Cafeography
Almaty · Arbat & Green Bazaar

Cafés in Arbat & Green Bazaar

Bowler's café upstairs at the Green Bazaar, 24-hour coffee on Gogol Street and the pedestrian Arbat on Zhibek Zholy.

Photo: Necip Duman, Pexels License

Zhibek Zholy, the Silk Road, began as Torgovaya (Trade) Street, took Maxim Gorky's name in 1936 and its present one in the 1990s.1 Cars were shut out of the stretch between Abylai Khan Avenue and Kunaev Street in the late 1980s, and locals call that pedestrian strip the Arbat; the street has been the city's commercial core since the 19th century.1

Its cafés follow the market crowd: a roaster's café on the upper floor of a Green Bazaar pavilion, small counters in the arcades off the Arbat, and a run of places on Gogol Street toward Panfilov Park, one of which never closes.

Local tip: The metro stops at midnight, so for a late coffee near the Arbat walk to Coffee Original at Gogol 75, which never closes.7

At a glance

24Cafés listed
3With opening hours
09:00Earliest opening
23:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Arabica speciality coffee, from 09:00 (Daily 09:00–21:00).
  • Closes latest: La Bosco, until 23:00 (Daily 10:00–23:00).
  • Most common features: wi-fi (17%), card payment (13%), outdoor seating (13%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Almaty.

Coffee chains in Arbat & Green Bazaar

The Green Bazaar and its coffee counter

The market dates to 1875, when the Semipalatinsk merchant Sadyk Rafikov paid for a Gostiny Dvor (merchants' court) on Torgovaya Street. The 1887 earthquake wrecked most of it, and in 1927 it was reorganized as the Central Collective Farm Market, a name that never caught on: people kept saying Green Bazaar.2 A covered brutalist hall by Mark Pavlov replaced the wooden stalls in 1975, and a 20,000 m² pavilion opened in 2017.2

Coffee is upstairs. Bowler Coffee Roasters took over a former lagman restaurant on the second floor of a pavilion; its Dutch founder has lived in Almaty since 1998 and bought his roaster in 2016 with the money from selling his Amsterdam house.3 By July 2026 tourists brought in about 60% of the café's takings, up from 10%, and it was selling around 200 cups a day.4

Along the Arbat

In 2017 the city put in new dry fountains on Zhibek Zholy between Kunaev Street and Abylai Khan Avenue.5 The former TsUM department store on the strip is now the Zangar trade center, and the wooden Kyzyl-Tan building, once a trading house, is a protected monument.1

The cafés along it are small. Tereze is at Zhibek Zholy 60, Cipollino at 66 and Kofeynya Tiamo inside the Trading House Passage at number 70; further west, Magic Coffee at Zhibek Zholy 110 has Wi-Fi, takes cards and is smoke-free. Tary is a block away on Abylai Khan Avenue, at number 55.

Gogol Street and Panfilov Park

Gogol Street was Shtabnaya until 1909 and runs 6.3 km west from Gorky Park; along the way it passes the Park of the 28 Panfilov Guardsmen, where an eternal flame burns over a mass grave.6

Coffee Original at Gogol 75 is open 24 hours, with Wi-Fi, air-conditioning and outdoor tables, and takes cards. La Bosco at Gogol 13 opens 10:00–23:00, Benedict at number 87 has outdoor seating and serves brunch, and Foyer is at Gogol 40. Off Gogol, Arabica speciality coffee on Nazarbayev Avenue pours specialty coffee 09:00–21:00 with Wi-Fi, tables outside and takeaway, and KobakoTsuvari on Baiyshev Street opens 09:00–20:00.

Getting there

The metro stops at Zhibek Zholy station, second on the line from Raiymbek Batyr; from there trains run south under Nazarbayev Avenue and then west along Abay Avenue.7 Trains run daily from 06:20 to midnight, and a ride cost 120 ₸ in 2024.7

Arabica speciality coffee and KobakoTsuvari both open at 09:00 and La Bosco at 10:00; after midnight, Coffee Original is the place still serving.

Sources

  1. Проспект Жибек Жолы, Wikipedia (Russian), accessed October 2026
  2. Green Bazar, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. «Я уже алматинец». Как нидерландец открыл кофейню на Зеленом базаре (Adi Turkaev, 13 September 2024), Digital Business, accessed October 2026
  4. Нидерландец переехал в Казахстан и открыл кофейню на Зеленом базаре. Рассказываем, как она изменилась за 2 года (Adi Turkaev, 15 July 2026), Digital Business, accessed October 2026
  5. Реновация Алматы: пешеходная Панфилова, новый Арбат, сухие фонтаны (Vladimir Prokopenko, 19 September 2017), Tengrinews, accessed October 2026
  6. Улица Гоголя (Алматы), Wikipedia (Russian), accessed October 2026
  7. Almaty Metro, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
Keep exploring

More of Almaty

Golden Square

69 cafés

Samal & Dostyk

29 cafés

Satpayev & Republic Square

21 cafés

Almaly

43 cafés

Bostandyk

56 cafés

In Arbat & Green Bazaar, also browse: Outdoor seating Wi-Fi Open late Breakfast & brunch

FAQ

Arbat & Green Bazaar cafés: questions

Where can you get coffee at the Green Bazaar in Almaty?

Bowler Coffee Roasters runs a café on the second floor of a pavilion at the Green Bazaar, in a space that was once a lagman restaurant. Its Dutch founder has lived in Almaty since 1998 and bought his roaster in 2016. By July 2026 tourists brought in about 60% of its takings.

What is the Arbat in Almaty?

Almaty's Arbat is the pedestrian section of Zhibek Zholy (Silk Road) Avenue between Abylai Khan Avenue and Kunaev Street, closed to cars in the late 1980s. The street was first Torgovaya, then Gorky Street from 1936, and has had its present name since the 1990s.

How do you get to the Arbat and Green Bazaar in Almaty by metro?

Take the metro to Zhibek Zholy station, the second stop from Raiymbek Batyr on Almaty's line, which runs under Nazarbayev Avenue and then along Abay Avenue. Trains run daily from 06:20 to midnight; a ride cost 120 tenge in 2024.

For café owners

Own a café in Arbat & Green Bazaar?

Free listings are free for good. A featured page gives you photos, a menu and your own URL, in your café's own design, for less than a coffee a day.

Get listed, free See a page in its own design