Image by Diana Pereira

Kandisky is an unusual kind of place suitable for bohemians, romantic and mystic people. It’s a small cozy artistic coffee place located in one of the very beautiful passages in the heart of the 8th district not far from the Museums Quartier. The waiter is a special character that will be happy to have a chat with you and tell you stories about Vienna or have a discussion about your home country. Don’t be in a hurry, because the service can be a little slow.

This place is connected with the art gallery besides it. You can expect a very relaxed and quiet atmosphere, nice homemade cakes, a large selection of good teas served with honey in colorful mugs and homemade soups and toasts. As well as an amazing choice of jams that you get in proper large jam jars. Breakfast is served all day long!

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Café Kandinsky | Art & culture, Bars, Coffee & tea, Snacks
Lerchenfelderstrasse 13 | Inner districts | +4319694001
Tue – Fri 09:00 – 19:00, Sat – Sun 09:00 – 16:00

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Image by Diana Pereira

Located in the inner districts, it can be a good choice if you don’t want to meet (other) tourists on the neighbor table. Wratschko is a local old style pub/restaurant where you can have a plate of good tasty food.

It is quite traditional and probably not appealing if you look for something hip or trendy! The inside is rather simple but very nice and cozy. The worn wooden tables, the low ceilings, the lamps, the white translucent glass panels and the simple decoration makes you believe that you are in the countryside in the 50′s! Menus are written by hand which I think is also pretty charming and fits the picture of being a traditional and a unique place.

The dishes are of course also traditional. They are cooked with local and fresh bio products. It can take a little longer to be served but you can be sure it is all carefully prepared. The Wratschko is a proper Wiener pub, the way you can imagine it!

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Clemens Wratschko | Bars, Snacks, Restaurants (Austrian)
Neustiftgasse 51 | Inner districts | +4315237161
Mon – Fri 17:00 – 01:00

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Image by WUK Vienna (by: Diana Pereira)

The WUK is an alternative space for culture and workshops, one of the biggest in Europe in the leftish/arty style. There you’ll find a cafe, restaurant, art rooms, concerts, workshops, even bike repairs, and more than anything a meeting point for everyone!

This space is in a former locomotive factory from the 19th century. It has a strong character and it is quite a unique place. Depending on the activities and on the weather, these can be organized in or outdoors, giving use to the wonderful courtyard. The outdoor space is fantastic. In the summer you can drink your coffee outside on the terrace or even have a full meal. Moreover there is wireless internet in the courtyard. The artistic atmosphere is very present with graffiti and paintings on some walls.

The list of events and activities organized there is quite extensive so the best way to be up to date is to check their website!

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WUK | Art & culture, Bars, Music
Währinger Straße 59 | Inner districts
08:00 – 02:00 daily

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Image by Diana Pereira

The name says it all, experience a bit of the French flair in Vienna. In fact the concept and inspiration were based on a small cafe from Toulouse. After years of living in France the owner returned to Austria and took his favorite place with him to Vienna!

The main dish in Cafe der Provinz is undoubtedly crepes. Unlike the traditional French recipe, in this cafe the crepes are made of a mixture of 2 different flours (Spelt and Buckwheat) which makes a darker and healthier version as it contains higher protein and nutrition substances. The same dough is used for the sweet and the savory crepes! So it is the filling what gives the sweet or savory “character” to them!

Saturdays and Sundays there is a brunch where you can eat as much as you want while you watch your crepes being prepared. The down side of it is that the place gets crowded quickly. I advise you to reserve a table as the place is quite small. Otherwise you might be waiting a long time!

Most of the time, outside of the weekends busy brunch hours, you can sit there enjoying a book. In the summer they also have outside seats which are very nice as it is a quiet area. In the back of the store books, teas and other small products can be found for sale.

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Cafe der Provinz | Bars, Coffee & tea, Restaurants (French) | Brunch € 11.50
Maria-Treu-Gasse 3 | Inner districts | +4319442272
08:00 – 23:00 daily

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Image by Voodoo Vienna (by: Diana Pereira)

From the outside it feels like a very mysterious place as you cannot see anything what is going on in there. All you can see from the street is a decorated window made by an unusual collection of African masks and sculptures with grandmother style drapes behind, very appropriate to call this place Voodoo! You cannot really guess what kind of place it is, but give it a try and you will love it or not!

Inside of the small bar in the Siebensterngasse the time seems to be stopped in the 70′s where the Rock and Roll still rules! The waiter/owner/DJ, who is quite a character at his own rights, will play mainly classic rock music from Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Doors or Rolling Stones. The posters on the walls are as well a reminiscence on the golden time of rock music.

It is a bar where you can spend hours, great to talk in a relaxed atmosphere though it tends to get quite smoky when the night moves on! Beer is good and cheaper than other bars around! Customers are a mix of different generations. In this place you can expect to find a simple local atmosphere. It opens at 07:00pm and is an excellent place to start (or end) the night!

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Cafe Voodoo | Bars
Siebensterngasse 35 | Inner districts
Tue – Sat 19:00 – 02:00

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Image by Nora Droege

Nomen est Omen. So, as the name (Donau = Danube) suggests, be prepared to have the feeling of diving into a world of lights, music and sombre colors when entering the place.

