Coffeehouse

{{Short description|Establishment that serves coffee}} {{Redirect-distinguish|Cafe|Cafeteria|Cafe (British)}} {{Other uses|Cafe (disambiguation)|Coffeehouse (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023|cs1-dates=y}} [[File:Café de Flore.jpg|thumb|right|The Café de Flore on the Rive Gauche in Paris is one of the oldest coffeehouses in the city. Its famous clientele included writers and philosophers.]]

A '''coffeehouse''', '''coffee shop''', or '''café''', is an establishment that serves various types of coffee drinks like espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, as well as other beverages. An espresso bar specializes in serving espresso and espresso-based drinks. Some coffeehouses may serve iced coffee among other cold drinks, as well as non-caffeinated drinks. A coffeehouse may also serve food, such as light snacks, sandwiches, muffins, cakes, breads, pastries or doughnuts. Many doughnut shops in Canada and the U.S. serve coffee to accompany doughnuts, so these can also be classified as coffee shops, although doughnut shops tend to be more casual and serve cheaper fare (suiting take-out and drive-through, popular in those countries).<ref>{{cite book | title=A World of Cake | location=North Adams, Massachusetts | publisher=Storey | last=Castella | first=Krystina | year=2010 | pages=44 | isbn=978-1603425766}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=American Food by the Decades | location=Santa Barbara, California | publisher=ABC-Clio | last=Liberman | first=Sherri | year=2011 | pages=133–134 | isbn=978-0313376993}}</ref> In continental Europe, some cafés even serve alcoholic drinks, and in West Asia may offer a flavored tobacco smoked through a hookah, called ''shisha'' in most varieties of Arabic or ''nargile'' in Levantine Arabic, Greek, and Turkish.

While ''café'' may mean a coffeehouse, it tends to have a different meaning in Britain:<ref>{{cite book |title=Egg, Bacon, Chips and Beans: 50 Great Cafes and the Stuff that Makes Them Great |first=Russell M. |last=Davies |location=London | publisher=HarperCollins Entertainment |year=2005 |isbn=9780007213788 | url=https://archive.org/details/eggbaconchipsbea0000davi |url-access=registration | via=Internet Archive}}</ref> a diner or "greasy spoon"; it is also used for a teahouse or other casual eating and drinking place.<ref>{{cite book|title=The World of the Paris Café: Sociability among the French Working Class, 1789–1914 |pages=1–5 |first=W. Scott |last=Haine |location=Baltimore |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |date=11 September 1998|isbn=0801860709}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter=Drink, sociability, and social class in France, 1789–1945: The emergence of a proletarian public sphere | first=W. Scott |last=Haine | title=Alcohol: A Social and Cultural History |page=121 |editor-first=Mack P. |editor-last=Holt |location=Oxford |publisher=Berg |date=12 June 2006|isbn=9781845201654}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classiccafes.co.uk/| last=Maddox | first=Adrian | title=Classic Cafes: London's vintage Formica caffs!|work=classiccafes.co.uk|access-date=28 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130820150546/http://www.classiccafes.co.uk/|archive-date=20 August 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> A coffeehouse may resemble a bar or restaurant, but differs from a cafeteria (a canteen, a restaurant without table service). Coffeehouse operation ranges from management of an independent venue by its owner to franchises of a large multinational corporation.

From a cultural standpoint, a coffeehouse largely serves as a center of social interaction: it provides patrons with a place to meet, talk, read, write, entertain one another, or pass the time, whether individually or in small groups. A coffeehouse can serve as an informal social club for its regular members.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coffeehouse|title=Coffeehouse|publisher=Merriam-Webster|access-date=7 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111104152745/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coffeehouse|archive-date=4 November 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=January 2026}} From as early as the 1950s Beatnik era and the 1960s folk music scene, coffeehouses have hosted singer–songwriter performances, typically in the evening.<ref name="Groce_Coffeehouses">{{Cite web |last=Groce |first=Nancy |date=2014-04-17 |title=Coffeehouses: Folk music, culture, and counterculture |url=https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2014/04/coffeehouses-folk-music-culture-and-counterculture |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=Folklife Today: American Folklife Center & Veterans History Project | publisher=The Library of Congress}}</ref> The digital age saw the rise of the Internet café along similar principles.{{Vague|date=January 2026}}

==Etymology== {{Multiple issues|section=yes| {{Globalize|section|date=May 2026|reason=Overwhelmingly Eurocentric; focuses on French/Italian/English while Arabic origin is treated as a brief footnote. Coffee originated in Arabia.}} {{Missing information|section|the full etymology from Arabic ''qahwa'' through Ottoman Turkish to European languages, and the non-European history of coffeehouses|date=May 2026}} {{Unbalanced|section|date=May 2026}} }} thumb|The word for coffee in various European languages<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jamaicanbluemountaincoffee.net/JamaicanCoffeeBlog/blue-mountain-cafe-or-blue-mountain-coffee/ |title=Blue Mountain Café vs Blue Mountain Coffee |publisher=Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee |access-date=10 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130113213754/http://www.jamaicanbluemountaincoffee.net/JamaicanCoffeeBlog/blue-mountain-cafe-or-blue-mountain-coffee/ |archive-date=13 January 2013 }}</ref>

The Arabic word ''qahwa'' ({{lang|ar|قهوة}}) is the origin of the Italian ''caffè'' (first attested as ''caveé'' in Venice in 1570<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/cafe|title=''Café'', subst. masc.|website=Centre National de Ressources Textuelles et Lexicales |access-date=15 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018175008/http://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/cafe|archive-date=18 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>), from which the English ''coffee'' and French ''café'' both derive.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cafe&allowed_in_frame=0|title=Online Etymology Dictionary|website=etymonline.com|access-date=1 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627215304/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cafe&allowed_in_frame=0|archive-date=27 June 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/coffee|title=Coffee definition and meaning |website=Collins English Dictionary|access-date=15 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612163617/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/coffee|archive-date=12 June 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The Arabic term originally meant a type of wine, but after the wine ban by Islam, the name was transferred to coffee, thought to have a similar rousing effect.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etymologiebank.nl/trefwoord/koffie |title=Koffie – (product van de koffieboom (geslacht ''Coffea''; volks- of oude naam voor ''wilde cichorei'') |publisher=etymologiebank.nl |access-date=15 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319032030/http://www.etymologiebank.nl/trefwoord/koffie |archive-date=19 March 2018 |url-status=live | language=nl}}</ref> European knowledge of coffee (the plant, its seeds, and the drink made from the seeds) came through European contact with Turkey, likely via Venetian–Ottoman trade relations.

''Café'' ({{IPA|fr|kafe|lang|LL-Q150 (fra)-GrandCelinien-café.wav}}) is the French word for both ''coffee'' and ''coffeehouse;''<ref name="auto" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Café definition and meaning | website=Collins English Dictionary |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/cafe}}</ref> it was adopted (as {{IPA|/ˈkæfeɪ/}}) by English-speaking countries in the late 19th century.<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'', 2nd ed (1989), entry number 50031127 (''café'').</ref> The Italian spelling, ''caffè'', is also sometimes used in English.<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'', 2nd ed (1989), entry number 00333259 (''caffè, n'')</ref> In Southern England, especially around London in the 1950s, the French pronunciation was often facetiously altered to {{IPAc-en|k|æ|f}} and spelt ''caff''.<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'', 2nd ed (1989), entry number 50031130 (''caff'')</ref>{{Efn|In the opinion of one author: "['Caff'] smacks too much of slumming it, of class tourism. ... I think it's occasionally acceptable to say it, but it's demeaning to cafe-owners to write it all the time."<ref>{{cite book |title=Egg, Bacon, Chips and Beans: 50 Great Cafes and the Stuff that Makes Them Great |first=Russell M. |last=Davies |location=London | publisher=HarperCollins Entertainment |year=2005 |isbn=9780007213788 | url=https://archive.org/details/eggbaconchipsbea0000davi |url-access=registration | via=Internet Archive | page=10}}</ref>}}

The English word ''café'' to describe a ''place'' that serves coffee and snacks (rather than the drink itself) is derived from the French ''café.'' The first café in France is believed to have opened in 1660.<ref name="auto"/> Meanwhile, the first café in Europe is believed to have been opened in Belgrade, Ottoman Serbia in 1522 as a Kafana (Serbian coffeehouse).<ref>{{Cite web|date=5 May 2013|title='Kafana', the first coffeehouse in Europe|url=https://www.serbia.com/the-first-coffee-house-in-europe/|url-status=live|archive-date=15 June 2013 |access-date=|website=serbia.com|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615071029/http://www.serbia.com:80/the-first-coffee-house-in-europe/ }}</ref>

The translingual word root /kafe/ appears in many European languages with various naturalized spellings, including Portuguese and French (''café''); German (''Kaffeehaus'' or ''Café''); Swedish (''kafé'' or ''fik''); Finnish (''kahvila''); Spanish (''cafetería''); Italian (''caffè'' or ''caffetteria''); Polish (''kawa''); Serbian (''кафа / kafa''); Ukrainian (''кава'' (kava)); Turkish (''kahvehane).''

