rhiz has run for over twenty years inside two Otto Wagner Stadtbahn arches on the Gürtel, programming a steady weekly run of advanced electronic, experimental rock and DJ sets in a smoke-stained bar room.
Tip: The outdoor seating opens in summer and works as a Gürtel pit stop. Cash; the U6 trains overhead change the room every two minutes.
Address: Lerchenfelder Gürtel Stadtbahnbögen 37-38, 1080 Wien, Vienna
Espresso has run on Burggasse in Neubau since 2004 in a 1960s shopfront with red leather banquettes, a neon sign and small plastic-topped tables, opening as a breakfast cafe and turning into a natural-wine bar after sundown.
Tip: Strong coffee daytime, natural wine and Italian bottles by night. Closed Sundays; the room is tight, so the bar is the seat.
Café Hawelka opened in 1939 on Dorotheergasse and stayed in the family through three generations, with smoke-stained walls, ageing leather banquettes and a near-midnight closing time that still pulls writers, students and night-shift staff.
Tip: Order a Buchteln after 16:00 when the yeast buns come out of the oven; they sell out fast on weekends.
Grelle Forelle opened in December 2011 on the Donaukanal under the Spittelauer Lände stairs, with two floors, a custom Funktion-One rig and a Neon Golden light concept that anchor the harder end of Vienna techno.
Tip: 21+ on the door, phones not allowed on the floors. Arrive after 01:00 for the proper room; the upper floor opens for breaks.
Flex moved into a disused U-Bahn tunnel by the Donaukanal under the Augartenbrücke in 1995, and it still books the harder techno, drum and bass and alternative concerts on a sound system regularly named among Europe's best.
Tip: Two rooms: Flex Club proper for the techno and drum and bass nights, the Cafe upstairs for earlier alternative gigs and a slower start.
Volksgarten runs in a 1950s Oswald Haerdtl pavilion inside the Hofburg gardens, splitting the night across a Wintergarten, the main disco floor and the Banco lounge, with a summer garden running through the warm months.
Tip: The summer garden Volksgarten Pavillon opens evenings from May for cocktails before the club. Weekend door queues are slow after 00:30.
Fluc occupies the pedestrian passageway under Praterstern station with the Fluc cafe above and the concrete Fluc_Wanne basement below, running concerts, art and the harder techno bookings of the 2nd district.
Tip: Cafe upstairs runs free entry most nights; tickets only for the basement Fluc_Wanne. U1 and U2 connect at Praterstern.