Top Cafés for Coffee and the Best Cakes in Central Vienna, Austria

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by Henk Bekker

in Austria, N24, Vienna / Wien

Tradition-rich cafés such as Hotel Sacher Wien, Café Central, and Demel are top attractions in Vienna. These coffee shops serve strong, fresh coffee with top Austrian cakes, including the ever-popular chocolate Sachertorte.

Sachertorte in Cafe Demel Vienna Austria


Vienna is proud of its long coffee house tradition (Kaffehaus). Enjoying strong coffee in one of Vienna’s elegant cafés is a time-honored tradition. Amongst the best-known Wiener cafés are Café Sacher, Demel, and Café Central, which are top tourist sightseeing destinations in their own right. Try visiting out of sequence with the majority of travelers — a little bit too early often secures a free table even on a busy day.

Enjoy Sachertorte in Cafés in Vienna

Visit Cafe Demel for Sachertorte Vienna

No Viennese cake is more famous than Sachertorte – a rich chocolate cake with a divine chocolate coating and a thin apricot jelly strip. It is served in almost any cafe of bakery in Austria.

Sachertorte was first baked in 1832 by Hotel Sacher for the Austrian Imperial family. However, after a family member sold the original recipe to Sacher’s competitor Demel, Demel has also been using the original recipe to bake Sachertorte. A long court case was settled in Hotel Sacher’s favor allowing only Sacher to add “Das Original” (The Original) to each Sachertorte served.

Unlike Hotel Sacher, Demel correctly keeps the apricot strip at its original position below the chocolate cover and not in the middle of the cake, as is more commonly done nowadays. A closer inspection of the ingredient labels (required for all food in Europe) reveals that Demel uses more eggs than Sacher to produce Sachertorte. Any café in Vienna (or the German-speaking world for that matter) has its own Sachertorte recipe — sample and compare!

Coffee in the Hotel Sacher Wien – Home of the Sachertorte

Sachertorte Das Original as served in Hotel Sacher and the top cafes in Vienna
© Depositphotos / Alp_Aksoy

The Hotel Sacher Wien may not necessarily be the best hotel in Vienna but it is close to the top and probably the most famous. The Hotel Sacher in Vienna has a long and illustrious history and is conveniently located behind the Opara house.

Most visitors to Hotel Sacher Wien do not spend the night but rather sample the coffee and cake – more often than not Sachertorte mit Schlagobers (chocolate cake with whipped cream). Coffee and cake, as well as full meals, can be enjoyed in the sumptuous Café Sacher with a terrace or in the more formal restaurant Anna Sacher.

Café Sacher Eck is smaller but less formal. It is on the corner of Kärtner and Philharmoniker Straße right across from the famed Staatsoper (and a local Starbucks shop). While Café Sacher is ideal for lingering in, Café Sacher Eck is a great choice for a quick stop before rushing off to see more top sights of Vienna.

  • Sachertorte of various sizes can be bought at Hotel Sacher’s Confiserie, entrance next to Café Sacher Eck in Kärtner Straße, and shipped worldwide.

Coffee near the Hofburg in K.u.K Hofzuckerbäcker Ch. Demel’s Söhne

Demel Hofzuckerbaecker Wien

Café Demel is spread over several rooms and levels in a historic building in the Kohlmarkt in Central Vienna. The outdoor seating is very popular too and allows clear views of the Hofburg Imperial Palace.

The long court battle over the rights to the name Sachertorte seemed to have done no damage to Demel — the publicity made Demel famous in Vienna and beyond. The Sachertorte here is worth sampling – and essential for an informed opinion on whether Sachertorte is better made by Demel or Sacher. However, Demel was originally foremost a confectionary and has excellent other cakes and pastries too.

Demel’s best-known invention is Kaiserschmarrn. Kaiserschmarrn was originally invented by Demel as the dessert for the wedding of Emperor Franz Joseph and Elizabeth (Sisi), duchess in Bavaria. (She apparently did not enjoy it as it would do damage to her figure.) Kaiserschmarnn is commonly served to children in the German-speaking world but note that Demel in Vienna uses the original alcohol-soaked raisins in its recipe.

Coffee in Café Central in Vienna, Austria

Café Central is one of the top cafes to visit in downtown Vienna, Austria
© Depositphotos / Wlad_Mus

Café Central in Palais Festel  is a Viennese institution. Although near the Hofburg, it is not on the main roads and therefore seems to get less crowded than Demel and Sacher. Café Central has traditionally been the Kaffeehaus of choice for the intelligentsia and writers – Leo Trotsky, who started Pravda in Vienna, was a regular.

Café Central’s neo-Gothic interior was recently restored and although some bemoaned that too much patina was scrubbed off, it is as pleasant a locale as it has ever been. Like many cafés in Vienna, Café Central stocks a large range of local and international newspapers that patrons may peruse at leisure.

Life piano music is played from 4 to 7 pm and more lively music enlivens this coffee house from 7:30 pm.

Although Sacher, Demel, and Central are probably the best-known of the top cafés in Vienna, many further excellent coffee houses are scattered throughout the city. Many are on picturesque squares while some of the finest are grandly located in the top museums. Many cafés have their own signature cake — ask for it and enjoy.

For something different, take the U-Bahn metro U1 to Oberlaa. Therme Wien, Europe’s largest urban thermal baths resort and warm water fun park, is only 15 minutes away.