The coffeehouse culture should not be missed by anyone visiting Vienna. If you’re visiting the famous Ringstrasse area, the Cafe Ministerium is a must visit.
Voted as the most popular coffeehouse in the city center or in Vienna’s first district in 2013, the Cafe Ministerium is where civil servants and local business people have their lunch. With red velvety seats and marble tables, the place also hosts club meetings on a regular basis.
The cafe is easy to locate as it is just across the Museum for Applied Arts/Contemporary Art or MAK and 10 minutes by foot from St. Stephen’s Cathedral.
In Vienna’s coffeehouses, coffee is served in a variety of ways depending on the amount of milk or water required. Its cost also varies depending on the type you’re ordering and the location of the cafe. So if you’re in the Ringstrasse such as in Cafe Ministerium, expect to pay more for your coffee.
Vienna’s coffee culture has already gained international attention and in 2011, was declared by UNESCO as a National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Today, the Austrian capital has 1,083 licensed coffee houses, 900 licensed Kaffee-Restaurants and 181 Kaffee-Konditoreien or coffee shops that make and sell confectionery.
