Café Hawelka

Café Hawelka is the most bohemian of the old-town coffee houses. It was opened by Leopold and Josefine Hawelka, who, according to the family, met at work and opened their first café together the day after their wedding. The café on Dorotheergasse has been in the family for around 80 years and is still run by their descendants, which is rare among Vienna's famous cafés.

The interior has barely changed in decades. The rooms are dim and cosy, the walls are darkened with age and covered with posters and pictures, and the small tables are packed closely together, so you may well share one with strangers. After the Second World War it became a meeting place for writers, artists and actors, and the café proudly lists regulars such as the actor Oskar Werner, the artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, the writer Elias Canetti, the painter Ernst Fuchs and the artist André Heller. That history gives the place a lived-in, slightly theatrical atmosphere that many visitors love.

The menu is short and simple: coffee in all the Viennese varieties, a few drinks and snacks. The house speciality for decades has been Buchteln, sweet yeast buns filled with jam and dusted with sugar, which are best ordered warm. The family also runs a coffee roastery and shop across the street at Dorotheergasse 7, which was temporarily closed for renovation in autumn 2026.

The Hawelka suits anyone looking for character rather than polish, and it works for a late coffee or a nightcap, since it stays open later than most traditional cafés. Opening hours are Monday to Thursday from 09:00 to midnight, Friday and Saturday from 09:00 to 01:00 and Sunday from 09:00 to 22:00. It can be crowded in the afternoon and evening, and tables cannot always be guaranteed, so be prepared to wait or come in the morning.

Dorotheergasse is a narrow lane running south from the Graben, a couple of minutes' walk from Stephansplatz station (U1, U3). The Jewish Museum Vienna and the Dorotheum auction house are on the same street, and the Albertina, the Hofburg and the Kärntner Straße shops are all within a few minutes on foot.