Austrian here, we spend all day in coffee houses to study, work, read the newspaper (most Viennese coffee houses have all major newspapers/magazines there for free), meet friends. Noone is forced to leave if they don‘t keep consuming - same is true for restaurants, by the way.
I don‘t think we would have a coffee house culture if making money was the main incentive for these businesses. DC has better coffee than Vienna, but no coffee house culture (I‘d argue because of a pervasive capitalist mindset).
Thiemy t1_jdqv7sv wrote
Reply to comment by VulcanVulcanVulcan in DC’s cafe scene is great but lacks seating by ActuaryPersonal2378
Austrian here, we spend all day in coffee houses to study, work, read the newspaper (most Viennese coffee houses have all major newspapers/magazines there for free), meet friends. Noone is forced to leave if they don‘t keep consuming - same is true for restaurants, by the way.
I don‘t think we would have a coffee house culture if making money was the main incentive for these businesses. DC has better coffee than Vienna, but no coffee house culture (I‘d argue because of a pervasive capitalist mindset).