Central Café

This expansive coffeehouse hails from the height of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (it opened in 1887, and to this day the menu features a selection of Viennese coffee drinks). After closing in 1949, the Café Central was bought in 1997 by a local businessman, and the restored main dining room, with its soaring ceiling, large windows, parquet floors and Art Deco–inspired lamps, reopened in 2000. Located in Downtown Pest, near the Central Market Hall and adjacent to the Ernst Galéri, the Café Central is a great place for coffee, hot chocolate or tea, accompanied by rich Hungarian pastries, of course. The service can be spotty, but it’s undoubtedly a classic.