Founded in 1786, Demel pastry shop is a legendary institution in Vienna, located near the Imperial Palace (Hofburg) to which it was an official purveyor during the glorious Habsburg days. The neo-Baroque interior, the crystal chandeliers, the apron-wearing servers are as much a travel back in time as the experience of waiting out the line together with fellow tourists is not.
Today, you’ll be hard-pressed to find the Viennese upper crust here, but the pastries are still delicious – most famously the Kaiserschmarrn shredded pancake with fruit preserves. And of course expensive. (Those with an interest in Jewish-Austrian cultural history might want to try the Fächertorte, a delicious layered cake once popular among Viennese Jews.)
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