Gösser Bierklinik holds a narrow medieval house at Steindlgasse 4 in Vienna's first district, a short walk from Am Hof. The building has served food and drink since the sixteenth century, and the tavern bills 1566 as its founding year, which puts it among the oldest in the city. The name ties it to Gösser, the Styrian brewery whose beer runs on the taps.
Published December 22, 2025 · By Sofia Reeves
The room
The house spreads over several small floors and wood-panelled rooms, a warren of low ceilings and old timber rather than a single hall. The European Bar Guide describes it as a genuine old Vienna Beisl, kept traditional rather than modernised. The narrow Steindlgasse keeps the frontage easy to miss. The low doorways and worn stairs between floors are part of the old-house character.
Steindlgasse, the lane it sits on, is one of the oldest streets in the inner city, a quiet run behind the Graben. The Bierklinik occupies a building with a documented history stretching back centuries. That setting draws a mix of office workers, locals and visitors after old-Vienna character.
What to order
The pour to order is Gösser, the Styrian lager the tavern is named for, alongside a short list of other Austrian beers. The kitchen runs classic Wiener cuisine, with Wiener Schnitzel, goulash and roast meats as the backbone. The pairing of a Gösser with a Schnitzel is the order the room is built around.
The format is a beer and a hearty plate rather than a cocktail list, in keeping with the tavern billing. Lunch brings a steady local trade, evenings a slower session. A Krügerl of Gösser with a Schnitzel is the straightforward way to use the room.
Who it is for
Gösser Bierklinik fits a drinker after a historic Vienna tavern, a traveller who wants Schnitzel with a local beer, and anyone who rates age and character over polish. Skip it for a modern bar or a late night, since the kitchen and the rooms keep traditional hours and a traditional tone. It rewards a visitor who comes for the building and the beer as much as the meal. It also suits a group after a long Austrian lunch with several rounds of Gösser.
Best time to go
Lunch and early evening are the windows, when the kitchen is in full swing and the old rooms fill with a local crowd. The tavern runs Monday to Saturday and closes on Sunday, so a weekday or Saturday visit is the plan. The upper floors are the quieter seats away from the entrance.
A weekday lunch catches the room at its most local, before any evening trade. Saturday is the busiest, when visitors and regulars overlap. With Sunday closed, the week is the time to go.
The detail worth knowing
The age is the detail worth knowing, since the Bierklinik traces its house back to 1566 and bills itself as Vienna's oldest tavern. The European Bar Guide and the tavern's own history both lean on that medieval record. The Gösser tie keeps the beer list anchored to one Styrian brewery rather than a broad tap wall.
Few inner-city rooms carry a documented run this long with the old layout intact. The warren of small wood-panelled floors is part of the appeal. For a historic Vienna beer tavern rather than a craft taproom, it is a reliable call. Its listing across Vienna pub guides and beer sites keeps it on the old-tavern trail.
The bottom line
Gösser Bierklinik is a sixteenth-century beer tavern at Steindlgasse 4 in Vienna's first district, pouring Styrian Gösser across a warren of old wood-panelled rooms. Come for a Krügerl and a Schnitzel, take a seat upstairs, and plan around the Sunday closure. It is a historic Beisl rather than a modern bar, and the building and the beer are the draw.
Keep exploring with our best pubs in Vienna guide, the full Vienna bar guide, and our edit of pubs worldwide. Pair Gösser Bierklinik with 1516 Brewing Company, Siebensternbräu, and Ottakringer Brauereiausschank.
