Order your coffee by its Viennese name, a Melange or an Einspänner, and order the pastry with it. Expect mid-range prices at every café here. The cost section below explains why the Sachertorte is better value at Café Schwarzenberg than at the Hotel Sacher.
The short list
8 places, in the order they appear below.
- 1Café SperlMelange and Guglhupf, billiards, newspapers6th, Mariahilf
- 2Café JelinekMelange and Topfenstrudel6th, Mariahilf
- 3Café HawelkaEvening Buchteln, postwar history1st, Innere Stadt
- 4Café SchwarzenbergEinspänner and Sachertorte1st, Innere Stadt
- 5KaffemikFilter coffee from European roasters7th, Neubau
- 6POC Café — People on CaffeineV60 pour-over (cash only)Near the University
- 7Café VollpensionHome-baked Austrian cakes4th, Wieden
- 8goldener papageiAfternoon Melange in a local room2nd, Leopoldstadt
How do you order coffee in a Viennese coffee house?
Order by name. Ask for a Melange, or for an Einspänner, which is black coffee with whipped cream served in a silver holder. At a good house like Café Sperl, the Melange comes made correctly without you having to explain it. Take a newspaper from the rack and stay as long as you like. At Café Jelinek, the old-school service leaves you alone until you want something. At a specialty bar such as Kaffemik, ask for the filter of the day instead of defaulting to espresso.
How much should a coffee cost in Vienna?
The classic houses and the newer specialty bars on this list share the same middle price tier. The Sachertorte shows it best: Café Schwarzenberg charges less for it than the Hotel Sacher does, the room is less crowded, and the quality gap is too small to notice.
Which classic Kaffeehäuser serve the best Melange?
For a Melange, we send people to Café Sperl in the 6th district or to Café Jelinek. Each has a pastry that belongs with the coffee, described below. In the old town, Café Hawelka adds warm Buchteln in the evening.
Café Sperl opened in 1880, and its billiard tables are still in use. Regulars drop in during the afternoon for a Melange and a slice of Guglhupf.
Café Sperl
Hours: Mon–Sat 07:00–22:00 · Sun 10:00–20:00
Address: Gumpendorfer Str. 11, 1060 Wien, Austria
At Café Jelinek the marble tables have never been replaced, and the cake counter sticks to classics. Order the house-made Topfenstrudel. Its filling is noticeably lighter than the version at the tourist-facing cafés on the Ringstraße.
Café Hawelka is all dark wood, smoke-stained walls and elderly waiters who remember everyone. The Hawelka family reopened it in 1945, and it became the gathering point for Vienna’s postwar artistic and intellectual life. Daytime belongs mostly to tourists, so come in the evening: that’s when the Buchteln (yeast dumplings filled with plum jam) come out of the kitchen warm, and they go fast.
Café Hawelka
Hours: Mon–Thu 09:00–00:00 · Fri–Sat 09:00–01:00 · Sun 10:00–21:00
Address: Dorotheergasse 6, 1010 Wien, Austria
Where can you try an Einspänner in Vienna?
For an Einspänner, go to Café Schwarzenberg on the Kärntner Ring. It opened in 1861, which makes it the oldest Kaffeehaus on the Ringstraße. The pastries are baked on site, and the Einspänner arrives in the traditional silver holder. Order a Sachertorte with it and take a window seat facing the Schwarzenbergplatz fountains.
Café Schwarzenberg
Hours: Mon–Fri 07:30–23:30 · Sat–Sun 08:30–23:30
Address: Kärntner Ring 17, 1010 Wien, Austria
Where do locals go for coffee outside the grand cafés?
Kaffemik in Neubau and POC near the university take filter coffee seriously. At Café Vollpension, retirees bake home-style cake. And goldener papagei in Leopoldstadt keeps the Melange-and-strudel habit going in a relaxed room.
Kaffemik is a tiny roastery and bar that pours beans from rotating European roasters next to its own. Skip the espresso and order the filter of the day. Two are always brewed, and the cheaper one is often the more interesting coffee. Have a chocolate-chip cookie with it. In warm months the pedestrian street outside doubles as the terrace.
Kaffemik
Hours: Mon–Fri 08:00–18:00 · Sat 10:00–18:00 · Sun 11:00–17:00
Address: Zollergasse 5, 1070 Wien, Austria
POC (People on Caffeine) is a third-wave bar built into the side of a Baroque church, across from the University of Vienna campus. The V60, made with beans from whichever Scandinavian roaster the team is currently running, is the reason to come. Bring cash.
POC Café — People on Caffeine
Hours: Mon–Fri 08:00–17:00 · Sat 10:00–16:00 · Sun closed
Address: Schlösselgasse 21, 1080 Wien, Austria
Café Vollpension is a social enterprise café where retired Pensionisten bake the cakes and serve the coffee. The concept has since been copied elsewhere in Europe, but this room is the original, and its classic Austrian pastries keep a grandmother-kitchen quality that is quietest to take in on a weekday afternoon, when the bakers are often still around to say what came out of the oven that morning.
goldener papagei has the feel of a long-standing neighbourhood café, and the crowd is reliably local. The order here is an afternoon Melange with a piece of Topfenstrudel, ideally at the front window table. If the window is taken, it’s worth the wait.
goldener papagei
Hours: Mon–Sun 08:00–19:00
Address: Praterstraße 17, 1020 Wien, Austria
Sperl and Jelinek are both in the 6th, and Hawelka and Schwarzenberg sit inside or on the edge of the old town. Opening times vary widely between the grand houses and the smaller specialty bars, and each place card lists them in full. Several close early on weekends, and POC shuts on Sundays.
