The Graben runs west from St. Stephan's Cathedral; the Pestsäule stands in the middle of this pedestrian-only street. The original walls of the city ran along the Graben (which literally means, charmingly enough, "the ditch"), leaving St. Stephan's outside.

Two of the famous cafés in the Graben area are Demel and Sacher, between which there is a long-standing feud over which makes the better sachertorte. As the name implies, this cake originated at Sacher, but the cook who created it had a dispute with the management and moved to Demel, where he recreated his recipe.