Hawelka feels like sitting in the living room of someone’s grandparents. It was only fitting that for more than 60 years and until the early 21st century, every day after 10 pm, owner Frau Josefine Hawelka came out of the kitchen to serve her homemade Buchteln—sweet rolls made of yeasted dough and filled with jam. Today, the descendants of Josefine and her husband Leopold run this coffee house in the city center, near St. Stephen's Cathedral, and continue to bake the legendary Buchteln.

Despite its central location near the imperial palace Hofburg, few tourists find their way to Bräunerhof, which has one of the most authentic atmospheres of all Viennese coffeehouses. The place is famous not least for the fact that Thomas Bernhard, one of the greatest Austrian writers of the late 20th century, spent many hours here. The selection of daily newspapers is impressive, the pastries all homemade, and the furnishings seem from another era—with old-school live music on some weekends.

High ceilings, crystal chandeliers, and elderly gentlemen in tuxedos serving coffee: Café Tirolerhof near the Albertina Museum and the famous Vienna Opera exudes the class of times long past. Notable are the curved, oriental-looking arches of the windows in the style of Art Deco. The Tirolerhof is not so much a meeting place for artists and intellectuals as for the elder members of Vienna's upper class. The prices are correspondingly high, and tourists rather rare.

This coffee house near the University of Applied Arts is named for its former owner, who was neither English nor a man, but a lady named Salomea Engländer. The Engländer differs from other coffeehouses in the city: there is also bar where you can drink your coffee standing up, and a TV above the counter (unheard of!) which broadcasts sports events (silently). Finally, the food here is much better and the selection of good wines larger than in almost all other coffeehouses in town.

Many Viennese consider the Prückel, on the glorious Ringsstraßen boulevard, to be the most beautiful coffeehouse in the city, with its well-preserved 1950s interior. The café is also one of the last of its kind to have been designed in a contemporary manner. Even some of the dishes seem straight out of the 1950s, such as the legendary “Schinkenrolle” or ham roll—a slice of ham wrapped around a mayonnaise-dressed “Olivier salad” and served on lettuce.

Café Korb, in Vienna’s old town, opened around 1900 and in the presence of the emperor himself. In 1950, it came into the possession of the Wildl family, who had it renovated in the contemporary style. The fact that the café is still a meeting place for Viennese artists is primarily due to its current owner, Susanne Wildl. The eccentric and glamorous landlady transformed the cellar into an art lounge and enlisted local star architect Gregor Eichinger to design the terrace.