Vienna’s Lovely Cafe Culture and Design

April 24, 2014

cafe das mobel vienna

Oh, Vienna, I’m so smitten! My favorite part? The cafe culture and design. Cafe culture is a huge thing in Vienna and we took full advantage of it, stopping in as many as humanly possible in the short amount of time we had there.

I loved how the design of each cafe was to the next, and how well thought-out each was. And I loved how all the cafes transitioned to bars in the evening, where you could still get an amazing cup of coffee, but you could also have a glass of wine or a beer. I think we need more of these in Dublin! cafe orland 2 Here’s the disclaimer, I had no part whatsoever in planning this trip, so all credit for finding these cafes goes to Michael and/or chance. We walked by a few that looked cute and stopped in, and the others Michael planned based on recommendations or guides he researched. He is an awesome travel partner and I’m not sure I totally pulled my weight on this trip! 

But what I can do is pass on the super places we found. Here are just a few of our favorite cafes in Vienna!  cafe orlando vienna

 

This cafe above, Orlando di Castello, is famous and swanky and the design was super, super cool. I was dying to steal a few of those green glasses and I’m still researching where to find them online! They’re the perfect color to add to our bar cart.  cafe vienna

Cafe Ritter was one of the more traditional cafes we tried, and in the middle of the day on a Thursday, it was buzzing with people drinking beer and coffee and having lots of animated chats! It looked like it maybe hadn’t changed in 100 years, which was really charming. eis vienna

I can’t remember the name of this cafe on Burgasse, but it was sort of Cape Cod meets Vienna and served the most serious desserts and ice cream cones.  green and blue cafe vienna

We didn’t try this cafe, but I wanted to take all of those green and blue chairs home with me. The perfect shades of my favorite colors. Plus, they match my green glasses I will eventually find!

wirr coffe vienna wirr cafe vienna

The service in Vienna is reputably grumpy (and we did find that to be the case most of the time), but Wirr‘s staff was so friendly. And they serve their lattes in glass goblets!  vienna cafe treats

We sat outside at Cafe Museum, another famous and traditional cafe, and had treats and spritzers. Their menu is really sweetly illustrated.  vienna cafe ceiling Excuse the grainy iPhone photo, but would you look at the ceiling in that place? I think it was the cafe in the Mumok Museum and it was beyond cool.  michael in das mobel And to round out our cafe tour of Vienna (don’t worry, I have photos to prove we did more than sit around drinking coffee and wine!), another favorite of mine, Cafe das Moebel. It’s part show room, part cafe. Every piece of cool furniture is also for sale, and they often feature up and coming designers looking for a place to try out products with real people.

One more tip about the cafes in Vienna – if you order a melange, you’ll get the equivalent of a cappuccino without the chocolate sprinkled on top and you’ll pay 50 cents less. Meanwhile, a cafe latte is often a whole euro more expensive than other coffees! Needless to say, we were drinking so many coffees, we both opted for melanges more often than not!

I’m already planning our return trip to Vienna – one where I will actually only go to cafes, and maybe I’ll bring a notebook and draw or bring the laptop and write a book or something! It’s the perfect place for that sort of relaxed arty thing.

12 Comments

  • Reply Sandra April 25, 2014 at 7:56 am

    Hello Emily,
    I read your articel with a lot of interest. I’m from Vienna and it’s funny for me to hear how see foreign people my city.
    And I enjoy myself what did you say about the viennese waiters. That’s so true but that’s also the charm of our waiters. 🙂
    If you will come the next time to Vienne please tell me, I can show you some more beautiful cafes and other nice places.
    Greetings from Vienna,
    Sandra

    • Reply emily April 26, 2014 at 2:45 pm

      Hi Sandra, next time we come we will definitely look you up for a local’s tour! We would love that! And I’m sure we will be back – we just loved Vienna!

      • Reply Sandra Füchsl April 27, 2014 at 6:38 pm

        Hi Emily,
        I’m looking forward if you will come the next time to Vienna and I can show you my Vienna. 🙂
        I see, you fall in love with my beautiful city. But I also fall in love with Irland. 😉
        I wish you a nice Sunday and I will send you greetings from Vienna. Sandra

  • Reply Trish Phillips April 25, 2014 at 9:26 am

    Emily, you must have been on a high with all that coffee! I love the blue and green chairs outside the cafe you passed, and i think I may use those colours for my kitchen chairs!

    • Reply emily April 26, 2014 at 2:44 pm

      Ooh, I can’t wait to see the result of the kitchen chairs, Trish! Love that idea!

  • Reply Nicole Kirchler April 28, 2014 at 8:07 am

    Hi Emily,
    the green glasses are from Römerquelle, that´s an Austrian mineral water company. I´m afraid, you would have to steal them. I asked the company for some glasses for you, but the don´t give them away (But you will be back 😉 ). Sorry!
    The cafe on Burggasse is the Pure Living Bakery.

    • Reply emily April 30, 2014 at 7:41 pm

      Nicole, that is so kind of you to ask for me! Really, so, so sweet! I think I will just have to return to nab a few! Do you live in Vienna? If you do, I’m jealous!

      • Reply dlnuzum December 23, 2015 at 6:25 pm

        I’ve been looking for those glasses for a couple of years now. I contacted an Austrian distributor who sells [https://www.expert24.com] them, but they would not ship to the U.S. Perhaps if you know someone who could buy them for you and have them shipped over.

      • Reply dlnuzum December 23, 2015 at 6:27 pm

        Sorry… I didn’t realize that you were in Dublin. I’m guessing you will have no problem.

  • Reply Sally Anne Bennett April 28, 2014 at 9:19 pm

    Oh wow looks fabulous!!must put it on the to do list!!

  • Reply More Vienna Exploring | From China VillageFrom China Village May 1, 2014 at 4:32 pm

    […] case you missed it, I wrote about all the coffee shops and cafes we visited in Vienna last […]

  • Reply designiert May 30, 2014 at 3:12 am

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    There’s a lot of folks that I think would really enjoy your content.
    Please let me know. Thank you

  • Leave a Reply to Trish Phillips Cancel Reply