World's Top 30 Best High-End Coffeehouses and Cafés

A COFFEEHOUSE, coffee shop, or CAFÉ is an establishment that primarily serves coffee, related coffee drinks (latte, cappuccino, espresso), and - depending on country - other drinks including alcoholic. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks such as iced coffee and iced tea; in continental Europe, cafés serve alcoholic drinks. A coffeehouse may also serve some type of food, such as light snacks, muffins or pastries. Coffeehouses range from owner-operated small businesses to large multinational corporations.

While café may refer to a coffeehouse, the term "cafe" generally refers to a diner, British cafe (colloquially called a "caff"), "greasy spoon" (a small and inexpensive restaurant), transport cafe, teahouse or tea room, or other casual eating and drinking place. A coffeehouse may share some of the same characteristics of a bar or restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. Many coffeehouses in the Middle East and in West Asian immigrant districts in the Western world offer shisha (nargile in Greek and Turkish), flavored tobacco smoked through a hookah. Espresso bars are a type of coffeehouse that specializes in serving espresso and espresso-based drinks.

From a cultural standpoint, coffeehouses largely serve as centers of social interaction: the coffeehouse provides patrons with a place to congregate, talk, read, write, entertain one another, or pass the time, whether individually or in small groups. Since the development of Wi-Fi, coffeehouses with this capability have also become places for patrons to access the Internet on their laptops and tablet computers. A coffeehouse can serve as an informal club for its regular members. As early as the 1950s Beatnik era and the 1960s folk music scene, coffeehouses have hosted singer-songwriter performances, typically in the evening.

Coffeehouse News, Reviews & Resources

• A London coffee shop is charging $64 for its premium brew -- here's what it tastes like - "Ground and brewed 'tableside' by your own personal barista, the 'Ethiopian Cup of Excellence Queens Coffee' is served in a crystal wine glass and is a generous portion that might even stretch to two."
• Are these the most beautiful coffee shops in the world? - "In a world where competitors are often crowded together or even lined up next to one another on the same city block, many cafés are doing whatever it takes to stand out. Or, rather, to let their coffee stand out."
• CafÉ sells single cup of exotic coffee for $1,500 - "Its owner swears customers are brought to tears by the taste. The beans get flown in from Panama."
• Cafeteria - Wikipedia.
• Coffee & Chocolate: a Winning Combo - "Both come from the seeds of tropical plants, both contain caffeine that keeps our energy levels up and, together, they increase our concentration: we’re talking about coffee and chocolate, a winning combo in every sense, especially flavour. In higher-end cafés, coffee is often served with a glass of water and a chocolate, which poses its own slight dilemma: is it better to eat the chocolate before or after your coffee? And what about the water?"
• Coffee & culture with dr johnson - The Independent.
• Coffee culture - Wikipedia.
• Coffee service - Wikipedia.
• Coffeehouse - Wikipedia.
• English coffeehouses in the 17th and 18th centuries - Wikipedia.
• List of cafeterias - Wikipedia.
• List of coffeehouse chains - Wikipedia.
• Lloyd's Coffee House - Wikipedia.
• London's Original and All-Inspiring Coffee House - "In 1652 the first coffee house in London was opened on St. Michael’s Alley, off Cornhill, set within a warren of medieval streets."
• Nando's Coffee House - Wikipedia.
• Queen's Lane Coffee House - Wikipedia.
• The History Of London's Coffee House Culture - culture trip.
• The Jamaica Coffee House in the City of London - London’s first coffee house, opened in 1652.
• The world's most historic coffee houses - "This post seeks out the historic coffee houses, paying particular attention to those that have either played a significant role in our society or have stood the test of time and remain trading today ... some 200 years after their establishment."
• Tom King's Coffee House - Wikipedia.
• TURK'S HEAD COFFEE HOUSE IN CHANGE ALLEY - Pascal Bonenfant.

Top 30 Best High-End Coffeehouses & Cafés

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• ANTICO CAFFÈ GRECO - opened in 1760 on 86, Via dei Condotti. "The writers and other artists who lived in this area—once known as the "English Quarter"—gathered here. Casanova, Goethe, Bertel Thorvaldsen, Mariano Fortuny, Franz Liszt, John Keats, Henrik Ibsen, Felix Mendelssohn, Wagner, Levi, María Zambrano, Nickolai Gogol, George Eliot, Hans Christian Andersen, Stendhal, Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James, Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe-Shelley, to name a few, sipped cappuccinos at its round tables."
• Blue Bottle Coffee - cafés: Bay Area & New York City.
• CafÈ Badilatti - since 1912. The highest coffee roaster in Europe. Over three generations the family Badilatti has guaranteed top quality coffee for all lovers of the drink who look for something special. Chesa Cafè, CH-7524 Zuoz, Switzerland.
• CafÉ Grumpy - independently owned and operated café, bakery, and roastery with four locations in New York City.
• CafÉ Imperial - at Hotel Imperial, Kärntner Ring 16, 1010 Vienna, Austria. "A Tribute to Viennese Coffeehouse Tradition." For the Viennese, a coffeehouse is like a second home outside of one’s own home. After a lavish buffet breakfast between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., guests can enjoy delicious Viennese specialties and tidbits together with popular coffee variations such as Wiener Melange (coffee & milk blend), Pharisäer (the Austrian-style Irish Coffee) or Maria Theresia (black coffee with orange liqueur and whipped cream) as well as the home-made Imperial Torte until 11:00 p.m.
• CafÉ Lomi - 3 ter rue Marcadet, 75018 Paris, France.

