Restaurant in Salzburg, Austria
Michelin-recognised Mediterranean at an accessible price.
Animo by Aigner holds back-to-back Michelin Plate recognition (2024 and 2025) and a 4.7 Google rating while staying firmly in the €€ price bracket — making it one of Salzburg's more accessible quality stops. The Mediterranean focus sets it apart from the city's Alpine-heavy dining default. Book for lunch to maximise value, or dinner on a weeknight for the fuller experience.
With a Google rating of 4.7 across 216 reviews and back-to-back Michelin Plate recognition in 2024 and 2025, Animo by Aigner is the kind of venue that rewards the food-focused traveller who wants more than a tourist-facing schnitzel and less than a four-hour tasting-menu commitment. At the €€ price tier, it sits two full price bands below the city's Ikarus and Pfefferschiff, making it one of the more accessible Michelin-recognised addresses in Austria's most visited city.
The kitchen focuses on Mediterranean cuisine — a deliberate choice in a city whose dining identity skews heavily toward Alpine and Central European cooking. That positioning matters: if you have already committed to an evening at Esszimmer for modern Austrian, Animo by Aigner functions as a genuinely different meal rather than a redundant one. Mediterranean at this level means cleaner acidity, olive oil-forward technique, and lighter protein treatments than the region's pork-and-dumpling defaults , and for visitors spending multiple days in Salzburg, that contrast is useful.
The address , Nonntaler Hauptstraße 55 , places the restaurant in the Nonntal district, slightly south of the Altstadt. This is not a prime Old Town location, but that is partly why the price point holds. Diners who commit to the short walk or taxi ride are getting Michelin-plate-level cooking without the inflated location premium that attaches to anything immediately adjacent to the Fortress.
At the €€ price range, Animo by Aigner is the kind of venue where the lunch-versus-dinner question directly affects your value calculation. Mediterranean-style kitchens operating at this recognised level frequently run a condensed midday menu at a meaningfully lower per-head spend than the evening service , making lunch the higher-value entry point for first-timers who want to assess the kitchen before committing to a full dinner. If you are in Salzburg on a multi-day itinerary and have reserved one of the city's splurge dinners , say, Ikarus at the €€€€ tier , positioning Animo by Aigner as a lunch stop is a logical way to fit two quality meals into a single day without budget collision.
For dinner, the venue competes directly with Senns and Esszimmer for the mid-to-upper casual evening slot. The Mediterranean focus gives it a distinct identity in that group. Evening service at recognised venues of this calibre in Salzburg typically runs a fuller menu, and the atmosphere tends to be more considered than at lunch , worth factoring in if occasion framing matters to you.
The practical upshot: if you are visiting Salzburg specifically to eat well, use Animo by Aigner at lunch for value and experimentation, and save your dinner reservation for the one evening you want the full formal experience. If Animo by Aigner is your dinner, go on a weeknight when the room is less pressed and the kitchen has more room to perform.
For context on what Michelin Plate recognition means at this level: it signals a kitchen producing food worth seeking out , it is the tier below a full Bib Gourmand or star, but it is a meaningful filter in a country where Steirereck im Stadtpark in Vienna and Döllerer in Golling an der Salzach , just south of the city , represent the regional benchmark for serious cooking. Animo by Aigner is not operating at that level, but at €€, it is not asking you to pay as if it were.
For travellers exploring the broader Alpine dining circuit, the Mediterranean positioning at Animo by Aigner also creates an interesting counterpoint to the mountain-cooking registers at places like Griggeler Stuba in Lech or the regional Austrian focus at Schwarzer Adler in Hall in Tirol. If your itinerary runs through the Salzburg region and you want one meal that steps outside Alpine conventions, this is a credible choice. Comparatively, La Brezza in Ascona and Il Buco in Sorrento represent Mediterranean cooking closer to its geographic source , Animo by Aigner is the version that makes the cuisine work on landlocked Central European terms.
