An essential part of Viennese culture and you could do a tour of Vienna's coffee houses alone. You can sit for hours and read the newspapers provided in a luxurious, velvet atmosphere and for goodness sake look at the dizzying array of coffees on sale before you order. Cakes the like of which you have never seen (or tasted) before are the order of the day, ranging from the humble but divine Apfelstrudel to the more sophisticated 'death by chocolate' of the Sachertorte created by the Hotel Sacher in... Vienna. Two of the most unmissable cafes are Demel and the Cafe Central.
Demel:
www.demel.at/en/index_en_flash.htm
See also:
www.aboutvienna.org/best_adresses/cafes.htm#
I totally agree about the essential nature of the coffee house in Vienna. However, we found the service in the Hotel Sacher to be particularly unfriendly (though the Sachertorte is amazing). Cafe Landtmann, near the Rathaus, was much friendlier.
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