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 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.

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Kurt | Coffee & tea, Snacks | Frozen Yogurt from € 2.50
Schultergasse 2 | Inner districts
Mon – Sat 12:00 – 22:00, Sun 15:00 – 22:00

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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.”

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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 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

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Vienna

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

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

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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

Image by Linda Nepicks

“In every real man a child is hidden that wants to play” (Friedrich Nietzsche)! That’s what comes across the mind when passing by the huge window, giving sight to a magical chocolate kitchen. And this saying does not count for men alone, you will note that women stop at the window too! You see them wondering if they can play as well, if they can take part in producing some of these little dreams, made of chocolate.

Yes, you can take part! Learn how to do chocolate desserts, produce your own fruit chocolate with the help of the confectioner or proudly put your self-made finest pralinés in a box after a workshop of around 4 hours.

Check out the website as these workshops are done regularly but often booked out in advance. Otherwise just have a look and a taste in the shop – and watch the confectioner play magic by producing those eatable goodies we have loved since our childhood days…

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Xocolat Manufactory | Shopping, Snacks | Workshop € 95.00
Servitengasse 5 | Inner districts | +4313100020
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 18:00, Sat 10:00 – 17:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Vienna