Salzburg Cafes

Coffe from the Mozart Cafe.

Traditional Apfelstrudel

Ein Kaffee mit Milch in Manner Cafe

My first cafe experience- a torte in Cafe Fuerst.

“Gruss Gott!” When I walked into the pastel pink café—one wall lined with chocolates and candies wrapped in pink boxes and cellophane—I heard these words. Literally, “Gruss Gott” is an imperative, commanding you to “greet god!” but the Austrian’s don’t use the greeting with any religious connotations. The server at Manner Café in Salzburg’s Alt Stadt was as cheery as the café’s décor and seemed happy to practice her English while serving me (When I ordered “ein Kaffee” she knew immediately I was American. In Austria, “ein Kaffee” is an umbrella term covering all the varieties of coffee from “kleiner Mocha” to “Cappuccino”). I nearly forgot that in Austria, you do not hesitate to be seated in a café.  Unlike American’s fast-food style cafés like Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts, Austrian cafés are like coffee restaurants. You order at your seat, and to encourage you to sip on your “heisse Schokolade” for hours, servers will not approach you with the check until you call them over.

               

Heisse Schokolade

 A steaming coffee served with a small glass of water and a Mozart candy, all displayed on a silver platter. For under three Euros, you can feel like royalty at a café here. The door opens, a rush of chill air, and an exchange of “Gruss Gott” and “Guten Tag.” At a nearby table, an old man reads a newspaper and waits to be served. A group of Austrians chat loudly in German near the door. Although the view from the window is obstructed by a massive vase filled with Mozartkugln—Salzburg’s special chocolate and marzipan candies created in honor of their most famous resident---you can see a horse carriage jingle by and a group of tourists snapping photographs in front of the fountain in the square.

                What makes Salzburg particularly magical are the numerous “Platz” (squares) and consequent “gassen” (alleys). Most Platz house a statue or fountain and are lined with cafes and souvenir shops. Wander from a Platz into an narrow street and you won’t know where to look first. Above you, intricate metal signs older than the United States advertise each tiny shop. Bumpy cobblestone forms a road. Cardboard cut outs of Mozart seem to pop out at you every which way, and your eyes linger on a shoe display here, a posh clothing store there, and, of course, the sweet wares of cafes.

Some cafe's also serve juice

                Each café in Salzburg in unique. Manner Café is informal and bright. Café Fürst is cramped unless you can manage to find a seat outside in the square. Mozart Café is über-classy (and just as expensive). To reach the café you ascend a long, bright stairway with the sound of Mozart softly playing in the background. The café itself is dimly lit but romantically so like a fancy Italian restaurant. The crescent booths are upholstered with maroon fabric. Servers dressed like hotel doormen server coffees, alcohol and pastries. I was not so impressed with the complimentary square of chocolate I received (Manner’s Mozartkugeln is more my style), but I can only judge when I’ve come back for something more elaborate than a simple coffee, the cheapest item on the menu.