Cafeography
Beirut · Hamra & Ras Beirut

Cafés in Hamra & Ras Beirut

Hamra Street, Bliss Street by AUB and book cafés on Cairo Street, several open past midnight.

Photo: Nemika F, Pexels License

Hamra Street, officially Rue 31, runs east to west from Rue de Rome to Rue Sadat and links downtown with the Ras Beirut neighborhoods.1 In the 1960s and 1970s it was the center of the city's intellectual life and was called Beirut's Champs-Élysées.1 Bliss Street runs parallel to it beside the American University of Beirut, which opened there at the end of the 19th century, and is named for the university's founder, Daniel Bliss.12

Of Beirut's neighborhoods, Hamra & Ras Beirut has the widest choice of cafés. They range from Barzakh (برزخ), a bookshop on Cairo Street, to 24-hour places near AUB and late tables on Bliss Street, with Starbucks, Caribou Coffee, Qahwa BLK and Café Younes in between.

Local tip: Go to Barzakh in the daytime if you want a quiet table; it works as a bookshop by day and fills with events in the evening.4

At a glance

28Cafés listed
6With opening hours
07:00Earliest opening
01:30Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: روسّا كافيه, from 07:00 (Daily 07:00–01:00).
  • Closes latest: On Board Games and Tales - Hamra, until 01:30 (Daily 08:00–01:30).
  • Most listed streets: شارع الحمرا (2).
  • Most common features: wi-fi (25%), outdoor seating (11%), open late (11%).

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

Coffee chains in Hamra & Ras Beirut

Horseshoe, Modca and Hamra's café decades

For 30 years, from 1960 to 1990, Hamra's cafés were home to journalists, politicians and artists as well as intellectuals, and after 1967 some worked as back rooms where opposition parties drafted their founding statements.3 The Horseshoe, at the start of Hamra Street, drew Arab intellectuals and opposition leaders living in exile in Beirut.3

Modca opened in the 1960s, across the street from the Wimpy. When its owner decided to close it for financial reasons, regulars from different communities protested and asked the Ministry of Culture to save it; it shut anyway, and the Wimpy closed for the same reason.3

Barzakh, As-Safir and the book cafés

Barzakh (برزخ) opened in 2021 on a first floor overlooking Hamra, a bookshop by day and an events space at night, with coffee from the local roaster Bn Coffee Bar.4 Its founder said in 2022 that the first idea had been to ban laptops; by then notebooks, laptops and charger cables covered the tables.5 It opens daily 09:00–22:30 on Cairo Street.

ملتقى السفير (Multaqa As-Safir) is in the old As-Safir building on Amin Mneimneh Street, and in July 2025 it showed the paper's photographs of Hamra Street from 1974 to 2016.6 The Arabic daily was first published on 26 March 1974 and ceased on 31 December 2016.7 The café opens Monday to Saturday, 09:00–00:00, with Wi-Fi.

Bliss Street, late hours and the sea side

Until the mid-1960s the tram ran along Bliss Street and stopped at AUB's Main Gate; today the street's buildings hold cafés, restaurants, pubs and bookstores that cater to students.2 On Board Games and Tales on Bliss Street opens daily 08:00–01:30, Bliss Lounge never closes and takes cards, and روسّا كافيه (Rossa Café) serves 07:00–01:00 with outdoor tables.

Toward the sea, Brimm on Madame Curie Street is open 24 hours with Wi-Fi and outdoor seats, and Café Adam at No. 57 Dar el-Mreisseh Street has Wi-Fi. Trop Cool Cafe keeps office hours, Monday to Saturday 08:00–18:00, with air conditioning and a terrace.

Roasters and chains

Café Younes has been a Beirut institution since 1935, known for its own roasts and blends, and its Hamra branch now occupies a restored house from the 1950s.8 AFP reported in 2022 that its large new Hamra branch had a study room with big desks, each fitted with power sockets.5 Diell, on Makdessi Street, has swing seats and a quiet setting.8

The chains cluster here too: Starbucks, Caribou Coffee, Qahwa BLK, Casper & Gambini's, Stories and Latte Art all have branches in Hamra.

Sources

  1. Hamra Street, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Bliss Street, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. Beirut's Historic Hamra Street No Longer Cultural Epicenter, Al-Monitor (Nasser Chararah, June 12, 2013), accessed October 2026
  4. The Cosiest Cafés in Beirut for a Caffeine-Cradled Afternoon, Scene Traveller (Lana Mawlood, June 4, 2023), accessed October 2026
  5. Lebanon power cuts turn cafes into co-working spaces, Kuwait Times (AFP, February 1, 2022), accessed October 2026
  6. Beirut Art Days: "Hamra: Mirror of the Country", Agenda Culturel (July 10, 2025), accessed October 2026
  7. As-Safir, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  8. The Specialty Coffee Map of Beirut, Lebanon Traveler (Carla Zaiter, May 18, 2026), accessed October 2026
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In Hamra & Ras Beirut, also browse: Wi-Fi Open late Outdoor seating

FAQ

Hamra & Ras Beirut cafés: questions

Which cafés in Hamra, Beirut, are open 24 hours?

Bliss Lounge in Hamra never closes and takes cards, and Brimm on Madame Curie Street is open 24 hours with Wi-Fi and outdoor seats. On Board Games and Tales on Bliss Street serves until 01:30, and Rossa Café until 01:00.

What happened to the old cafés of Hamra Street in Beirut?

From 1960 to 1990 Hamra Street's cafés hosted journalists, politicians, artists and exiled Arab opposition leaders, notably at the Horseshoe. Modca, opened in the 1960s, closed for financial reasons despite protests by its regulars, and the Wimpy across the street closed for the same reason.

Where can you read and drink coffee in Hamra, Beirut?

Barzakh, a bookshop and café on Cairo Street in Hamra, opened in 2021 and serves Bn Coffee Bar coffee, daily 09:00–22:30. Multaqa As-Safir, in the old As-Safir newspaper building on Amin Mneimneh Street, opens Monday to Saturday 09:00–00:00 and has shown the paper's photo archive of Hamra Street.

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