This is a great place to start your evening at. Maybe you’re just done enjoying contemporary art in Museumsquartier (check Museumsquartier article) or need a chill out after an exciting shopping expedition on Mariahilferstraße, so much the better coming here as it’s right next to a couple of urban hot spots!

Donau shows itself as a wicked combination of a place where you can have a beer or two, get to know the newest tunes and still are able to have a conversation, as the music’s volume is not beyond the convenient. There’s also quite stylish snack bar and some really comfortable original cinema armchairs giving the place a certain old school Viennese character.

And – I love this interior’s element – don’t miss catching a glimpse of the ceiling and the remarkable art installation giving you the feeling of actually floating lazily along the blue river…

Plus; if you already feel like gaining an impression of what your evening might be like or if you just want to see whether you like the music or not, there is also an online radio station you should check out!

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Das Donau | Bars, Music, Snacks | Beer € 3.00
Karl Schweighofer Gasse 10 | Inner districts | +4315238105
Open from 18:00 daily

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Image by Linda Nepicks

A spot of the superlatives: 60.000 m² (!) for art, architecture, design, dance, theatre, fashion, restaurants, café’s and space for relaxation. It’s a world in a world and if you are into art, it’s not difficult to spend a whole day in this impressive area.

A combination of old buildings (once the royal stables from the 18th century) and gorgeous modern architecture – like the MUMOK museum – sheltering a huge square.

In summer time you can enjoy the colored “Enzos”, huge kind of plastic sofas for hanging around. They former Enzis used to change their color every year, the result of an annual Internet-Voting. Many events take place here, like the famous Wiener Festwochen. It’s getting cold: so check out “Winter im MQ” and be surprised!

My favourite spots in this area are definitely the MUMOK, here you find great exhibitions of modern art, the book store Walther König and the “Kantine” in Quartier 21. And maybe you wanna check out the store “Musiktank” – the first On Demand Music Store for any kind of Austrian music.

By the way, if you are younger than 19 or a student under 27 there is free entrance for example in MUMOK. There are combination tickets if you want to visit more than one museum. The website is worth checking out, they provide all information – in seven languages! You see, it’s not a hidden spot, but one place a lot of Viennese love to go to, just like the tourists.

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Museumsquartier | Art & culture, Bars, Music, Shopping, Theaters
Museumsplatz 1-5 | Inner districts | +4315235881
Daily

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Image by Linda Nepicks

..and an even greater area for sitting outside when it’s the time to enjoy warm evenings outside on the Radetzkyplatz, surrounded by flowers and plants in the so-called “Shani-Garten” (the Austrian word for outdoor dining area). But alas- this is only for summer time.

But in winter time you can enjoy the interior of this traditional Austrian tavern, with simple but cosy furnishing. Wild provides very good Austrian cuisine mixed with some modern culinary ideas. The prices are a bit high, but the atmosphere – indoor and outdoor – is quite special. The food is very tasty, there is a selection of very good wines!

At Wild you get an idea of Austrian “tavern-culture” without ending up in a gloomy smoky Inn where vegetarians are seen as people from outer space.

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Wild | Bars, Snacks, Restaurants (Austrian)
Radetzkyplatz 1 | Inner districts | +4319209477
10:00 – 01:00 daily

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Image by Linda Nepicks

A place to chat, for people from different countries. A colourful street market with fruits, vegetables, meat, cheese. A long alley with plenty of stalls with cheap clothes, shoes and fabrics. A stuffed alley with loads of groceries, turkish restaurants, shops, bakeries etc. An alley ending in a big market square, used both by bohemian society and local residents. A market with a shop for the best jam in the world (apart from home-made one) called Staud’s. A market square with cafe’s, restaurants and bars or just benches to sit and relax.

Check it out, I think it’s a very different part from Vienna, which most tourists will not see (who just know the Naschmarkt). And worth to see! Not to forget that fruits and veggies are way cheaper than on any other market in Vienna…

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Brunnenmarkt Yppenplatz | Bars, Coffee & tea, Relaxing, Shopping, Snacks, Restaurants
Yppenplatz | Inner districts
Mon – Sat til 18:00

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Image by Linda Nepicks

Topkino is the place if you are a true lover of great movies (subtitled, original versions; films from all over the world), but can’t resist to have a beer or two after (or before) going to the movies. And if you’d rather have a solid meal in your stomach before watching some of the serious films, this is the right place as well. At Topkino you really find 3 in 1!!

Topkino is situated in a nice old building and the bar is a long and spacious room with very high ceilings, packed with people on old sofas, chairs, at coffee tables etc.

The showroom of the cinema is neither huge nor too comfortable, but they really show very special movies, you hardly see in any other cinema (though Vienna is a great place for movie connoisseurs) and of course also award winning movies from Filmfestival in Cannes or other smaller film festivals. So it is definitely worth checking out the programme before or after going to the bar.

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Topkino | Bars, Cinemas, Coffee & tea, Snacks | Ticket cinema € 7
Rahlgasse 1/Theobaldgasse | Inner districts | +4312083000
Bar: Mon – Sat from 15:00, Sun 10:30 – 00:00 | check website for cinema

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Vienna