Coffee Houses and Cafes

Vienna’s café culture is perhaps one of its best-known legacies. Legend has it that coffee was introduced to the city when the retreating Ottomans left some beans behind in 1683 and the city’s first coffee house opened in 1685. Originally there was a conspicuous difference between a “kaffeehaus” (coffee house) and a café with the kaffeehaus being the more genteel, intellectual and chic variant of the two. Nowadays, the two are nearly synonymous, although the name kaffeehaus still carries some clout in terms of historical pedigree. If a premises is called a Café-Konditorei or a Kaffee-Konditorei it means that the cakes and pastries are made on-site. Many of Vienna’s cafés serve food as well as coffee and cakes. The Café Hawelka on Dorotheergasse is one of Vienna’s more famous venues although if you are looking for a grander experience, you may want to try the Café Sacher attached to the luxury hotel of the same name. If you are looking for a traditional dark and brooding artist haunt kaffeehaus experience, try the Alt Wien on Bäckerstrasse.  

Bars and Nightclubs

Traditional coffee houses are generally not open in the late evenings. Increasingly, cafés are transitioning to dual purpose establishments with full bars and late-night openings (as are some coffee houses: the Alt Wien is open until 2:00 am and is quite popular with students). Bars and nightclubs often have live music and/or a DJ and dancing and stay open until 4:00 am. Many clubs have cover charges that range between ten and thirty Euro. In the summer, outside venues abound on Danube Island. In the Innere Stadt, the most popular area for a night out is called the Bermuda-Dreieck or Bermuda Triangle. This area, around the Seitenstettengasse, Ruprechtsplatz, Rabenstief and Salzgries is home to a multitude of bars and nightclubs. On the whole, drinking out in Vienna is reasonably priced.

Heurigen

Cosmopolitan Vienna has done away with the old-fashioned wine taverns called the Heurigen. Exceptions to this trend are the Esterhazykeller off of Naglergasse and the Zwolf Apostelkeller on Sonnenfelgasse. Heurigen have relaxed atmospheres and buffet-style food offerings. The majority of authentic Heurigen are found mainly in the smaller villages in the suburbs of the Vienna Woods (Weiner Wald) and then farther afield in Austria’s wine regions in Lower Austria and Styria. Although the Viennese consider the area hopelessly touristed, there are multiple heurigen in Grinzing where you can hear the traditional Schrammelmusik.