SHORT BREAK - Coffee & More — Restaurant in Vienna

It used to be our go to place, right around the corner and with good coffee to go, until today. After getting coffee to go, as usual, and after realizing the abnormal weird taste, we went back to the Cafe. We were greated by an elderly lady, who seemed very frustrated and unsympathetic. We showed her the receipt and politely told her that the coffee had a weird taste to it, not like any other time we had gotten before, to which she promptly respond that "that is not possible!". We then asked her to taste it and, after she drank from my disposable coffee cup (during Corona times, thumbs up for hygiene and safety) her answer has that the coffee tasted "perfekt". After that moment she was confrontational, no matter what we said. No money back, no new coffee, no new cup after her germs were allover the one I had. Unfortunately the service will not outweigh the location...

Classic neighborhood cafe, convenient because it's close. The lady that runs the service there is more than nice and I believe SHE is the reason why people come. The cakes and pastries are usually not fresh but the coffee itself is really good. There is a group of people that I assume are the owners and always block the best tables instead of offering them to the clients, that's a pity since clients should always have preference.

In a nutshell, I believe the place survives for three reasons:

they are the only café in the area, so they have no competitors around. the lady that actually runs it is absolutely charming and makes everybody feel welcome if you are in one of the hotels nearby, it's a great option for a light/fast breakfast, conveniently located in front of the O tramway stop that will get you downtown or at the train station in less...

It scores some real sentimental points with me. It looks like one of those cozy cafés in a quiet Midwestern town where a local cop might stop by while investigating a UFO sighting, you know what I mean? Or the charming cafes in American sitcoms—something about it reminds me of Café Nervosa from Frasier, which I’ve always held dear. I’ve been searching for my own version of Café Casa Nova for years, and I think Short Break might be the closest thing to that in Vienna. Quaint, simple, familiar—tucked right into the corner of your day, inviting you to sit, zone out, and entertain half-formed, pseudo-intellectual thoughts. The food is decent. The staff is friendly, to a point. And...