The waiters are 100% traditional – uniforms, no smiles – but actually offered fine service on several recent visits including making a big effort to find me a table. Unremarkable from the outside, the interior is a gem: cool, ’50s design backs up Engländer’s reputation as a creative, nonconformist hangout. The confusingly name Cafe Engländer (the name of a former proprietress Salomea Engländer, not a nationality) sits quietly in the Postgasse in the 1st District, somewhat off the beaten track.
#FAMOUS VIENNA COFFEE HOUSE FULL#
You can read my full review of the Eiles here.
As the Eiles is located about ten minutes’ walk beyond the Ringstrasse, you may want to combine a visit with the stroll around the Town Hall – a 19thC Neogothic masterpiece the parliament building and perhaps the Volksgarten. I found it airy, quiet, and enjoyable: a splendid blend of a traditional Vienna cafe, comfort and service. Nice name, too.Ĭafe Eiles (Josefstädterstrasse 2, 8th District) is a grand, spacious cafe famed for its good service and good coffee. I enjoyed a cappuccino and a home-made lemonade and left feeling as though I’d experienced a little piece of Italy. But it distinguishes itself by a wonderful outdoor ambience, friendly, efficient staff, good coffee and a splendid array of cakes (see picture). Service can be a bit slow.ĭolce Pensiero (Salzgries 9b, 1st District) is not a traditional Viennese cafe: no waiters in waistcoats, no 19thC architecture or famous historic guests. Bronstein (Leon Trotsky) sitting over there at the Cafe Central?” Despite repeated renovations, the Central has masses of atmosphere and is worth a visit, so long as the queues are not too long. Although opened “only” in 1876, the cafe’s historical legacy is powerful: Wikipedia says that when Victor Adler objected to Count Berchtold, foreign minister of Austria-Hungary, that war would provoke revolution in Russia, he replied: “And who will lead this revolution? Perhaps Mr. Amongst the most famous Vienna cafes, the Central occupies an exquisite space in the Palais Ferstel, originally built in 1860 to house the Austrian National Bank and stock exchange. The cavernous, welcoming interior of the Cafe BräunerhofĬafe Central (Herrengasse 14, 1st District).
Apparently the Bräunerhof has a reputation for grumpy waiters but on numerous visits mine have been conspicuously fast and civil. The Bräunerhof has a particularly enjoyable good “stepping back in time” feeling, with plenty of locals reading books and newspapers. Nestling in a back street near the tourist heart of Vienna, the Cafe Bräunerhof has nonetheless kept a wonderfully unrenovated traditional ambience, complete with uniformed waiters and, sometimes, live music at no extra charge. V ienna’s best cafes: the reviewsĬafe Bräunerhof (Stallburggasse 2, 1st District). If a cafe does not appear in the list, that means either that I haven’t tried it yet or that I have tried it and am not desperate to return. Check the menu and choose your cakes at the counter if you’re not sure.Īll of the “Vienna’s best cafes” reviewed are ones I would to return to. Viennese cafes also often serve terrific cakes and other food and drink, from sausages to breakfast and beer. I even mention the service of Viennese waiters in my novel Eternal Life. These gentlemen (nearly always men) will not deviate from their course to “serve” customers under any circumstance.īut then, what do you want? Would you rather, in Vienna, have a traditional-looking Austrian waiter, who maybe doesn’t speak English and isn’t conspicuously polite, or a fast-moving identikit youth who could be in Seattle or Siena? Some Vienna cafes (not my favourites) suffer from the traditional clockwork stop-motion effect waiters. This is often but not always accompanied by friendly and efficient service. What distinguishes a good Vienna cafe?įor me, Vienna’s best cafes have a wonderful, unrenovated charm. I like the fact that most of them use old-fashioned Viennese coffee types (kleine Schwarzer, kleine Brauner, Verlängerter, Franziskaner) instead of, or sometimes in addition to, the world-conquering Italian descriptors (Cappuccino, Macchiato, Latte & Co). The entrance to the Cafe Hawelka – photo Robert Pimm Vienna’s best cafes? How can you find the best cafe for you? Start here with my Vienna cafe reviews.
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