Restaurant in Vienna, Austria
Michelin-recognised Italian worth repeat visits.
Pastamara holds a Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025, making it one of the few formally recognised Italian tables in Vienna at the €€ price tier. Set inside The Ritz-Carlton on Schubertring, the bar con cucina format rewards repeat visits — use the bar on one trip, work through the pasta on the next. Booking is straightforward, and the value relative to the city's €€€€ fine-dining alternatives is hard to argue with.
The common assumption about Pastamara is that it's a hotel restaurant worth visiting once as a convenience, given its address inside The Ritz-Carlton Vienna on Schubertring. That reading undersells it. Pastamara — Bar con Cucina has held a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025, a signal that the kitchen is cooking at a level that stands on its own terms, not just by hotel-restaurant standards. At the €€ price tier, it sits in a different bracket entirely from the €€€€ rooms upstairs, making it one of the more accessible Michelin-recognised Italian tables in the city. If you've been once and left satisfied, there's a strong case for going back with a different strategy.
Inside The Ritz-Carlton Vienna, Pastamara is designed to read as a proper bar-with-kitchen rather than a dining room that happens to have cocktails. The visual register is warmer and more intimate than the hotel's formal lobby suggests , think a space built around the bar counter and the open kitchen beyond it, where the movement of cooks and the assembly of plates becomes part of what you're watching while you eat. For Italian in Vienna, this format makes sense: the "bar con cucina" concept positions the experience somewhere between a Roman osteria and a Northern Italian enoteca, and the room reflects that intention. It's a setting that rewards sitting at the counter or a table close to the kitchen, where the visual energy of service is most legible.
Because Pastamara operates at the €€ tier with a Michelin Plate , a combination that's genuinely uncommon in Vienna , it functions well as a repeatable venue rather than a single-occasion splurge. The bar con cucina format is also built for this: the bar side of the operation and the kitchen side offer two distinct experiences that don't need to overlap on the same visit.
On a first return visit, the bar is worth your full attention. Italian-leaning cocktail programs in Vienna are not plentiful, and a counter seat here is a lower-commitment, lower-cost way to re-engage with the space. Order food from the kitchen, but let the bar program set the pace. Mid-week evenings tend to be quieter than weekend service, which makes this the better window for a relaxed bar visit where you can actually talk to the people making your drinks.
On a second return, go in with the explicit intention of working through the pasta side of the menu more deliberately. The name signals where the kitchen's identity sits, and pasta is the category where the Michelin recognition is most likely to be concentrated. If you've already ordered what drew you in on your first visit, a subsequent trip is the right moment to ask what the kitchen is doing with lesser-ordered formats , broader shapes, longer-cooked sauces, or whatever is rotating seasonally. Weekend lunch, if available, is often the optimal window for this kind of exploratory eating: kitchens are typically at full attention and the room is less pressured than a Friday or Saturday dinner.
A third visit is where Pastamara earns its keep as a Vienna regular's option. At €€ with consistent Michelin recognition across two consecutive years, this is the kind of place that functions as a reliable anchor in a city whose leading Italian options are fewer than its French or Austrian fine-dining equivalents. Bring someone who hasn't been. The contrast between the hotel setting's exterior formality and the bar-kitchen interior's informality lands better when you can explain it to a first-timer.
Booking here is direct. Unlike Vienna's top-tier Austrian restaurants , [Steirereck im Stadtpark](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/steirereck-im-stadtpark-vienna-restaurant) requires advance planning weeks out, and [Konstantin Filippou](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/konstantin-filippou-vienna-restaurant) at €€€€ demands more lead time , Pastamara's €€ positioning and hotel-restaurant infrastructure mean availability is generally easier to secure. Mid-week is your leading bet for a quieter room and more attentive service. If you're visiting Vienna in autumn or winter, when the city's cultural calendar fills and hotel occupancy rises, book a few days ahead regardless.
