Guide · Mexico City
Which cafés in Mexico City are worth visiting for the room itself? These six, from a coffee counter inside a pen workshop to a 1903 mansion, every one of them visited and filmed on my own visit.
Updated October 10, 2026 · By Jane Novikova
The short answer · pick your night
Every one of these is a room you would visit even if it served nothing. The coffee is good too, but the space is the reason to go.
For the pen workshop
Handcrafted pens and pencils made from reclaimed wood rescued from Mexican furniture workshops, with a tiny specialty coffee counter inside. You drink your coffee among the tools, the timber and the finished pieces.
The entrance is on Calle Jalapa. Fountain pens run 215 to 235 dollars if the room talks you into one.
For the concrete bar
A concrete-and-metal coffee bar on the second level of SEUM, a concept store of premium Mexican designers. A short menu of creative coffee and matcha, leather sofas inside and a couple of tables outside.
Built mostly for takeaway. Walk the store downstairs first, then come up for the coffee.
For the Turkish room
Traditional Turkish coffee brewed on hot sand, with Turkish sweets and tea in a room that feels like a stop in Istanbul. Two locations, in Condesa and Roma Norte, open from eight until half past ten at night.
The coffee cup reading is by reservation only, 600 pesos. Book it ahead if you want it.
For the Victorian tea house
A tiny English-style tea house with Victorian interiors and a long tea menu named after opera characters. You smell the leaves before you choose, and there is a small selection of desserts.
Small room, few tables. Go at a quiet hour so you can take your time with the tea list.
For the mansion
A 1903 mansion that belonged to Margarita Quijano, the writer and scholar known as la dama de la capital, whose salons were a centre of the city's intellectual life. Restored by Proyectos Públicos, with a café in the patio and a kitchen team from Sud777, Em and Quintonil.
It is listed on Google Maps as Café Principal, at Córdoba 87. Sit in the front rooms of the house, not only the patio.
For the latte art
The Roma Norte branch of the house of 3D latte art, where the foam arrives as a coloured figure sitting on top of your cup. Hidden inside a new building with a big terrace and full indoor seating.
The figures cost about two dollars extra and only work with regular or soy milk.
How I picked
These are cafés I would send someone to for the room, not only the cup: a pen workshop, a concept store bar, a Turkish coffee room, a Victorian tea house, a literary mansion and a latte art studio. I visited and filmed every one.
The best coffee shops and the best cafés for working have their own guides. This one is for the days you want the place itself to be the plan.
Questions
For the room alone, Casa Margarita, a restored 1903 mansion on Córdoba 87 in Roma Norte that once hosted the city's literary salons. For something no other city has, Numen Design, a specialty coffee counter inside a workshop making pens from reclaimed furniture wood.
Café C on Puebla 212 in Roma Norte, the third branch of the house of 3D latte art. The figures cost about two dollars extra and only work with regular or soy milk.
Lunarena, with locations at Pachuca 9 in Condesa and Zacatecas 8 in Roma Norte. It is open from eight in the morning to half past ten at night, and the coffee cup reading costs 600 pesos by reservation.
Casa Margarita is, with fast wifi and front rooms built for lingering in the morning. The others are made for a visit rather than a laptop: Numen and HUMO sit inside shops, Dimora Nemorino is tiny, and Café C is a family café. There is a separate guide to the cafés built for working.
Numen Design, Dimora Nemorino, Casa Margarita and Café C are all in Roma Norte, and Lunarena has a branch there too. HUMO is in Colonia Juárez, a short walk north.
At Tabasco 189 in Roma Norte, with the entrance on Calle Jalapa. The coffee counter sits inside the pen and pencil workshop.
Foodie map · Mexico City