Restaurant in New York City, United States
Serious wine list, focused Austrian cooking.
Wallse is a West Village Austrian restaurant with one of New York's most recognised wine programs — Star Wine List has ranked it number one in the city multiple times. Book for a serious wine-and-food dinner rather than a casual meal. Reservations are easy to secure a few days out; Sunday is closed.
Wallse is the right call for wine-serious diners who want a focused Austrian program in a West Village room that earns its reputation without the fanfare of Midtown's grande dames. If you are planning a dinner for two where the bottle matters as much as the plate, or a solo meal at a proper restaurant rather than a bar, Wallse is worth reserving. It is also one of the stronger special-occasion options in the neighbourhood for guests who want depth over spectacle.
Book a few days to a week ahead for most weeknights. Saturday dinner fills faster. Sunday is closed entirely, so plan accordingly.
Wallse occupies a corner space on West 11th Street in the West Village, and the room reads as quietly considered: art on the walls, a pace that does not rush you, and a dining room that feels residential rather than theatrical. For a food and wine explorer seeking context, that restraint is part of the value. You are not paying for a production; you are paying for the cooking and, notably, the wine list.
Chef Kurt Gutenbrunner has run Wallse as a serious Austrian kitchen in New York for years, and the restaurant's identity is coherent in a way that many multi-concept operations are not. Austrian cuisine in this format means Wiener Schnitzel done with precision, structured cooking that draws on Central European tradition, and a kitchen that does not chase trends. For New Yorkers accustomed to Italian and French as the defaults for this tier of restaurant, Wallse offers a genuinely different reference point.
If you want to compare Austrian cooking in New York at a more casual price point, Cafe Sabarsky on the Upper East Side is the natural alternative — daytime Viennese cafe format, lower spend, different occasion entirely.
The wine list is the reason Wallse has earned consistent recognition from Le Bernardin-tier critics. Star Wine List awarded Wallse its White Star accreditation and ranked it in its leading positions for New York multiple times across 2023 and 2024, including two separate number-one rankings in 2023. That is a meaningful signal: this is a list that specialists rate highly, not just a deep cellar dressed up for a prix fixe crowd.
The Austrian wine focus is real. Grüner Veltliner and Riesling from Wachau, Kamptal, and Kremstal, alongside Austrian reds from Burgenland, give the list coherence that generic European wine programs lack. If you are someone who wants to drink outside the French and Italian defaults while eating food that actually matches the bottles, Wallse is one of the few places in New York where the Austrian wine and Austrian food alignment is built into the concept rather than bolted on.
World of Fine Wine 3-Star accreditation adds further weight. That credential sits alongside the Opinionated About Dining rankings (North America Top 293 in 2025, Top 331 in 2024) as evidence that both the food and the beverage program hold up under specialist scrutiny.
Saturday lunch (11 am to 4 pm) is the only midday service available. If your schedule allows, Saturday lunch is a lower-pressure way to experience the kitchen and the wine list without the full dinner commitment. Dinner runs Monday through Saturday, 5 to 10 pm. Sunday is closed.
Reservations are easy to secure with a few days' notice for most weeknights. Saturday dinner and Saturday lunch may require more lead time. Walk-ins are possible but not guaranteed. Hours: Monday through Friday 5–10 pm; Saturday 11 am–4 pm and 5–10 pm; closed Sunday.
Price range is not confirmed in our data, but the award profile and West Village address place Wallse in the upper-mid to fine dining tier for New York. Budget accordingly, and factor in that a serious engagement with the wine list will add meaningfully to the bill , which, given the quality of that list, is a feature rather than a drawback.
Dress code is not formally published, but the room and the occasion warrant smart casual at minimum. This is not a jeans-and-sneakers room for most guests.
Planning a trip beyond New York? Senns in Salzburg and 1er Beisl im Lexenhof in Nußdorf am Attersee are worth knowing for Austrian cooking in its home context.
For fine dining elsewhere in the US at a comparable level of seriousness: Alinea in Chicago, The French Laundry in Napa, Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg, Providence in Los Angeles, Lazy Bear in San Francisco, and Emeril's in New Orleans are all tracked on Pearl.
Wallse is an Austrian fine dining restaurant on West 11th Street in the West Village, run by chef Kurt Gutenbrunner. The wine list is the standout , Star Wine List has ranked it among New York's leading one or two wine programs multiple times. First-timers should arrive with a willingness to engage with Austrian wines and Austrian cooking. It is not a casual drop-in; treat it as a proper dinner reservation. Saturday lunch is a lower-stakes entry point if you want to try the kitchen without a full dinner spend.
Yes, provided you are comfortable at a table rather than a counter , our data does not confirm a dedicated bar-dining setup. Solo diners who want to drink well and eat seriously will find Wallse a good fit. It is a quieter room than many comparable New York restaurants, which works in favour of solo visits. For the solo diner who wants counter energy, Masa or an omakase format may suit better, but Wallse is a legitimate solo dining option at this tier.