==Early history== {{Main|Coffeehouses in Arabic culture}} thumb|Palestinian women grinding coffee beans Early forms of the beverage now known as coffee were consumed in Yemen, where Sufi orders used ''qahwa'' to maintain wakefulness during nighttime ''dhikr'' recitations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rashīd al-Dīn Hamadānī |editor-first1=Muḥammad |editor-last1=Rūshan |url=https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004404342 |title=Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh |date=2013-01-01 |publisher=BRILL |doi=10.1163/9789004404342 |isbn=978-90-04-40434-2}}</ref><ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |last=Rosenthal |first=Franz |date=1987-10-01 |title=RALPH S. HATTOX ''Coffee and Coffeehouses: The Origins of a Social Beverage in the Medieval Near East''. (Near Eastern Studies, number 3.) Seattle: Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Washington; distributed by University of Washington Press, Seattle. 1985. Pp. xii, 178. $9.95 |url=https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/92.4.1010-a |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=92 |issue=4 |pages=1010–1011 |doi=10.1086/ahr/92.4.1010-a |issn=1937-5239|url-access=subscription }}</ref> This early coffee-based beverage was named after the port city of Mokha, from which coffee beans were first exported to the other parts of the Arab world.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ekblaw |first1=W. Elmer |last2=Ukers |first2=William H. |date=March 1925 |title=All about Coffee |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/140101 |journal=Economic Geography |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=124 |doi=10.2307/140101 |jstor=140101 |issn=0013-0095|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1=Romani |first1=Francesca Romana |title=Muḥammad Bayram's Risāla fī dār al-ḥarb wa-suknāhā |date=2017-01-01 |work=Dār al-islām / dār al-ḥarb |pages=393–414 |url=https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004331037_021 |access-date=2025-11-03 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-33103-7 |last2=Di Vincenzo |first2=Eleonora |doi=10.1163/9789004331037_021 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Yemen was once one of the world’s major producers and exporters, with “Mocha” coffee.<ref name=":9" /> Yemeni traders played a crucial role in spreading both the beverage and its associated rituals, contributing to its growing popularity across the Islamic world.

In the 15th century, coffee cultivation and consumption began in Yemen, where merchants transformed it into a lucrative and commercial product. The beans, often sourced from the Ethiopian highlands, were roasted, ground, and brewed in a method that closely resembles modern coffee preparation. By the early 16th century, coffee spread northward to Mecca, Cairo, and Damascus, where coffeehouses — known as ''maqāhī'' (مقاهي) became popular meeting places.<ref name="Albanese2017">Albanese, Marilia. (2017). “Cafés and Public Life in the Middle East.” Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World. Macmillan.</ref>

===Ottoman Empire=== {{Main|Ottoman coffeehouse}} {{multiple image | align = right | direction = horizontal | width = | total_width = 400 | image1 = MeddahOttomman.png | image2 = Meddah story teller.png | caption1 = Ottoman miniature of a meddah performing at a coffeehouse | caption2 = Storyteller (''meddah'') at a coffeehouse in the Ottoman Empire. The first coffeehouses appeared in the Muslim world in the 15th century. | caption_align = center | footer = | footer_align = centre | alt1 = }} The first coffeehouses appeared in Damascus. These coffeehouses also made their way to Mecca, in the Arabian Peninsula in the 15th century, then spread to the Ottoman Empire's capital of Istanbul, when two Arab merchants, Hakem of Aleppo and Shems of Damascus, opened the first coffeehouse in the Tahtakale district in the 16th century and to Baghdad.<ref name="Ayvazoglu">{{cite book |last=Ayvazoğlu|first=Beşir|url=https://teda.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/6594,turkishcoffeeculturepdf.pdf|title=Turkish Coffee Culture|publisher=Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism (TEDA)|year=2013|pages=22|language=en|quote=In 1554, two Arab coffee makers, Hakem of Aleppo and Şems of Damascus, arrived in İstanbul and opened a coffeehouse in Tahtakale.}}</ref><ref name="Iranica2">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Coffeehouse (Qahva-khāna)|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica|url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/coffeehouse-qahva-kana/|date=8 September 2016|language=en|quote=The first coffeehouse at Istanbul was opened in 962/1555 by two men from Damascus.}}</ref><ref name="OzkaymakBas">{{cite journal |last1=Özkaymak|first1=Bahattin|last2=Baş|first2=Ahmet|year=2024|title=17–18. Yüzyıl Avrupa Resim Sanatında Türk İmgesi Olarak Kahve|url=https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/3889438|journal=Selçuk Türkiyat|language=tr|issue=61|pages=411–437|quote=Osmanlı’daki ilk kahvehanenin, Halepli Hakem ve Şamlı Şems isminde iki Arap tarafından 1554 yılında Tahtakale’de açıldığı konusunda çoğunluk hemfikirdir.}}</ref><ref name="Karhan">{{cite journal |last=Karhan|first=Jale|year=2021|title=Toplumsal ve kültürel bir içecek: "Türk kahvesi"|url=https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/1986298|journal=International Journal of Social Sciences and Education Research|language=tr|pages=29–30 (pdf pagination)|quote=Tarihçi Peçevi İbrahim Efendi, Halep’ten Hakem ve Şam’dan Şems isimli iki kişinin gelerek Tahtakale’de açtıkları dükkânda kahve sattıklarını kaydetmiştir (962/1554).}}</ref>

Coffeehouses became popular meeting places where people gathered to drink coffee, have conversations, play board games such as chess and backgammon, listen to stories and music, and discuss news and politics. They became known as "schools of wisdom" for the type of clientele they attracted, and their free and frank discourse.<ref name="britannica">{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/coffee |title=Coffee | Origin, Types, Uses, History, & Facts |access-date=20 September 2019 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425195035/https://www.britannica.com/topic/coffee |archive-date=25 April 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=10 August 2018 |title=صحيفة التاخي – المســــرح في المقاهي والملاهي البغدادية |url=http://www.altaakhipress.com/viewart.php?art=64196 |access-date=15 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810205940/http://www.altaakhipress.com/viewart.php?art=64196 |archive-date=10 August 2018 }}</ref>

Coffeehouses in Mecca became a concern of imams, who viewed them as places for political gatherings and drinking, leading to bans between 1512 and 1524.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Çomak |first1=Nebahat |last2=Pembecioğlu |first2=Nilüfer |title=Changing the values of the past to future |url=https://www.academia.edu/35538335 |date=2014 |access-date=6 August 2022 |archive-date=8 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108100337/https://www.academia.edu/35538335 |url-status=live }}{{Failed verification|date=January 2026}}</ref> However, these bans could not be maintained, as coffee became ingrained in daily ritual and culture among Arabs and neighboring peoples.<ref name="britannica"/> The Ottoman chronicler İbrahim Peçevi reports in his writings (1642–49) about the opening of the first coffeehouse (''kiva han'') in Constantinople: {{blockquote|Until the year 962 [1555], in the High, God-Guarded city of Constantinople, as well as in Ottoman lands generally, coffee and coffeehouses did not exist. About that year, a fellow called Hakam from Aleppo and a wag called Shams from Damascus came to the city; they each opened a large shop in the district called Tahtakale, and began to purvey coffee.<ref>Quoted in {{Cite book | first=Bernard | last=Lewis | author-link=Bernard Lewis | title=Istanbul and the Civilization of the Ottoman Empire | location=Norman | publisher=University of Oklahoma Press | orig-year=1963 | year=1989 | page=132 | isbn=978-0-8061-1060-8}}</ref>}}

[[File:1004-CoffeeSceneCairo18th.jpg|thumb|A coffeehouse in Cairo, 18th century]]

===Iran=== The 17th-century French traveler and writer Jean Chardin gave a lively description of the Persian coffeehouse (''qahveh khaneh'' in Persian): {{blockquote|People engage in conversation, for it is there that news is communicated and where those interested in politics criticize the government in all freedom and without being fearful, since the government does not heed what the people say. Innocent games ... resembling checkers, hopscotch, and chess, are played. In addition, mollas, dervishes, and poets take turns telling stories in verse or in prose. The narrations by the mollas and the dervishes are moral lessons, like our sermons, but it is not considered scandalous not to pay attention to them. No one is forced to give up his game or his conversation because of it. A molla will stand up in the middle, or at one end of the qahveh-khaneh, and begin to preach in a loud voice, or a dervish enters all of a sudden, and chastises the assembled on the vanity of the world and its material goods. It often happens that two or three people talk at the same time, one on one side, the other on the opposite, and sometimes one will be a preacher and the other a storyteller.<ref>{{cite book |last=Seidel |first=Kathleen |year=1999|chapter=Coffee – The Wine of Islam |chapter-url=http://www.superluminal.com/cookbook/essay_coffee.html |title=Serving the Guest: A Sufi Cookbook |publisher=Superluminal |url-status=live |access-date=29 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611135304/http://www.superluminal.com/cookbook/essay_coffee.html |archive-date=11 Jun 2011 }}</ref>}}

===Mughal Empire=== Consumption of Turkish coffee is attested to in the Mughal court, and appears in Mughal art from the 16th century, as is the existence of ''qahwakhanas'' (coffeehouses) in Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi).<ref name="GuptaH">{{Cite web |last=Gupta |first=Hriday |date=2024-02-07 |title=History of Coffee in India |url=https://drwakefield.com/news-and-views/history-of-coffee-in-india/ |access-date=2026-01-02 |website=DRWakefield |language=en}}</ref><ref name="BiswasN">{{Cite web | first=Nilosree | last=Biswas | title=Invigorating the spirits: In search of India's lost coffee culture |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/india-coffee-lost-culture-mughal-empire |date=5 June 2023 | access-date=2026-01-02 |website=Middle East Eye |language=en}}</ref>

==Modern history== ===Europe=== [[File:ParisCafeDiscussion.png|thumb|"Discussing the War in a Paris Café", ''The Illustrated London News'', 17 September 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War]]

In the 17th century, coffee appeared for the first time in Europe outside the Ottoman Empire, and coffeehouses were established, soon becoming increasingly popular. The first coffeehouse is said to have appeared in 1632 in Livorno, Italy, founded by a Jewish merchant,<ref>{{Cite book | title=Encyclopedia of Jewish Food | first=Gil | last=Marks | author-link=Gil Marks | location=Boston | publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | year=2010 | isbn=9780470391303}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | series=APM – Archeologia Postmedievale 19 (2015) | title=Gran Bretagna e Italia tra Mediterraneo e Atlantico: Livorno – 'un porto inglese' {{=}} Italy and Britain between Mediterranean and Atlantic worlds: Leghorn – 'an English port' | year=2017 | first=Hugo | last=Blake | location=Sesto Fiorentino | publisher=All'Insegna del Giglio | isbn=9788878146488 | page=18}}</ref> or in 1640, in Venice.<ref>{{Cite journal | last=Horowitz | first=Elliott | author-link=Elliott Horowitz | title=Coffee, coffeehouses, and the nocturnal rituals of early modern Jewry | journal=AJS Review | volume=14 | number=1 | date=Spring 1989 | pages=17–46 | doi=10.1017/S0364009400002427 }} Citing {{Cite book | first=Antonio | last=Pilot | title=La Bottega da caffè | location=Venice | publisher=G. Scarabellin | year=1916 | language=it | oclc=1137222847}}</ref> In the 19th and 20th centuries in Europe, coffeehouses were very often meeting places for writers and artists.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}}

