Cafeography
Lima · Centro de Lima

Cafés in Centro de Lima

Plaza Mayor, Jirón de la Unión and the chocolate shops, churrerías and bodegas of the old city.

Photo: Cristian Loayza, Pexels License

Francisco Pizarro founded Lima on 18 January 1535 and called it the City of the Kings.1 UNESCO listed the convent of San Francisco in 1988, extended the site to the historic center in 1991 and enlarged it again in 2023; it now covers about 278 ha.1 More than 1,600 balconies were built here in the viceregal and republican eras, and they weighed heavily in the listing.1

For coffee, the Centro is old Lima: chocolate shops, churrerías and a bodega that roasts its own beans, many of them within 400 m of the Plaza Mayor. South of the old city, Santa Beatriz, a neighborhood of the same Lima district, has cafés along Avenida Petit Thouars and Avenida Arenales.2

Local tip: Plan around Sunday: Lima Café on Jirón Carabaya is closed, but ChocoMuseo, a block from the Plaza Mayor, opens every day at 09:00.

At a glance

54Cafés listed
6With opening hours
06:30Earliest opening
22:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Rovegno, from 06:30 (Daily 06:30–22:00).
  • Closes latest: Clamore Café, until 22:00 (Daily 07:00–22:00).
  • Most listed streets: Avenida Alvarez de Arenales (3), Avenida Petit Thouars (3).
  • Most common features: wheelchair access (13%), open late (7%), partial wheelchair access (6%).

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Coffee chains in Centro de Lima

Getting to the Centro

The Metropolitano busway crosses the Centro, with stations including Jirón de la Unión, Tacna and Colmena, at Avenida Nicolás de Piérola and Jirón Lampa, before Estación Central by the Paseo de los Héroes Navales.2

Jirón de la Unión, laid out by Pizarro in 1535, runs eleven blocks from the Puente de Piedra to Paseo de la República, passing the Plaza Mayor on its third block and Plaza San Martín on its ninth.3 It was inaugurated as a pedestrian street on 20 November 1982, after work began in 1979.3

The Palais Concert, Lima's literary café

Lima's most famous café stood on Jirón de la Unión. The Palais Concert opened in the Barragán building, inaugurated on 29 February 1913 at the corner of the street with Avenida Emancipación.4 Crowds came to hear the Colónida group of writers recite and argue there, and the café closed in 1930, beaten by newer bars in the Centro.4

The building later held clothing arcades, the Hotel Richmond and, from 2012, a Ripley department store, which closed in 2024 after twelve years.4 Today Sunqu Coffee is at Jirón de la Unión 230, north of the Plaza Mayor.

Chocolate and churros around the Plaza Mayor

Within 150 m of the Plaza Mayor are ChocoMuseo at Jirón Carabaya 185, open daily 09:00–18:30, Perú Cacao at Jirón Junín 250 and Churros San Judas on Jirón Lampa. In September 2022, Churrería San Judas Tadeo at Lampa 286 sold churros filled with manjar blanco, crema pastelera or ham and cheese for S/ 2.50 each.5

A few doors away at Lampa 268, Churros San Francisco was founded about 50 years earlier by a Spaniard and charged S/ 3 for a churro filled with custard or milk caramel.5

Bodegas, specialty coffee and late hours

Café-Bodega Santa Isabel is on the fifth block of Jirón Carabaya, near the Lima Stock Exchange, and serves its coffee the traditional way, from Chanchamayo beans it roasts itself.6 Its sandwiches come with jamón del país (Peruvian-style ham), lechón (roast pork) or turkey.6 Lima Café, on the same street at 552, opens at 07:00 on weekdays and 08:00 on Saturday, serves until 22:00 and closes on Sunday.

Coffee Shop Urqu, on Jirón Áncash, opened in May 2018 and brews espresso, Chemex and V60.6 In Santa Beatriz, Clamore Café on Avenida Arenales opens daily 07:00–22:00. West of the center, Don Pardo Café on Mateo Vera is open 24 hours.

Sources

  1. Historic Centre of Lima, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Metropolitano (Lima), Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. Jirón de la Unión, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  4. Palais Concert: ¿en qué podría convertirse el edificio histórico tras el cierre de Ripley?, El Comercio (September 22, 2024), accessed October 2026
  5. ¿Dónde se venden los churros más ricos en Lima y cuánto cuesta cada uno?, El Popular (September 10, 2022), accessed October 2026
  6. Centro de Lima: 5 espacios para disfrutar un café en el distrito histórico, El Comercio, accessed October 2026
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FAQ

Centro de Lima cafés: questions

Where can you buy churros in the Centro de Lima?

Jirón Lampa, a block from the Plaza Mayor, has the churrerías. In September 2022, Churrería San Judas Tadeo at Lampa 286 charged S/ 2.50 for churros filled with manjar blanco, crema pastelera or ham and cheese. Churros San Francisco, at Lampa 268, was founded by a Spaniard about 50 years earlier and charged S/ 3.

What was the Palais Concert café in the Centro de Lima?

The Palais Concert was a café in the Barragán building, inaugurated on 29 February 1913 at the corner of Jirón de la Unión and Avenida Emancipación. The Colónida group of writers drew crowds there. It closed in 1930, and the building later held a hotel and, from 2012 to 2024, a Ripley department store.

Which cafés are near the Plaza Mayor in the Centro de Lima?

ChocoMuseo at Jirón Carabaya 185 opens daily 09:00–18:30, and Perú Cacao is on Jirón Junín 250, both within 150 m of the square. Sunqu Coffee is on Jirón de la Unión, Coffee Shop Urqu on Jirón Áncash, and Café-Bodega Santa Isabel, which roasts Chanchamayo beans, on the fifth block of Jirón Carabaya.

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