Vienna Coffee Houses: How to Order and How Long You Can Stay

A Viennese coffee house sells coffee the way a library sells chairs. You pay for the drink. What you're really getting is the table, for as long as you want it, with newspapers on wooden holders, a glass of water that keeps getting refilled and a waiter who won't bring the bill until you ask.

Austria put its coffee house culture on its national inventory of intangible heritage in 2011, under the UNESCO convention. The listing describes it as a place "where time and space are consumed, but only the coffee is found on the bill." That line still holds.

The photo below was taken through the window of one on a grey afternoon: a red fringed lamp, a woman alone at a corner table with a cake fork, dark panelling and a painting on the wall. Nobody is in a hurry. Nobody is going to make her leave.

How to order

Sit down. You don't queue at a counter and you don't wait to be seated in most places; take a free table and the waiter comes to you. In the old houses he wears a black jacket and you call him Herr Ober.

Don't ask for "a coffee." Vienna has its own list:

A Melange is the default, espresso with steamed milk and milk foam, close to a cappuccino. A Kleiner Schwarzer is a single espresso, a Großer Schwarzer a double. A Verlängerter is an espresso lengthened with hot water. An Einspänner comes in a glass, a strong black coffee under a thick cap of whipped cream, named after the one-horse carriage drivers who supposedly held it in one hand. A Kapuziner is black coffee with a dash of cream, the colour of a Capuchin's robe. A Fiaker gets a shot of rum.

Order cake while you're at it. Apfelstrudel, Sachertorte, Topfenstrudel. Most houses show the day's cakes in a glass case near the door, so go and look before you choose.

How long you can stay

As long as you like, within reason. One coffee buys you a morning in most traditional houses. Reading the paper for two hours is normal. Writing for three is normal. What's not normal is a laptop with a charger cable across the aisle at lunchtime in a full room. Read the place.

When you want to leave, catch the waiter's eye and say "Zahlen, bitte." He settles at the table, often from a fat leather wallet. Round up the bill by about 10 percent as a tip, said aloud as you hand over the money ("make it twenty") instead of left on the table.

Where to start

The famous names, Café Central and Café Sacher among them, have queues outside at peak times, mostly of visitors. Go early or go elsewhere. The best experience is often a neighbourhood house with locals reading the paper and no line at the door. Walk into a few, look at who is sitting there, and stay where the regulars are.

A personal take on the culture, from a few weeks in the city: The Charm and Attraction of Vienna Café Culture on Travel Marketing.