10 of My Favorite Specialty Coffee in Vienna

By Tas TóbiásLast updated: Aug. 16, 2025

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If you have tired of Vienna's traditional coffeehouses, their uniformly dark-roasted coffee, their grumpy suit-and-tie-wearing waiters, take a breather at these new-wave specialty cafes. Here, your espresso will be flavorful and you won't need to feel bad about lingering with your laptop or asking for the wifi password.

#1 People on Caffeine

People on Caffeine (POC) is a new-wave coffee shop across from the University of Vienna's campus on Alser Straße. The presence of the quick-witted proprietor, Robert Gruber, ensures that POC isn't just another bland, uniform cafe without character, but a lively hub for the local community – Millennials, young families, and people from the university. Take advantage of the outdoor terrace in the warmer months. Cash only and closed on the weekend. Fun fact: POC is located in the side of a Baroque church; in fact, the Alser Vorstadt Kirche was home to the 1827 funeral service of Ludwig van Beethoven whose last residence was nearby!

#2 Café Comet

Comet is a new-wave café in Vienna’s fashionable District 7. Instead of predictable minimalism, here an effortless mishmash of artworks and furniture fill the high-ceilinged interior. Accordingly, the crowd leans alternative and cerebral (philosophy students from the University of Vienna, for example). The coffee beans arrive from Fürth, a leading Vienna roastery that grew out of Comet. Also here: croissants, cakes, brownies. Laptops are welcome, but only at the designated communal table.

#3 Caffe vom See

Caffe vom See is a small specialty cafe located in a side street off Naschmarkt, in Vienna's elegant-cool District 4. The friendly owner, who also manages a hotel and a roastery at Lake Millstatt in Carinthia, aims for a coffee style that delivers the heft of Italian-style espressos with the finesse of Austrian coffee traditions (filter coffee isn’t even served). Try to snag one of the two comfortable plush chairs by the windows and give it a try. Price points are friendly for Vienna, laptops welcome, wifi available.

#4 Café Exchange

The downtown building whose ground floor Café Exchange hides in is a pilgrimage site for architecture fans from around the world. Designed in 1904 by Otto Wagner, Austria’s foremost architect, the building was originally a postal savings bank and an important example of the Austrian brand of Art Nouveau (especially known for its facade: marble slabs are "anchored" to the building with simple aluminum decorative rivets).

Today, a silver La Marzocco machine occupies what used to be cashier #21 and stylish art students socialize in the sun-filled hall fitted with glass tile floors and carpets (the building has been home to the University of Applied Arts since 2020). Exemplary repurposing of a historic space. Closed on Sunday.

#5 CoffeePirates

Located across from the University of Vienna's enormous campus in District 9 (once the biggest general hospital in the world, founded by the enlightened Habsburg, Joseph II), CoffeePirates is a lively hub of chic students. Pirates was among the first specialty cafes and roasteries to appear in Vienna in 2012 and it's still going so strong that finding a seat can be a challenge. If the baristas show you a bit of an attitude, rest assured knowing you’re not alone. Lingering is welcome, wifi available, prices a little steep.

#6 Kaffemik

If you like your coffee especially bright and light-roasted – an acid-forward flavor bomb – then Kaffemik might just be the place for you. This undersized cafe and roastery in the heart of the fashionable District 7 is considered an institution among Vienna’s coffee experts. Don’t be intimidated by the new-wave trappings – no pressure, no pretensions here. Kaffemik’s moniker comes from the Greenlandian name for a social gathering over coffee and cakes. The best time for a kaffemik at Kaffemik is the warmer months, when they open their spacious terrace on the pedestrian-only Zollergasse.

#7 Knockbox

What used to be a sausage stand on Vienna’s Karlsplatz has transformed into a specialty cafe kiosk in 2018. The appeal here isn’t just the exemplary reuse of a public space but also the high-quality espresso-based coffees served at reasonable prices. You’ll have to drink it standing against the wooden counter, which is part of the experience, as is eavesdropping on the engineering students who frequent Knockbox from the nearby University of Technology. Teas, beers, and pastries are also available.

#8 Das Café

Das Café started out as a furniture design store where customers could sip coffee while perusing the quirky chairs and sofas on display. The company (das möbel) has since moved to a new location while this space, along the fashionable Burggasse in Vienna's District 7, transformed into a full-blown cafe. Still, no two tables or chairs are identical.

Most days, it's a challenge to find a seat as college students throng the place, taking advantage of countless power plugs and a lingering-friendly attitude. Unlike at some other establishments up the street, the vibes are laidback and unpretentious, and the coffee is on point (sourced from Fürth, a leading local roastery).

#9 No Panic Coffee (Paniglgasse)

No Panic is a new-wave coffee shop in Vienna with two locations. The more extravagant is by the University of Technology in District 4, behind Karlsplatz, where much of the vast interior is left unused and feels like a very rich and very cool person’s kitchen. One of the walls is taken up entirely by fancy coffee-making and measuring equipment perched on an elongated light-blue cabinet. Customers can camp out at the communal table backed by a giant mirror panel. Lingering is welcome, wifi available. Payment with card only.

#10 Caffé Couture (Ferstel Passage)

It’s a challenge to find delicious new-wave coffee in Vienna’s tradition-bound city center also known as District 1. Caffé Couture, which is located within the fairy-tale shopping arcade called Ferstel Passage, might just be your best bet. Caffé Couture roasts its own coffee beans in Vienna; very light and very flavorful. The inside is a little austere for my taste, the prices a little too steep, but beggars can’t be choosers.

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