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Image by Giambattista Pace
The first address after arriving in Vienna by train (if you arrive at the West-railway station and didn’t have coffee already at one of the modern cafés at the Bahnhofcity Wien West, check the article.) is this old traditional café.
Dark furniture, comfortable benches, and perfectly dressed waiters, that’s the Westend. Don’t expect to be warmly welcomed. The waiters, most of them as old as the place itself, are unfriendly and moody (they are getting more friendly recently!).
Yummy cakes, good coffee and the warm atmosphere let you forget about them immediately. Actually these moody characters make it a typical café in Vienna.
The location of the café invites all kind of types of people stopping by for a coffee and makes it also interesting to watch people. Somehow you have the feeling that many people have this hobby here – having a coffee and observing the situation.
There is a separated smoking area.
Café Westend | Coffee & tea | Espresso € 2.20
Mariahilfer Straße 128 | Inner districts | +4315233183
07:00 – 00:00 daily
Thank you again for your feedback and I am really sorry you had such a bad dinner experience. I think you should let the Café Westend know about that. It is important to let readers know that some people were not satisfied with the food quality. I never had dinner, breakfast or lunch here, neither I am recommending the spot to go there for food. I love the atmosphere and I go there for coffee. I generally think that Viennese Cafés are maybe not the place for dinner, and I never go there to have dinner. I don’t want to take the spot offline, as I think the interiors are unique, so is the atmosphere. Viennese Cafés are generally not inexpensive! Bread is payed per piece almost everywhere in Austrian, so whenever they put a basket with bread it is not automatically included!
Again, you are missing the point, this place is scamming people (tourists). It is starting to sound like you cant find other cafes in Vienne with a great atmosphere? I’ve been here now for 5 days and had fine dinner experiences in all other places.
Well, at least this is the end for me for ever using your guides for other cities. The last thing I need is a guide that steers me to tourist traps.
Hi Angelique,
Thanks for taking the time to write all these comments. As I also wrote in my e-mail to you: Spotters write about their favorite spots from a personal perspective, so it can happen visitors do not always like the same spots our locals do. We are of course sorry this happened to you – fortunately we don’t hear of this happening very often!
Best regards,
Bart van Poll
Co-founder Spotted by Locals
@Daniela
A grumpy waiter has never spoiled the rest of my evening.
If you like the place for it’s old charm [which it was] and the coffee and cake [didn't have any] I think you should at least warn travelers about the dinnerquality/breadbasket rip-off.
Or maybe you should have a dinner there, take liberaly from the breadbasket, and then tell us how you feel.
And you didn’t really read the posts by Joshua and Gary very well; the waiters being rude is not their main problem. Joshua didn’t even mention it….
I got your Iphone aap right before I went to Vienna and saw some great places because of it [and had great food].
For that reason I also went for dinner to the Westend. What a horrible experience! The same thing happend as with Joshua and Daniela. I felt completely ripped off and scammed, like it was a tourist trap. Me and my boyfriend felt upset about it the whole rest of the evening.
I can not believe you send me there?! I will now be more carefull before I believe what you recommend.
Please remove this from your listing, this place is giving Vienna a bad name. Keep in mind that not everybody who has a bad experience will take the trouble to comment here.
And so you know I’m not a sourpuss, I loved my dinner experience at Cafe Pruckel, eventhough the waitress was a little clumsy. The atmosphere was great as was the food [specially the apfelstruddel]
Thank you Gary and Joshua about your input on this article. We have never had dinner at the Café Westend, we spend time here reading and having a coffee or a cake. We are aware that waiters can be rude, but still we like the place for its old charm.
I thought this place was going to be run-down but tasty. It was by far the worst meal I had in Vienna–and not the cheapest. Everything came with deepfried potatoes, even if the description said otherwise. And I know there is a bread charge often in Vienna, but this place was ridiculous. They charged us 2 euros per item. I know that most foreigners getting off the train would have no idea and would just eat the bread. The staff must also know that most foreigners will be suprised, because the waiter completely disappeared when the bill arrived. This place was a total rip-off.
I was at Cafe Westend with my friends for dinner. Seemed like a cozy little place with great food and tradition.
WRONG. I don’t know about the coffee, but the food here is over-priced and not delicious. I ordered the Wiener Schnitzel and it tasted stale and unsavory — come on this is Vienna and this place is supposed to be at least half classy. So, I would assume that the Wiener Schnitzel would at least taste good? WRONG. The waiters are rude, unprofessional and will charge you for things you don’t order, such as the stale pretzels and bread (4 Euro).
I will never come back here again. Never in my life.