The traditional Lisbon coffee is the bica, a short espresso. Alongside it the city now has cafés that pour flat whites, cortados and V60s, and four of these six roast their own coffee. Fábrica has roasted since 2015, Baobá since 2021 with coffee from its own farm in Brazil, and The Folks since 2024; Hello Kristof roasts in its São Bento café. Comobå pours coffee from Sgt. Martinho, and SO Coffee Roasters brings its Porto roasts to a bar in Chiado. Most of these coffee shops in Lisbon are in the Baixa, Chiado, Bica, São Bento and Alfama.
Fábrica Coffee Roasters, the Baixa, Santos and the Sé
Fábrica Coffee Roasters is an independent, family-run roaster founded in 2015 to bring specialty coffee to Portugal. It buys through direct-trade partnerships with farmers and roasts each coffee for its purpose, light for filter and slightly darker for espresso. The roasting happens at its Roastery & Cafeteria in Terrugem, in the municipality of Sintra, which is also a café. In Lisbon there are four Fábrica cafés: Avenida by Restauradores, Comércio in the Baixa, Santos, and S. Mamede near the Sé, with two more in Cascais, one of them a counter in the town market. A few house coffees stay on the list all year, among them an espresso blend of Brazil and Ethiopia, and the seasonal lots from Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru and Ethiopia are often roasted twice, once for espresso and once for filter, under two different names. Part of the range is certified organic.
The Folks, six cafés from Chiado to Belém
The Folks opened its first café in Baixa-Chiado in 2022, then four more in 2023 in Alfama, Santos, Sé and the Baixa, and a sixth by the river in Belém in 2026. Its slogan is “Slow moments in a fast city”, and the brunch is made fresh and served all day, with no reservations. Each room has its own look: hand-painted azulejos at The Folks Blue Street, an old tree over the Alfama terrace, a sea of pillows in Santos, and the cathedral and tram 28 outside the window at Sé. Since 2024 The Folks has roasted every bag itself in Lisbon, in small weekly batches, with coffees from Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Costa Rica and Papua New Guinea bought through exporters and importers and profiled for filter, espresso or omni. The coffee on the bar is the coffee in the bags, on Victoria Arduino machines in every café. In 2026 it appeared for the second year in The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops, at number 34 in Europe.
Hello Kristof, São Bento, Bica and Alfama
Hello Kristof is run by Charlie and Malaylack, who took the café over after settling in Portugal. It roasts its coffee in-house in small batches, with origins such as Guatemala, Colombia, Ethiopia and Costa Rica, and the roastery is in the São Bento café, the newest of the three, with 60 seats, a filter coffee menu and dishes inspired by the chef’s Laotian roots. São Bento takes table bookings and keeps a small area for laptops. The Bica café is small and quiet, and the Alfama café looks out on the Pantheon. The baristas brew espresso, V60, Chemex and AeroPress, the menu runs from homemade pastries to a weekend brunch with plant-based dishes, and the cafés also sell magazines and beans.
Baobá, Bica and Marvila
Baobá roasts in Lisbon the coffee from its own farm, Fazenda Baobá, in the interior of São Paulo state, under the line “Brazilian roots, Portuguese roast”. It has roasted in Lisbon since 2021. The farm lots are Brazilian varieties such as Yellow and Red Catucaí, Yellow Obatã and Catiguá 2SL, some grown at 1,150 metres on volcanic soils around São Sebastião da Grama, and processed natural, honey or anaerobic. The 2026 limited edition comes from the first harvest of a plot of Red Catucaí at 1,350 metres, fermented for 114 hours and light-roasted by master roaster Lokesh Pradhan. The range also has two blends for espresso and milk drinks and a washed Bourbon decaf from Burundi. Baobá’s two cafés are in Bica and in Marvila, in the east of the city.
Comobå, Cais do Sodré
Comobå is a café in Cais do Sodré for “food. coffee. matcha. bar.” Its coffee is fair trade and organic, roasted in small batches by Sgt. Martinho, and the milks are made in house from almonds, coconut and rice. Besides the classic coffee menu there are matcha drinks and Comobå originals that change through the year. The kitchen works with seasonal produce from local suppliers, avoids processed foods and refined sugars, does not cook meat, and changes the menu every couple of weeks, with vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free dishes such as matcha pancakes and Atlantic fish tacos. The room also hosts birthdays, supper clubs and company events.
SO Coffee Roasters, The Feeting Room in Chiado
SO Coffee Roasters roasts in Porto, where Lisa, Pedro and João started it in 2019, and its Lisbon outpost is an espresso and filter bar inside The Feeting Room in Chiado. “SO” stands for southwest, the corner of Europe where Portugal sits. The team of 12 meets the producers it buys from, among them Jose Eguiguren in Ecuador, Patrick Murray in El Salvador, Johan Vergara in Colombia and the Barbosa family in Brazil. Its baristas compete: Rui Pedrosa became Portugal’s barista champion in 2022 and placed in the top 15 at that year’s World Barista Championship, and Luiz Lahutte Motta won the Portuguese Brewers Cup in 2024.
What you need to know about Lisbon specialty coffee
Which Lisbon coffee shops roast their own coffee? Fábrica roasts at its Roastery & Cafeteria in Terrugem, Sintra, The Folks roasts in Lisbon for its six cafés, Hello Kristof roasts in its São Bento café, and Baobá roasts in Lisbon the coffee from its farm in Brazil.
Which roasters do the other cafés serve? Comobå pours coffee roasted by Sgt. Martinho, and the SO Coffee Roasters bar at The Feeting Room pours SO’s own coffee, roasted in Porto.
Where is the brunch? The Folks serves brunch all day in all six cafés, Hello Kristof has a weekend brunch and plant-based dishes, and Comobå’s seasonal kitchen changes its menu every couple of weeks.
Can you book a table? The Folks takes no reservations. Hello Kristof’s São Bento café takes bookings, and Comobå hires out its room for events.
Can you work on a laptop? The Folks welcomes laptops before noon. Hello Kristof São Bento keeps a small laptop area, asking for a drink and something to eat for each hour.
Where is the coffee outside the centre? The Folks has a café in Belém, Baobá one in Marvila, and Fábrica has two in Cascais and its roastery café in Terrugem, Sintra.
Photo credits
Photographs belong to the businesses and are reproduced from their official websites with attribution.
