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Restaurant

Wirtshaus Elefant

The conglomerate stone facade of the Hotel Elefant building under a Restaurant awning, with a Soliman's Bar sign, an arched window full of warm light and elephant murals, geraniums on the sill and a single diner at the row of outdoor tables.
A vertical view of the Wirtshaus Elefant frontage centred on the arched window with its red geraniums and glowing interior, the Restaurant lettering above and the lone diner still eating at the terrace tables below.Looking straight down on a terrace table at Wirtshaus Elefant: a bowl of Tafelspitz in broth, a plate of sliced boiled beef with grated horseradish and carrot, roast potatoes, apple horseradish and a green salad on white linen.A bearded man in a dark jacket eats Tafelspitz at a white-clothed terrace table set against the pebbly conglomerate wall of the Hotel Elefant building, with a trout, a salad and a wheat beer on the table.A woman sits alone against the rough stone wall of the lane outside Wirtshaus Elefant and drinks a tall wheat beer, with a row of empty white-clothed tables and grey chairs stretching away under a green parasol.
Show all 5 photos
Show all 5 photos
  1. The conglomerate stone facade of the Hotel Elefant building under a Restaurant awning, with a Soliman's Bar sign, an arched window full of warm light and elephant murals, geraniums on the sill and a single diner at the row of outdoor tables. (1 / 5)
  2. A vertical view of the Wirtshaus Elefant frontage centred on the arched window with its red geraniums and glowing interior, the Restaurant lettering above and the lone diner still eating at the terrace tables below. (2 / 5)
  3. Looking straight down on a terrace table at Wirtshaus Elefant: a bowl of Tafelspitz in broth, a plate of sliced boiled beef with grated horseradish and carrot, roast potatoes, apple horseradish and a green salad on white linen. (3 / 5)
  4. A bearded man in a dark jacket eats Tafelspitz at a white-clothed terrace table set against the pebbly conglomerate wall of the Hotel Elefant building, with a trout, a salad and a wheat beer on the table. (4 / 5)
  5. A woman sits alone against the rough stone wall of the lane outside Wirtshaus Elefant and drinks a tall wheat beer, with a row of empty white-clothed tables and grey chairs stretching away under a green parasol. (5 / 5)
1 / 5
The conglomerate stone facade of the Hotel Elefant building under a Restaurant awning, with a Soliman's Bar sign, an arched window full of warm light and elephant murals, geraniums on the sill and a single diner at the row of outdoor tables.
A vertical view of the Wirtshaus Elefant frontage centred on the arched window with its red geraniums and glowing interior, the Restaurant lettering above and the lone diner still eating at the terrace tables below.
Looking straight down on a terrace table at Wirtshaus Elefant: a bowl of Tafelspitz in broth, a plate of sliced boiled beef with grated horseradish and carrot, roast potatoes, apple horseradish and a green salad on white linen.
A bearded man in a dark jacket eats Tafelspitz at a white-clothed terrace table set against the pebbly conglomerate wall of the Hotel Elefant building, with a trout, a salad and a wheat beer on the table.
A woman sits alone against the rough stone wall of the lane outside Wirtshaus Elefant and drinks a tall wheat beer, with a row of empty white-clothed tables and grey chairs stretching away under a green parasol.

Snapshot

The Wirtshaus Elefant occupies the ground floor of the historic Hotel Elefant building on Sigmund-Haffner-Gasse, a quiet lane in the Altstadt. Austrian home cooking, a warm room, and prices that reflect a proper inn rather than a tourist restaurant.

The Story

Sigmund-Haffner-Gasse runs between Getreidegasse and Alter Markt, parallel to the main pedestrian axis of the Altstadt but one step removed from the crowds. The Hotel Elefant building on this street has been an inn in one form or another for a very long time: the kind of address that accumulates history without announcing it.

The Wirtshaus on the ground floor operates with the logic of a traditional Austrian inn: Austrian home cooking, regional dishes, a warm room with a straightforward atmosphere. The menu covers the expected range, Schnitzel, Tafelspitz, regional soups and starters, executed without pretension at mains around EUR 12-22. The Wirtshaus is the everyday counterpart to the hotel above it, and the combination of building, location, and food makes it one of the more reliably Austrian dining experiences available in the old city centre.

For visitors who want to eat well in the Altstadt without either the tourist-menu markup of the main squares or the formality of the top-tier restaurants, this is a considered choice.

Visiting

  • Address: Sigmund-Haffner-Gasse 4, 5020 Salzburg (Hotel Elefant building)
  • Hours: daily, lunch and dinner; check locally for exact times
  • Price range: EUR 12-22 mains
  • Booking: recommended for dinner
  • Tips: Combine with Getreidegasse or Residenzplatz. Warm and informal; reliably Austrian in a zone full of tourist menus.