My family has owned and operated a traditional Viennese restaurant (Gasthaus Grünauer) in Vienna for over 60 years. My father, Peter Grünauer, grew up working in and around the restaurant before bringing his knowledge and passion for Austrian cuisine, culture, and life to New York City in the 1980s. There he owned and operated several Austrian restaurants including the New York Times 4‑star rated Vienna 79.
While in New York he had two children, Me and my sister Elisabeth, with our mother Lynne (a Kansas City native). Elisabeth and I spent a considerable portion of our childhood in Austria at the family restaurant and quickly began to share the family’s passion for the business.
Grünauer restaurant is an homage to our family’s storied Austrian restaurant in Vienna’s 7th district. Vienna’s 7th (or Neubau) district is known as the cultural and artistic center of the city. It is also home to the Museumsquartier (housing many works of Klimt and Schiele), independent shops, galleries, cafes, and restaurants . We could think of no more fitting place to have our restaurant than the Neubau’s Kansas City equivalent, the Crossroads Arts District.
Our General Manager Scott Beskow has been with us from the very beginning. He curated and headed up our very well regarded Wunderbar for the first several years of the restaurant’s life. Now, as Grünauer heads into its second decade of serving Kansas City, Scott has taken the helm as General Manager. Though not Austrian by heritage, he has developed the same passion for Viennese cuisine as our family through his time at the restaurant and by traveling to Vienna to witness gasthaus hospitality firsthand.
Grünauer is, at its heart, a family restaurant. Our dedication to authenticity and hospitality has its roots all the way back to Austria. We invite you to experience the Viennese hospitality and cuisine that we love so much.
– Nicholas Grünauer
