A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is a place that offers many types of coffee drinks, such as espresso, latte, americano, and cappuccino, as well as other beverages. An espresso bar focuses on serving espresso and drinks made with espresso. Some coffeehouses may also serve iced coffee, cold drinks, and non-caffeinated drinks. A coffeehouse might provide food like light snacks, sandwiches, muffins, cakes, breads, pastries, or doughnuts. In Canada and the U.S., many doughnut shops also serve coffee, so these can be considered coffee shops. However, doughnut shops are usually more casual and offer simpler, less expensive food, which is common for take-out and drive-through services. In continental Europe, some cafés serve alcoholic drinks. In West Asia, some cafés may offer a flavored tobacco smoked through a hookah, called shisha in most Arabic languages or nargile in Levantine Arabic, Greek, and Turkish.
The word "café" can mean a coffeehouse, but in Britain, it often refers to a diner or "greasy spoon," which is a casual place for eating and drinking. A coffeehouse may look like a bar or restaurant but is different from a cafeteria, which is a place where meals are served without table service. Coffeehouses can be run by individual owners or as part of a large company’s franchise.
Culturally, coffeehouses are places where people gather to meet, talk, read, write, or spend time alone or in small groups. They often act as informal social clubs for regular customers. Since the 1950s and 1960s, coffeehouses have hosted singer-songwriter performances, usually in the evening. In the digital age, Internet cafes appeared, following similar ideas of providing a space for people to gather and use technology.
Etymology
The word "café" comes from French and means both coffee and a place where people drink coffee. English-speaking countries began using the word "café" in the late 1800s, pronouncing it as /ˈkæfeɪ/. Sometimes, the Italian spelling "caffè" is also used in English. In Southern England, especially near London in the 1950s, people sometimes jokingly changed the French pronunciation to /kæf/ and spelled it "caff."
The English word "coffee" and the French word "café" both come from the Italian word "caffè," which was first recorded in Venice in 1570 as "caveé." This word, in turn, comes from the Arabic word "qahwa," which originally meant a type of wine. After a ban on wine in Islam, the name was later used for coffee, which was believed to have a similar energizing effect. Europeans learned about coffee, the plant, its seeds, and the drink made from the seeds, through contact with Turkey, likely through trade between Venice and the Ottoman Empire.
The English word "café" to describe a place that serves coffee and snacks (not the drink itself) comes from the French word "café." The first café in France is believed to have opened in 1660. The first café in Europe is thought to have been opened in Belgrade, Ottoman Serbia, in 1522 as a "Kafana" (a Serbian coffeehouse).
The word root /kafe/ appears in many European languages with different spellings, such as 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)), and Turkish (kahvehane).
Early history
Early versions of the drink now called coffee were used in Yemen, where religious groups drank a beverage called qahwa to stay awake during nighttime prayers. This early coffee drink was named after the port city of Mokha, from which coffee beans were first sent to other parts of the Arab world. Yemen was once a major producer and exporter of coffee, known as "Mocha" coffee. Yemeni traders helped spread the drink and its traditions, increasing its popularity across the Islamic world.
In the 15th century, coffee growing and drinking began in Yemen, where merchants turned it into a profitable product. The beans, often brought from the highlands of Ethiopia, were roasted, ground, and brewed in a way similar to how coffee is made today. By the early 16th century, coffee spread north to cities like Mecca, Cairo, and Damascus, where coffeehouses—called maqāhī (مقاهي)—became popular places for people to meet.
The first coffeehouses appeared in Damascus. These coffeehouses also opened in Mecca in the Arabian Peninsula during the 15th century. They later spread to the Ottoman Empire’s capital, Istanbul, when two Arab merchants, Hakem of Aleppo and Shems of Damascus, opened the first coffeehouse in the Tahtakale district in the 16th century. Coffeehouses also appeared in Baghdad.
Coffeehouses became places where people gathered to drink coffee, talk, play games like chess and backgammon, listen to stories and music, and discuss news and politics. These places were called "schools of wisdom" because of the thoughtful people who visited them and the open discussions that happened there.
Coffeehouses in Mecca worried religious leaders, who saw them as places for political meetings and drinking. This led to bans between 1512 and 1524. However, these bans did not last because coffee had become a regular part of daily life for Arabs and nearby cultures. The Ottoman writer İbrahim Peçevi wrote about the opening of the first coffeehouse (kiva han) in Constantinople.
A 17th-century French traveler named Jean Chardin described Persian coffeehouses (called qahveh khaneh in Persian) in detail. Coffee drinking was also common in the Mughal court, and images of coffeehouses (qahwakhanas) appear in Mughal art from the 16th century, including in Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi).
