Cafeography
Maynila

Cafés in Manila from Escolta to Kapitolyo

An Art Deco block on Escolta, the cathedral cafés of Intramuros, Taft Avenue by De La Salle, Salcedo Village roasters and the night cafés of Malate.

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723Cafés listed
19Open by 6am
75Open past 10pm
18Specialty & roasters

Manila the city and Manila the capital are not the same place. The City of Manila is one of 16 cities which, with the municipality of Pateros, make up Metro Manila, home to 14.0 million people at the 2024 census.1 Escolta, in Binondo, was the city's main commercial street until business moved to Makati in the 1960s.2 Makati, Ortigas Center and Bonifacio Global City are now the business districts.1 The specialty roasters cluster in Makati's Legazpi and Salcedo villages.

Kapihan (coffee shop) shares its root with kape, the Tagalog word for coffee.3 Independent specialty coffee is recent: Sprudge described Craft Coffee Workshop, opened in New Manila in 2012, as the first independent, quality-focused coffee shop in the city.4 Yardstick Coffee followed in Makati in 2013 and was 18th on the first list of The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops in February 2025, where Single Origin, with branches in Rockwell and BGC, came 83rd.5

Coffee here runs late. Station 85 Cafe on M. Adriatico Street in Malate, Calle Cafe by Don Gabriel at 2150 Taft Avenue, PapJap in Sampaloc and The Fat Seed on 27th Street in BGC are open 24 hours, and Sumu Cafe on España Boulevard serves until 03:00.

Start with a district

Manila by area

Metro Manila spreads over 636 km².1 The old City of Manila holds Binondo, Intramuros, Malate and the university belt, while Escolta's banks and stores went to Makati from the 1960s on.2 Sampaloc, around the University of Santo Tomas, has the densest choice of cafés, ahead of the Makati CBD and Ortigas.

Binondo

Ongpin's Chinatown, the Art Deco Escolta and cafés in a 1928 office block.

24 cafés

Intramuros

Cafés inside the walled city, by Manila Cathedral and on General Luna Street.

20 cafés

Ermita & Malate

Taft Avenue by De La Salle, Remedios Circle and the old cafés of Malate.

70 cafés

Sampaloc & University Belt

Student cafés around UST, from P. Noval and Dapitan to España Boulevard.

100 cafés

Poblacion & Rockwell

Makati's old town and bar streets, and the estate built on a power plant.

32 cafés

Makati CBD

Roasters in Legazpi and Salcedo villages, Ayala Triangle and weekend markets.

72 cafés

Bonifacio Global City

A grid of numbered streets on a former army base, from High Street to Uptown.

60 cafés

Ortigas & Kapitolyo

Ortigas Center's malls and towers, and the café streets of Kapitolyo.

83 cafés
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Browse by mood and hour

Specialty coffee

Roasters and brew bars from Legazpi Village to Kapitolyo and Katipunan.

18 cafés

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi cafés from Taft Avenue to Legazpi Village, Ortigas and San Juan.

44 cafés

Open late

Cafés open past 22:00, from Poblacion coffee bars to Taft Avenue.

75 cafés

24 hours

Round-the-clock cafés for night shifts and late study.

12 cafés

Open by 6am

Cafés open by 06:00, from Shaw Boulevard to Taft Avenue.

19 cafés

Binondo 24 cafés

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Intramuros 20 cafés

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Ermita & Malate 70 cafés

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Sampaloc & University Belt 100 cafés

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Poblacion & Rockwell 32 cafés

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Makati CBD 72 cafés

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Bonifacio Global City 60 cafés

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Guadalupe & Pembo 11 cafés

Ortigas & Kapitolyo 83 cafés

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Cubao, New Manila & Blue Ridge 42 cafés

San Juan & Greenhills 60 cafés

Mandaluyong 57 cafés

Pasay & the Bay Area 37 cafés

Paco, Santa Ana & Santa Mesa 31 cafés

San Antonio & Palanan 24 cafés

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Coffee chains in Manila

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But First, Coffee

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Before you sit down

How coffee works in Manila

Coffee belongs to merienda, the two light meals between the main ones: a snack in the morning and the equivalent of afternoon tea, usually with coffee, hot or iced.6 An early-evening meal taken instead of dinner is merienda cena.6 Breakfast is pandesal, a slightly sweet roll coated in fine breadcrumbs, eaten plain or dipped in coffee, tsokolate (hot chocolate) or milk.7

Tsokolate was drunk at breakfast and merienda before coffee arrived. It is made from tableya (tablea), small tablets of pure ground roasted cacao, dropped into hot water and milk in a tsokolatera pot and frothed by twirling a wooden molinillo between the palms.8 In December, bibingka, a rice cake baked in a banana-leaf-lined clay dish with coals above and below, is eaten after the Simbang Gabi masses, held over nine days.9

Specialty menus split hot and iced drinks: at H Proper Coffee Roasters in Ayala Triangle Gardens, a hot latte cost ₱180 and an iced one ₱190 in mid-2025. Filter coffee there is priced per serving and by lot, from ₱190 for an Ethiopian Gesha to ₱8,800 for a Panama Gesha.10

Tipping is not mandatory. A 2019 law lets businesses add a service charge to the bill, and a Philippine Star business columnist wrote in June 2024 that Filipinos are beginning to tip less, if at all.11 Carry cash on Taft Avenue: Unnie Cafe, Coffee Spot, Asterisko and Drip Kofi take nothing else.