==== Austria ==== {{Main|Viennese coffee house culture}} [[File:Cafe-schwarzenberg-innen-viennaphoto-at.jpg|thumb|A Viennese café]] The traditional tale of the origins of the Viennese café begins with the mysterious sacks of green beans left behind when the Turks were defeated in the Battle of Vienna in 1683. All the sacks of coffee were granted to the victorious Polish king, Jan III Sobieski, who in turn gave them to one of his officers, Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki (also known as Georg Kolschitzky), a Ukrainian Cossack and Polish diplomat of Ruthenian descent. Kulczycki, according to the tale, then began the first coffeehouse in Vienna with the hoard, also being the first to serve coffee with milk.<ref name="Weinberg2002-75">{{cite book|title=The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug|last1=Weinberg|first1=Bennett Alan|last2=Bealer|first2=Bonnie K.| location=New York | publisher=Routledge|year=2002|isbn=0-415-92722-6|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Qyz5CnOaH9oC&pg=PA75 pages 75–77] | via=Google Books}}</ref>

However, it is now widely accepted that the first Viennese coffeehouse was actually opened by an Armenian merchant named Johannes Diodato (also known as Johannes Theodat) in 1685.<ref name="Teply_1980"/><ref name="Weinberg2002-77">{{cite book|title=The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug|last1=Weinberg|first1=Bennett Alan|last2=Bealer|first2=Bonnie K.| location=New York | publisher=Routledge|year=2002|isbn=0-415-92722-6|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Qyz5CnOaH9oC&pg=PA77 page 77] | via=Google Books}}</ref> Fifteen years later, four other Armenians owned coffeehouses. The culture of drinking coffee was itself widespread in the country{{Vague|date=January 2026}} in the second half of the 18th century.

Over time, a Viennese coffeehouse culture developed. Writers, artists, musicians, intellectuals, bon vivants and their financiers met, and new coffee varieties were served. People played cards or chess, worked, read, thought, composed, discussed, argued, observed and just chatted. Much information was also obtained, because local and foreign newspapers were freely available to all customers. This form of coffeehouse culture spread throughout the Habsburg Empire in the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite book | first=Friedrich | last=Torberg | author-link=Friedrich Torberg | title=Kaffeehaus war überall. Briefwechsel mit Käuzen und Originalen | trans-title=Coffeehouses were everywhere: Correspondence with eccentrics and characters | series=Gesammelte Werke in Einzelausgaben / Friedrich Torberg, vol. 13 | publisher=Langen Müller | location=Munich | year=1982 | isbn=9783784419480 | page=8 | lang=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | first=Wolfram | last=Siebeck | author-link=Wolfram Siebeck | title=Die Kaffeehäuser von Wien. Eine Melange aus Mythos und Schmäh | trans-title=The coffeehouses of Vienna: A blend of myth and charm | location=Vienna | publisher=Edition Wien | year=1996 | isbn=9783850581257 | language=de | page=7}} (Also {{ISBN|9783453115309}}.)</ref>

Scientific theories, political plans and artistic projects were worked out and discussed in Viennese coffeehouses all over Central Europe. James Joyce enjoyed his coffee in a Viennese coffeehouse on the Adriatic Sea in Trieste, then and now the main port for coffee and coffee processing in Italy and Central Europe.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}} From there, the Viennese ''Kapuziner'' coffee developed into today's cappuccino. This special multicultural atmosphere of the Habsburg coffeehouses was largely destroyed by the later Nazism and communism and today can only be found in a few places that have long been in the slipstream of history, such as Vienna or Trieste.<ref>{{Cite news | first=Helmut | last=Luther | title=Warum Kaffeetrinken in Triest anspruchsvoll ist | trans-title=Why coffee drinking in Trieste is challenging | newspaper=Die Welt | date=16 February 2015 | language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.juedische-allgemeine.de/kultur/kaffeehaus-als-menschenrecht/ |first=Doron |last=Rabinovici | author-link=Doron Rabinovici | title=Kaffeehaus als Menschenrecht | lang=de |trans-title=The coffeehouse as a human right |date=23 January 2017 | newspaper=Jüdische Allgemeine | access-date=6 January 2021 |archive-date=23 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623191030/https://www.juedische-allgemeine.de/kultur/kaffeehaus-als-menschenrecht/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.kulinarisches-erbe.at/geschichte-der-ess-trinkkultur/historische-kuechen/wiener-kueche/esskulturen/kaffeehauskultur/ |title=Kaffeehauskultur | trans-title=Coffeehouse culture | website=Kulinarisches Erbe Österreich | access-date=6 January 2021 |archive-date=16 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116083734/https://www.kulinarisches-erbe.at/geschichte-der-ess-trinkkultur/historische-kuechen/wiener-kueche/esskulturen/kaffeehauskultur/ |url-status=dead | lang=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | last=Riha | first=Fritz | title=Das alte Wiener Caféhaus | trans-title=The old Viennese coffeehouse | location=Salzburg| publisher=Festungsverlag | year=1967 | page=12 | oclc=721137651 | language=de}}</ref>

==== England ==== {{Main|English coffeehouses in the 17th and 18th centuries}}

The first coffeehouse in England was opened on the High Street (on the site of the later Grand Café) in Oxford in 1650<ref>{{cite book |last=Prinz |first=Deborah R. |title=On the Chocolate Trail: A Delicious Adventure Connecting Jews, Religions, History, Travel, Rituals and Recipes to the Magic of Cacao |location=Woodstock, Vermont | publisher=Jewish Lights Publishing |year=2013 |page=5 |isbn=9781580234870}}</ref> or 1651<ref name="CBH">{{cite book |last1=Palmer |first1=Alan |last2=Palmer |first2=Veronica |year=1992 |title=The Chronology of British History |publisher=Century |location=London |isbn=978-0-7126-5616-0 |page= }}</ref>{{pn|date=March 2024}} by "Jacob the Jew". A second, competing coffeehouse was opened across the street (on the site of the later Queen's Lane Coffee House) in 1654, by "Cirques Jobson, the Jew".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oxfordjewishheritage.co.uk/oxford-exclusion/|title=Oxford Exclusion|website=Oxford Jewish Heritage | access-date=7 January 2026}}</ref> In London, the earliest coffeehouse was established by Pasqua Rosée (described as Greek,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ellis|first1=Markman|title=The Coffee-House: A Cultural History|date=2004a|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|location=London|isbn=978-0-2978-4319-1 | page=25}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Pendergrast|first1=Mark|author1-link=Mark Pendergrast|title=Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World|date=2019|publisher=Basic Books|location=New York|isbn=978-1-5416-9938-0 | page=12}}</ref> Armenian,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wild|first1=Antony|title=Coffee: A Dark History|date=2004|publisher=Fourth Estate|location=London|isbn=978-1-84115-649-1|url=https://archive.org/details/coffeedarkhistor0000wild_n9a5/mode/2up | page=90 | via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Bennett Alan |last1=Weinberg |first2=Bonnie K. |last2=Bealer |title=The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug|date=2001|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-0-4159-2722-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YdpL2YCGLVYC&pg=PP1 | page=xv | via=Google Books}}</ref> or Turkish<ref>{{cite book|last1=Brandon|first1=David|title=London Pubs|date=2010|publisher=Amberley Publishing|location=Stroud|isbn=978-1-4456-2927-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GnaIAwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 | page=26}}</ref>) in 1652.<ref>{{cite ODNB |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/92862 |title=Pasqua Rosee |year=2006 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/92862 |access-date=29 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114151204/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/92862 |archive-date=14 January 2013 |url-status=live |last1=Cowan |first1=Brian }}</ref> Anthony Wood observed of the coffeehouses of Oxford in 1674 "The decay of study, and consequently of learning, are coffy houses, to which most scholars retire and spend much of the day in hearing and speaking of news, in speaking vilely  of their superiors."<ref>{{Cite book | last=Macaulay | first=Rose |author-link=Rose Macaulay | title=The Minor Pleasures of Life | location=London | publisher=Victor Gollancz | year=1934 | page=257 | url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.215132/page/n259/mode/2up | via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Pasqua Rosée was the servant of a trader in goods from the Ottoman Empire named Daniel Edwards, who imported the coffee and assisted Rosée in setting up the establishment there.<ref name="Weinberg 2002">{{cite book|title=The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug|first1=Bennett Alan|last1=Weinberg|first2=Bonnie K.|last2=Bealer |location=New York | publisher=Routledge|year=2002|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Qyz5CnOaH9oC&pg=PA154 page 154]|isbn=0-415-92722-6 | via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Coffee: A Dark History|first=Antony|last=Wild|location=London | publisher=Fourth Estate |year=2004|page=90|isbn=1-84115-649-3 | url=https://archive.org/details/coffeedarkhistor0000wild_n9a5/page/90/mode/2up | via=Internet Archive | url-access=registration}}</ref>

