Fábrica Coffee Roasters

Fabrica Coffee Roasters' lovely outdoor space

Specialty coffee is still a rarity in Lisbon. Fábrica Coffee Roasters, founded in 2015, is one of the earliest stalwarts of third wave coffee in Lisbon, roasting their own beans, offering several single-origin beans for filter (pour-over or Aeropress) and well-balanced blends for the espresso-based drinks.

A Flat White at Fabrica Cofffee Roasters

Fábrica has a couple of locations. We often went to the one near our Bairro Alto apartment, on the other side of Avenida da Liberdade, one of the main avenues in the city. The outdoor space was lovely to spend time chatting, while sipping on coffee and plotting our next move.

Also not far from our apartment was Fábrica's Chiado location. Relatively new, a narrow but huge space, with a small patio jutting out on to the steep Rua das Flores, I quite enjoyed sipping my morning coffee here, watching people go about their business, and on one occasion sharing the high-demand small space with a visiting Dutch finance professional.

Fábrica Coffee Roasters is at Rua das Portas de Santo Antão 136, 1150-265 Lisboa, Portugal

Fábrica's Chiado location is at Rua das Flores 63, 1200-015 Lisboa, Portugal

Copenhagen Coffee Lab

Another one of the driving forces behind Lisbon's specialty coffee scene is Copenhagen Coffee Lab, sister café to the café by the same name in Copenhagen. Stepping inside from Lisbon's colorful streets, the minimalist Nordic aesthetic of the café, run by coffee-loving Danes, is a welcome change.

Copenhagen Coffee Lab roasts their own beans (in Copenhagen) and offers espresso-based drinks and several single-origin options for pourovers and Aeropress.

Breakfast and a pourover at Copenhagen Coffee Lab

In addition to coffee, they offer cakes, pastries, and a delicious breakfast like the one above that includes bread, butter, and an egg for €5.

Copenhagen Coffee Lab located on a quiet street in Lisbon's Príncipe Real neighborhood

Copenhagen Coffee Lab is located at Rua Nova da Piedade 10, 1200-298 Lisboa, Portugal

Wish Slow Coffee

Located around 4 kilometers east of the center of Lisbon, halfway to Belém, is LX Factory, a mini-city that transformed an abandoned factory site in 2008 into a creative hub of restaurants, shops, galleries, office spaces, and cafés.

Started in 2015, Wish Coffee House serves well-made espresso drinks and filter coffee using beans they roast themselves and also from Berlin's Five Elephant.

LX Factory, a creative hub, located east of Lisbon's center

Wish Slow Coffee House is located within LX Factory at Rua Rodrigues de Faria 103, Espaço G.02A, 1300-501 Lisboa, Portugal

Hello, Kristof

Located on Rua do Poço dos Negros, roughly in Bairro Alto, Hello, Kristof is a coffee and magazine café with a Scandinavian aesthetic. They only serve espresso-based drinks using a single-group La Marzocco GS3. Beans are roasted locally at Academica Do Café.

In addition to coffee, they serve pastries and light food. Espresso is €1.2.

Hello, Kristof is located at Rua do Poço dos Negros 103, 1200 Lisboa, Portugal

The Mill

A Australian-Portuguese partnership, The Mill was founded by Paul and Madeline. They roast their own beans at Lisbon's Flor da Selva, a 500 meter walk from their café.

We spent a lot of time watching the world go by, from Mill's large window

At this time they only serve espresso-based drinks. A double espresso is €1.2.

A Piccolo latte at The Mill, €1.5 — A Piccolo latte at The Mill, €1.5

The Mill is an all-day spot, serving homemade cakes and pastries, breakfast and lunch, and an evening menu. In addition to coffee, they also serve wines.

The Mill is located at Rua do Poço dos Negros 1, 1200-335 Lisboa, Portugal

Bettina & Niccolò Corallo

Located on a street overlooking the Jardim Botânico da Universidade de Lisboa, also the site of a weekly farmers' market, in Lisbon's Príncipe Real, Bettina and her son Niccolò run this chocolate-focused café.

An espresso, served with a piece of chocolate bark at Bettina & Niccolò Corallo

In case you are wondering, Bettina was involved with Claudio Corallo in experimenting with cacao production in São Tomé and Príncipe in Africa, where Caludio continues to produce some of the most complex cacao in the world.

A crowd gathers at Bettina & Niccolò Corallo

In addition to sourcing the best ingredients they can get their hands on for their various chocolate confections, they also roast their own coffee in-house. Coffee is served alongside a piece of one of their chocolate barks, of course.

Bettina & Niccolò Corallo is at Rua da Escola Politécnica 4, 1250-096 Lisboa, Portugal

Find these cafés in our foursquare list, or our Lisbon map: