Anyone who lives in Vienna knows the feeling: you order a melange, a glass of water arrives with it, and you may stay as long as you like. The Viennese coffee house is less a place for drinking than a place for lingering. What is surprising is how familiar this idea feels some 3,400 kilometres further east – in the traditional Persian tea house, the ghahvehkhaneh. In this article we compare two cultures that both grew out of coffee and that both, above all, offer one thing: time.
How coffee came to Vienna#
The story of Viennese coffee house culture begins in the late 17th century. After the second Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683, a popular legend tells of sacks of coffee beans left behind by the retreating army. What is documented is that the Armenian Johannes Diodato received the privilege to serve coffee in Vienna in 1685 – the start of a long tradition.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries the Viennese coffee house became the city's living room. Writers wrote there, students studied, business people negotiated. Typical features to this day are marble tables, bentwood chairs, newspapers on wooden holders and a waiter who never rushes anyone out. In 2011 Viennese coffee house culture was added to Austria's national inventory of intangible cultural heritage under UNESCO.
The Persian tea house: ghahvehkhaneh#
In Iran, too, everything began with coffee. The word ghahvehkhaneh (قهوهخانه) literally means "coffee house". As early as the Safavid era, in the 16th and 17th centuries, cities such as Isfahan had coffee houses where poets, merchants and travellers met. Only during the 19th century did tea take over and almost completely replace coffee. But the name stayed: to this day the Persian tea house is called a "coffee house", even though hardly anyone orders coffee there.
In a traditional Persian tea house the tea is brewed strong, often from a samovar, and served in small glasses. Guests sit on wide wooden benches covered with carpets, and many tea houses also serve simple, filling dishes such as abgoosht, the stew of lamb, chickpeas and beans. You can read more about how the drink is made and its rituals in our article on Persian tea.
Naqqali: stories in the tea house#
What newspapers and writers were to the Viennese coffee house, storytellers long were to the Persian tea house. In naqqali, a naqqal performs tales from the Shahnameh, the Persian national epic by the poet Ferdowsi – with gestures, voice and often in front of large painted canvases. In 2011 UNESCO placed this art on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, because fewer and fewer masters remain.
Viennese coffee house and Persian tea house compared#
At first glance a lot separates the two: melange and Einspänner here, deep-red tea in a glass there. Yet the similarities win:
- Time over turnover: In a Viennese coffee house you may sit for hours over one cup. In a Persian tea house your glass is refilled as long as the conversation flows.
- Water and sugar: In Vienna a glass of water comes with your coffee. In Iran you put a sugar cube in your mouth and drink the tea through it.
- News and entertainment: Vienna had its newspapers, the tea house its storytellers, poets and musicians.
- A place for everyone: Both were meeting points where people of different backgrounds sat at the same table.
Pastry or gaz?#
In Vienna, coffee house culture means pastry – strudel, cake or kipferl. In Iran, tea comes with sweets such as gaz from Isfahan, saffron sohan or rosewater biscuits. Our article on Persian sweets shows which classics are worth knowing.
What both cultures reveal about hospitality#
In the Viennese coffee house and in the Persian tea house alike, the guest matters more than the bill. Whoever walks into a tea house in Iran is greeted warmly and often gets a glass before even ordering. This attitude is closely linked to taarof, the Persian ritual of politeness that we explain in our article on taarof. In Vienna, on the other hand, the famous composure of the waiter is part of the charm – even if newcomers sometimes mistake it for rudeness.
Both places show that a drink is often just the excuse. What really matters is company, conversation and the right to do nothing for a while.
Conclusion: two houses, one idea#
The Viennese coffee house and the Persian tea house grew from the same bean and developed in different directions. One became a symbol of Viennese modernity, the other a home for storytellers and tea. What they share is the belief that good food and drink need time. So the next time you sit in a Viennese coffee house, feel free to think of the ghahvehkhaneh in Isfahan – and vice versa.
Experience Persian hospitality in Vienna#
After the coffee house, would you like to discover the Persian side too? At SANTOOR, Florianigasse 20, 1080 Vienna, we serve Persian and Iranian cuisine from a kitchen that is 100% halal. We are open daily from 12:00 to 22:00. You can book your table easily on our reservation page. Nooshe jan!