The Schubertring address puts it in the First District, close to the Stadtpark and the Ringstrasse, which means it pairs logistically with an evening at the Musikverein or a walk along the Ring. For context on what else is worth your time in the city, [our full Vienna restaurants guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/vienna) covers the broader field, and [our full Vienna bars guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/bars/vienna) is useful if you're building an evening that extends beyond dinner.
For Italian specifically, Vienna's options thin out at the quality level Pastamara operates at. [Fabios](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/fabios-vienna-restaurant) is the other name that comes up consistently for Italian in the city, operating at a similar price tier with a long-established following. Pastamara's Michelin recognition gives it a formal credential that not all Italian addresses in Vienna can match. If you're travelling across Austria and want to benchmark Pastamara against Italian in other contexts, [8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/8-12-otto-e-mezzo-bombana-hong-kong-restaurant) and [cenci in Kyoto](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/cenci-kyoto-restaurant) represent what Michelin-starred Italian can look like at higher price tiers internationally , useful reference points for understanding where Pastamara sits on the quality spectrum.
For Austrian fine dining during the same trip, [Döllerer in Golling an der Salzach](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/dllerer-golling-an-der-salzach-restaurant), [Senns in Salzburg](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/senns-salzburg-restaurant), and [Landhaus Bacher in Mautern an der Donau](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/landhaus-bacher-mautern-an-der-donau-restaurant) are worth considering if your itinerary extends beyond Vienna. In the city itself, [Amador](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/amador-vienna-restaurant) and [Doubek](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/doubek-vienna-restaurant) cover the creative end of the Vienna dining spectrum at higher price points. [Our full Vienna experiences guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/experiences/vienna) and [our full Vienna hotels guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/hotels/vienna) are useful if you're planning the broader trip around a stay in the First District.
Pastamara is worth booking, and worth booking again. The Michelin Plate across two consecutive years at a €€ price point is a combination that Vienna's dining scene doesn't offer often. Go with a plan rather than at random: use the bar on one visit, focus on the pasta on another, and treat it as the kind of place you can bring different people to without exhausting what it has to offer. Google reviewers back this up , 4.5 across 289 reviews is a consistent signal, not a fluke. For Italian in Vienna at this price, there is no stronger case to make.
Yes, clearly so. A Michelin Plate at the €€ price tier is rare in Vienna, and Pastamara holds one for two consecutive years (2024 and 2025). You're getting formally recognised Italian cooking at a price point well below what Vienna's leading Austrian restaurants charge. For comparison, [Konstantin Filippou](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/konstantin-filippou-vienna-restaurant) and [Steirereck im Stadtpark](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/steirereck-im-stadtpark) operate at €€€€. Pastamara is the better value choice if Italian is your priority.
The venue database does not confirm a tasting menu format at Pastamara, and the bar con cucina concept typically implies an à la carte or small-plates structure rather than a set progression. Without confirmed details on a tasting menu, focus your decision on the core Italian kitchen output , particularly the pasta, which the name signals as the anchor of the offer. The Michelin Plate credential suggests the kitchen is executing at a level where ordering broadly à la carte across two or three visits will be more rewarding than a single set menu experience.
No dress code is confirmed in the venue data, but the Ritz-Carlton address and Michelin recognition at €€ suggest smart casual is the right register. You won't need a jacket, but arriving in resort wear would be out of step with the room. Treat it like a sharp Italian bar in Rome's better neighbourhoods: neat, put-together, but not formal. The bar con cucina format makes it less ceremonial than a white-tablecloth dining room.
Yes. The bar con cucina format is well-suited to solo dining , a counter seat at the bar gives you visual engagement with both the drinks program and the kitchen, which removes the isolation that a table-for-one in a formal room can feel like. At €€, a solo meal here is also an affordable way to experience a Michelin-recognised Italian table in Vienna. Mid-week evenings are quieter and more comfortable for solo visits than weekend service.