From 1670 to 1685, London coffeehouses began to increase in number, and also in political importance due to their popularity as places of debate.<ref>{{Cite book | first=Charles W. | last=Colby | title=Selections from the Sources of English History, B.C. 55 – A.D. 1832 | location=London | publisher=Longmans, Green | year=1920 | oclc=6366120 | page=208 | url=https://archive.org/details/selectionsfroms02unkngoog/page/n252/mode/2up | via=Internet Archive}}</ref> For the first several years, London's coffeehouses were the preserve of "a well-educated and commercial elite",<ref name="WhiteM">{{cite web |last1=White |first1=Matthew |title=Newspapers, gossip and coffeehouse culture |url=https://www.bl.uk/restoration-18th-century-literature/articles/newspapers-gossip-and-coffee-house-culture | website=Discovering Literature: Restoration & 18th century |publisher=British Library | date=21 June 2018 | archive-date=26 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190926082953/https://www.bl.uk/restoration-18th-century-literature/articles/newspapers-gossip-and-coffee-house-culture |url-status=dead}}</ref> but from the 1660s their popularity increased. By 1675, there were more than 3,000 coffeehouses in England;<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ferreira |first=Jennifer |date=2017 |title=Café nation? Exploring the growth of the UK café industry |journal=Area |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=67–76 |doi=10.1111/area.12285 |bibcode=2017Area...49...69F |url=https://pureportal.coventry.ac.uk/en/publications/516bfe79-51e2-4aed-82df-605b5c8a867f }}</ref> and in London alone there were perhaps 550 at their 18th-century peak.<ref>{{cite web |last1=White |first1=Matthew |title=Newspapers, gossip and coffeehouse culture |url=https://www.bl.uk/restoration-18th-century-literature/articles/newspapers-gossip-and-coffee-house-culture | website=Discovering Literature: Restoration & 18th century |publisher=British Library | date=21 June 2018 | archive-date=26 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190926082953/https://www.bl.uk/restoration-18th-century-literature/articles/newspapers-gossip-and-coffee-house-culture |url-status=dead}} Citing {{Cite book | first=Stephen | last=Inwood | title=A History of London | location=London | publisher=Macmillan | year=1998 | isbn=978-0-333-67153-5 | page=310}}</ref> Many men found a coffeehouse a convenient place for doing business, holding consultations there and having mail for them sent there, as well as keeping up with news. The coffeehouses were great social levelers, open to all men and indifferent to social status, and as a result associated with equality and republicanism. Entry gave access to books or print news. The rich intellectual atmosphere of early London coffeehouses was available to anyone who could pay the sometimes one penny entry fee, giving them the name "penny universities".<ref name="WhiteM" />

Though Charles II tried to suppress coffeehouses{{Efn|Not only those of London, but instead those of "this Kingdom, the Dominion of ''Wales'', and the Town of ''Berwick'' upon ''Tweed''"; and the sale of not only coffee but also chocolate, sherbet or tea.}} as places where the "Idle and disaffected persons" met, and where "divers False, Malitious and Scandalous Reports are devised and spread abroad, to the Defamation of His Majesties  Government",<ref>{{Cite web | year=1675 | author=Charles II | author-link=Charles II of England | title=By the King. A proclamation for the suppression of coffee-houses | location=London | website=University of Michigan Library Digital Collections: Early English Books Online 2 | url=https://name.umdl.umich.edu/B19975.0001.001 | access-date=9 January 2026}}</ref> the public still flocked to them. For several decades following the Restoration, the wits gathered around John Dryden at Will's Coffee House, in Bow Street (although Jonathan Swift was unimpressed).<ref name="WhiteM" /> As coffeehouses were believed to be areas where anti-government gossip could easily spread, Queen Mary II and the London City magistrates tried to prosecute people who frequented coffeehouses as they were liable to "spread false and seditious reports". William III's privy council also suppressed Jacobite sympathizers in the 1680s and 1690s in coffeehouses as places that they believed harbored plotters against the regime.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cowan |first=Brian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zhzVN39UciQC |title=The Social Life of Coffee: The Emergence of the British Coffeehouse |date=1 October 2008 |location=New Haven, Connecticut | publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-13350-9 |page=215 |language=en}} (Also {{ISBN|9780300106664}} and {{ISBN|9786611722715}}.)</ref>

By the early 18th century, different coffeehouses attracted different clienteles, divided by occupation or opinion, such as Tories and Whigs, wits and stockjobbers, merchants and lawyers, booksellers and authors, men of fashion or the "cits" of the City. According to one French visitor, Abbé Prévost, "You read [in coffeehouses] for two-pence all the papers for or against the administration", and they were "the seats of English liberty".<ref>{{cite book | first=Abbé | last=Prévost | author-link=Abbé Prévost | title=Adventures of a Man of Quality | location=London | publisher=F. Newbery | year=1770 | oclc=396693 | volume=2 | page=110 | url=https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_memoirs-of-a-man-of-qual_prvost-abb_1770_2/page/110/mode/2up | via=Internet Archive}} (Translation of ''Séjour en Angleterre'', vol. 5 of ''Mémoires et avantures d'un homme de qualité qui s'est retiré du monde''.)</ref>

Coffeehouses not only boosted the popularity of print news culture, they also helped the growth of various financial markets including insurance and stocks. Lloyd's Coffee House was where underwriters of ship insurance met to do business, leading to the establishment of Lloyd's of London insurance market and other related businesses.<ref name="WhiteM" /> In 1773 the stockbrokers who had been meeting at New Jonathan's Coffee-house renamed it "The Stock Exchange".<ref>{{Cite book | title=London, Past and Present: Its History, Associations, and Traditions | last=Wheatley | first=Henry B. | author-link=Henry B. Wheatley | location=London | publisher=John Murray| year=1891 | url=https://archive.org/details/londonpastpresen03wheauoft/page/314/mode/2up | via=Internet Archive | volume=3 | page=315}}</ref>

By the 1750s, the English consumption of tea had overtaken that of coffee. As tea could be easily prepared at home, newspapers were cheap, and there was a greater variety of places for leisure and entertainment, there was no obvious demand for publicly available teahouses. Later in the century, coffeehouses tended, via pricing and memberships, to cater for only a richer clientele, and "the death of coffee-house culture was assured".<ref name="WhiteM" />

In Victorian England, the temperance movement set up coffeehouses (also known as coffee taverns) for the working classes, as a place of relaxation free of alcohol, an alternative to the public house.<ref>{{cite book|title=Intemperance: Its Causes and Its Remedies|last=Beatty-Kingston|first=W. | author-link=William Beatty-Kingston |year=1892| location=London | publisher=George Routledge & Sons | edition=2nd | pages=8–9 |jstor=60222729}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | title=Opening a coffee tavern at Bourn. Mr Lawrance, QC, M.P., on temperance  | newspaper=The Lincolnshire, Boston, and Spalding Free Press | date=27 December 1881 | page=7 | url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001122/18811227/068/0007 | via=British Newspaper Archive | url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==== Finland ==== [[File:Bulevardin Ekberg talvella - Marit Henriksson.jpg|thumb|upright|Café Ekberg in Helsinki in 2024]] Finland's first coffeehouse, Kaffehus, was founded in Turku in 1778.<ref>{{cite web |date=8 June 2021 |title=Suomen historian merkkipaaluja: Ensimmäisenä Turussa |url=https://www.turku.fi/ensimmaisena-turussa | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115143558/https://www.turku.fi/ensimmaisena-turussa | archive-date=15 January 2023 | url-status=dead | access-date=11 September 2024 |publisher=City of Turku |language=fi}}</ref> The oldest coffeehouse still operating in Helsinki, Café Ekberg, was founded in 1852.<ref>{{cite web |date=22 February 2024 |title=Ekberg – Helsingin Historiallinen Herkkukeidas |url=https://parastastadissa.com/ekberg-helsingin-historiallinen-herkkukeidas/ |access-date=11 September 2024 |publisher=Parasta Stadissa |language=fi}}</ref>

==== France ====  When Soliman Aga (sent to Versailles in 1669 by Sultan Mehmed IV) returned home, a member of his retinue, Pascal, remained and sold coffee from a stall at the market of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. He soon thereafter opened a coffeehouse in Paris, on the Quai de l'École near the Pont Neuf, and others from the Near East rivaled him. But the fad for Turquerie soon ended.

"[I]t was not until the establishment of the Café de Procope in 1689 that coffee found a truly Parisian expression".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wild|first1=Antony|title=Coffee: A Dark History|date=2004|publisher=Fourth Estate|location=London|isbn=978-1-84115-649-1|url=https://archive.org/details/coffeedarkhistor0000wild_n9a5/page/58/mode/2up | page=59 | via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Owned by the Sicilian Procopio Cutò (François Procope), this was a popular meeting place of the French Enlightenment; the ''Encyclopédie'' (1751–1772) of Diderot and D'Alembert is said to have had its start in conversations there between the two.<ref name="fitch43">{{cite book | last=Fitch | first=Noël Riley| title=Grand Literary Cafés of Europe | publisher=New Holland | location=London | year=2006 | isbn=978-1-84537-114-2 | page=43}}</ref>

<blockquote>The issue of slavery had a profound effect on the pre-Revolutionary thinkers who gathered at the Café Procope in Paris, including Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Diderot. The ethics of the slave trade were discussed whilst its very fruits were consumed, a dark liquid produced by dark skins in the depths of dark despair. Diderot wrote that the trade "is a business which violates religion, morality, natural law, and all human rights", whilst Rousseau railed against the supposed right to enslave as "absurd and meaningless".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wild|first1=Antony|title=Coffee: A Dark History|date=2004|publisher=Fourth Estate|location=London|isbn=978-1-84115-649-1|url=https://archive.org/details/coffeedarkhistor0000wild_n9a5/page/138/mode/2up | pages=138–139 | via=Internet Archive}}</ref></blockquote>

In its decor too, Café Procope had a lasting influence. Procopio had installed wall mirrors, marble-topped tables, and more that he had had removed from a bath-house that he had bought, thereby establishing what has become a convention for many other European cafés.<ref name="fitch43"/>

