curated list gives you that option. For guests who know Austrian wine well, this is an opportunity to drink regionally at prices that are likely to be more reasonable than comparable pairings in Vienna or Salzburg. For guests who are less familiar with Styrian producers, the pairing is the more reliable route to a meal where the wine enhances rather than competes with what Florian Wörgötter is building on the plate. Either way, the wine program here is not an afterthought: it is part of the case for booking.
Book as far ahead as possible. A one-star restaurant serving a surprise menu in a small Styrian market town has limited covers, and word has spread. Treat this like any Michelin-starred booking in a rural Austrian setting: two to four weeks minimum for a weekend dinner, and do not assume that a midweek slot will be easier to secure without checking. The restaurant is closed Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday and Sunday service runs 10 AM to 3 PM only, making those days lunch-only options. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday run through to midnight, which is where you want to book for a full evening with time for a pre-dinner drink and a nightcap at the bar.
Reservations: Book well in advance; Michelin recognition has increased demand significantly and weekend covers fill quickly. Budget: €€€ per head, with wine pairing; expect to spend meaningfully less than a comparable one-star experience in Vienna or Salzburg. Hours: Closed Monday and Tuesday; Wednesday and Sunday lunch only (to 3 PM); Thursday through Saturday open until midnight. Getting there: Ligist is in the Styrian hinterland southwest of Graz; a car or taxi from Graz is the practical approach for most visitors. Service: Family-run throughout, with the chef's partner and mother also on the floor; expect warmth and efficiency rather than formal distance.
See the comparison section below for how Wörgötter sits against Austria's other one-star and premium creative tables.
For more on eating and drinking in the area, see our full Ligist restaurants guide, our full Ligist hotels guide, our full Ligist bars guide, our full Ligist wineries guide, and our full Ligist experiences guide.
If you are planning a wider Austria fine dining trip, comparable one-star and multi-star creative experiences worth considering include Steirereck im Stadtpark in Vienna, Döllerer in Golling an der Salzach, Senns in Salzburg, Landhaus Bacher in Mautern an der Donau, and Obauer in Werfen. For creative fine dining in very different settings, Griggeler Stuba in Lech, Schwarzer Adler in Hall in Tirol, Gourmetrestaurant Tannenhof in Sankt Anton am Arlberg, and Ois in Neufelden are all worth knowing. If you are benchmarking Wörgötter's creative approach against a broader European frame, Quique Dacosta in Dénia and Arpège in Paris give useful reference points for what internationally influenced creative menus can do at the leading of the format. Restaurant 141 by Joachim Jaud in Mieming is also worth considering for creative Austrian cooking at a similar level.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wörgötter - Fine Dining | Creative | €€€ | Hard |
| Steirereck im Stadtpark | Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Mraz & Sohn | Modern Austrian, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Döllerer | Contemporary Austrian, Innovative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Landhaus Bacher | Austrian, Classic Cuisine | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Obauer | Classic Cuisine | €€€€ | Unknown |
How Wörgötter - Fine Dining stacks up against the competition.
There is no à la carte choice to make: the kitchen runs a surprise tasting menu, and you go with it. The format pairs creative combinations with international influences — dishes like yellowfin tuna with beer radish and jalapeño, or pork greaves with gyoza and brown butter have featured. Add the wine pairing by the glass rather than selecting a bottle independently; at this price point it is the better value move.
The rooms are elegantly decorated and the venue holds a Michelin star, so dress accordingly — smart is appropriate. The setting is a Styrian market town rather than a city-centre grand address, so strict formality is not implied, but arriving underdressed relative to the room would be a misjudgement.
Book as early as possible, ideally several weeks out. A one-star restaurant serving a set surprise menu in a small town means limited covers per service, and word has spread well beyond the local area. Wednesday and Sunday are lunch-only services (closing at 3 PM), so factor that into timing when you contact them.
There are no comparable fine dining alternatives in Ligist itself. For regional options in Styria and Austria, Döllerer in Golling offers a similarly serious alpine-influenced tasting menu, while Obauer in Werfen is another rural one-star-and-above operation worth considering for the same kind of destination-dining trip.
Yes, specifically if the person you are taking appreciates a set creative menu rather than choosing their own dishes. The Michelin-starred kitchen, charming family-run service, and elegant rooms make the occasion feel considered without the formality of a large city restaurant. At €€€ pricing it is also less financially punishing than most comparable celebrations in Vienna or Graz.
Dinner gives you more time: Thursday through Saturday the kitchen runs until midnight, which allows the meal to breathe properly over a full tasting menu with wine pairings. Wednesday and Sunday lunch close at 3 PM, which works if you are passing through Styria and want to build the meal around a drive, but dinner is the format this kitchen is set up for.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