Booking difficulty at Animo by Aigner is easy by current assessment , you are unlikely to need weeks of advance planning at the €€ price point in this district. That said, Salzburg's festival calendar, particularly during the summer Festspiele season, applies pressure to every decent table in the city. If your visit overlaps with the festival period (late July through August), add more lead time than you normally would. The rest of the year, a few days' notice should be sufficient for most party sizes.
The venue is located at Nonntaler Hauptstraße 55, 5020 Salzburg. Phone and website details are not currently listed in our database , check current booking channels directly before your visit. For a full picture of what else Salzburg's dining scene offers at every price point, see our full Salzburg restaurants guide. For accommodation near the venue, our Salzburg hotels guide covers the range. If you want to extend the evening, our Salzburg bars guide has current recommendations. Wine-focused visitors should also look at our Salzburg wineries guide and our Salzburg experiences guide for broader itinerary building.
Also worth knowing: The Glass Garden in Salzburg is another creative option in the city if you are building a multi-meal itinerary and want variety, and Landhaus Bacher in Mautern an der Donau and Restaurant 141 by Joachim Jaud in Mieming are regional peers worth considering if you are travelling beyond the city.
Quick reference: Michelin Plate 2024 & 2025 | 4.7 stars, 216 Google reviews | €€ price range | Mediterranean cuisine | Nonntal district, Salzburg | Booking: easy outside festival season.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Animo by Aigner | €€ | — |
| Ikarus | €€€€ | — |
| Esszimmer | €€€ | — |
| Senns | — | |
| Pfefferschiff | €€€€ | — |
| Brandstätter | €€€ | — |
How Animo by Aigner stacks up against the competition.
Yes, with some caveats. The back-to-back Michelin Plate recognition in 2024 and 2025 gives it the credibility a special occasion dinner needs, and the €€ price point means you are not paying for a status symbol you do not want. The Mediterranean focus sets it apart from Salzburg's heavier Alpine fare, which makes it a better fit for occasions where you want something lighter and more considered. Book a table in advance to avoid disappointment.
Animo by Aigner is a Michelin Plate-recognised Mediterranean restaurant at the €€ price point — that combination is relatively rare in Salzburg, where the dining identity leans Alpine and Central European. The address is Nonntaler Hauptstraße 55, a residential district south of the Altstadt, so factor in travel time. Booking in advance is advisable even though current demand makes it more accessible than harder-to-book Salzburg peers.
The venue data does not specify a dress code, but at the €€ price point with Michelin Plate recognition, neat casual to business casual is a sensible default for Salzburg's dining culture. Avoid beach or sportswear; beyond that, you are unlikely to feel out of place in well-put-together everyday clothes.
At the €€ price range and with a 4.7 Google rating across 216 reviews, Animo by Aigner is a low-pressure solo option by Salzburg standards. The Mediterranean format — typically less ceremony-heavy than tasting-menu-only venues — suits solo diners who want quality food without a formal progression. No counter seating is confirmed in the available data, but the accessible price point reduces the financial awkwardness of dining alone.
At €€ with back-to-back Michelin Plate recognition, the answer is yes for most diners. You are getting kitchen-level quality that has been independently assessed twice without the pricing of a Michelin-starred room. For Salzburg specifically, where Mediterranean cooking is less common than Alpine fare, the differentiation adds further value. If your budget stretches further and you want a star-level experience, Esszimmer is the relevant comparison.
The available data does not confirm whether a tasting menu is offered, so this cannot be assessed directly. What is confirmed is that Animo by Aigner operates at the €€ price point with Michelin Plate recognition — which typically suggests a focused, well-executed menu rather than an extended progression. Check directly with the venue before making a tasting-menu-specific reservation.
For a step up in prestige and price, Ikarus at Hangar-7 offers rotating international guest chefs and a higher-end format. Esszimmer holds Michelin star recognition and represents the top of Salzburg's fine dining tier. Senns is a strong alternative for modern Austrian cooking at a comparable or slightly higher price. Pfefferschiff, outside the city centre, is a long-established name for classic Austrian fare. Brandstätter is the most casual of the peer set, suited to those who want a reliable local table without the Michelin-level expectations.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
