Cafe Ritter

If you need to give your feet or your wallet a break from Mariahilfer Straẞe, Vienna’s main shopping street, your savior is Café Ritter. Dating back to 1887, it’s the last remaining coffeehouse on this very long stretch of commerce and far better than your number two option – a generic Starbucks.

Ritter delivers a true Viennese coffeehouse experience, almost to the point of being a caricature of itself: stuccoed ceilings, hanging chandeliers, bow-tie-wearing waiters, dark-roasted coffee (the neon sign and the pastry counter are 1950s additions). It might be last Vienna coffeehouse with what the author Paul Hoffman described as “positively obsequious” service: alert, never pushy, observing a century-old playful ritual (rule number one: don't wait to be seated). But Ritter doesn't traffic in mere nostalgia. The food is especially good here. Please don't leave without a bowl of goulash followed by an apple strudel drenched in vanilla sauce. Cash only.