Zum Fidelen Affen

Snapshot

Zum Fidelen Affen, the Merry Monkey, is a pub-restaurant on Priesterhausgasse in the Neustadt that has built a reliable following among Salzburg residents and the visitors who find their way to it. Boisterous, unpretentious, and genuinely fun in a way that most restaurants aiming at fun are not.

The Story

Salzburg’s right bank, the Neustadt, is where people live. Linzer Gasse is its main shopping street; the streets behind it, including Priesterhausgasse, belong to the neighbourhood. The Fidelen Affen sits in that residential fabric, which is why it feels different from the restaurants that exist primarily to process tourist footfall.

The “Merry Monkey” is a straightforward name for a straightforward proposition: a pub-restaurant that takes its food seriously enough to cook it well, priced fairly, in an atmosphere that encourages staying rather than turning over tables. The clientele is a mix of Salzburg residents and visitors who have done enough research, or followed a reliable recommendation, to end up here instead of somewhere closer to the Cathedral square.

Good Austrian pub cooking, by the glass wine and local beer, a noise level that rises as the evening progresses in the way of places that are genuinely full rather than strategically loud. Salzburg has a real city behind the heritage facade, and the Merry Monkey is a reliable door into it.

Visiting

Priesterhausgasse 8, Neustadt, right bank. A short walk from Linzer Gasse or from the Staatsbrucke bridge. Monday to Saturday, lunch and dinner; check ahead for current Sunday hours. Mains approximately EUR 10-20. Evening booking recommended, particularly on weekends.