==== Hungary ==== The first known cafés in Pest date back to 1714 when a house intended to serve as a café (Balázs Kávéfőző) was purchased. Minutes of the Pest City Council from 1729 mention complaints by the Balázs café and Franz Reschfellner café against the Italian-originated café of Francesco Bellieno for selling underpriced coffee.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bpromantikaja.blog.hu/2020/03/20/az_elso_pesti_kavehaz_haboruja|title=Az első pesti kávéház háborúja|website=Budapest romantikája|access-date=9 April 2020|archive-date=1 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401061636/https://bpromantikaja.blog.hu/2020/03/20/az_elso_pesti_kavehaz_haboruja|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Ireland ==== In the 18th century, Dublin coffeehouses functioned as early reading centers and the emergence of circulation and subscription libraries that provided greater access to printed material for the public.{{Vague|date=January 2026}} The connection of the coffeehouse with virtually every aspect of the print trade was evidenced by the incorporation of printing, publishing, selling, and viewing of newspapers, pamphlets and books on the premises, most notably for Dick's Coffee House, owned by Richard Pue; thus contributing to a culture of reading and increased literacy.<ref name="Abbas_2014" /> These coffeehouses were social magnets where different strata of society joined to discuss topics covered by the newspapers and pamphlets. Most coffeehouses of the 18th century would eventually be equipped with their own printing presses or incorporate a bookshop.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}}

==== Italy ==== [[File:Entrata Caffè Florian.jpg|thumb|upright|Caffè Florian in Venice]] The first café in Venice opened in 1683 under the Procuratie Nuove of Piazza San Marco.<ref>{{Cite book | first=Pompeo | last=Molmenti | translator-first=Horatio F. | translator-last=Brown | translator-link=Horatio Brown | title=Venice: Its Individual Growth from the Earliest Beginnings to the Fall of the Republic | location=Chicago | publisher=A. C. McClurg | year=1908 | oclc=732256519 | url=https://archive.org/details/veniceitsindivi09molmgoog/page/n257/mode/2up | via=Internet Archive | at=Part 3, ''The Decadence.'' Vol. 1, p. 175}}</ref> The concept was popular:

<blockquote>On [Piazza San Marco] alone in the eighteenth century there were, under the Procuratie Vecchie, the following cafés: the ''Re di Francia'', the ''Abbondanza'', ''Pitt l'eroe'', the ''Regina d'Ungheria'', the ''Orfeo'', the ''Redentore'', the ''Coraggio'', the ''Speranza'', the ''Arco Celeste'' and ''Quadri'' opened in 1775 by Giorgio Quadri of Corfù, who was the first to serve genuine Turkish coffee. Under the Procuratie Nuove were the ''Angelo Custode'', the ''Duca di Toscana'', the ''Buon genio'', the ''Doge'', the ''Imperatore'', the ''Imperatrice della Russia'', the ''Tamerlano'', the ''Fontana di Diana'', the ''Dame Venete'', the ''Aurora'', the ''Piante d'oro'', the ''Arabo'', the ''Piastrelle'', the ''Pace'', the ''Venezia trionfante'', and ''Florian'', opened in 1720 by Floriano Francesconi.<ref>{{Cite book | first=Pompeo | last=Molmenti | translator-first=Horatio F. | translator-last=Brown | translator-link=Horatio Brown | title=Venice: Its Individual Growth from the Earliest Beginnings to the Fall of the Republic | location=Chicago | publisher=A. C. McClurg | year=1908 | oclc=732256519 | url=https://archive.org/details/veniceitsindivi09molmgoog/page/n259/mode/2up | via=Internet Archive | at=Part 3, ''The Decadence.'' Vol. 1, p. 176, n. 1}}</ref></blockquote>

During the 18th century, the oldest extant coffeehouses in Italy were established. Venice aside, these included Antico Caffè Greco (circa 1760) in Rome,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Moyer-Nocchi |first=Karima |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=crKMDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA209 |title=The Eternal Table: A Cultural History of Food in Rome |date=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-4422-6975-0 |page=209 | via=Google Books}}</ref> Caffè Pedrocchi in Padua, Caffè dell'Ussero in Pisa, and Caffè Fiorio in Turin.

==== Netherlands ==== {{distinguish|text=retail outlets for cannabis, which are named coffeeshop in the Netherlands}} Coffeehouses (koffiehuizen) emerged in the Dutch Republic in the mid-17th century following the introduction of coffee through expanding trade networks with the Middle East and the Ottoman Empire. The earliest documented references to coffee-related establishments in the Netherlands date to the early 1660s, particularly in Amsterdam. One of the earliest known coffeehouses in the country is recorded in The Hague, where a coffeehouse reportedly opened on the Korte Voorhout in 1664. At this time, coffee was a luxury commodity, primarily consumed by wealthier groups, while traditional beverages such as beer remained dominant. By the late 17th century, coffeehouses had become established in major Dutch cities, including Amsterdam, where contemporary sources indicate the presence of multiple coffee sellers and dedicated establishments. These venues also functioned as social spaces for conversation, gaming, and the exchange of news and information. Coffeehouses in the Dutch Republic formed part of a broader European development in which such establishments contributed to urban sociability and the circulation of public discourse.<ref>https://www.amsterdam.nl/stadsarchief/stukken/uitgaan/eerste-koffiehuis/</ref> <ref>https://www.karlbarth.nl/bource-europa-koffiehuis/</ref> <ref>https://www.ad.nl/economie/een-affogato-of-liever-een-macchiato~a60a7a25/</ref>

==== Portugal ==== {{Unreferenced section|date=January 2026}} [[File:Estatua de Fernando Pessoa.jpg|thumb|upright|Statue of Fernando Pessoa by Lagoa Henriques, next to the ''A Brasileira'' café, in Chiado, Lisbon]] The history of coffee in Portugal is usually said to have begun during the reign of king John V, when Portuguese agent Francisco de Melo Palheta supposedly managed to steal coffee beans from French Guiana and introduce it to Brazil.<ref name="Ukers1922">{{cite book |last=Ukers |first=William H. |url=https://archive.org/details/allaboutcoffee00ukeruoft |title=All About Coffee |date=1922 |publisher=The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Company |page=73-74 |quote=In 1727, Francisco de Melo Palheta was sent to French Guiana to adjudicate a boundary dispute. While there, he won the favor of the governor's wife, who presented him with a bouquet of flowers containing fertile coffee seeds and shoots, which he used to establish the industry in Brazil.}}</ref> From Brazil, coffee was taken to Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe, which were also Portuguese colonies at the time. Despite this story, coffee already existed in Angola, having been introduced by Portuguese missionaries.<ref name="ClarenceSmith1985">{{cite book |last=Clarence-Smith |first=W. G. |title=The Third Portuguese Empire, 1825-1975: A Study in Economic Imperialism |date=1985 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-0719017193 |page=92 |quote=Coffee was first introduced to the Luanda hinterland by Jesuit missionaries in the eighteenth century, long before the commodity became a major export.}}</ref> During the 18th century, the first public ''cafés'' appeared, inspired by French gatherings{{Vague|date=January 2026}} from the 17th century, becoming spaces for cultural and artistic entertainment.

Several cafés emerged in Lisbon such as: ''Martinho da Arcada'' (the oldest café still operating, having opened in 1782), ''Café Tavares'', and ''Botequim Parras''. Of these, several became famous for harboring poets and artists, such as Manuel du Bocage with his visits to ''Café Nicola,'' opened in 1796 by the Italian Nicola Breteiro; and Fernando Pessoa with his visits to ''A Brasileira'', opened in 1905 by Adriano Teles. The most famous was the ''Café Marrare'', opened by the Neapolitan Antonio Marrare, in 1820, and frequently visited by Júlio Castilho, Raimundo de Bulhão Pato, Almeida Garrett, Alexandre Herculano and other members of the Portuguese government and the intelligentsia. It began its saying: ''Lisboa era Chiado, o Chiado era o Marrare e o Marrare ditava a lei'' (English: 'Lisbon was the Chiado, the Chiado was the Marrare and the Marrare dictated the law').

Other coffeehouses soon opened across the country, such as ''Café Vianna,'' opened in Braga, in 1858, by Manoel José da Costa Vianna, and visited by important Portuguese writers such as Camilo Castelo Branco and Eça de Queirós. During the 1930s, a surge in coffeehouses happened in Porto with the opening of several that still exist, such as ''Café Guarany'', opened in 1933, and ''A Regaleira'', opened in 1934.

==== Romania ==== In 1667, Kara Hamie, a former Ottoman Janissary from Constantinople, opened the first coffee shop in the center of Bucharest (then the capital of the Principality of Wallachia). On its site today stands the main building of the National Bank of Romania.<ref>{{cite web |date=30 March 2000 | first=Andra | last=Frățilă | title=Cafenele din Vechiul București (secolele XIX–XX) | trans-title=Coffee shops from Old Bucharest (19th–20th centuries) |url=http://www.historia.ro/exclusiv_web/general/articol/cafenele-vechiul-bucure-ti-secolele-xix-xx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116021155/http://www.historia.ro/exclusiv_web/general/articol/cafenele-vechiul-bucure-ti-secolele-xix-xx |archive-date=16 January 2013 |access-date=1 January 2013 | website=Historia.ro}}</ref>

==== Switzerland ==== In 1761 the {{Ill|Turm Kaffee|de|}}, a shop for exported goods, was opened in St. Gallen.<ref>{{Cite book | title=222 Jahre Lebensmittel Gross- und Detailhandel "hinterm Turm" in St.Gallen 1761 bis 1983 | location=St. Gallen | publisher=Leuthold | year=1983 | language=de}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=January 2026}}

==== Gender ==== [[File:Interior_of_a_London_Coffee-house,_17th_centuryFXD.jpg|thumb|right|An English café at the close of the 17th century: men hang their hats on pegs and sit at long communal tables strewn with papers and writing implements. Coffee pots are ranged at an open fire, with a hanging cauldron of boiling water. The only woman present is separated in a canopied booth, from which she serves coffee in tall cups.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Object type: drawing {{!}} Museum number: 1931,0613.2 | url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1931-0613-2 | website=British Museum | access-date=6 January 2026}}</ref>]] The exclusion of women from coffeehouses as guests was not universal, but does appear to have been common in Europe. In Germany, women frequented them, but in England and France they were banned in the mid-17th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://humboldtcoffee.com/History.htm|title=Where did coffee come from?|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070915014128/http://www.humboldtcoffee.com/History.htm |website=Humboldt Bay Coffee Company|archive-date=15 September 2007|access-date=6 January 2026}}</ref> Émilie du Châtelet reportedly cross-dressed to gain entrance to the Café Gradot, in Paris.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visitvoltaire.com/emilie_du_chatelet_bio.htm|title=Emilie du Chatelet |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018200406/http://visitvoltaire.com/emilie_du_chatelet_bio.htm|archive-date=18 October 2007|website=Chateau de Cirey – Residence of Voltaire|access-date=6 January 2026}}</ref>

