Five things to know about the new Art Cafe and Gulyas-Factory in Cape Coral

Cynthia Williams
·4 min read
Cape Coral resident and first-time customer Cali Schreiber looks at the coffee options menu hanging from the ceiling at the new Art Cafe.
Cape Coral resident and first-time customer Cali Schreiber looks at the coffee options menu hanging from the ceiling at the new Art Cafe.

There's a new restaurant and café at 3816 Chiquita Blvd South in Cape Coral. It's there you will find a fine blend of Austria and Hungary brought by the owners of the Art Cafe and Gulyas-Factory. Here are five essential things to know about it:

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Bernadette Koenig Halbritter, co-owner, takes an order from new customers Judy Miller, left, and Deb Fulton.
Bernadette Koenig Halbritter, co-owner, takes an order from new customers Judy Miller, left, and Deb Fulton.

1. The business is owned by partners Madlen Koenig and Bernadette Halbritter who are from Hungary and Vienna, Austria, respectively. The two of them owned, for 18 years, an 18-room hotel (the Boutiquehotel Freizeittempel - www.freizeittempel) in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, (now under the management of Madlen's son), so they are not new to the service and hospitality industry. Last winter, they were searching worldwide for a warm winter home and were considering Thailand, when Madlen discovered Cape Coral in the Florida Insider online magazine. They came over in April of last year to check it out and found the location for the cafe and the restaurant, but it has taken them a year to turn the former German restaurant at this location into the Art Cafe and Gulyas-Factory. They opened on Valentine’s Day, 2022.

2. Gulyas is Hungarian for goulash, by the way, so the restaurant lunch and dinner menu of homemade Hungarian dishes is fortified with four kinds of goulash. If you think you've had goulash before, you haven't. At least, not unless the cook was a native Hungarian. Madlen, the Hungarian half of this marriage, is the chef, and Bernadette, in her words, is "in service." Breakfast is also served. Eat-in and take-out available.

3. The marriage of an Austrian and a Hungarian, and their dual ownership of Art Cafe and Gulyas is appropriate, given that their two countries together once comprised the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a dual monarchy established in 1867, though the union was subsequently dissolved. Nevertheless, the history of the intimate relations between these two countries goes back nearly 600 years.

Madlen Koenig Halbritter, co-owner, serves a breakfast order to new customers Judy Miller, left, and Deb Fulton at the Art Cafe and Gulyas-Factory.
Madlen Koenig Halbritter, co-owner, serves a breakfast order to new customers Judy Miller, left, and Deb Fulton at the Art Cafe and Gulyas-Factory.
Cafe co-owner Madlen Koenig Halbritter prepares breakfast omelets at the new Art Cafe which recently opened its doors on Chiquita Boulevard in Cape Coral.
Cafe co-owner Madlen Koenig Halbritter prepares breakfast omelets at the new Art Cafe which recently opened its doors on Chiquita Boulevard in Cape Coral.

4. The inspiration for Art Cafe was the artwork of the Austrian artists who exhibited in their boutique hotel in Wiener Neustadt. This art, including paintings, sculptures, and limited-edition prints, is currently for sale in the cafe. The Koenig-Halbritter's wish for the cafe is that it becomes a meeting place for art lovers where they can relax over Viennese coffees and discuss art. Soon, Koenig and Halbritter will invite local artists to exhibit and sell their work in the cafe.

You should know that Chef Madlen is also an artisan who turns ordinary tables into artwork. She will "upscale any table" for you, "in the colors you prefer,” says Bernadette, who, incidentally, is the craftswoman who will refinish or restore your table, if necessary.

5. For everyone, especially those who lived and work or have errands to run in the neighborhood, the Art Cafe is a place to enjoy bit of the famous Viennese coffee culture, which apparently began over 300 years ago when an Armenian spy in Vienna introduced the dark coffee beans from his country to the Viennese people. One of the traditions associated with this culture is that a glass of water be served with each coffee, a tradition upheld by Madlen, with the added treat of a chocolate or a special garnished bread from the Gulyas Factory.

Cape Coral resident Karla Andersen reads to her daughter Kaydence, 3, during a visit to the new Art Cafe. "It is really cute. I like it a lot and it's kid-friendly," Andersen said.
Cape Coral resident Karla Andersen reads to her daughter Kaydence, 3, during a visit to the new Art Cafe. "It is really cute. I like it a lot and it's kid-friendly," Andersen said.

In the early 19th century, when the price of coffee beans soared, coffee house owners, as did Koenig-Halbritter, began to develop their businesses into cafe restaurants. Also in the 19th century, Viennese coffee houses came to represent the epitome of a gracious, opulent, and relaxed European culture, and were emulated in cities all over Europe. By the 1890s, coffee houses became second homes to intellectuals, writers, and then artists, who met in them with friends for coffee, liquor, food, and conversation. After the arrival of the Yanks in World War I, some of the coffee houses became venues for American jazz musicians. The whole world, it seemed, like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was falling apart.

And indeed, after World War II, almost 30 years later, Viennese-style coffee houses, like the Viennese waltz, came to be seen by the young as hopelessly old-fashioned. Replaced by popular, Italian-style expresso bars, the coffee houses began to close across Europe.

Cape Coral resident and first-time customer Judy Miller looks at the menu options available at the new Art Cafe. "We love it," Miller said. "It's unique and I'm within walking distance."
Cape Coral resident and first-time customer Judy Miller looks at the menu options available at the new Art Cafe. "We love it," Miller said. "It's unique and I'm within walking distance."
The new Art Cafe and Gulyas-Factory opened Feb. 14 on Chiquita Boulevard in Cape Coral.
The new Art Cafe and Gulyas-Factory opened Feb. 14 on Chiquita Boulevard in Cape Coral.

Until the 300th anniversary of the first coffee house to open in Vienna in 1683. After 1983, the Viennese coffee culture began to be appreciated again, and in 2011, UNESCO included Viennese coffee house culture on its list of cultural heritage intangibles.

And now, as a result of the Koenig-Halbritter reunification of Vienna and Hungary, Cape Coral can claim possession of a UNESCO world heritage intangible. How 'bout that?

For menus and hours of operation, please visit www.gulyasfactory.com, www.artcafe.art, or call (239) 540 2000.

Cynthia A. Williams (cwilliams1020@gmail.com)

If you go

What: Art Cafe and Gulyas-Factory

Where: 3816 Chiquita Blvd South, Cape Coral

Hours: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday. Hours may change after season.

Information: gulyasfactory.com, artcafe.art, or call (239) 540 2000.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Austria and Hungary meet in Cape Coral at the Art Cafe and Gulyas-Factory