Vienna Works

Swimming against the tide of businesses exiting the areas impacted by the NSW Government’s light rail disaster, Vienna Works recently opened up a sandwich shop in Devonshire Street. For nearly two years now, this formerly vibrant lunch zone has been an eyesore dominated by barriers and hoarding. Potential customers are plagued by dust, loud noise and uneven footpaths; so don’t even think of bringing someone who is vision or mobility impaired. The narrow galley store is a clean oasis of pale blue vertical tiles and glass; with a long counter backed by menu boards taking up most of the floor space. The other side is decorated with black and white murals – Charlie Chaplin for laughs, and a row of men eating their sandwiches high in the sky along a steel girder. A row of tiny tables underneath affords a similar number of people the chance to eat underneath them in their own compact line. The menu feels one part sandwich shop, one part suburban milk bar. Out the back, one half of the Cypriot ownership team grills an honest line in old-school hamburgers. The Beef Burger with Chips ($12) presents a hand-shaped, well-charred beef patty flecked with herbs and slightly pink in the middle, on a milk bun with iceberg lettuce, sliced tomato, fried onions, long sliced pickles and cheddar cheese. The only modern touches are tangy citrus mayo. and probiotic ‘slaw; though I wish it had been drained properly because my burger poured so much liquid it dissolved the bun before I could finish it. To my palate, the big beefy taste would also be improved by some old-fashioned mustard and tomato sauce. The Breakfast Wrap ($8) takes eggs, bacon and English spinach leaves, and dresses them with runny house-made tomato chutney. Be careful it doesn’t drip through the brown paper wrapping as you rush to work. At lunch-time the Grilled Lamb Wrap ($11) with hummus, salad, and tabouli is a near-constant special. Sadly on the day I dined, the sold-out lamb was replaced with bland chicken that didn’t really suit the combination quite so well. In the drinks department, robust coffee works out well in an Affogato ($4.50) against a scoop of commercial vanilla ice cream and a dusting of Kali premium drinking chocolate. The Iced Mocha ($5) has a good balance between coffee and chocolate, though it arrived in disposable plastic, even when I opted to dine in. To my eye Vienna Works’ early success in this difficult zone is more about how desperately this area needed a decent sandwich shop then it is about exceptionalism.

By far is definitely one of the best beef Burgers in town. Staff are very friendly and service is professional. I travelled all the way from Wynyard (it was raining as well!!) just to try their beef burger after a colleague had recommended it and I was not disappointed one bit. There is a big difference in quality when you can taste the freshness of the ingredients compared to other places that use store bought frozen patties. Highly recommended 👍

Exceptional customer service. I went on a Sunday and they were not yet open however, even though the owner was alone had to staff, he made every effort to prepare the best breakfast that was not even on the menu to cater for my dietary requirements. It is the personal touch that made the whole difference! The food was delicious!

I love this place ! Exceptionally delicious food and service. I love coffee and this is the best I've had in the city by far.. The owners Thomas and Maria have over 40 years of experience in the food industry and you can feel their passion to give a true family feel to the experience when you enter Vienna works ! And the cafe is brand new!! modern vibrant and clean.. Thomas adds his own special touches to a traditional style of cooking, growing up in Cyprus they told me stories of growing up with family and community so you can feel all that upbringing come to life in Vienna works. I know Thomas is dedicated to using only the best quality produce available and is very particular to all production and delivery of every dish on offer ! All fresh ingredients insure divine food, the burgers are awesome, beef, lamb and great vegetarian ! Salads vegetable fruit salads healthy juices and daily specials .. Oh and his slow cooked pork and lamb !! Just melt in your mouth delicious .. Just go and check it out you won't regret it..

Loved it. Toasted smoked salmon sarnie was spot on. Tons of bread choice, fillings, you can get everything exactly how you want it. I went mid morning when it was quiet but by lunchtime the queues were out the door. Daily specials available. The best bit? I asked for a tea and had it served in a big ole teapot, piping hot, just how it should be, there were at least 2 and a half cups in there, just want I wanted as I was looking to kill some time and had a raging thirst on.

They have a, what seemed at first, a great salad system. First time I went I tried the salad, recommended by my colleague, I picked the small one to try. Maria explained to me in a very friendly manner how it worked and I had the best salad I've had in a very long time. I had great first experience so obviously I was keen to go back, the second time I tried the wrap but I had the Asian girl (sorry don't know her name but she is the only Asian I've seen working there, so just for the purpose of specifying who it is) serving me, I ask how much was the wrap, Maria said 10$, I was ok with that and order the same way as for the salad. Suddenly my wrap was $13 instead of 10$ and I asked why: Asian girl: you asked for extras me: did you inform me when I choose them that they were extra? AG: I just assumed you knew me: sigh She didn't apologise, gave me attitude and didn't even offer to charge me what I was originally told, I paid the $13 Anyways, no hard feelings, I went back a third time and asked this time a large salad and it was the AG again, she recognised me I asked her to let me know if there were any extras this time, she laughed. When she was serving my salad I saw that I got same or less amount of the greens than with my small the only difference was that I got 5 pieces of chicken instead of two. When I kept asking for more greens the AG kept saying that I would get more chicken!!! They should specify that large just means more chicken not a larger amount in greens.