Women did work as waitresses at coffeehouses and also owned and managed coffeehouses. Well-known women in the coffeehouse business were Moll King in England<ref>{{Cite book | title=The Life and Character of Moll King, Late Mistress of King's Coffee-House in Covent-Garden | location=London | year=1747 | url=https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-life-and-character-o_1747 | via=Internet Archive}}</ref> and Maja-Lisa Borgman in Sweden.<ref>{{cite book | last=Du Rietz | first=Anita | title=Kvinnors entreprenörskap: under 400 år | publisher=Dialogos | location=Stockholm | year=2013 | isbn=9789175042572 | language=sv}}{{Page needed|date=January 2026}}</ref>

=== The Americas ===

==== Argentina ==== {{Unreferenced section|date=January 2026}} [[File:Avenida de Mayo Café Tortoni.jpg|thumb|Café Tortoni is a café in Buenos Aires frequented by Jorge Luis Borges among other public figures.]] Coffeehouses are part of the culture of Buenos Aires and the customs of its inhabitants. They are traditional meeting places for ''porteños'' and have inspired innumerable artistic creations. Some notable coffeehouses include Confitería del Molino, Café Tortoni, El Gato Negro, and Café La Biela.

====United States==== [[File:Caffe Reggio 01.jpg|thumb|Caffe Reggio on MacDougal Street in Manhattan, founded in 1927]] The first coffeehouse in the United States opened in Boston, in 1676.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://masstraveljournal.com/page/massachusetts-firsts/americas-first-coffeehouse|title=America's first coffeehouse |website=Massachusetts Travel Journal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227185410/http://masstraveljournal.com/page/massachusetts-firsts/americas-first-coffeehouse|archive-date=27 February 2012|access-date=10 January 2026}} Citing "the book ''When in Boston'' by Jim Vrabel".</ref>{{Better source needed|date=January 2026}} However, Americans did not start choosing coffee over tea until the Boston Tea Party and the Revolutionary War. After the Revolutionary War, Americans briefly went back to drinking tea until after the War of 1812 when they began importing high-quality coffee from Latin America and expensive inferior-quality tea from American shippers instead of Great Britain.<ref name="Wolf_WhatWeEat">{{Cite book |last=Wolf |first=Burt |title=What We Eat: The True Story of Why We Put Sugar in our Coffee and Ketchup on our Fries |location=San Diego, California |publisher=Tehabi Books|year=2002 |isbn=1-887656-98-7|pages=112–115 | url=https://archive.org/details/whatweeattruesto00wolf/page/112/mode/2up | url-access=registration | via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=McDonald |first1=Michelle Craig |title=Coffee Nation: How One Commodity Transformed the Early United States |date=2025 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |location=Philadelphia |isbn=9781512827552}}</ref> Whether they were drinking coffee or tea, coffeehouses, like those in Great Britain, were places where business was done. In the 1780s, Merchant's Coffee House on Wall Street in New York City was home to the organization of the Bank of New York and the New York Chamber of Commerce.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rotondi|first=Jessica Pearce|title=How coffee fueled revolutions – and revolutionary ideas |url=https://www.history.com/news/coffee-houses-revolutions|access-date=10 April 2021|website=History|date=30 June 2025 |language=en|archive-date=10 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410032927/https://www.history.com/news/coffee-houses-revolutions|url-status=live}}</ref>

Coffeehouses in the United States arose from the espresso- and pastry-centered Italian coffeehouses of the Italian American immigrant communities in the major U.S. cities, notably New York City's Little Italy and Greenwich Village, Boston's North End, and San Francisco's North Beach. From the late 1950s onward, coffeehouses also hosted entertainment, most commonly folk performers during the American folk music revival.<ref name="Groce_Coffeehouses" /><ref>{{Cite book | contributor-last=Shelton | contributor-first=Robert | contributor-link=Robert Shelton (critic) |contribution=Something happened in America | last1=Laing | first1=Dave | author-link1=Dave Laing | last2=Dallas | first2=Karl | author-link2=Karl Dallas | last3=Denselow | first3=Robin | author-link3=Robin Denselow | last4=Shelton | first4=Robert | year=1975 | title=The Electric Muse: The Story of Folk into Rock | location=London | publisher=Methuen |  page=31 | isbn=0-413-31860-5}}</ref> Both Greenwich Village and North Beach became major haunts of the Beats, who were highly identified with these coffeehouses. As the youth culture of the 1960s evolved, non-Italians consciously copied these coffeehouses. The political nature of much of 1960s folk music made the music a natural tie-in with coffeehouses with their association with political action. A number of well-known performers like Joan Baez and Bob Dylan began their careers performing in coffeehouses. Blues singer Lightnin' Hopkins bemoaned his woman's overindulgence in coffeehouse socializing in his 1969 song "Coffeehouse Blues".{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}} [[File:Exterior_of_a_modern_Starbucks_in_Knoxville,_Tennessee.jpg|thumb|A Starbucks coffee shop in Knoxville, Tennessee with a drive-through]] In 1966, Alfred Peet began applying the dark roast style to high quality beans and opened up a small shop in Berkeley, California to educate customers on the virtues of good coffee.<ref name="Wolf_WhatWeEat" /> Starting in 1967 with the opening of the Last Exit on Brooklyn coffeehouse, Seattle became known for its thriving countercultural coffeehouse scene; the Starbucks chain later standardized and mainstreamed this espresso bar model, now prevalent throughout the country.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.purelycoffeebeans.com/starbucks-coffee-company/ |title=Starbucks Coffee Company: Past, present, and future | first=Kenneth | last=Dickson | website=PurelyCoffeeBeans | date=28 October 2019 | access-date=7 November 2019 |archive-date=7 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191107072136/https://www.purelycoffeebeans.com/starbucks-coffee-company/ |url-status=deviated}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Walrath-Holdridge |first1=Mary |title=Starbucks Introduces Value Meals with New 'Pairings Menu' |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2024/06/13/starbucks-pairing-menu-coffee-meal-deal/74083587007/ |access-date=7 August 2024 |newspaper=USA Today |date=13 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | first=Chase | last=Purdy | title=That joke about a Starbucks on every corner? It's actually true and hurting the company's sales | url=https://qz.com/1051094/that-joke-about-a-starbucks-on-every-corner-its-actually-true-and-hurting-the-companys-sales | website=Quartz | date=21 July 2022}}</ref>

In the 21st century, North American usage has increasingly distinguished between the terms "coffee shop" and "café" based on their operational models and revenue streams. While often used interchangeably in casual speech, a '''coffee shop''' is typically characterized by a focus on "extraction" (beverages), counter service, and high-volume throughput. In contrast, a '''café''' often functions as a hybrid between a restaurant and a traditional coffeehouse, prioritizing seated dining and a higher average transaction value. This distinction is further defined by physical infrastructure; cafés often require full commercial kitchen licensing, including grease traps and high-capacity ventilation for meal preparation, whereas coffee shops frequently operate under "light food" licenses that prioritize the espresso machine as the central focal point of the space.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yang |first=Lucius |date=2026-02-05 |title=What is the difference between a café and a coffee shop? |url=https://coffeesailor.net/what-is-the-difference-between-a-cafe-and-a-coffee-shop/ |url-status=live |website=coffee sailor}}</ref>

From the 1960s through the mid-1980s, churches and individuals in the United States used the coffeehouse concept for outreach. They were often storefronts and had names like ''The Lost Coin'' (Greenwich Village), ''The Gathering Place'' (Riverside, CA), ''Catacomb Chapel'' (New York City), and ''Jesus for You'' (Buffalo, NY). Christian music (often guitar-based) was performed, coffee and food provided, and Bible studies convened as people of varying backgrounds gathered in a casual setting that was purposefully different from traditional churches.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}}

== Contemporary history ==

[[File:Pastries sold at a coffee shop.jpg|thumb|right|Coffeehouses often sell pastries or other food items.]] A café may have an outdoor section (on a terrace, pavement or sidewalk) with seats, tables and parasols. This is especially common in Europe. Cafés offer a more open public space than many of the traditional pubs they have replaced, which were more male-dominated with a focus on alcohol.

One of the original uses of the café, as a place for information exchange and communication, was reintroduced in the 1990s with the Internet café or hotspot.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=16089 |title=Julius Briner Message Board |publisher=Investorshub.advfn.com |access-date=21 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501135208/http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=16089 |archive-date=1 May 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=January 2026}} The spread of modern-style cafés to urban and rural areas went hand-in-hand with the rising use of mobile computers. Computers and Internet access and contemporary decor help to create a youthful, modern place, compared to the traditional pubs or old-fashioned diners that they replaced.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}}

===Africa=== ====Egypt==== Coffeehouses in Egypt are colloquially called ''ʿahwah'' {{IPA|/ʔhwa/}}, the dialectal pronunciation of {{lang|ar|قَهْوة}} ''qahwah'' (literally "coffee"){{Efn|The {{IPAblink|q}} is debuccalized to {{IPAblink|ʔ}}.<ref>{{cite book|first=Desmond |last=Stewart|title=Cairo | year=1965|location=South Brunswick, New Jersey | publisher=A. S. Barnes | oclc=786164786 | quote=[...] ''qahwah'', coffee, is pronounced as ''ahwah''; the word for citadel, ''qalʿah'', is pronounced ''alʿah''; in both cases, it should be added, the final 'h' is silent and is often omitted.}}</ref> See also Arabic phonology#Local variations.}} These were named after what was then the most popular drink that they served,<ref name="Gezim" /> though also commonly served in ''ʿahwah'' are tea (''shāy'') and herbal teas, especially the highly popular hibiscus blend (Egyptian Arabic: ''karkadeh'' or ''ennab'').

