The best Vienna chocolate shops range from Demel, the former royal court confectioner, loved by Viennese for its decadent chocolates as much as its Sachertorte to Austria’s more innovative, smaller, boutique chocolatiers, such as Tiroler Edl, available at enormous gourmet emporium of Julius Meinl.
Vienna’s chocolate history is long and rich and the Austrian capital produces some of Europe’s finest chocolate, making a souvenir of chocolate a must. Here’s our guide to the best Vienna chocolate shops.
Chocolate travelled from Madrid to Vienna in 1711 when Emperor Charles VI moved his court to Austria, while the Sachertorte, the city’s famous chocolate cake, was invented in Vienna in 1832 by Franz Sacher. They’re just two good reasons why you can’t leave the city without taking home some chocolate. More below: our favourite Vienna chocolate shops.
Best Vienna Chocolate Shops
DEMEL
Demel, which must translate to heaven for those with a sweet tooth, is an elegant old confectionary store on swanky Kohlmarkt (#14 Kohlmarkt). Once the royal court confectioner, it is beloved by Viennese as much as tourists for its decadent chocolates and Sachertorte.
I also love their aromatic candied violets, favoured by ‘Sisi’, Empress Elisabeth Bavaria, Queen of Hungary and wife of Franz Joseph I. These days, Demel is a must-do tourist sight and therefore extremely crowded and expensive, but it’s believed by many chocolate connoisseurs to be the best Vienna chocolate shop so it’s still worth a look.
Demel
ALTMANN & KÜHNE
Nearby, on Graben (#30), the busy pedestrian shopping street, Altmann & Kühne is another elegant old-fashioned place that’s considered by many chocolate experts to be one of the best Vienna chocolate shops.
Like Demel it’s also worth dropping into as much for the atmosphere as the delectable treats. This is the spot to pick up another quintessentially Viennese confectionary souvenir: handmade Lilliput chocolate truffles in a prettily packaged box.
Altmann & Kühne
JULIUS MEINL
Where Kohlmarkt meets Graben, the enormous gourmet emporium of Julius Meinl is one of my favourite stores in the city. Vienna’s premier coffee roaster is a fantastic spot for a quick espresso or an Italian meal and glass of wine at the wine store-cum-enoteca at the back (the entoeca is downstairs).
It’s also a wonderful place to pick up fresh coffee beans, tea, tea and coffee making accessories, along with preserves, honeys, wine, a wide array of deli goodies, and of course, chocolate.
This is also where you’ll find a huge range of the most heavenly chocolate bars by Austria’s more innovative, smaller, boutique chocolatiers, such Tiroler Edle. My favourites are made with dried flowers, herbs, candied violets, and rose petals. Also try Meinl’s classic chocolate bars.
Julius Meinl
XOCOLAT CHOCOLATE FACTORY
The thoroughly contemporary chocolate bars, pictured above, made by Christian Petz, are my kind of chocolates. These are more typical of Barcelona’s innovative chocolate-making production than Vienna’s.
Petz also produces chocolates, truffles, caramels, fudges, and liqueur chocolates, plus they sell chocolate blocks, candies, bon bons, and sauces produced by other chocolate makers and confectioners, such as the scrumptious Tiroler Edle chocolate bars, above, made from organic cream from Tyrol grey cows.
You can also sign up for special chocolate-making workshops at the factory (Servitengasse 5), where you make your own chocolate, or you can simply watch.
Xocolat Chocolate Factory
FRUTH
At the wonderful Naschmarkt (Kettenbrückengasse 20), chocolatier Eduard A Fruth produces sublime chocolate blocks, chocolate truffles, tarts, and desserts at his charming store, perhaps my pick of the best Vienna chocolate shops if I’m basing that on the quality and creativity of the chocolate alone.
His divine sweets range from traditional French-style pastries to more modern chocolate bars (which is why I’m sending you here), flavoured with anything from cognac to chilli.
The shop gets jam-packed on Saturdays when locals call in to savour Fruth’s creations with coffee or a glass of bubbly.
Fruth
SCHOKO COMPANY
Also at the Naschmarkt (#326–331), the mouthwatering Schoko Company store is another of the best Vienna chocolate shops and one of my favourites. Specialising in organic and fair trade chocolate, Schoko stocks a huge range of Josef Zotter’s sublime chocolates made from innovative flavours.
Zotter claims to know every farmer who produces the ingredients that go into their chocolates that are made in their factory – from the cocoa farmers in Central and South America to the local producers in Austria.
Their entire production process, from ‘bean to bar’, takes place at their factory. Zotter does all kinds of exotic flavours, from Goji berries to bacon. Seriously. Bacon.
VIENNESE MUSEUM OF CHOCOLATE
You can learn about the history of chocolate making in Austria and the chocolate making process, and enjoy some tastings on a guided tour at the Heindl Company’s Viennese Museum of Chocolate at 23 Willendorfer Gasse. Highly recommended.
Learn More About Chocolate
Chocolate: A Global History (Edible) by Sarah Moss
The True History of Chocolate by Sophie D Coe and Michael D Coe
Chocolat: From the Cocoa Bean to the Chocolate Bar by Pierre Marcolini
The Art of the Chocolatier: From Classic Confections to Sensational Showpieces by Ewald Notter
Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner by Peter P. Greweling
Austrian Desserts: More Than 400 Recipes for Cakes, Pastries, Strudels, Tortes, and Candies by Toni Mörwald
Lara,
thanks for your mouthwatering post! Being Viennese, I am deeply dedicated to chocolate.
On your next visit to Vienna, try a chocolate degustation at Schokov (www.schokov.com). These are highly popular and sell out quickly, so make sure you register early.
Btw, Zotter runs a choco shop theatre at its chocolate factory in Styria. My local sister has been there recently, I can’t wait to get there, too. (http://www.zotter.at/en/choco-shop-theatre.html)
Thanks for the additional tips, Barbara. After many years travelling in Europe, we’re focused on Asia now, so it may be a while before we return, but I’m sure these tips will be very helpful to our readers. Thanks for dropping by!
The chocolate looks so delicious! I have to return to Vienna to try all these places. :)
The Viennese just make the most magic chocolate. Taste as heavenly as they look!