Best Cafés to Work in Lisbon

How about Coffee

How about Coffee is generally one of my favourite places to grab a coffee. It is located in Alameda, next to the park and they have delicious coffee and baked items (if they have it, try the Brazilian carrot cake).

To my surprise, they have their own coworking space in the back (which is a completely separate room from the café itself). It’s quiet and the Wifi is great. The only downside is that it can get kinda cold there (but that’s quite normal for Portuguese houses since they are all not that well isolated). And to be fair I went there in the coldest months in Lisbon.

The staff at “How about Coffee” are always friendly, their service usually is super quick and the coffee is great. The only downside is that the café closes at 5 pm and is not open on Sundays. But this is a good option if you’re looking for a laptop-friendly café in Lisbon.

Price: I paid around 7 Euros for a flat white with oat milk and a piece of cake.

Bread & Friends

Bread & Friends is one of the best cafés to work in Lisbon around Marquês de Pombal. The café has a lot of seats and there are also outlets in many places in case you have to charge your laptop. Bread & Friends offers a variety of sweet and savoury pastries and they also do brunch and lunch menus.

Their coffee is not speciality coffee (unlike places like How About Coffee, Simpli Coffee or Thank You Mama) but it’s decent and the price is fair. Also, the atmosphere is wonderful. Just on weekends, it can get quite busy. One of the best things about this place is the opening times. Bread & Friends is open until 8 pm every day.

Price: I paid a little over 6 euros for a cappuccino and an empanada.

Simpli Coffee

There are a few different Simpli Coffee locations in Lisbon. When I was living around Marquês de Pombal, I used to go to the location in Picoas. From what I heard Simpli is not only a laptop-friendly café but also a dog-friendly café to work at.

Simpli has delicious speciality coffee, which they import from small, certified coffee growers. Besides a great atmosphere and space to work in, they also have brunch and pastries.

However, they don’t have the most convenient opening times. Similar to How about Coffee they close at 5 pm.

Price: For a chai latte I paid around 5 Euros.

Tastexperience

Tastexperience is located close to the Avenida metro station. It’s a bit hidden from the outside but the entrance is where it says “The Box LX” (the actual sign for Tastexperience is quite small).

The inside is super cosy and there is a big table with a comfortable height to work at. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the coffee and the cake was a little dry but overall the nice atmosphere made up for the mediocre food. This is for sure one of the best cafés in Lisbon to work if you’re looking for a calm environment.

There’s also an actual coworking place attached to the café.

Price: For a cappuccino and a piece of chocolate cake I paid a little under 6 Euros.

Hygge Kaffe

Hygge Kaffe is located close to Picoas and has a wonderful lunch, brunch and cake menu. But I would probably try to avoid this place around lunchtime though because it can get very busy, especially at the front of the café

It is also worth it, to just have lunch/brunch here. But generally, if you get a seat at the back it’s great to work from there! Also, Hygge Kaffe has better opening times than a few other places on this list since they are open until 7 pm.

Price: A flat white with oat milk and the red velvet cake was a little over 5 Euros.

The Copenhagen Coffee Lab

There are multiple locations of the Copenhagen Coffee Lab in Lisbon. Usually, they have some tables where you’re not allowed to sit with your laptop and areas where you can work.

The location in Baixa is quite small. I would recommend trying the Copenhagen Coffee Lab at either Alcântara, Cais do Sodré, Alfama, Estrela or Bacalhoeiros. However, when I was there, the Wifi at the location in Cais do Sodré was quite bad and I ended up not staying too long there. But they have tables with a good height to work at.

Price: I think this place is quite pricey. A dirty chai latte was almost 6 Euros.

Thank You Mama

This café has amazing coffee, cake and a great vibe. It is located in Anjos and it is dog-friendly! When I went there they had a promotion in collaboration with Oatly and gave away free coffees with oat milk. Since that’s my usual order I had to go and check it out.

They have a cosy area in the front with a view of the street and some smaller tables. In the back of the café is a more calm work area. There’s a big table and some smaller ones, which are all great to work at. (Although height-wise I did prefer the smaller tables to sit at with a laptop).

I also tried their crumble pie, which was amazing. And since it was Women’s Day, they gave every woman a free flower.

Price: I got a flat white with oat milk (which was free that day but usually is around 3.50 Euros) and a piece of cake which was 4 Euros.

Ela Ela

If you’re in Santos looking for a place to work Ela Ela is a nice option. However, I was a bit underwhelmed with the coffee (the flat white tasted watery). I probably had bigger expectations since they market themselves as a speciality coffee place. They have one big table with around 6 seats, which had a great height to work at and the café itself is super cute.

They do require you to spend at least 10 Euros if you want to stay and work, which I find fair. Their cheesecake is more than 6 Euros per piece so you will reach these 10 Euros quite easily.

Price: This place is a bit more pricey than other places. I paid almost 5 Euros for a flat white with oat milk and around the same for a piece of banana cake.

Pastelaria Bairro Alto Hotel

Okay, this place is a little different than the previous ones. While all the other places had Wifi available the Pastelaria Bairro Alto Hotel doesn’t have free Wifi (as far as I know). But this café that belongs to the hotel is a great spot to do some reading or studying if you don’t need the internet/don’t want to pay for it.

Not that many people know about this place, hence it’s usually quiet and there’s lots of space there. Their coffee is decent (not as good as some of the speciality coffee places on this list though) and the pastries are okay just sometimes a little dry. But the atmosphere is wonderful and ideal if you need to focus.

It’s also a good place to come and have a gossip session with your friends ;).

Price: For a flat white with oat milk and a cinnamon bun I paid a little over 7 Euros.