Solo Travelers, Pack Your Patience With Austrian Food in Vienna!

I spent three nights and two full days in Vienna, Austria. Full disclosure: after Prague, I made this a rest point on my trip. This choice worked out perfectly since it rained a lot while I was there. The universe knew I needed rest.

The one tip I recommend you use while doing a food tour of Vienna is to pack your patience and go solo or make a reservation because it was packed everywhere I went. The average time you’ll wait to be seated is around 25 minutes.

Café Culture

Viennese coffee culture began In 1683 due to the end of the Siege of Vienna. According to some, Georg Franz Kolschitzky was the first to get a license to serve coffee after his actions during the Siege of Vienna. After the Turks left coffee beans behind, he became successful by opening a licensed café. 

But his wasn't the first coffee house in Vienna! Others say an Armenian Spy opened the first coffee house! If this is a true story, it would be awesome to be in this café, drinking tea and wondering how a spy came up with the idea of opening a shop. Maybe it was his undercover story?

As time went on, the cafés changed. In 1890, you had literature cafés with regular meetings of literary minds like Jug Wieun, Karl Kraus, and others. This expanded to the other artists, like painters who loved hanging out in Café Museum. If you want to learn more about the history, I recommend checking out the City of Vienna’s website.

Café Mozart  

I didn't know this was a famous café until I went on a walking tour 30 minutes after going inside. This place was across the street from my tour’s meeting location. Before the tour, I wanted to use the bathroom and figured I had to buy something. You probably wonder what I bought at 10 am since I already had breakfast. I’ll give you a hint; it’s their second well-known dessert!

A strudel!

It was indeed delicious, and I recommend that you get one here. But this place isn’t just famous for its strudels.

Instead, it was a popular meeting place for writers, musicians, actors, and directors. For example, Graham Greene, Carol Reed, Orson Welles, and Joseph Cotten all worked on The Third Man. Sadly, Mozart never visited this café; the first coffee house on this site was built three years after his death. But this is a popular place since it is next door to the Vienna Operahouse.

Café Mozart is part of the luxury Sacher Hotel which is next door. This hotel had an 8-year cake war with Demel. The cake war was about which place created the original Sacher Torte Cake, Vienna’s famous cake. The battle was about who could use the word “original” when selling it.

The cake was invented in 1832 by the kitchen assistant Franz Sacher, who was just 16 years old. After an out-of-court settlement, it was agreed that Hotel Sacher could legally say they were the original producer of the cake.

Demel 

On the walking tour, we went to Demel. Our tour guide told us it is home to the finest cakes, chocolate, and sweets since 1786 and was part of the legal battle I discussed above.

I went back to it later to taste the famous Sacher Torte cake. This cake was invented by Franz Sacher in 1832, supposedly for Prince Metternich. This two-layer chocolate sponge cake is filled with apricot jam and glazed with chocolate. The only difference between this cake and the one above is that Demel has two layers of jam!

I am glad I tried this cake, but it is not my favorite. It's too rich and dry for my liking.

I did enjoy my time here, though. It reminded me of having afternoon tea in London.

Café Central 

This café is famous for being a central hub (see what I did there) for writers and philosophers such as Trotsky and Freud. This place always has a long queue. I went there in the afternoon and waited 10- 15 minutes to get a table. Even though there is a queue to get inside, it does move fast! This place had a live piano player, and it felt like a very eloquent place filled with the various accents and languages of people trying to get their pastries.

I ordered lemon curd, short crust and meringue, and Viennese coffee here. If you’re unfamiliar, Viennese coffee is espresso and steamed milk in a glass mug with whipped cream. This is the perfect place to visit after lunch or dinner if you want a more relaxed vibe.

 Figlmüller Wien  

This place is famous for its version of a popular Austrian food—the schnitzel. Johann Figlmüller, the founder, opened a small wine tavern. This was the start of his famous Figlmüller Schnitzel. What makes this one unique is its size and how it is cooked.  These 250 grams of delicate tenderloin are pounded by hand until razor thin. Then it is covered in egg, flour, and breadcrumbs from Kaiser rolls. Once covered, it is dipped in cooking oil for 30 seconds until it's crispy golden brown, and then out it goes to your table.

When you order schnitzel, all you get is the schnitzel. If you want any sides, you must order them separately. I ordered the side potato salad, which was the perfect sweetness to balance out the schnitzel. And naturally, I had a local beer.

To make your experience joyful, make a reservation way in advance or pack some serious patience if you show up as this solo traveler did—I waited almost 30 minutes for a table! Funny enough, they sat me before this group of people in front of me since I was solo. Reason 3,567,890,439 that it pays to travel solo. Also, if you are an ass to the wait staff, they will ignore you. I saw this firsthand.

When you have 250 grams of schnitzel, you will most likely not be able to finish so that you can take some home with you. I took my leftovers back to my hostel and ate them the next day while drinking beer from my hostel!

Plachutta 

Plachutta is one of the top places to get traditional Viennese cuisine. Tafelspitz is their most famous dish. This dish is beef stew with vegetables (leeks, carrots, onions, etc.) served in a copper pot after simmering for at least three hours with sides of spicy horseradish and apple sauce. I paired this dish with Austrian wine since I had a minor debacle trying to go to the winery that day.

This restaurant is also famous for seating celebrities and heads of state at their tables. When I went downstairs to use the restroom, I saw picture after picture framed on the wall of John Kerry to Kate Hudson visiting here.

Rondell Cafe 

I was excited to visit the wineries in Vienna, and this is the only capital city where you hang out in commercial vineyards within city limits! You can take a bus (38A) to wine the country!

People recommended going to Rondell Café since it is also called Wien (Vienna) with a View. The view wasn't the best since storms were rolling into the city, but it was still cool to see the city skyline!

Here I had a chance to drink a local wine and had a late breakfast. I wanted to check out other winery spots like Grinzing and Helilgenstadat, but I didn't realize that most places do not open until 5 pm, except a couple that open at 3 pm—I was there at 12 pm. I didn't want to wait that long.

So after walking around and failing to find a place to try, I returned to the city center. The nice thing is that I did have a glass of wine at Plachutta, and my hostel had some wines too. So, I did do a wine tasting after all, though it wasn't in winery country!

Vienna is known for its food and drinks. I wonder which foods and drinks you would place on your list of must-tries. Why would you choose them?