At Leopold's age of 14, the family settled in Vienna, and he began to work in the Deierl restaurant, where he met Josefine Danzberger.

[3] In the early post-war years, the Hawelka's clientele still consisted of pensioners, traders from the nearby Dorotheum and former aristocrats who had been forced to leave their homes.

Leopold Hawelka took care of the guests until his old age, received them personally, showed them to their seats and said goodbye to them again.

He not only made sure that his two children, who grew up in the pub, greeted the guests in a friendly manner and did not disturb them, but also that gentlemen did not address ladies.

Their son, Günther Hawelka, continued baking the café's speciality, Buchteln pastries, using his mother's recipe.