The Café Hawelka was opened by Leopold Hawelka in 1939. Hawelka had previously operated the Kaffee Alt Wien on Bäckerstraße since 1936 and together with his wife Josefine took over the Café Ludwig in the Dorotheergasse in May 1939. This spot was originally the location of the "Chatham Bar" opened in 1906. For two decades in recent past it was wrongly believed that the original venue was called "Je t'aime-Bar". After the outbreak of World War II, the Hawelka had to be closed, and in Fall 1945 it was reopened in the still largely intact building.
Josefine Hawelka died on 22 March 2005 after managing the café for sixty-six years with her husband. She had baked the place's specialty, its Buchteln desserts (which are still made by Günther Hawelka, son of Josefine and Leopold, according to the old recipe). Until his death in 2011, Leopold Hawelka could still be found sitting at its entrance, greeting guests.
Melange
Café Hawelka serves a Melange (similar to a cappuccino) at a cost of €4.80 (as of December 2023).