Our data does not confirm a private dining room or maximum group capacity at Wallse. For groups of six or more, contact the restaurant directly before booking. The room's residential scale suggests it is better suited to groups of two to four than large party bookings. If a private dining room is a firm requirement for your group, verify availability before committing.
Saturday lunch runs 11 am to 4 pm and is the only midday service available. It is worth considering if you want to experience the kitchen without a full dinner bill. That said, dinner is where the wine program is most fully deployed , evening pacing, a longer table, and the full list work together in a way that a lunch sitting does not replicate. For a first visit focused on the wine list, dinner is the better choice. For a lighter introduction or a West Village afternoon, Saturday lunch is a practical option.
Yes, particularly for couples or small groups who want a serious wine-and-food occasion rather than a spectacle. The Opinionated About Dining and Star Wine List credentials mean you are booking a recognised restaurant, not just a neighbourhood favourite. Wallse does not have the room scale or production of Eleven Madison Park or Le Bernardin, but that is a point in its favour if you want intimacy over grandeur. For wine-centric celebrations, it is one of the stronger options in New York below the $$$$ tasting-menu ceiling.
For Austrian cooking at a lower price point in New York, Cafe Sabarsky is the main comparison , daytime Viennese cafe, different format entirely. For fine dining in New York at a similar or higher tier with strong wine programs, Le Bernardin (French seafood), Atomix (modern Korean), and Eleven Madison Park (plant-based French) are tracked on Pearl. None of them offer the Austrian wine depth that Wallse does, which is the specific reason to choose Wallse over the field.
No formal dress code is published, but smart casual is appropriate given the room and the award profile. The West Village setting is relaxed relative to Midtown fine dining, but Wallse is not a casual neighbourhood bistro. Avoid overly casual dress. When in doubt, dress as you would for a serious dinner in a well-regarded restaurant , neat, considered, not a production.
Our data does not confirm bar seating at Wallse. If bar dining is important to your visit, contact the restaurant directly before booking. Based on the room's format and scale, the dining room is the primary experience.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wallse | Austrian | Easy | |
| Le Bernardin | French, Seafood | $$$$ | Unknown |
| Atomix | Modern Korean, Korean | $$$$ | Unknown |
| Eleven Madison Park | French, Vegan | $$$$ | Unknown |
| Masa | Sushi, Japanese | $$$$ | Unknown |
| Per Se | French, Contemporary | $$$$ | Unknown |
Comparing your options in New York City for this tier.
Go for the wine program first — Star Wine List has ranked Wallse among its top picks multiple times and awarded it White Star accreditation, which is the main reason serious diners make the trip. Chef Kurt Gutenbrunner runs a focused Austrian kitchen at 344 W 11th St in the West Village, so expect refined Central European cooking rather than a broad European menu. Reservations are manageable with a few days' notice on weeknights. Sunday is closed, so plan accordingly.
Yes. The West Village room and quieter weeknight pace make solo dining comfortable here. A focused single-cuisine format like Wallse's Austrian menu is easier to work through alone than a sprawling tasting menu. Check whether bar seating is available when you book — it typically suits solo diners better than a table for one in a full dining room.
Small groups of four to six are workable for a weeknight reservation, though Saturday dinner may need more lead time. Wallse is a considered, quieter room — it suits groups that are there to eat and talk rather than celebrate loudly. For large private events, check the venue's official channels to ask about private dining options, as none are documented in the available record.
Saturday lunch (11 am to 4 pm) is the only midday service, and it's the lower-pressure way to experience the kitchen — fewer time constraints, slightly more relaxed atmosphere. Dinner runs Monday through Saturday from 5 to 10 pm and is the fuller, more formal version. If the wine list is your priority, dinner gives you more time to work through it. If you want a lighter commitment, Saturday lunch is the call.
Yes, with one caveat: this works best when at least one person at the table cares about wine. Wallse's Opinionated About Dining ranking (Top 300 in North America, 2025) and repeated Star Wine List recognition confirm it operates at a credible fine dining level, which makes it a solid choice for birthdays, anniversaries, or a serious dinner. If the occasion calls for a splashier room or broader menu, Eleven Madison Park is a stronger fit.
For a comparable level of fine dining seriousness with a broader menu, Atomix (Korean tasting menu, consistently top-ranked) and Eleven Madison Park (plant-based tasting menu, high production value) are the obvious peers. If the Austrian focus is the draw and you want something more casual, the West Village has wine-forward neighbourhood spots that cost less. For pure wine-list depth at fine dining level, Wallse's Star Wine List White Star puts it in a category few NYC restaurants match.
The venue data doesn't specify a dress code, but Wallse's award profile — Opinionated About Dining Top 300, Star Wine List White Star — places it firmly in the upscale fine dining tier. Dress as you would for a serious dinner: no athletic wear, smart at minimum. Jacket optional for most guests; erring toward neat and polished is the safer call.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
