Loos American Bar

A tiny cocktail bar off Kärntner Strasse designed by Adolf Loos in 1908, and one of the landmarks of modern architecture — all in a room smaller than many hotel suites.

Loos, the architect who declared ornament a crime, built it as the Kärntner Bar, drawing on the three years he had spent in America in his twenties, and it is a lesson in how much can be done with little space and rich materials: onyx, marble, mahogany and brass, a coffered ceiling, and mirrors set above the wood panelling on the walls so that the room seems to repeat endlessly into the distance. The small illuminated glass sign over the entrance, with the Stars and Stripes, is part of the original design. The bar is a protected monument and has been carefully restored.

Inside there are a handful of leather seats and a counter; most of the room is taken up by guests standing close together. The drinks list is classic — Martinis, Manhattans, sours and highballs — mixed properly, and the bar keeps late hours, which makes it a natural last stop after dinner or the opera.

Honest note: the space fits only a few dozen people, so it fills quickly late in the evening at weekends and you may have to wait or stand. Go early in the evening to see the interior properly and actually sit. Look up at the mirrors, not your phone. Neighbourhood: the Innere Stadt; after the opera: concerts in Vienna.