It works for a special occasion if you're after something that feels considered without being ceremonial. The Ritz-Carlton setting gives the arrival a certain weight, and the Michelin Plate provides the credential. But if you need the full formal fine-dining apparatus for the occasion , extended tasting menus, deep wine service, tableside presentations , you'd be better served by [Silvio Nickol Gourmet Restaurant](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/silvio-nickol-gourmet-restaurant) or [Edvard](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/edvard) at €€€€. Pastamara is the right call for a special occasion that should feel celebratory but relaxed.
Seat count is not confirmed in the venue data, but bar con cucina venues typically work better for smaller groups , two to four people , than for large parties. If you're planning a group of six or more, contact the venue directly to confirm whether private or semi-private arrangements are available. For a celebratory group dinner in Vienna at a higher price tier with more confirmed private space, [Mraz & Sohn](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/mraz-sohn) or [Konstantin Filippou](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/konstantin-filippou-vienna-restaurant) would be worth exploring.
For Italian at a similar price tier, [Fabios](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/fabios-vienna-restaurant) is the most established alternative. For Austrian fine dining at higher spend, [Steirereck im Stadtpark](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/steirereck-im-stadtpark-vienna-restaurant) is the city's most decorated table. If you want creative cooking at €€€€, [Amador](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/amador-vienna-restaurant) and [Doubek](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/doubek-vienna-restaurant) are worth considering. See [our full Vienna restaurants guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/vienna) for the broader picture.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pastamara - Bar con Cucina | €€ | Easy | — |
| Steirereck im Stadtpark | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Mraz & Sohn | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Silvio Nickol Gourmet Restaurant | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Konstantin Filippou | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Edvard | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
A quick look at how Pastamara - Bar con Cucina measures up.
Groups are workable here given the bar-with-kitchen format, which suits flexible seating arrangements better than a formal dining room would. For parties of four or more, check the venue's official channels at The Ritz-Carlton Vienna (Schubertring 5/7) to confirm table configuration. At the €€ price tier, a group dinner here is genuinely accessible compared to Vienna's Michelin-starred options where group pricing climbs fast.
Tasting menu availability and format are not confirmed in available venue data, so call ahead before booking with that expectation. What is confirmed: Pastamara holds a Michelin Plate for two consecutive years (2024 and 2025) at the €€ tier, which positions it as a kitchen cooking with intention. If a tasting format is available, the price-to-recognition ratio makes it a reasonable call by Vienna standards.
The bar-with-kitchen concept signals a less formal register than the Ritz-Carlton address might suggest. A relaxed but put-together outfit fits the room — think what you'd wear to a serious wine bar rather than a gala dinner. Turning up in trainers is probably fine; turning up in a full suit is probably overkill.
Yes. The bar-with-kitchen format is one of the better setups for solo diners in Vienna — counter seating or bar positions make eating alone feel intentional rather than awkward. Two consecutive Michelin Plates at €€ pricing means solo visits here are easy to justify on both experience and cost grounds.
It works for a special occasion, but set expectations correctly: this is a convivial Italian bar-restaurant, not a white-tablecloth ceremony. If the occasion calls for drama and formality, Silvio Nickol or Konstantin Filippou will suit better. If it calls for a genuinely good meal in a relaxed but credentialled room, Pastamara delivers — backed by Michelin recognition in both 2024 and 2025.
At the €€ tier with two consecutive Michelin Plates, Pastamara is one of the stronger value cases in Vienna's Italian category. You are getting Michelin-recognised cooking at a price point well below what comparable recognition costs elsewhere in the city. For Vienna, that combination is genuinely uncommon.
For Italian specifically, Fabios is the main comparator in Vienna at a similar casual-upscale register. For a step up in Austrian fine dining rather than Italian, Steirereck im Stadtpark, Konstantin Filippou, and Mraz & Sohn all operate at higher price tiers with Michelin star recognition. Pastamara's case is that it sits below those in price while still carrying two years of Michelin Plate acknowledgment.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