Modern history
In the 1600s, coffee first appeared in Europe outside the Ottoman Empire, and coffeehouses were created. These places quickly became popular. The first coffeehouse is believed to have opened in 1632 in Livorno, Italy, by a Jewish merchant, or in 1640 in Venice. In the 1800s and 1900s, coffeehouses in Europe were common meeting places for writers and artists.
A traditional story about the start of Viennese coffeehouses says that after the Turks lost the Battle of Vienna in 1683, they left behind sacks of green coffee beans. These were given to King Jan III Sobieski of Poland, who later gave them to his officer, Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki, a Ukrainian Cossack and Polish diplomat. Kulczycki is said to have opened the first coffeehouse in Vienna and served coffee with milk for the first time. However, it is now widely believed that the first Viennese coffeehouse was opened in 1685 by an Armenian merchant named Johannes Diodato. By 1695, four other Armenians also owned coffeehouses. Coffee drinking became common in Austria by the late 1700s.
Over time, a unique coffeehouse culture developed in Vienna. Writers, artists, musicians, and intellectuals met there. People played games, read, discussed ideas, and even worked. Newspapers were freely available, so customers could learn about local and international news. This culture spread across the Habsburg Empire in the 1800s.
Important ideas, such as scientific theories, political plans, and artistic projects, were discussed in Viennese coffeehouses throughout Central Europe. James Joyce, a famous writer, drank coffee in a Viennese coffeehouse in Trieste, a major port for coffee in Italy and Central Europe. The Viennese Kapuziner coffee, a type of coffee with milk, later became the modern cappuccino. This special culture was damaged by later events like Nazism and Communism and is now only found in places like Vienna and Trieste.
The first coffeehouse in England opened in Oxford in 1650 or 1651 on the High Street by a man named "Jacob the Jew." Another coffeehouse opened nearby in 1654 by "Cirques Jobson, the Jew." In London, the first coffeehouse was started in 1652 by Pasqua Rosée, who was described as Greek, Armenian, or Turkish. Rosée worked for a trader named Daniel Edwards, who brought coffee from the Ottoman Empire.
From 1670 to 1685, London’s coffeehouses grew in number and became important for political discussions. At first, they were visited mainly by educated and wealthy people, but by the 1660s, they became more popular. By 1675, there were over 3,000 coffeehouses in England, with about 550 in London alone. Coffeehouses were places where people did business, read news, and met others. They were open to all men, regardless of social class, and were called "penny universities" because people could access books and news for just one penny.
King Charles II tried to stop coffeehouses because he believed they spread false information and criticized the government. However, people still visited them. In the 1670s, writers and thinkers gathered at Will’s Coffee House in London. Coffeehouses were also seen as places where people talked about politics, leading to attempts by Queen Mary II and London officials to punish those who frequented them.
By the early 1700s, different coffeehouses in England attracted different groups, such as Tories and Whigs, writers, merchants, and lawyers. A French visitor noted that coffeehouses were "the seats of English liberty" because they provided access to news and ideas. Coffeehouses also helped create financial markets, like insurance and stocks. Lloyd’s Coffee House became the center for ship insurance, leading to the creation of Lloyd’s of London. In 1773, stockbrokers renamed their meeting place "The Stock Exchange."
By the 1750s, tea became more popular than coffee in England. As tea was easier to make at home and more places for leisure existed, there was less need for public coffeehouses. Later, coffeehouses catered to wealthier customers, and the culture declined.
In Victorian England, the temperance movement created coffeehouses for working-class people as alcohol-free alternatives to pubs.
Finland’s first coffeehouse, Kaffehus, opened in Turku in 1778. The oldest still-operating coffeehouse in Helsinki, Café Ekberg, was founded in 1852.
When Soliman Aga returned to the Ottoman Empire in 1669, one of his servants, Pascal, stayed in France and sold coffee from a market stall. He later opened a coffeehouse in Paris near the Pont Neuf. Other people from the Near East also started coffeehouses, but the trend faded.
In 1689, the Café de Procope opened in Paris. Owned by a Sicilian named Procopio Cutò, it became a famous meeting place for thinkers during the French Enlightenment. The Encyclopédie, a major work of the time, is said to have started with discussions there.
The Café de Procope also influenced café design. Procopio added mirrors, marble tables, and other items from a bathhouse, setting a standard for European cafés.
Contemporary history
A café may have an outdoor area, such as a terrace, sidewalk, or pavement, with seats, tables, and parasols. This is common in Europe. Cafés provide a more open public space than traditional pubs, which were often male-dominated and focused on alcohol.
