Heart of Joy

We had drinks and cakes (kuchen). Menu had varied vegan options.

Updated from previous review on 2016-11-25

They offer several vegan options. Everything we ate was delicious. The staff was friendly. We had a great experience.

A great place to spend a rainy afternoon. We enjoyed the raw cheesecake and the great range of hot drinks. We also enjoyed the daily curry and dal, both of which are vegan. Friendly, fast wifi and lots of vegan choice.

We went there for breakfast on a Sunday morning pretty early, it was already quite busy as it is clearly rather popular, we decided for two vegan options and they were both extremely tasty. The place itself has got a very good vibe, some (Buddhist?) music plays in the background and even the waiters are softly spoken. We liked it very much and would definitely recommend it.

really nice place in the heart of Salzburg where I met up with two of my lady-friends for coffee and cake. We've had several drinks (hot chocolate, different kinds of juices and coffee - all of them were delicious) and food. My friend had a vegetarian quiche, which looked delicious, I had a the green raw cashew cake, which tasted amazing!
service was nice and supportive, even though the girl told us she's just started working there. it took a while til we got our orders and could re-order though (the cake I ordered at the counter seemed totally forgotten).
prices are ok, I always expect vegan cakes to be more expensive than others but I'm very willing to pay that little bit more if I feel it was worth it afterwards :)
we've stayed for a few hours, which seemed to be no problem at all (unlike at other places in Salzburg) and I'm definitely coming back!

I stopped by this cafe in Salzburg and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food. Great soup, ciabatta and yummy desert.

I can sympathise with tha last reviewer, sometimes it happens by accident that the restaurant forgets to make a vegan dish. Still gotta love a rotating menu for lunch. I'm happy to eat here.

Disappointed with this cafe, the dish of the day wasn't vegan, food was rather bland and some of the staff were surly. They got part of our order wrong and almost served a vegetarian dish rather than the vegan one that had been requested.

One of the very few places in Salzburg where tha air doesn't smell like smoke and where you can eat organic and vegetarian /vegan at reasonable prices.
You can sit outside in the sun, from spring til autumn.
You'll find the best cakes in town! (also vegan and sugarfree)
The staff is very nice, sometimes a bit slow (particularly at rush hours).
Update: We are quite often there, and I noticed that -unfortunately!- the staff is too often quite slow.. BUT: they have some more vegan dishes and (raw) cakes now :)
Updated from previous review on Monday March 10, 2014

I had the Heart of Joy Salad which was the perfect dinner after a day of walking in the hot sun. Fresh, real vegan food! There are a few other vegan things on the menu, but there are a lot with dairy.

vegan, vegetarian, glutenfree

Came here with two omnivores and one vegan and the food was loved by all. I got a curry, chai latte and an apple cake and all were perfect. The service was attentive and friendly and the vibe was welcoming. The assortment of books and teas were great too. If I didn't live on the other side of the world, I would come here all the time! Smiles all round.

I was thrilled to find a veggie restaurant in Salzburg after trying to find something vegan in Vienna whilst traveling with a group. The food at Heart of Joy was fresh and delicious. I had the curry soup, a "ham" sandwich, and chocolate cake, all vegan. Everything was wonderful, the coffee was heavenly, the service friendly.

Nice food and atmosphere. Ate here for lunch with the family while on vacation and it was quite busy so hard to get wifi password. I did feel the menu/vegan options was a bit limited. They also sell vegan/veg products.

I've been there twice and both time I just ate one piece of the yummy cakes there and drank super delicious vanilla coffee, if I remember correctly :D

It's a very nice small but comfortable eatery/café, not everything is vegan but there are some options at fair prices :)

I brought a few friends here, and my super carnivorous family and they loved it! Great food, good ambience, AMAZING staff and a lot to talk about and explain!

Went for breakfast, nice and friendly. Vegan options. There was outdoor seating that was wheelchair accessible, but if you wanted to go inside there were a couple steps.

Heart of Joy is a bistro/café that offers for example soup, bagles and cakes. The atmosphere is very "spiritual", with kind of buddhist/new age paintings and trinkets and so on, but I found it not too obtrusive but in fact very pleasant. The interior is modern and colourful and the staff were very friendly and attentive.

Vegan dishes are marked on the menu which is very convenient! I had a bagel with smoked tofu and salad and a lentil soup. The soup was very, very delicious, the bagel was not so good because it was too dry.

a place that specializes in cakes and sandwiches.
great variety, vegan option clearly marked. any coffee can be served with soy milk.

Soups and curry dishes were amazing and not expensive. Got even a vegan ice coffee :)
But don´t buy the Heart of Joy salad! (expensive and nothing special)

We were on our honeymoon and found this place through a British couple in another restaurant in Paris. They said go here and eat the porridge for breakfast, so we did. First off, it was awesome! The best part was that it came with tea, a fresh juiced apple, carrot, ginger drink, and then a big bowl of porridge with fresh fruit.

The place does have lots of pictures of Sri Chinmoy. This is where my opinion changed a bit. The restaurant is not a vegan restaurant and the smell of eggs was actually disgusting. Then the chairs appear to be leather, which I am very against as a vegan. Third, the video playing of Sri Chinmoy has him with Mickel Gorbichov and his wife who is wearing a fur coat.

Why I mention all that is that if true progress will happen, we have to be 'Taliban' about veganism! We should never show fur, even in a video clip of a peace guru. Second, get rid of the eggs and cheese! Over 280 million male chicks die a year because of the egg industry. That may make for a 'happy cow' but not a 'happy male chicken.'

People were very polite and nice and the food was great but I hate having to ask 'Is that vegan?' when everything in there SHOULD be vegan.