What coffee costs in Manila

DrinkTypical price
Espresso
Single shot at a specialty café		₱130
Ayala Triangle Gardens, 2025
Americano
Espresso topped with hot water		₱120–180
Kapitolyo and Mandaluyong, 2025–2026
Latte
Hot café latte		₱180–200
Makati and Mandaluyong, 2025–2026
Spanish latte
Latte sweetened with condensed milk		₱170–185
Kapitolyo cafés, April 2025
Pour-over
Philippine single origin, one serving		₱290–310
Ayala Triangle Gardens, 2025

Menu prices. The espresso, latte and pour-over figures are from H Proper Coffee Roasters' June 2025 menu at Ayala Triangle Gardens, where the Philippine lots came from 2024 Philippine Coffee Quality Competition winners in Davao del Sur and Mountain Province.10 The Americano and Spanish latte ranges come from SPOT.ph's April 2025 Kapitolyo guide and from The Beat Asia, which priced Pancho Cafe's Americano at ₱180 and latte at ₱200 in January 2026.1213 In October 2026 a Coffee Board official told The Manila Times he expected commercial establishments to raise prices by December.14

Sources

  1. Metro Manila, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Escolta Street, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. kapihan, TagalogNow dictionary, accessed October 2026
  4. Following The Craft Coffee Revolution in Manila, Sprudge (Lacy Wood, October 7, 2014), accessed October 2026
  5. Kape Tayo! 4 PH Coffee Shops Made It to the World's Best 100 for 2025, The Beat Asia (February 20, 2025), accessed October 2026
  6. Merienda, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  7. Pandesal, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  8. Tablea, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  9. Bibingka, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  10. The Roast, Issue No. 3, June 2025 (Ayala Triangle Gardens menu), H Proper Coffee Roasters, accessed October 2026
  11. To tip or not to tip?, The Philippine Star (Marianne V. Go, June 19, 2024), accessed October 2026
  12. Kapitolyo's Hidden Gems: Global Flavors, Nostalgic Treasures, Cool New Cafés, SPOT.ph (Jerome Gomez and Bea Faicol, April 27, 2025), accessed October 2026
  13. Best 24-Hour Coffee Shops in Manila You Need To Visit, The Beat Asia (January 29, 2026), accessed October 2026
  14. Low supply, rising costs to drive coffee prices up, The Manila Times via Newswav (Chynna Grace Ong, October 19, 2026), accessed October 2026
FAQ

Cafés in Manila: common questions

How much does coffee cost in Manila?

At H Proper Coffee Roasters in Makati's Ayala Triangle Gardens, an espresso cost ₱130 and a hot latte ₱180 in mid-2025, and Philippine single-origin pour-overs ₱290–310. Kapitolyo cafés charged ₱170–185 for a Spanish latte in April 2025, and Pancho Cafe in Mandaluyong ₱200 for a latte in January 2026. A Coffee Board official expected prices to rise from December 2026.

Which neighborhood of Manila has the most cafés?

Sampaloc & University Belt and Ortigas & Kapitolyo have the most cafés, followed by Makati CBD. Sampaloc's cafés fill the streets around the University of Santo Tomas, on P. Noval, Dos Castillas and Gelinos, and Sumu Cafe on España Boulevard serves until 03:00.

What is merienda in Manila?

Merienda is the pair of light meals Filipinos eat between the main ones: a mid-morning snack and an afternoon one, the equivalent of afternoon tea, usually taken with hot or iced coffee. A merienda cena is an early-evening meal eaten in place of dinner. Pandesal, a slightly sweet breadcrumb-coated roll, is often dipped in coffee or tsokolate.

What is tsokolate in Manila, and how is it made?

Tsokolate is Philippine hot chocolate, drunk at breakfast and merienda since before coffee arrived. Tablets of ground roasted cacao, called tableya or tablea, are dropped into hot water and milk in a tsokolatera pot, sweetened, and frothed with a wooden molinillo twirled between the palms.

Do you tip in cafés in Manila?

Tipping is not mandatory in Manila. A 2019 law allows businesses to add a service charge to the bill, and a Philippine Star columnist noted in 2024 that Filipinos are beginning to tip less. Carry cash for smaller cafés: on Taft Avenue, Unnie Cafe, Coffee Spot, Asterisko and Drip Kofi are cash only.

Which cafés in Manila are open 24 hours?

Station 85 Cafe on M. Adriatico Street in Malate, Calle Cafe by Don Gabriel at 2150 Taft Avenue, PapJap in Sampaloc and The Fat Seed on 27th Street in Bonifacio Global City are open around the clock. For a late but not all-night coffee, Sumu Cafe on España Boulevard in Sampaloc serves until 03:00.

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