One of the original purposes of cafés was to share information and communicate. This idea returned in the 1990s with the Internet café or hotspot. As modern cafés spread to cities and rural areas, more people began using mobile computers. Computers, Internet access, and modern decor helped create a youthful, up-to-date environment, unlike older pubs or diners.
In Egypt, coffeehouses are called ʿahwah, which comes from the word for coffee (qahwah). These places also serve tea and herbal teas, like hibiscus blends (karkadeh). The first ʿahwah opened around the 1850s, but for many years, older people visited more often than young people.
In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, independent coffeehouses that struggled before 1991 became popular with young professionals who lack time to roast coffee at home. One well-known example is Tomoca, which opened in 1953.
In India, coffee culture has grown over the past 20 years. Chains like Indian Coffee House, Café Coffee Day, and Barista Lavazza are now popular. Cafés are often used for meetings and social gatherings.
In China, many local coffee chains started in the 1990s. Luckin Coffee, founded in Beijing in 2017, became a major competitor to Western brands like Starbucks. Luckin used apps and low prices to grow quickly, opening over 20,000 stores in China by 2024. By 2025, Luckin expanded to the U.S., showing the rise of a Chinese coffee brand on the global stage.
In Malaysia and Singapore, traditional breakfast and coffee shops are called kopi tiam. This name combines the Malay word for coffee and the Hokkien word for shop. Menus often include simple dishes like eggs, toast, and coconut jam, along with coffee, tea, and Milo, a popular chocolate drink.
In Indonesia, traditional coffeehouses are called kedai kopi, rumah kopi, or warung kopi (warkop). A common drink is kopi tubruk, similar to Turkish coffee, often served with traditional kue (pastries). The first coffeehouse in Indonesia opened in 1878 in Jakarta and was named Warung Tinggi Tek Sun Ho.
In the Philippines, Starbucks is a popular hangout for professionals in areas like Makati. However, small eateries called carinderias still serve coffee with breakfast and snacks. Events called kapihan are held in bakeshops or restaurants that also serve coffee. Some places called "cafés" offer full meals, including international dishes adapted to local tastes.
In Thailand, the word "café" refers to a coffeehouse but also once meant a bar that served alcohol during comedy shows. This type of business was common in the 1990s but declined after the 1997 financial crisis. The first real coffeehouse in Thailand opened in 1917 in Rattanakosin Island, run by an American woman named Madam Cole. Later, a Thai aristocrat opened "Café de Norasingha" in Sanam Suea Pa. This café was later moved to Phayathai Palace. In southern Thailand, traditional coffeehouses like kopi tiam are popular, similar to those in the Malay Peninsula.
Examples of cafés include:
– A coffee shop in Bacoor, Philippines
– Rumah Loer, a modern-style coffee shop in Palembang, Indonesia
– A shop specializing in drip coffee in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand
In the 19th century, coffeehouses like the Federal Coffee Palace in Melbourne were part of the temperance movement, which encouraged avoiding alcohol.
In modern Australia, coffee shops are called cafés. After Italian and Greek immigrants introduced espresso machines in the 1950s, café culture slowly grew, especially in Melbourne. A boom in local cafés began in the 1990s, along with demand for specialty coffee. A favorite drink is the "flat white."
In most European countries, such as Spain, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Portugal, a café is a restaurant that serves coffee, pastries like cakes and tarts, and sometimes light meals like sandwiches. Many cafés have tables on sidewalks and indoors. In Southern Europe, some cafés also serve alcoholic drinks like wine. In the Netherlands and Belgium, cafés are similar to bars and sell alcohol. In the Netherlands, a koffiehuis serves coffee, while a "coffee shop" (in English) sells soft drugs and cannot sell alcohol. In France, cafés act as restaurants during the day and bars in the evening.
In Italy, cafés are called bars and serve espresso, cakes, and alcoholic drinks. Prices in city centers often differ for drinks consumed at the bar versus at a table.
Today, the word "café" (or "cafe") is used for most coffeehouses. It also refers to diners that serve cooked meals without alcohol, often found in shopping centers or department stores.
Early English coffeehouses had very different patrons than modern cafés. In the 1950s, Italian-run espresso bars with formica-topped tables became popular in Soho, London. The first of these was the Moka, opened in 1953 by Gina Lollobrigida. These cafés spread to other cities in the 1960s, offering affordable, welcoming spaces for young people.
Gallery
- A neon sign for a café in Breda, Netherlands
- Café Mélange in Vienna
- Café Kampela in Helsinki, Finland
- The Grey Owl Coffee Shop in Norman, Oklahoma
- A café located in a former church in Utrecht, Netherlands
- A roadside café with a summer terrace in Buryatia, Russia
- The interior of a kopitiam in Malaysia