• CaffÈ Florian - coffee house situated in the Procuratie Nuove of Piazza San Marco, Venice. It was established in 1720, and is a contender for the title of the oldest coffee house in continuous operation (Antico Caffè Greco in Rome was established in 1760).
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• CaffÈ Pedrocchi - since 1831. It has architectural prominence because its rooms were decorated in diverse styles, arranged in an eclectic ensemble by the architect Giuseppe Jappelli. The café has historical prominence because of its role in the 1848 riots against the Habsburg monarchy, as well as for being an attraction for artists over the last century from the French novelist Stendhal to Lord Byron to the Italian writer Dario Fo. Padua, Italy.
• Caribou Coffee - specialty coffee and espresso retailer, the second largest in the United States after Starbucks. 126 franchise locations worldwide.
• Castroni - via Cola di Rienzo 196, 00193 Rome, Italy.
• Coutume - 47, rue de Babylone, 75007 Paris, France.
• Ferrara Bakery & Café - "America's First Espresso Bar - Since 1892." 195 Grand Street (between Mulberry Street and Mott Street), New York City, NY 10013, U.S.A.
• Five Elephant - Reichenberger Straße 101, 10999 Berlin, Germany. Specialty coffee micro roastery, online store,bakery and café in Berlin, Germany. "Passionate about quality, our goal is to source the best coffees in the world in a way that is both socially and environmentally responsible."
• Four Barrel Coffee - 375 Valencia St (at 15th St), San Francisco, CA 94103, U.S.A.
• Gimme! Coffee - locations in New York City and Upstate New York.
• Gushi Cliff Coffee: Cliffside cafÉ in China serves death-defying $56 coffee with a view of Taiwan - "Gushi Cliff Coffee - which opened on October 1, the first day of China’s 'Golden Week' holiday - has sparked a buzz on Chinese social media. For the $56 package, customers will get insurance, safety gear rental, a drink, a coach to guide them and a 'unique filming experience', according to Xue. The whole experience lasts about 80 minutes."
• Jack’s Stir Brew Coffee - since 2003. "Voted America's Best Coffee." New York City coffeehouse located in the historic Greenwich Village and South Street Seaport, as well as in Amagansett, NY. Opened by owner Jack Mazzola in 2003 it was the first Organic, Fair Trade, Shade-Grown coffeeshop in the city. The coffee is prepared using the patented Stir Brew method.
• Kaffeine - 66 Great Titchfield St, London W1W 7QJ, England, U.K. Inspired by the amazing coffee culture in Australia and New Zealand, Kaffeine is an independently owned cafe and espresso bar in Fitzrovia.
• Kafferiet - since 1998. Specialty: slow coffee. "When you enter KAFFERIET, you enter another world where you forget about everyday problems for a while. Here you get surrounded by warmth and the smell of freshly ground coffee. At KAFFERIET, you can have your coffee to stay - drink it in the coffee shop of our beautiful handmade cups. You can of course also have your coffee as take away, in our nice to-go mug." Coffeehouses: Esplanaden 44, Kronprinsessegade 1, Wildersgade 26 & Ryesgade 63: Copenhagen, Denmark.
• Koppi - Norra Storgatan 16, 252 50 Helsingborg, Sweden. Fine Coffee Roadsters since 2007. "The roastery and coffee bar, situated in the heart of Helsingborg, offer coffee experiences out of the ordinary. Our ambition is to be one of the best roasters in the world and our aim is always to buy, roast, brew and serve coffee from the worlds best coffee producers."
• La Casa del CaffÈ Tazza d'Oro - via degli Orfani 84, 00186 Rome, Italy.
• LAVAZZA - "Italy's favorite coffee." Coffee shops worldwide.
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• Monmouth Covent Garden - 27 Monmouth Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9EP, England, U.K. "We make single cone filter coffee and espresso based drinks. Our organic Jersey whole milk is from Jeff Bowles in Somerset and our organic whole cane sugar from Assukkar, Costa Rica. We have pastries from Little Bread Pedlar, fresh cream truffles from Sally Clarke and, in the colder months, single-origin chocolate from Marou and Tobago Estate."
• Oren's Daily Roast - NYC's premier coffee roaster since 1986, now offering the finest specialty coffees, teas, brewing equipment and accessories online.
• PEET'S COFFEE & TEA - Californian specialty coffee roaster and retailer.
• Prolog Coffee Bar - "Specialty Coffee in Copenhagen." Høkerboderne 16, 1712 Copenhagen V, Denmark.
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• Queens of Mayfair - 17 Queen St, Mayfair, London W1J 5PH, England, U.K. "UK's Most Expensive Coffee. Experience for One." This is the award winning Cup of Excellence from Ethipoia. Served through a v60 filter after being ground table side by our Head Barista you will enjoy some of the finest coffee in the world. Not only is this a rare commodity but the farmers were paid more than 150 × the usual trade price for these award winning beans, makign a real difference to comunities in Ethiopia.
• Sant’Eustachio Il CaffÈ - Piazza Sant’Eustachio 82, 00186 Rome, Italy.
• Sciascia CaffÈ dal 1919 - Via Fabio Massimo 80/A, 00192 Rome, Italy.
• SECOND CUP - Canada’s largest specialty coffee retailer, and operates more than 360 cafés across Canada.
• STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY - founded in 1971. The largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 20,891 stores in 62 countries.
• Tazza d'Oro - since 1946. Via degli Orfani, 84 (Pantheon), 00186, Rome, Italy.
• Ten Belles - 10, rue de la Grange aux Belles, 75010 Paris, France.
• The Broken Arm - 12, rue Perrée, 75003 Paris, France.