The first ''ʿahwah'' opened around the 1850s but for a long time were patronized mostly by older people, with youths frequenting but not always ordering. However:

<blockquote>By the 1920s, there were many coffee shops throughout Egypt. They could be classified into three major kinds: the Alexandrian ''bursa'', the Cairo club, and the rural ''gharza'' (inn). ... [All three] gradually became significant centres where Egyptians sipped the spirit of integration and unity.<ref name="Gezim">{{cite book|last=Alpion|first=Gëzim|title=Encounters with Civilizations: From Alexander the Great to Mother Teresa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ikb8zMXSViMC&pg=PA48|access-date=1 April 2012|date=18 May 2011|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=978-1-4128-1831-5|page=48|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906225907/http://books.google.com/books?id=Ikb8zMXSViMC&pg=PA48|archive-date=6 September 2013|url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>

====Ethiopia==== In Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, independent coffeehouses that struggled before 1991 have become popular with young professionals who do not have time for traditional coffee roasting at home.{{Efn|For a depiction of home preparation, see {{cite web | first=Carey | last=Nash |title = Ethiopian coffee ceremony |website = Carey Nash Photography |access-date = 12 January 2026 |date = 28 September 2014 |url = http://careynash.com/2014/09/28/ethiopian-coffee-ceremony/ |url-status = deviated  |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141008074931/http://careynash.com/2014/09/28/ethiopian-coffee-ceremony/ |archive-date = 8 October 2014 }}}} One that has become well known is Tomoca, which opened in 1953.<ref>{{cite web | last = Jeffrey | first = James | title = Boom times for Ethiopia's coffee shops | work = BBC News | access-date = 21 October 2014 | date = 15 October 2014 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-29541768 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019001552/http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29541768 | archive-date = 19 October 2014 | url-status = live }}</ref>

===Asia===

====India==== In India, coffee culture has expanded in the past twenty years. Chains like Indian Coffee House, Café Coffee Day, and Barista Lavazza have become very popular.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}} Cafés are considered good places to conduct office meetings and for friends to meet.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://asiancorrespondent.com/97958/middle-class-india-embraces-coffee-culture/ |title=Middle-class India embraces coffee culture |website=Asian Correspondent |date=18 February 2013 |access-date=15 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906100753/http://asiancorrespondent.com/97958/middle-class-india-embraces-coffee-culture/ |archive-date=6 September 2013 |url-status=deviated  | quote="This article first appeared on the ''Mocking Indian'' blog"}}</ref>

====China==== In China, a growing number of domestic coffeehouse chains have emerged since the 1990s. Among them, Luckin Coffee, founded in Beijing in 2017, has become a notable homegrown challenger to Western brands that have dominated China's market such as Starbucks. By leveraging a digital-first, app-based model and aggressive pricing, Luckin rapidly expanded to over 20,000 stores in China by 2024, overtaking Starbucks as the country's largest coffee chain by revenue and store count. Starbucks' market share in China fell from a peak of 42% in 2017 to 14% in 2024, while Luckin posted strong revenue and profit growth. In 2025, Luckin took its rivalry global by opening its first U.S. stores in New York City, signaling the rise of a domestic Chinese coffee brand on the world stage. Coffee culture continues to expand in major cities, though tea remains the dominant and historical daily beverage for most of the population.<ref name="LuckinCampaign">{{cite web |url=https://beta.campaignlive.com/article/why-western-coffee-giants-losing-ground-chinas-coffee-boom/1929369 |title=Why Western coffee giants are losing ground in China's coffee boom |website=Campaign Live |date= |access-date=4 April 2026}}</ref><ref name="LuckinFoodTalks">{{cite web |url=https://www.foodtalks.cn/en/news/58796 |title=Luckin Coffee: The rise of China's homegrown coffee champion |website=FoodTalks |date= |access-date=4 April 2026}}</ref><ref name="LuckinYicai">{{cite web |url=https://www.yicaiglobal.com/news/chinas-luckin-coffee-forays-into-us-market |title=China's Luckin Coffee Opens First US Cafes in New York |website=Yicai Global |date=2 July 2025 |access-date=4 April 2026}}</ref><ref name="LuckinInvestor">{{cite web |url=https://investor.luckincoffee.com/news-releases/news-release-details/luckin-coffee-debuts-two-us-stores-new-york-marking-another-key |title=Luckin Coffee Debuts Two US Stores in New York, Marking Another Key Milestone in Its International Expansion |website=Luckin Coffee Investor Relations |date= |access-date=4 April 2026}}</ref>

====Malaysia and Singapore==== {{Unreferenced section|date=January 2026}} In Malaysia and Singapore, traditional breakfast and coffee shops are called ''kopi tiam''. The word is a compound of the Malay word for coffee (as borrowed and altered from English) and the Hokkien dialect word for shop ({{lang|zh|店}}; POJ: tiàm). Menus typically offer a variety of simple dishes based on egg, toast, and coconut jam, plus coffee, tea, and Milo, a popular malted chocolate drink.

====Indonesia==== In Indonesia, traditional coffeehouses are called ''kedai kopi'', ''rumah kopi'', or ''warung kopi'' which is often abbreviated as ''warkop''. ''Kopi tubruk'' (resembling Turkish coffee) is a common drink in small ''warkop''. To accompany this, traditional ''kue'' is also served. The first coffeehouse in Indonesia was founded in 1878 in Jakarta and named ''Warung Tinggi Tek Sun Ho''.<ref>{{cite web |author=Asriyati |title=Inilah Kedai Kopi Pertama di Indonesia |url=https://www.goodnewsfromindonesia.id/2019/10/01/inilah-kedai-kopi-pertama-di-indonesia |website=Good News from Indonesia |access-date=14 May 2023 |language=id |archive-date=14 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230514123147/https://www.goodnewsfromindonesia.id/2019/10/01/inilah-kedai-kopi-pertama-di-indonesia |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Philippines==== In the Philippines, coffee shop chains like Starbucks have become the prevalent hangouts for upper- and middle-class professionals in such districts as the Makati CBD. However, ''carinderias'' (small eateries) continue to serve coffee alongside breakfast and snack dishes. Events called ''kapihan'' (fora) are often held inside bakeshops or restaurants that also serve coffee for breakfast or merienda.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}} A number of places often called "cafés" serve not just coffee and pastries but full meals, often international cuisine adapted to Filipino tastes.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Yuvallos |first1=Andrei |title=What is Filipino café food, anyway? |url=https://nolisoli.ph/108349/filipino-cafe-food-essay/ |website=Nolisoli |access-date=17 May 2024 |date=17 January 2024}}</ref>

====Thailand==== In Thailand, the term "café" not only is a coffeehouse as understood elsewhere, but in the past was considered a bar serving alcoholic drinks during a comedy show on stage. This type of business flourished in the 1990s, before the 1997 financial crisis.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://mgronline.com/crime/detail/9580000073919|script-title=th:40 ปี "ตำนานคาเฟ่" เมืองหลวง จากศูนย์รวมบันเทิงถึงยุคเสื่อม นักร้องต้องขายตัวแลกพวงมาลัย|date=30 June 2015|newspaper=Manager Online|access-date=2 April 2018|language=th|archive-url=https://megalodon.jp/2026-0428-0947-58/https://mgronline.com:443/crime/detail/9580000073919|archive-date=28 April 2026|url-status=live}}</ref>

The first real coffeehouse in Thailand opened in 1917 at the Si Kak Phraya Si in the area of Rattanakosin Island, by Madam Cole, an American woman then living in Thailand. Later, Chao Phraya Ram Rakop (เจ้าพระยารามราฆพ), a Thai aristocrat, opened a coffeehouse named "Café de Norasingha" (คาเฟ่นรสิงห์) at Sanam Suea Pa (สนามเสือป่า), next to the Royal Plaza.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mgronline.com/onlinesection/detail/9610000010601|work=Manager Daily|first=โรม|last=บุนนาค|date=6 February 2018|title=เมื่อ "เครื่องดื่มปีศาจ" มาสยาม! ร.๓ ทรงปลูกเป็นสวนหลวงในหัวแหวนกรุงรัตนโกสินทร์!! |trans-title= |language=th|access-date=3 April 2018}}</ref> Café de Norasingha has been renovated and moved within Phayathai Palace.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://today.line.me/th/pc/article/%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%B5%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B2%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%9F%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%AB%E0%B9%8C+%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B2%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%9F%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%AB%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%87%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%82%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A1+%E0%B8%93+%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%8A%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%8D%E0%B8%B2%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%97-NmWqNP|date=30 October 2017|access-date=3 April 2018|language=th|work=today.line.me|title=เที่ยวร้านกาแฟนรสิงห์ ร��านกาแฟแห่งแรกของสยาม ณ พระราชวังพญาไท |trans-title= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180403051905/https://today.line.me/th/pc/article/%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%B5%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B2%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%9F%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%AB%E0%B9%8C+%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B2%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%9F%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%AB%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%87%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%82%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A1+%E0%B8%93+%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%8A%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%8D%E0%B8%B2%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%97-NmWqNP|archive-date=3 April 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the southern region, a traditional coffeehouse or ''kopi tiam'' is popular with locals, like many countries in the Malay Peninsula.{{Dubious|date=January 2026}}<ref>{{cite book|title=ประชาธิปัตย์ปราศรัย |trans-title=|date=2005|publisher= politikpress|location=Bangkok|isbn=974-92738-6-9|pages=4–5 |language=th}}</ref>

<gallery widths=200 heights=160> File:Caffeena café storefront at NOMO, Bacoor, Cavite — 25 Feb 2022.jpg|A coffee shop in Bacoor, Philippines File:Rumah Loer - Palembang, SS (9 August 2021).jpg|Rumah Loer, a contemporary-style coffee shop ({{langx|id|rumah kopi kekinian}}) in Palembang, Indonesia File:2019 02 Rustic Barista Specialty Coffee Korat 01.jpg|A shop specializing in drip coffee in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand </gallery>

===Australia=== [[File:Federal Coffee Palace Melbourne.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=|The Federal Coffee Palace, built on Collins Street, Melbourne, in 1888, was the largest and grandest "coffee palace" ever built.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}} It was demolished in 1973.]] [[File:Centre Place December 2012.jpg|thumb|right|Centre Place, Melbourne. Australia and New Zealand have competing claims to being the birthplace of the "flat white".]]

