Best Coffee Shops in Lisbon: A Totally Biased Guide by Neighborhood

In Lisbon, coffee is part of the street furniture. Most locals still start the day with a bica at the counter of the nearest café. The specialty scene arrived here later than in most European capitals, then grew quickly: lightly roasted Arabica from Ethiopia, Colombia or Kenya, hand brewing, baristas who can tell you which farm the beans came from. The older places sell a strong, cheap shot and explain nothing. Both are worth your time.

Below is a list of coffee spots we actually go to, sorted by neighbourhood. It is biased — two of the cafés on it are ours — but the rest we simply drink at and like.

Portugal drank coffee from its colonies for two centuries, and the habit stuck: an espresso here is an errand, not an event. You drink it standing, you pay with the coins in your pocket, you leave. What changed in the last decade is everything around that ritual — own roasts, pour-overs, odd inventions like espresso with orange juice. The bica itself survived. We think that matters, and it shaped how we price our own espresso; more on that below.

The central grid of streets running down to Praça do Comércio, with Chiado on the hill next to it.

Our Baixa café: breakfast, brunch and lunch through the day, wine in the evening. Signature coffee drinks, own desserts, and sandwiches — beef pastrami on sourdough, tiger shrimp on a milk bun.

Address: R. dos Fanqueiros 267, 1100-232 Lisboa (Google Maps).

Hours: 9:00–18:00 Sunday–Thursday, 9:00–22:00 Friday and Saturday.

Tip: the “Reuben” pastrami sandwich, syrniki, or shakshuka if you want breakfast after noon — the kitchen doesn’t mind.

Specialty coffee and a serious brunch menu: pour-overs from light roasts, eggs Benedict, porridge, desserts. Scandinavian-plain interior, a few minutes from anywhere in the centre.

Address: Rua Nova do Almada 10, 1200-289 Lisboa (Google Maps).
Hours: 8:00–18:00 Mon–Fri, 9:00–18:00 Sat–Sun.
Tip: a pour-over and a croissant. Their light roasts lean towards berry acidity.

Cappuccino, cold brew and homemade desserts on Rua Augusta. Fine for working, better for watching the street.

Address: Rua Augusta 211, 1100-053 Lisboa (Google Maps).
Hours: 9:00–17:00, daily.
Tip: iced latte at the window seat.

A wide boulevard of expensive shops and office lobbies. Coffee here is a pause between errands.

They roast their own beans and brew pour-over and Aeropress; there are fresh pastries if you skipped breakfast.

Address: Av. da Liberdade 94, 1250-145 Lisboa (Google Maps).
Hours: 8:00–18:00, daily.
Tip: ask what Colombian lots they have on filter.

Quality coffee and simple food, done without fuss. Flat white and pancakes is the safe order.

Address: Av. da Liberdade 144, 1250-146 Lisboa (Google Maps).
Hours: 8:00–17:00 Mon–Fri, 9:00–17:00 Sat–Sun.
Tip: coffee to go and a walk down the boulevard works well here.

Loud at night, quiet before lunch. Daytime is when its cafés are at their best.

Classic coffee drinks and pour-overs, vegan options, homemade pastries. People stay with laptops and nobody hurries them.

Address: Rua da Rosa 142, 1200-389 Lisboa (Google Maps).
Hours: 9:00–18:00, daily.
Tip: the terrace, when the weather allows it.

Small room, short menu: pour-over, cold brew, toasts and pies. The kind of place you find once and keep returning to.

Address: Rua do Alecrim 100, 1200-015 Lisboa (Google Maps).
Hours: 9:00–17:00 Tue–Sun, closed Mondays.
Tip: cold brew on a hot afternoon.

Glass architecture, the riverfront promenade and the Oceanário. A different city from Baixa, twenty minutes away.

Our first café, next to the Oceanário: brioche with poached egg and cured salmon, pastrami sandwiches, cherry pie, espresso to V60 to Bumble (espresso with orange juice).

One thing we should explain, since this guide just contrasted “strong, cheap shot” with specialty prices: our espresso costs 1 €. We added up what one shot costs us to make — beans, water, electricity, labour, the cup — and stopped there. We don’t earn on it. In this city an espresso at the counter is a habit, not a decision, and we want to keep it that way; the difference is only in how it tastes.

Address: Passeio Adamastor 10a, 1990-008 Lisboa (Google Maps).
Hours: 9:00–18:00, daily.
Tip: hashbrown waffles with pastrami, shakshuka, or okroshka in the warm months. Two terraces face the river.

Offices and business schools. The cafés here are used hard from Monday to Friday, and it shows in how well they run.

Flat whites, pour-overs from light roasts, breakfast sets, toasts, desserts. Reliable before a working day.

Address: Praça Duque de Saldanha 1, 1050-094 Lisboa (Google Maps).
Hours: 8:00–18:00 Mon–Fri, 9:00–16:00 Sat–Sun.
Tip: come before 9 and the room is yours.

They roast on-site and brew Chemex and Aeropress in an industrial-looking room. The staff will happily talk beans for as long as you let them.

Address: Av. Fontes Pereira de Melo 12, 1050-121 Lisboa (Google Maps).
Hours: 9:00–17:00, daily.
Tip: ask what they roasted this week.

Between the tram line and the river. Nobody comes here in a hurry, which suits the cafés.

Specialty coffee and light breakfast inside a bookshop. Pour-over or latte, homemade pies, shelves to browse while you wait.

Address: Rua do Poço dos Negros 85, 1200-337 Lisboa (Google Maps).
Hours: 9:00–17:00 Tue–Sun, closed Mondays.
Tip: the window table.

Flat whites and pour-overs, avocado toast, a wall of independent magazines. It would fit in Berlin without changing anything.

Address: Rua do Poço dos Negros 103, 1200-337 Lisboa (Google Maps).
Hours: 9:00–17:00 Tue–Sun, closed Mondays.
Tip: a flat white and whichever magazine is on top of the pile.

The Belém Tower, the Jerónimos Monastery, and the pastel de nata queue. Coffee helps with all three.

The Folks’ second café, this one with a river view: specialty coffee, avocado toasts, desserts, a bright room.

Address: Av. Brasília 200, 1400-038 Lisboa (Google Maps).
Hours: 9:00–18:00, daily.
Tip: coffee here, nata from the bakery down the road, both by the water.

A former industrial block turned into galleries and shops, directly under the 25 de Abril bridge.

Half café, half flower shop. Espresso or cold brew with homemade desserts, surrounded by things people photograph.

Address: Rua Rodrigues Faria 103, 1300-501 Lisboa (Google Maps).
Hours: 9:00–18:00 Tue–Sun, closed Mondays.
Tip: take the coffee outside and walk the block.

Roastery first, café second: pour-over, Aeropress and espresso from their own roasts, in a room that keeps out of the coffee’s way.

Address: Rua Rodrigues Faria 99, 1300-501 Lisboa (Google Maps).
Hours: 9:00–17:00, daily.
Tip: their Ethiopian lots on filter.

Timing: most rooms fill up between 10:00 and noon. Come earlier and you can pick your table.
Ordering like a local: a “bica” is the Portuguese espresso; a “cheio” is closer to an Americano. Either one, at the counter, costs about a euro almost anywhere in town — including at ours.

The complete coffee guide on Google Maps