This is a nice little cafe style place with good cakes and great soups.
I opted for a toasted sandwich. It was tasty enough but they didn't do anything I could've done at home. It was normal what looked to be shop bought bread. The insides were not exactly imaginative either. But it does at least tell you everything that is inside it on the menu. As well as this, everything vegan was clearly marked. And the staff are friendly enough.

The soup however was gorgeous, and the cake was definitely worth trying (it was the vegan chocolate cake).

The prices are very reasonable as well, we spent in total €17,60. 4 stars.

I went to this place twice for breakfast and twice for dinner when I was in Salzburg in September 2012. We ended up meeting the owner who is a super nice guy. He is an ultra runner and a disciple of Sri Chinmoy. He told us that at the beginning the restaurant was vegan but have to introduce dairy and eggs to attract more customers. My parents raved about the coffee and the vegan breakfast was very tasty. They have a daily vegan special that can be served for dinner or lunch. My favorite thing in the restaurant was the Apple cake, but the sausages with sauerkraut were a close second.

We happened to be there during the monthly vegan meeting. We met super friendly people and had a lot of fun with them.

Found this lovely cafe just two blocks from my hotel (Markus Sittikus). Fabulous place - good food, friendly and relaxed staff, a sense of spirituality pervades everything. Their "sweetie breakfast" is a delight - simple, just a roll, coffee, butter and jam - but decorated with small fresh fruits, appetising, nutritious and carefully done. Evening meals are good, too, though you need to be there by 6.30 p m latest which is on the early side. Still, couldn't fault it and the value's great, too.

Having breakfast at the restaurant Heart of Joy was really a positive experience, a joy for the heart :). It's cheap and food is good, very good. Clean with a really friendly staff. definitely to repeat when we come back to this wonderful city!

but not ideal for evening meals. They only offer one full meal choice, so alternatives are more like lunchtime wraps, bagels etc. Service was slow and inattentive towards 7pm closing time. Their menu contains some meat imitations.

reading reviews the day before i visited the place, i was quite excited. the next day, i ordered an indian lentil soup that came with a carrot-beetroot salad. nothing that knocked me over. my partner ordered veggie lasagna and said that they were really tasty (and he is omnivorous!). what disappointed me the most, was the vegan chocolate cake - the icing was dry and kind of old, and the choc spongy layers were tasteless and really spongy - no chocolate aroma or flavor in general.
Updated from previous review on Monday July 30, 2012

Excellent food, large portions, friendly staff, reasonable prices, tasty cakes. Not too spicy for kids.

Tables could be a bit bigger.

Went for lunch & got the tofu salad + soup + raw chocolate hearts. Awesome outdoor seating & wifi. We all left happy! The salad did not blow my mind, but it was nice and filling. Soup was especially delicious (coconut/red lentil/tomato), as was the raw vegan dessert!

I should also add that there are not a lot of options if you are gluten/sugar-free...but what you *do* end up with will likely satisfy you.

we went there for dinner on our trip to salzburg,we liked their food a lot, especially their home made cake. coffee was good too and they have free wireless internet.

Went here twice on 1 day in fairytale Salzburg. First was lunch where the place was packed out. The minestrone soup was delicious, very wholesome imdeed. Other diners were tucking into main lunchtime specials such as quiches and polenta. The 2nd visit was at a more relaxed 6pm due to the place being open til 8pm for some reason (an extra 2 hours). We had Tofu bagel and a seitan bagel. Very tasty and OK value at 5.80 EUR. A very healthy place indeed with a great atmosphere. The only grumble was having to go into the communal residential lobby to use the lift down to floor -1 for the toilets. Just a gripe and a trivial one at that

We went here for lunch on our first day in Salzburg. We ordered the smoked tofu bagel, tempeh bagel, lentil soup and salad. We were really impressed by the bagels! We also ordered an apple struddel for dessert. The food was really good, and the vegan choices are clearly marked (although most of the menu is not vegan).

my husband and i were here april 2010. we got the seitan sandwich, tofu sandwich, garbonzo soup, and lentil soup. along with a agave sweetened apple cake. everything was amazing. it was some of the best food i have ever had! it was a cute place, everyone that worked there was so nice!

Heart of Joy is close to the train station and the old city. It was the first place I ate after a long trip from the States. It is a family business, and the staff is extremely friendly and caring. They menu comes in German, English, and even Russian. They have fresh juices, 3 kinds of vegan milk, a full espresso bar. When I said that I was vegan, the owner said "It's not on the menu, but my mom can make you buckwheat with vegetables." Definitely try it if you have the chance - it's delicious!

This place rocks - we went there for lunch twice and would have gone in the evening too if they'd been open. They had a vegan soup each day which was delicious and I had their tofu salad which was huge with lots of yummy smoked tofu. The staff spoke excellent English and were very helpful. It's a peaceful, bright and friendly place. They also do a raw vegan carrot cake and we took some as a takeaway because we couldn't fit it in after lunch - it was amazing!

My husband and I visited Salzburg in July. We loved eating at Heart of Joy! They have an all vegetarian (and vegan friendly) menu. The waiter proudly told us that meat has never been cooked in their kitchen. Yummy eggs, drinks (non alcoholic) deserts, bagels, salads, etc. We had breakfast there twice during our two day stay. I highly recommend it!!

This is the BEST place to eat vegan food in Salzburg. True the menu is limited to bagel sandwiches and pies, but its the nicest place!!! We were so sad to find it on our last day because we would have eaten breakfast and lunch here every day! Free wifi, too. Everything was beyond wonderful and great outdoor cafe seating in a nice area.