In the 19th century, coffeehouses such as the Federal Coffee Palace in the center of Melbourne were part of the temperance movement.<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 May 2014 | first=Debra | last=Hutchinson | title=Temperance and Melbourne's grand coffee palaces |url=https://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/such-was-life/temperance-and-melbournes-grand-coffee-palaces/ |access-date=12 January 2026 |website=State Library Victoria}}</ref>

In modern Australia, coffee shops are commonly called cafés. Since the post-World War II influx of Italian and Greek immigrants introduced the first espresso machines to Australia in the 1950s, there was initially a slow rise in café culture, particularly in Melbourne, until a nationwide boom in locally-owned cafés began in the 1990s.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-06-11 |first1=Sophie | last1=Kesteven | first2=Julie | last2=Street | title=The deep, rich and problematic history of coffee in Australia and worldwide |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-12/history-of-coffee-the-global-beverage-with-chequered-past/102445782 |access-date=12 January 2026 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}</ref> Alongside the rise in the number of cafés has been a rise in demand for locally (or on-site) roasted specialty coffee, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne. A local favorite{{Dubious|date=January 2026}} is the "flat white".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-04-16 | first=Harriet | last=Marsden | title=How the flat white conquered the coffee scene |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/flat-white-coffee-culture-antipodean-mcdonalds-advert-starbucks-latte-a8246111.html |access-date=2024-10-12 |website=The Independent}}</ref>

===Europe=== In most European countries, such as Spain, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, and others, the term ''café'' means a restaurant primarily serving coffee, as well as pastries such as cakes, tarts, pies, and buns. Many cafés also serve light meals such as sandwiches. European cafés often have tables on the pavement (sidewalk) as well as indoors. Some, particularly in Southern Europe, also serve alcoholic drinks (e.g., wine). In the Netherlands and Belgium, a ''café'' is the equivalent of a bar, and also sells alcoholic drinks. In the Netherlands a ''koffiehuis'' serves coffee, while a "coffee shop" (the English term) sells "soft" drugs (cannabis and hashish) and is generally not allowed to sell alcoholic drinks. In France, most cafés serve as lunch restaurants in the day, and bars in the evening. They generally do not have pastries except in the mornings, when a croissant or pain au chocolat can be bought with breakfast coffee.{{citation needed|date=October 2018|reason=This whole paragraph needs sources.}}

In Italy, cafés are similar to those found in France and known as ''bar''. They typically serve a variety of espresso coffee, cakes and alcoholic drinks. Bars in city centers usually have different prices for consumption at the bar and consumption at a table.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tomalin |first1=Barry |title=Italy – Culture Smart! The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture |date=2016 |publisher=Kuperard |location=London |isbn=9781857338300 |page=101}}</ref>

====Ireland==== Today, the word ''café'' – also spelled ''cafe'',{{Efn|In Irish usage, the spelling difference does not distinguish between coffeehouse and diner, and is merely a decision by the owner: thus the two largest diner-style café chains in Ireland in the 1990s were named "Kylemore Cafe" and "Bewley's Café": one written without the acute accent and the other with.}} but always pronounced as two syllables – is used for most coffeehouses. It has also come to be used for a type of diner that offers cooked meals (again, without alcoholic beverages) which can be standalone or operating within shopping centres or department stores.

====United Kingdom==== The patrons of the early English coffeehouses were far removed from those of modern Britain. Haunts for teenagers in particular, Italian-run espresso bars and their formica-topped tables were a feature of 1950s Soho that provided a backdrop as well as a title for Cliff Richard's 1960 film ''Expresso Bongo''. The first of these was the Moka in Frith Street, opened by Gina Lollobrigida in 1953.<ref name="ClassicCafes" /> The late 50s Soho cafes in the film have "[an] exotic Gaggia coffee machine ... [and] Coke, Pepsi, weak frothy coffee and a Suncrush orange fountain";<ref name="Perry">{{Cite book | first=Lyn | last=Perry | chapter=Cabbages and cuppas | url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/education/community/adventures_in_the_mediatheque.pdf | url-status=dead | title=Adventures in the Mediatheque: Personal Selections of Films | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515132037/http://www.bfi.org.uk/education/community/adventures_in_the_mediatheque.pdf | archive-date=15 May 2011 | location=London | publisher=BFI Southbank / University of the Third Age | year=2008 | pages=26–27}}</ref> they spread to other urban centers during the 1960s, providing affordable, warm places for young people to congregate and an ambience far removed from the global coffee bar standard set in the final decades of the century by chains such as Starbucks and Pret a Manger.<ref name="Perry"/><ref name="ClassicCafes">{{cite web|first=Adrian | last=Maddox | url=http://www.classiccafes.co.uk/History.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323201633/http://www.classiccafes.co.uk/History.html|archive-date=23 March 2016|title=The coming of the cafes|website=Classic Cafes}} Specifically the section headed "1953...".</ref>

===Espresso bar=== {{More citations needed section |date=October 2018}} [[File:Baliuagjf1696 08.JPG|thumb|right|upright|Interior of an espresso bar in Baliwag, Philippines]]

The '''espresso bar''' is a type of coffeehouse that specializes in coffee drinks made from espresso. Originating in Italy, it has spread throughout the world in various forms. International chains include Starbucks Coffee, based in Seattle, U.S., and Costa Coffee, based in Loudwater, U.K. (the first and second largest coffeehouse chains respectively), although the espresso bar exists in some form throughout much of the world.

The espresso bar typically has a long counter with a high-yield espresso machine (usually bean to cup machines, automatic or semiautomatic pump-type machine, although occasionally a manually operated lever-and-piston system) and a display case containing pastries and occasionally savory items such as sandwiches. In the traditional Italian bar, customers either order at the bar and consume their drinks standing or, if they wish to sit down and be served, are usually charged a higher price. In some bars there is an additional charge for drinks served at an outside table. In other countries, especially the United States, seating areas for customers to relax and work are provided free of charge. Some espresso bars also sell coffee paraphernalia, candy, and even music. North American espresso bars were also at the forefront of the proliferation of public Wi-Fi access points to provide Internet services to people working on laptop computers.

The offerings at the typical espresso bar are generally quite Italianate in inspiration; biscotti, cannoli and pizzelle are common traditional accompaniments to a caffè latte or cappuccino. Some espresso bars even offer alcoholic drinks such as grappa and sambuca. Nevertheless, typical pastries are not always strictly Italianate and common additions include scones, muffins, croissants, and even doughnuts. There is usually a large selection of teas as well, and the North American espresso bar culture is responsible for the popularization of the Indian spiced tea drink masala chai. Iced drinks are also popular in some countries, including both iced tea and iced coffee as well as blended drinks such as Starbucks' Frappucino.

A worker in an espresso bar is called a barista. This is a skilled position that requires familiarity with the drinks being made (often very elaborate, especially in North American-style espresso bars) and a reasonable facility with some equipment, as well as the usual customer service skills.

==Gallery== <gallery widths="200" heights="160"> File:028 Cafe sign free photo - Cafe neon - Creative Commons Attribution.jpg|"Café" neon sign in Breda, Netherlands File:Café Mélange, Wien.jpg|Café Mélange, Vienna File:Kahvila Kampelan terassia.JPG|Café Kampela, Helsinki File:The Grey Owl Coffee shop in Norman Oklahoma on the morning of 10 Dec 2023.jpg|The Grey Owl Coffee shop in Norman, Oklahoma File:In café omgebouwde kerk in Utrecht.jpg|A café in a former church, Utrecht File:Roadside cafe on the summer terrace. Buryatia, Russia.jpg|Roadside café with a summer terrace, Buryatia, Russia File:Malaysia-kopitiam.jpg|Interior of a kopitiam, Malaysia </gallery>

==See also== {{portal|Coffee|Drink}} * Caffè sospeso * Coffeehouse culture of Baghdad * Coffee service * History of coffee * List of coffeehouse chains

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== <references> <ref name="Teply_1980">{{cite book |author-last=Teply |author-first=Karl |title=Die Einführung des Kaffees in Wien. Georg Franz Koltschitzky. Johannes Diodato. Isaac de Luca |language=de |trans-title=The introduction of coffee in Vienna: Georg Franz Koltschitzky, Johannes Diodato, Isaac de Luca |publisher=Verein für Geschichte der Stadt Wien / Kommissionsverlag Jugend und Volk |editor-first=Felix |editor-last=Czeike |editor-link=Felix Czeike |series="Forschungen und Beiträge zur Wiener Stadtgeschichte" (special series of ''Wiener Geschichtsblätter'') |volume=6 |date=1980 |location=Vienna |isbn=3-7141-9330-8 |oclc=14949012 |s2cid=190364058 |page=104}} Cited in: {{Cite thesis | last=Seibel | first=Anna Maria | title=Die Bedeutung der Griechen für das wirtschaftliche und kulturelle Leben in Wien. Am Beispiel der Familie Zepharovich | trans-title=The importance of Greeks for economic and cultural life in Vienna: The Zepharovich family as an example | year=2008 | degree=diploma | publisher=University of Vienna | url=https://utheses.univie.ac.at/detail/1675 | lang=de}}</ref> <ref name="Abbas_2014">{{cite journal |author-last=Abbas |author-first=Hyder |title='A Fund of entertaining and useful Information': Coffee houses, early public libraries, and the print trade in eighteenth-century Dublin |journal=Library & Information History |date=February 2014 |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=41–61 [46] |doi=10.1179/1758348913Z.00000000051 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |s2cid=161212491 |issn=1758-3489}}</ref> </references>

== External links == * {{Commons category-inline}}

Category:Coffeehouses and cafés Category:Arab inventions Category:Coffee Category:Coffee culture Category:Restaurants by type