Cafeography
Accra · Labone & Cantonments

Cafés in Labone & Cantonments

Labone Coffee Shop since 1995, MilkBox on Ndabaningi Sithole Road and the embassy streets of Cantonments.

Photo: David Attricki, Pexels License

In 2025 Time Out ranked Labone 10th on its list of the world's coolest neighbourhoods, describing a once quiet district of bungalows and mango trees that had become one of Accra's liveliest.1 Time Out's local writer remembers it as a family neighborhood where everyone knew their neighbor from cradle to grave; many of its colonial-era bungalows and single-story houses have since given way to apartment blocks with elevators, balconies and rooftop terraces.2

Cantonments, next door, was meant to be a military quarter under British rule and became a planned residential suburb instead; many diplomatic missions, the U.S. Embassy among them, are here.3 Cafés are scattered through both: MilkBox Café on Ndabaningi Sithole Road, Get Stuffed Deli on Dade Street, The Cupcake Boutique, Concrete Jungle Accra, Abol cafe Ghana and Home by TJ.

Local tip: Labone businesses have long given directions from Labone Coffee Shop, open since 1995, so its name is the one to give a taxi driver.4

At a glance

7Cafés listed
0With opening hours
–Earliest opening
–Latest closing
  • Most common features: wi-fi (14%), outdoor seating (14%), air-con (14%).

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Coffee chains in Labone & Cantonments

Labone Coffee Shop, the landmark

Labone Coffee Shop opened in 1995 and became the point from which other Labone businesses gave their directions.4 Time Out described it as half indoors and half out, on Olooti Lane off Josiah Tongogara Street.4 A chain arrived on the same street later: Time Out reported in 2015 that Vida e Caffè was due to open a Labone branch on Josiah Tongogara Street that June.5

Patios, cakes and air-conditioning

MilkBox Café on Ndabaningi Sithole Road covers most needs at once, with Wi-Fi, outdoor tables and an air-conditioned room. Get Stuffed Deli on Dade Street is smoke-free.

For dessert, Time Out's 2025 Labone guide sends readers to The Cupcake Boutique; for a meal, it points to the outdoor tables at Abbysinia, an Ethiopian restaurant, and to Rosé Garden for breakfast served all day.2 Vine and Brasa cook local food, Bistro 22 is the high-end option, and La Borracha, a Mexican cantina, runs an after-work happy hour with tacos and sangria.2

Galleries, books and live music

Labone's newer draws are cultural. Limbo, a design and architecture museum in a formerly abandoned brutalist estate, is the standout recent arrival, and Labone Social Club offers candle-making alongside its shops.1 Limbo opened in November 2024 with the aim of reclaiming unfinished buildings across West Africa rather than tearing them down.6 Vidya Bookstore stocks African novels, classics and a children's section, and Berj Gallery shows work Time Out calls hard to find elsewhere.2

After dark, Zen Gardens has live music from indigenous bands, and Twist nightclub brings in some of Accra's best-known DJs on weekends.2

Getting around Labone and Cantonments

Ring Road forms Labone's boundary with Osu,7 and Danquah Circle, the roundabout on Ring Road at the top of Oxford Street, is the usual crossing point between the two.8 Traffic heading into Cantonments got its own fix in the Flower Pot interchange, built to ease congestion there.3

Cantonments is also a school district: Ghana International School, St. Thomas Aquinas Senior High School and the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) are all here, as are the Police Hospital and Cantonments Hospital.3

Sources

  1. The African cities home to two of the world's coolest neighbourhoods, Time Out (Ruth Lawes, October 3, 2025), accessed October 2026
  2. Labone area guide, Time Out (Chiké Frankie Edozien, September 23, 2025), accessed October 2026
  3. Cantonments, Accra, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  4. Labone Coffee Shop, Time Out Accra (April 23, 2013), accessed October 2026
  5. Accra's best cafés and coffee shops, Time Out Accra (Daniel Neilson, September 21, 2015), accessed October 2026
  6. From ruins to museum, Africa.com (November 11, 2024), accessed October 2026
  7. Osu, Accra, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  8. Accra area guides: Osu, Time Out (September 11, 2018), accessed October 2026
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In Labone & Cantonments, also browse: Outdoor seating

FAQ

Labone & Cantonments cafés: questions

What is Labone in Accra known for?

Labone, north of Osu across Ring Road, was once a quiet district of bungalows and mango trees. Time Out ranked it 10th among the world's coolest neighbourhoods in 2025, pointing to Limbo, a design and architecture museum in a formerly abandoned brutalist estate, as well as Vidya Bookstore, Berj Gallery and live music at Zen Gardens.

Which cafés in Labone, Accra have outdoor seating?

MilkBox Café on Ndabaningi Sithole Road has outdoor tables as well as Wi-Fi and an air-conditioned room. Labone Coffee Shop on Olooti Lane, off Josiah Tongogara Street, open since 1995, is half indoors and half out.

Where is Labone Coffee Shop in Accra?

Labone Coffee Shop is on Olooti Lane, off Josiah Tongogara Street in Labone. It opened in 1995 and became the landmark other Labone businesses give directions from. Vida e Caffè was due to open a branch on the same street in June 2015.

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