Think of the kind of elegant coffee house you might drop into before (or after) a visit to the theatre and you have Café Landtmann. Which, as it happens, sits opposite Vienna’s Burgtheater.
- Prestigious location first opened in 1873
- Combines tradition with a modern outlook and refined ambience
- Large outdoor section for summer days
- More for an upmarket clientele
- Book a concert experience* for your Vienna trip
- Nearby: Burgtheater, Rathausplatz, Pasqualatihaus
- See also:
A local review
(A little more freestanding than your average city centre coffee house)
“Modern tradition” is the best description I can give for Café Landtmann, as it successfully treads the delicate line between coffee house dignity and modernity.
As such, it’s an establishment that makes no attempt to capture a moment in time or history, but continues to move forward while not forgetting those traditional elements that define a Viennese coffee house.
So you have, for example, an outdoor terrace and a glass-dominated “winter garden”, but also black & white-clad waiters and spotless upholstered sofa niches.
(Café Landtmann around 1890 in a reproduction from c.1950 by the Michael Frankenstein & Comp. photo studio; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 78079/180/1; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)
The café first opened in 1873. Here’s my rough translation of the announcement (by Franz Landtmann himself) in the October 1st edition of the Neues Wiener Blatt newspaper. The text suggested the coffee house would be notable for its:
…pleasing, solid and surprisingly elegant decor, splendidly luxurious billiards, a comfortable games room, as well as the serving of excellent drinks with prompt service.
The coffee house now belongs to the Querfeld family of locations that includes the likes of Café Museum near the State Opera House.
Café Landtmann has its own noble setting, too. Depending where you sit, you might look out onto the Burgtheater or the Rathaus park with the imposing city hall behind it.
(A place of lights and lattes at Christmas)
That same park lights up in late November and December for Vienna’s main Christmas market. And Landtmann traditionally features its own rather delightful Christmas tree (see the photo above, for example, taken during the 2024 festive season).
Although Vienna’s coffee houses share a common tradition, each tends to have its own unique flavour.
The Landtmann version becomes apparent as soon as you step inside. Such touches as large white tablecloths that had me in terror of leaving a mark every time I waved my pen around seeking literary inspiration.
An upmarket aura pervades the place, a venue for the well-to-do, theatregoers, politicians, and business folk to meet beneath hardwood panelling with crafted inlay designs. Even on a cold and early November morning, the number of reserved signs on tables reflected Landtmann’s continuing popularity.
(Signed photo of poet and writer Peter Altenberg in Café Landtmann in 1918; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 94776; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)
I enjoyed a “Viennese breakfast” a gorgeous slice of crusty organic dark bread, an organic roll, jam, butter scoring 9/10 on the CSI (critical spreadability index), and a perfectly-boiled organic egg.
Landtmann offers a good-sized restaurant selection, too, for larger appetites. Prices in general are, inevitably, on the expensive side.
Oh, and let us not forget the cakes and pastries in all their variety.
The café draws its selection from an in-house patisserie. I took a “mini” Sachertorte: an irresistibly seductive concept allowing indulgence without the guilt that accompanies a full slice.
I’m not sure if they still have these mini versions, but let us hope so for the sake of all our diets.
(Another classic café font)
How to get to Café Landtmann
The coffee house sits at one end of the section of the Ringstrassen boulevard that enjoys particular popularity with visitors taking in the Viennese sights.
Subway: a short walk takes you from a trio of stations to the coffee house. The nearest is probably Schottentor on the U2 line, followed by Rathaus (U2) and Herrengasse (U3).
Tram/bus: the Rathausplatz/Burgtheater stop serves the two destinations in its title, so sits opposite Landtmann. Tram lines 1, D and 71 all stop here. Schottentor station has all of those lines, plus trams 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44.
Address: Universitätsring 4, 1010 Vienna | Website