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Cafe Prueckel on Stubenring in Vienna has poured since 1903 between the MAK and the Stadtpark, the 1950s Oswald Haerdtl interior the city's most intact mid-century Kaffeehaus.
Signature drink: Melange
Tip: Open daily 08:30 to 22:00; piano music plays Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 19:00 to 22:00.
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Cafe Braeunerhof on Stallburggasse in Vienna's first district was Thomas Bernhard's preferred coffeehouse, the Saturday-afternoon orchestra still playing waltzes for the regulars on the bench seats.
Signature drink: Melange
Tip: Saturday 15:00 to 18:00 the small classical orchestra plays; arrive early for a seat by the windows.
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Cafe Schwarzenberg on Kaerntner Ring in Vienna opened in 1861 as the oldest Ringstrasse Kaffeehaus, the front-window seats overlooking the Schwarzenbergplatz tram lines.
Signature drink: Einspaenner
Tip: The terrace at the front catches the Ringstrasse trams; sit inside for the original 1861 interior.
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Cafe Korb on Brandstaette in Vienna's first district was the 1960s underground-artist hangout, the cluttered Strudel-on-a-counter room now better-known for its weekend brunch and bowling alley.
Signature drink: Apfelstrudel
Tip: The basement bowling alley still runs on Saturday nights; reserve a lane two weeks ahead.
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Phil on Gumpendorfer Strasse in Vienna's Mariahilf is a cafe-cum-bookshop-cum-record store, the secondhand sofas and shelves of books for sale a counterpoint to the bentwood Kaffeehaeuser across town.
Signature drink: Cortado
Tip: The books and records on the shelves are for sale; pay at the front counter when you settle the tab.
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Cafe Jelinek on Otto-Bauer-Gasse in Vienna's Mariahilf is the under-the-radar Beisl-coffeehouse with a tiled stove in the middle of the room, the local-only counterweight to nearby Sperl.
Signature drink: Melange
Tip: Cash only; the stove in the middle of the room is lit from October through April.