Café Central Wien Reviews 

I have visited them occasionally for the past couple of months I have been in Austria. Lovely place, great food and reasonable prices too.

No complaints at all, many thanks.

My husband and I visited on Saturday, May 31, 2025, around 8 PM. This spot was high on my list, so we first dropped by around 12:30 PM, but the line was too long. We came back later because I really wanted to experience it.

Unfortunately, the experience has left a bitter/sour taste in our mouths when we got yelled at for not tipping. I'll admit, we didn't realize tipping was expected in Vienna. Based on what we'd read, there's no tipping culture in Italy or France, so we assumed Austria was the same, which we shouldn't have.

When the bill came and we didn't leave a tip, the waiter asked, "Was there something wrong with the service?" I said, "No, the service was fine" (even though it really wasn't great), and he snapped at us publicly, "THEN WHY NO TIP?!" I was so caught off guard by the tone and question that I just froze. My husband and I looked at each other, and then the waiter shouted, "IT'S TIPPING CULTURE HERE, SERVICE IS FINE THEN WHY IS THERE NO TIP?" I finally said, "What? Not to our knowledge ..." and he just threw the receipt on the table and walked off.

We were completely and utterly shocked. After we left, we looked it up and saw that tipping is appreciated in Vienna, but not mandatory. Also worth noting--we didn't even have a dedicated server. We had to flag someone down to order, and again to pay and we had to wait a while. No one came by to check in on us after receiving our order. The server that treated us that way wasn't even the same one that TOOK our order or BROUGHT out the order for us.

Had the waiter said something like, "Hey, just so you know, tipping is appreciated here," we absolutely would've tipped. It was the aggressive delivery that really ruined the experience for us. We're so taken aback by this and to be honest, a restaurant that treats its guests like that, tip or no tip, doesn't deserve a recommendation from us. Looking back, we're glad we DID NOT tip that server because after seeing his true colours of how he treats customers, no thank you.

Treat people with respect.

Very pleased with our experience at Cafe Central. Beautiful architecture and great atmosphere, worth the wait. We had the Cafe Central Sandwich and the Sacher Wurstel, which were delicious! A big thank you to Roland for his kindness, personability and great service.

Went in Wien with my wife in easter, and of course we stopped by Cafe Central. Their coffee is a bit overpriced and definitely not "premium quality", but the experience is really nice. Got food & Drinks, very nice central table, after 40 mins of queue. Cafe Central is not about coffee, as it is about the experience, it takes you back 100 years.

30 minutes queue.
Order 4 cakes where one is wrong. Star for the cakes 2 out of 5.
Order Tea and 2 cups of coffee. The tea is lukewarm and the last cup of coffee we get just before we have to go. The servant asks why he does not receive tips and gets the answer, which he seems incomprehensible to.