In Salzburg and Graz one may eat well for under $25 a head in some of the oldest restaurants in Europe. For location and historical interest, the Stiftskeller St. Peter, Zum Eulenspiegel, and Zum Mohren, in Salzburg, are especially worth mentioning, and in Graz, Zur Goldenen Pastete and Altstadt Beisel, where at lunchtime locals queue for such Styrian delicacies as blood sausage and mashed potato-delicious!

But the true finesse of Austrian cooking is in the desserts: poppy-seed noodles, cottage-cheese dumplings, and souffle Salzburg style. To sample the excellent Austrian pastry, one may drop in at any number of congenial cafes--Cafe Glockenspiel. Cafe Tomaselli, or Cafe Winkler, with its panoramic view of town.

Cafe Tomaselli, Alter Markt 8, 844488. Mozart and his family frequented this cafe! Very popular and good for late breakfast or lunch. Sooner or later everyone's who's anyone settles on the terrace to sip coffee and to read the papers.

Pfefferschiff zu Sollheim, Sollheim, 661242. Closed Sundays and Mondays. The best of AUstrian fare dominates the menu here, in a village just northeast of Salzburg. Moderately priced.

Gasthof Schloss Aigen, Schwarzenbergpromenade 37; 21284. Closed Wednesdays and for Thursday lunch. More farmhouse than castle it serves typical Austrian fare: boiled rump of beef, good breads, and a memborable strawberry-rhubarb strudel with rhubarb sherbet. Moderately priced.

Friesacher's Heuriger, Haus Nr. 55, Anif. (06246)724-1114. A happy, friendly place for the enjoyment of young wines and a great, abundant indoor buffet to complement the white wines. Closed Tuesdays. Inexpensive.

Purzelbaum, Zugallistrasse 7, 848843. A cosmopolitan bistro with a French-influenced menu, that dishes up delicious food by a friendly staff. Closed |Sundays and for Monday lunch. Moderate.

Restaurant-Hotel Obauer, Hauptstrasse 46, Werfen; (06468)212-0. One of Austria's finest restaurants, is a gasthof, less than 25 miles south of Salzburg. The Obauer brothers draw crowds for their asparagus risotto with truffles, strudel layered with trout and blackberry chocolate parfait. Expensive.

Landhaus Eschlbock Plomberg, St.-Lorenz 42, Plomberg; (06232)3166. Closed Tuesdays. About 15 miles east of Salzburg in the breathtaking Salzkammergut, Karl Eschlbock has for 20 years been in the forefront of the new Austrian cooking, applying French techniques to char and pike-perch fished from the Mondsee in front of his restaurant. Expensive.

Hagenauerstuben, Universitatsplatz 14

S'Herzl Von Goldener Hirsch, Getreidegasse 37; 662/848511. A wonderful light lunch in a very friendly atmosphere. Book a table at midday. A less posh but still stylish sister restaurant to the Goldener Hirsch. It is usually packed to the rafters with a smart-looking local lunch group of men and women, so you might want to reserve a table ahead of time. Lunch for two $50.

Gersberg Alm, 37 Gaisberg; 662/641257. A new place that looks old, almost the movie ideal of an Alpine hotel. A new, wonderfully rustic and romantic country hotel in the hills above Salzburg. Dinner for two $60.