The social student: Vienna Coffeehouse
Welcome to the first edition of this column. For this issue, I will give you ideas for places to go around campus and the community that you can go to on a college student’s budget. I intend to write my opinion of them, why you should go there, how much it will cost and whether the hype meets the reality.
Most of the drinks are reasonably priced and they taste great, even if you aren’t a coffee drinker. For example, I purchased a strawberry Italian soda for $2.62. Unless you are trying to buy out the entire store, there is no reason to be shelling out a lot of dough here.
The atmosphere is a mix between an artist’s studio apartment and your living room. There’s a reason that you’ve heard so much about this coffeehouse around campus.
Vienna gives a warm vibe with carefully placed lighting that isn’t harsh fluorescents but hooded lights and studio-style lighting. The art on the walls is locally made and stationed around for your perusal. The interior is painted neutrally and even the visible grates that are stationed above give into the ambiance of somewhere that is comfortable.
I imagine the workers are the kind of person you would meet at your school’s sporting event and laugh with about how bad your team is. The people who work at Vienna are very helpful and clearly are artisans with their craft. They know their products very well and can give recommendations as you need them.
As far as the clientele goes, they are a good mix of students and professors along with community members.
Those who come to Vienna from what I have seen are mostly students though the age of them differs. A lot of them seem to be Maryville College students that just want to get off campus for a while.
From Maryville College, it is a short venture to get to Vienna. If you walk down the stairs at the Clayton Center courtyard, the pedestrian bridge is across the street. Vienna is just over the bridge to the right, on the appropriately named College Street. The walk isn’t particularly interesting in itself, but if you want to stop somewhere before you explore downtown Maryville, this is a good place to go.
It has become an increasingly normal sight to have Wi-Fi signs at any place that you would want to go.
Fortunately, Vienna is no exception. If you buy anything at Vienna and ask for a receipt, you will be able to get the password of the day. The Wi-fi itself is a five-bar standard and doesn’t seem to have any hiccups.
While this is an ideal place to study, it might not be the most impressive choice for a date. Unless you are going for a casual first date or you are already well into your relationship and you are just looking for something to do on a lazy Friday night, Vienna might not be the place for you in this particular instance.
Overall, I give Vienna Coffeehouse a rating of 5/5 stars. With the knowledgeable staff and comfortable atmosphere, it’s a great coffeehouse to go to for just about any occasion.