Image by Sabrina Grohsebner

Once you’ve entered the place you’ll be diving quickly into that lively and yet cosy hustle and bustle inside the place. Waiters suit up and tend to behave, just like in old times, a little bit snotty – not forgetting about spicing up that attitude with a hint of authentic “Wiener Schmäh” (Viennese Charm). So don’t be shy about talking to them when they’re not too busy .

For more than a 100 years now (!) Café Museum has been a part of Vienna’s Coffeehouse Culture. Local creative souls such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele or Otto Wagner came in here all through the years, so this Café distinguishes itself with a certain Viennese authenticity.

Café Museum is located nearby cultural hot spots such as the Vienna Secession and the Albertina, so, also the name is suggesting that, visiting the place goes along great with a museum visit.

There are comfy, red sofa-booths (offering a great opportunity to bounce up and down just like a child, by the way) right next to the window, so you can easily spend one rainy afternoon drinking tea, watching the busy city life passing by and indulge your sweet tooth with one of those many mouth-watering cakes.

Almost forgot about mentioning my favourite detail! If you’re visiting don’t miss looking up at the ceiling. There are some huge Christmas bauble-alike lamps hanging down, and I for my part love them!

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Café Museum | Art & culture, Coffee & tea | Piece of Cake € 4.00
Operngasse 7 | Inner districts | +43124100620
08:00 – 00:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Vienna

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

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Vienna

Image by Nil Vienna (by: Diana Pereira)

In the heart of the 7th district there is the Nil, an Oriental cafe. It’s a pretty nice place though it is located on a busy street with a tram line! The big window glass panels on the street façade reduce the distance between interior and exterior. Plenty of light gets in as well as the liveliness of the street.

I usually go there to enjoy myself with the fantastic Arab cuisine – falafel and hummus are delicious and the salads are always fresh. Like the food, the mint tea is also amazing which is done with fresh mint like the original one from North Africa! The waitresses are relaxed too, which sometimes can lead to longer waiting times as a consequence. In those situations I end up reading one of the newspapers or a magazines that they have there!

The decoration is somehow minimalistic: simple small wooden tables in an old and clean design, and several lamps well organized all over the place. I like it!

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Nil | Coffee & tea, Restaurants (Oriental)
Siebensterngasse 39 | Inner districts
10:00 – 00:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Vienna

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.

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

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Vienna

Image by Sabrina Grohsebner

May I introduce you? This is Kurt. YoKurt.

It seems the Frozen Yoghurt idea is quite new to Vienna and there are not too many places offering it yet, the more I was amazed by exploring this place. It not only dares to take the role of a trailblazer in Vienna’s dairy culture but also wins everybody over with its friendly and cheerful staff and ambiance. Don’t miss checking out their trademark, you don’t get to see too many flying cows these days.

About the product! You’ll get to choose between different flavours, aside from the classic pure one they are varying regularly. Just to name some types: Mango, Blackberry, or – real good one -Pomegranate with Raspberry. And topping (caution, wordplay) it all: a great variety of nuts, cookie crumbles, muesli, sauces and fresh exotic fruits (preferential Fair trade) you can jazz up your Kurt with.

Here’s a well-tried combination, especially in Christmas time: Pure Yogurt + ginger bread crumbles + cinnamon apple mousse, a real kickshaw.

As Kurt’s situated right next to ‘Artis International’ Cinema which shows most movies in English, a medium cup of fresh and mellow Fro’Yo also turns out to be a  great popcorn-alternative..

And that’s not even all! Kurt not only refreshes people in Vienna’s streets with light delicacies in a hip an original way but also takes interest in ecologic and ethical issues which makes him use biodegradable spoons and cups only and participate in human rights projects.

A real delight, both for your taste and your good conscience.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Kurt | Coffee & tea, Snacks | Frozen Yogurt from € 2.50
Schultergasse 2 | Inner districts
Mon – Sat 12:00 – 22:00, Sun 15:00 – 22:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Vienna

Image by Sabrina Grohsebner

Here’s your chance to discover a brand spanking new Bistro right in the middle of Vienna’s university area: Nascha’s.

Nascha’s philosophy is simple: high quality food, student suitable prices, love for the extraordinary.

Being around university campus a lot of time I’m happy to have known this place right from the beginning and I can say: I am hooked.

When you enter the place you’ll first notice the spot’s sweet and enchanting style, beginning with the American diner alike wall paper and the colorful balloons hanging from the ceiling up to the original English school tables from the 60′s, 50 year old chewing gum beneath the table boards included.

Talking to the very welcoming shop owners I found out about the name’s meaning(s): Firstly it refers to the German expression “Naschen” which means “to nibble”, secondly it hints at the Russian expression for “Ours”. (Psst!..there actually is a 3rd meaning that the lovely staff will be happy to share with you if you ask them.)

And what’s most important, the food. There’s a regularly changing variety of luscious organic soups, bagels and quiches. I tried their soups a couple of times, so believe me when I say: they’re a real treat! Plus they have wide a range of sweet delights such as Fudge in a Cup, Ice cream filled fruits and a lot more of lovingly chosen appetizers.

Or to put it in the words of Theodor Fontane: “The magic lies within the detail.”

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Nascha’s | Coffee & tea, Snacks, Restaurants (Intern.) | Bowl of Soup € 3.90
Garnisongasse 7 | Inner districts | +4319255636
Mon – Fri 08:00 – 19:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Vienna

Image by Linda Nepicks

When I first came along this square, I really was surprised. Somehow I did not expect such a cosy and neat little square in a big city like Vienna.

Servitenplatz resembles the centre of a small Austrian village. So what do you need for such a square? An old church, some benches, huge trees which give shade, a café, a pub, nice stores in the surrounding streets and local people who enjoy it- both old and young. This is what you get here! And that’s why I like this spot.

There is the Servite church from 1677, there is a coffeeshop without a name (where you get homemade ice in summer!), there is a pub besides a hairdresser, and there are these nice simple benches where you can watch couples, the old folk chatting or children playing football.

In winter time it’s quiet here, but in summer it’s pretty much the center of that quarter. I think every time of the year it’s worth a visit. The sad history of the Servitengasse, leading to the square, is quite touching. Decades ago it used to be a street where many Jews were living (half of the population of the ninth district in 1938 were Jews, like Sigmund Freud who lived pretty much around the corner), but with the Nazi regime they had to leave their flats and homes. A little memorial with all symbolic keys shows the names of the displaced persons. Some sad history for a neat little square.

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Servitenplatz | Coffee & tea, Relaxing, Shopping | Free
Servitengasse | Inner districts
24 hours daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Vienna

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

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Vienna

Image by Linda Nepicks

This café has nothing in common with the famous Kaffeehäuser of the Ringstrasse, which bedazzles you with grandeur.

But this small café has everything that a connoisseur of Viennese coffee tradition needs: a beautiful old room with a traditional interior, neither radio nor music, many newspapers for free which you are welcome to read for hours and last but not least all the different coffees, cakes and sweet and warm dishes which are known since the emperor’s days.

It must have been ages since the last renovation, if there ever was one. But this fact makes the place very charming and special. You see the old tapestry, lots of black&white pictures of regular guests (like more or less famous actors), green velvet sofas and chairs – and an old peculiar furnace by which the whole café is heated in winter times.

This is not a very touristy place, so be gentle, be a smooth part and enjoy.

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Café Jelinek | Coffee & tea, Snacks | Cake € 3.00
Otto Bauer-Gasse 5 | Inner districts | +4315974113
09:00 – 21:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Vienna

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