Highlander Scottish Pub Vienna

Pub in Vienna, Austria

Today I had a really bad experience at the Highlander! I am sorry, this will be a longer story.
The waiter came to our table and asked us, if we would order some more drinks. He wasn't looking in my d...irection, so I said "Yeah, Yeah" and reflexivly flipped with my fingers, I didn't mean anything bad by it.
The waiter nearly flipped out, saying "Don't you flip your fucking fingers at me! That's so rude" Then he left without saying another word. I was really flabbergasted, because I did not know it was considered that rude (earning such an extreme reaction) and by any means I did not mean it in a rude way.
When he came back over 5 minutes later, asking if i would like another drink, I said "No" because I wanted to talk and clear the situation up. I told him that I am sorry but that although it may have been very rude what I undeliberately did, his reaction was also very rude, and as I am still a customer, I expect to be treated in a polite way and he could tell me he was offended and why but in a polite and mature way. His reaction "If you do not know how to behave in a Pub, maybe you should not come here!". And then he walked away again. So much for friendly, relaxed and open Pub- culture. I did not know that I should have taken classes in "Pub- behaviour" before coming here.
Maybe Highlander- staff are so stressed, because they have so many visitors that they do not care if they offend a single customer. I won't come back that soon!
I always liked the place, and it has been the regular location for our student's group, even if they ripped me off 80c last time I was there.

Update:
After I sent this text to "Highlanders" mail account, I received an apology for the bad evening and they even offered me a gift coupon, which would not have been necessary at all. I did not expect this, and I am glad that customers concerns and ensuring sevice quality still seem to be valued. Looking foward to the next evening of our student's group there, because generally it is a nice place with good people and good beer. See More

Just back from a trip to vienna ��
The highlander was one of my top tourist attractions in vienna ...
Great spot , fantastic atmosphere and the weekly table quiz on Sunday evenings is not to be missed... .
James and his team which include john Darren and dan are top class blokes ��
If you are Irish � it's not to be missed
Serving food and a variety of beers schladminger been my favourite and at a good price ..
The locals are extremely nice and welcoming also .
I will definitely be visiting again.
C See More

During a visit to this beautiful city whilst travelling on to Slovakia we visited the bar where we were really well looked after by James who is a Dubliner by birth. The whole experience was very enjo...yable. A home from home if you enjoy good food, good beer, a warm welcome and the unbeatable warmth and genuine companionship of fellow Felt blooded characters. Great fun and James is a top man. See More

One more bad experience from the Highlander pub..

I am a regular visitor of various pubs in and around Vienna, and for the second time visited this place. First time it was a normal pub experience, n...othing special, but the second visit gave a reason for this review. The following happened on the night of Saturday to Sunday, 14. May 2016 around 1:30 a.m.

We appeared in a group of five, three girls, two guys, all foreigners, with a goal of drinking a beer. As we entered the place without getting greeted by personnel, we realized the front area was full of cigarette smoke, so as non-smokers we wanted to enter the non-smoking area. As we tried to do so, the girl working that night appeared in front of us and told us the area is closed, in spite of being almost full of people drinking. So we decided to find a most secluded table in the smoking area, but away from smoke. We sat down on sofas around a table inside the little room and waited for someone to take the order from us. An older waiter (beard, little hair, beer belly) appeared after 5 minutes and told us to leave the room because it’s closed, although the light was turned on, the ashtray was full of cigarette butts and there was no sign that it couldn’t be entered. So we sat around the first table in the smoking area.

Now begins the real highlight of the visit. We were sitting at the table being ignored for more than 10 minutes, in spite of there being only a few other people at the bar in the smoking area, i.e. no one was getting served. So I went to the bar to ask the same waiter to come to our table and was told he will be there in a few minutes. I went back to our table to inform the group, after which I went in the direction of the toilette. As I was going there, this waiter physically blocked me with his hand against my chest and told me “Don’t look at me like that”. I asked him what he is talking about. His response was “When I told you I will come to your table, you gave me the look. I am telling you don’t look at me like that.” and then turned around to start ignoring me. I told him I didn’t give him any look and said “I really don’t see a problem here”. He came back to me, pointed his finger into my face and repeated “Don’t look at me like that again. You are about to have a real problem if you do.” He had a killer look while saying it, looking like he was just about to throw a punch! It is still unbelievable to me that this guy, a waiter, wanted to start a fight with a customer over something that, I repeat, did not happen! I had no idea what was going on anymore. I have never in my life experienced such rudeness and aggressiveness in any bar I visited, and especially not from a member of personnel. It was very obvious that the guy wanted to physically escalate the situation out of nowhere. I am a person who knows how to protect himself and did not feel threatened by his aggressiveness, but any kind of argument, be it verbal or physical, was not my intention. Of course, all of this was enough for us to instantly decide to leave the place.

It wouldn’t surprise me that the problematic waiter is the same one that very poorly handled the situation with a female customer (Kerstin) from another 1 star review.

For all the potential visitors of this bar, I would not recommend doing so since there are many other places in Vienna with a larger variety of drinks, better prices and much friendlier staff. And for the owner(s) of this place I would strongly recommend to find personnel that does not have anger management issues. See More