Let's Go Europe 2019. Harvard Student Agencies

the reason for most of our expats, don’t you think?), and for the rest of you with a little metric pride, this is the restaurant for you. Centimeter Restaurant takes its name seriously, with measuring tape decor, “science experiment” beaker shots held by a ruler stand, and even measurement based foods! Try one of their specialty bread pastries ordered by the centimeter (€0.20-0.25/cm depending on warm or cold). Treat yourself to two meters of sausage (€9.20), or if you’re with a group, get one Meter of Austria, a meter-long box with six different servings of traditional Austrian cuisine (€28).

       i Entrées from €6; vegetarian options available; limited wheelchair accessibility

       FIGLMÜLLER ($$)

      Wollzeile 5; 1512 61 77; www.figlmuller.at; open daily 11am-10:30pm

      A popular restaurant in Vienna’s central city, Figlmüller claims to be the home of the schnitzel, a massive, flat, breaded pork dish, which, from afar, looks something like a cross between fried chicken and an elephant ear dessert. The reality is a larger than life meat pancake. You can give it a go by yourself (€14.90), but it’s large enough to split if you’re not up for the commitment. This is usually paired with potato field salad (€4.70), but be warned that the dressing has a flavor we can only describe as a combination of mayonnaise and balsamic. If you plan to eat here for dinner you will need reservations, but you might be able to wiggle in for lunch.

       i Entrées from €9; no wheelchair accessibility

       WIENERWALD RESTAURANT ($$)

      Annagasse 3; 1010 Wien; 15123766; www.wienerwald.at; open daily 11am-11pm

      Our eyes see Wienerwald, but our brains see Wiener World. Think of the comedic potential; all the thinly veiled references to museums in Iceland. We were so ready to write, “Sorry, you’ll have to go to Reykjavík for that.” Sadly, the menu is surprisingly devoid of sausage; we only counted four schnitzel dishes. Mostly, there is a wide variety of breaded and fried meats. Pro-tip: skip the fried stuff (your cardiologist will thank you) and order the grilled chicken in garlic butter with a baked potato and sour cream (€11.90). With a portion size of one half chicken, once you get around the bones the meat is tender and the garlic butter gives it a soft, melt-in-your-mouth taste.

       i Entrées from €8; vegetarian options available; limited wheelchair accessibility

       NIGHTLIFE

       1516 BREWING COMPANY

      Schwarzenbergstraße 2; 1961 15 16; open M-Su 10am-2am

      If you’re in the market for a killer local beer, look no further than Vienna’s own 1516 Brewing Company. Offering an array of unfiltered beers (mostly ales and lagers), it’s hard to go wrong. Try one of their summer selections like an IPA spiced with earl grey tea, a lager and lemonade shandy, or an elderflower gose. We recommend coming with friends, ordering a round of different styles to pass around, and getting a big plate of bar snacks to split. Our favorite is the potato wedges with aioli and cheddar cheese melted on top, a slippery and cheesy delight that, similar to Totino’s Pizza Rolls, will scald your mouth in all the right ways.

       i No cover, drinks from €2.10, food from €4; BGLTQ+ friendly

       DANZÓN

      Johannesgasse 3; 676 5505 840; www.danzon.club; open daily Tu 6pm-2am, W-Th 6pm-4am, F-Sa 6pm-6am

      If you need some Latin flavor in your Central European adventure (don’t we all?), Danzón is a lounge for you. Here, you can expect to see some seriously spicy dancing, couples twirling around the dance floor to salsa, bachata, and rumba. Frankly, we need those couples to lower the barrier to entry for the rest of us. The club lends itself to stylized dancing more than downright clubbing, but the mood is light and receptive to veterans and beginners alike. Spanish-speakers may find a bartender dressed head to toe in white chatting them up about those family members who salsa way too aggressively.

       i Cocktails from €8; cash preferred, card accepted

       GRELLE FORELLE

      Spittelauer Lände 12; www.grelleforelle.com; www.grelleforelle.com; open daily F-Sa 11pm-6am

      If you’re looking for a place to dance all night to live electronic music performances, Grelle Forelle is the place for you. A dark nightclub on the canal, people come here to rage into the morning hours. With rules explicitly banning photo and video, the club hopes to promote an atmosphere where people are free to dance however feels right. Though dancing here can take any form, people really go for it, and we have seen some stop to stretch between songs. As one of our friends told us, “You just have to close your eyes for like five minutes, and then when you open them, you’re dancing way better.”

       i Cover €7, extra charge for live shows; card minimum €30

       RED CARPET BAR

      Magdalenstraße 2; 676 7822966; www.red-carpet.co.at; bar hours M-Th 9pm-4am, F-Sa 9pm-6am; club hours F-Sa 11pm-6am

      Small bar on weekdays, dance club on weekends, casually black-lit even when the lights aren’t fully down, Red Carpet is a hangout catering mostly to gay and lesbian patrons. Amid the neon lighting, the DJ plays the hits of 2000s pop icons like The Pussycat Dolls and Pink! (quick pause for us all to wonder, where did Pink! go?). A great place to bring a group of friends and meet new people, you can also come here to check up on community news, as a TV in the corner cycles through local BGLTQ+ news and events, a counter in the back lounge offers pamphlets with BGLTQ+ resources.

       i No cover; cocktails from €5.50, beer from €3.30; BGLTQ+ friendly

      THE SIGN

      Liechtensteinstraße 104-106; 66496 432 76; www.thesignlounge.at; open daily 6pm-2am

      If you’re looking for fancy cocktails whose cost might make you cringe momentarily, The Sign offers a menu full of creative combinations served in unexpected presentations. Here, we sipped fruity vodka drinks topped with fortune cookies, and espresso and rum concoctions served in ceramic, cigar-smoking chimp mugs. If you’re looking for something simple, we recommend the Special Pimm’s Cup (€9.50), a gin and tonic with blackberry and elderflower. Feeling extravagant? Get the Lei Lani Volcano (€11), a pineapple and Malibu combination served in a bird-shaped watering can with a burning cinnamon stick for incense.

       i No cover, most cocktails from €9; BGLTQ+ friendly

       TRAVEL SHACK VIENNA

      Mariahilfergürtel 21; 0196 101 31; www.travelshackvienna.com; open daily 4pm-4am

      Travel Shack Vienna is a popular destination for college students looking to make mistakes on their spring break trip to Europe. If you want to take your top off and smoke out of every orifice of your body, do that here. Go wild under the disco ball or add your bra to the rack hanging along the bar. Try their specialty interactive drinks where the theme is self-humiliation: the evidence is Snapchat and the consequences are your friends never letting you live it down. One of these is called the “Cum Shot,” which involves liquor being poured into your mouth from a dildo. Another is the “Tequila Suicide,” which involves snorting the salt, tossing back the tequila, and squirting lemon into your eye. Planning to make it out with your dignity intact? Good luck.

      i No cover, specialty shots from €2; BGLTQ+ friendlyKehlsteinhaus (Eagle’s Nest)