To our friends on the other side of the big pond

[coffee_addicted]

In the european cafe and coffee houses what type of food is served? Does anyone have pics of their coffee houses? I was interested in seeing how the industry differs from the U.S.

 

[ElPugDiablo]

Here are pics of Cafe Sperl in Vienna. One of its most Infamous patrons is Hitler. But I think it is the prettiest coffeehouse in the world. Another breath taking shop in Vienna is Cafe Central where Mahler, Beethoven, Trotsky, and Lenin once sipped coffee. As far as offering, full food menu and booze too. European coffeehouse culture originated from Vienna and since then it takes different forms in different parts of Europe.

 

[Coffeeexpert]

The coffee shops that I visited on my travels in Eastern Europe were very upscale. The drinks were priced above what the normal citizen could afford. People would go there on a date or conduct business generally. The cafe's also served alcoholic drinks and small meals. Most of the coffee origins offered were African due to their proximity to the continent. Origins such as Burundi, Congo, Malawi, Rawanda, Kenya, Uganda etc. were offered. Patrons were expected to consume their beverages at the cafe. The idea of of drinks to go has not taken off there, except in the case of vodka. Patrons would often walk into a cafe and grab a shot of vodka like an Italian would walk into a cafe, down an espresso and run. Almost every restaurant had an espresso machine, Lavazza was the most popular brand, and drip coffee was never avaliable.

 

[Alun_evans]

Would agree, I rarely (if ever) have seen drip coffee east of the French and German borders with Italy/Austria. Even the smallest cafes invest in good quality espresso machines. Much of the Euro vs American Cafe debate has been covered in an earlier posting> http://www.coffeeforums.com/viewtopic.p ... ght=europe

 

[coffee_addicted]

Thank you ElPugDiablo for the great pics. I'm thinking that most of the U.S. is not quite ready for that style here yet LOL.

The cafe's also served alcoholic drinks and small meals.

This was another idea I was tossing around whether to offer light food such as salads and Panini. Another thought was serving wine.