Conversation-friendly. Easy to leave. Drinks under €20. Ten bars our editors keep recommending when readers ask where to take a first date.
First dates are the highest-stakes hospitality test in the city. The room has to be quiet enough to hear each other but full enough that a long silence does not feel cavernous. The drink list has to give a reader who does not drink a graceful out. The exit has to be easy. Our editors have spent the past year vetting Vienna's cocktail rooms specifically for this question — where do you take someone you might not see again, but might see for the next twenty years?
Where the editors take a first date in Vienna
The first six picks below are the editors' default — the rooms we send a friend to first when they ask. Each is followed by a recommendation we have ordered ourselves at least three times. Click any bar name to read the full review, signature drink notes, neighbourhood guide and how to book.
Cafe Hawelka sits in Innere Stadt and the door is unmarked enough to feel discovered and known enough to be reliable. Conversation here travels well. The acoustics are tuned for two people leaning in, not eight people leaning out, which is exactly what a first date needs. Editors' rating in our database: 4.6 of 5.
At Elsa Bar in Innere Stadt, the elsa spritz is on the menu year-round for a reason and the bartenders pour with intent. Pick a corner two-top and order across the menu — the staff are unfussed, the room is dim enough that you can read each other but bright enough that you can read the menu. Editors' rating in our database: 4.6 of 5.
At Tur 7 in Innere Stadt, the room is what it should be — quiet without being precious, busy without being a queue. Easy to leave gracefully if it is not working. Easy to extend if it is. The exit has a quiet street, not a queue. Editors' rating in our database: 4.8 of 5.
The Sign Lounge sits in Innere Stadt and the sign old fashioned is on the menu year-round for a reason and the bartenders pour with intent. Pick a corner two-top and order across the menu — the staff are unfussed, the room is dim enough that you can read each other but bright enough that you can read the menu. Editors' rating in our database: 4.8 of 5.
Uber Bar sits in Mariahilf and the door is unmarked enough to feel discovered and known enough to be reliable. Pick a corner two-top and order across the menu — the staff are unfussed, the room is dim enough that you can read each other but bright enough that you can read the menu. Editors' rating in our database: 4.5 of 5.
In Innere Stadt, Club Leopold the room is what it should be — quiet without being precious, busy without being a queue. Easy to leave gracefully if it is not working. Easy to extend if it is. The exit has a quiet street, not a queue. Editors' rating in our database: 4.7 of 5.
Order: Leopold Sour
The full Vienna guideEvery bar category, every neighbourhood. Our complete Vienna guide covers cocktail bars, rooftops, hidden gems and more across the city.
These last four are the editors' deeper-cut picks. Smaller rooms, more specific energy. If the first six feel obvious to you — meaning you have already been — start here.
Melete, in Wieden, the melete highball arrives in a coupe and the bar staff move at the right pace. Easy to leave gracefully if it is not working. Easy to extend if it is. The exit has a quiet street, not a queue. Editors' rating in our database: 4.7 of 5.
Roberto's American Bar, in Innere Stadt, the roberto manhattan arrives in a coupe and the bar staff move at the right pace. Pick a corner two-top and order across the menu — the staff are unfussed, the room is dim enough that you can read each other but bright enough that you can read the menu. Editors' rating in our database: 4.7 of 5.
At Monkey Business in Mariahilf, the monkey manhattan is on the menu year-round for a reason and the bartenders pour with intent. Pick a corner two-top and order across the menu — the staff are unfussed, the room is dim enough that you can read each other but bright enough that you can read the menu. Editors' rating in our database: 4.7 of 5.
Loos American Bar sits in Innere Stadt and the vienna sour is on the menu year-round for a reason and the bartenders pour with intent. Easy to leave gracefully if it is not working. Easy to extend if it is. The exit has a quiet street, not a queue. Editors' rating in our database: 4.7 of 5.
Order: Vienna Sour
Weekly editorial
The bars worth going to, weekly.
One email per week. The bars our editors are recommending right now, across 72 cities worldwide.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
More Cocktail Bars in ViennaThe full editor-curated list of Cocktail Bars in Vienna, with neighbourhood notes and signature-drink picks.
If you are reading this article, you are probably between the booking confirmation and the actual date. Three rules. Book the table — walking in with a reservation says you put thought in. Pick the bar nearest to public transport, not the one with the best view. And keep dinner reservations elsewhere; if the conversation works, you are going to want a second venue.
If you are between stages: our companion Vienna guidesFrom first-date picks to anniversary rooms - every occasion in Vienna our editors cover, cross-linked.
Sponsored placements on this article, on the Vienna city guide, and across the barsforKings network. Contact us to put your bar in front of the right audience.
