What is an ogródek at a Warsaw café?

An ogródek, literally a little garden, is what Warsaw calls a café or restaurant terrace, usually tables on the pavement. The city charges for the space: in 2021 the fee ran from 1.50 to 1.90 zł per square meter per day, depending on the road. Many are seasonal summer gardens, as at Caffe Kafka and La Bomboniera.

Which Warsaw streets have the most café terraces?

Francuska in Saska Kępa, where half the cafés have outdoor tables, Narbutta and Puławska in Mokotów, Solec and Tamka in Powiśle, and Schroegera in Bielany. On Francuska, Artisan Boulanger keeps its tables out 06:00–22:00 daily and Francuska 30 until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

Outdoor Cafés in Warsaw: Ogródki, Courtyards and Francuska

Q: Where can you sit outside at a café in Warsaw’s Old Town?

Kawiarnia Patio has its tables in a courtyard behind Piwna 40/42, hidden from the street. Keks puts chairs out on the Market Square at Rynek Starego Miasta 1/3/5/7, and Mariensztat Coffee has a terrace below the escarpment at Garbarska 3.

In Warsaw a café terrace is an ogródek (little garden), even when it is four tables on a pavement. Most stand on public sidewalks, and the city charges for the space: in 2021 the fee for occupying the road lane ran from 1.50 to 1.90 zł per square meter per day, depending on the kind of road.¹ That spring, after the pandemic closures, terraces were allowed to reopen from 15 May.¹

Mokotów has the most cafés with outdoor tables, but the share is highest in Saska Kępa, where half the cafés put some out, followed by the Royal Route and Powiśle. Many are seasonal: Caffe Kafka speaks of its letni ogródek (summer garden), and La Bomboniera opens its garden only in the spring and summer months.²³

Local tip: For a terrace after dark, cross the river to Saska Kępa: Francuska 30 serves until 22:00 from Sunday to Wednesday and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

Where these cafés are: Mokotów (36), Wola (23), Śródmieście Południowe (23), Powiśle & Solec (18), Nowy Świat & Krakowskie Przedmieście (18), Saska Kępa (10), Żoliborz (9), Ochota (9), Praga-Północ (7), Bielany (7), Kamionek, Grochów & Gocław (7), Śródmieście Północne (6), Muranów (5), Stare Miasto & Nowe Miasto (4), Wilanów (2).

At a glance

184Cafés listed

148With opening hours

06:00Earliest opening

02:00Latest closing

Opens earliest: Artisan Boulanger, from 06:00 (Daily 06:00–22:00).

Closes latest: Jaś i Małgosia, until 02:00 (Mon–Wed 10:00–23:00 · Thu 10:00–00:00 · Fri–Sat 10:00–02:00 · Sun 10:00–23:00).

Most common features: wheelchair access (42%), indoor seating (21%), card payment (21%).

Francuska and Saska Kępa

Francuska, about 750 m long from Plac Przymierza to Rondo Waszyngtona, is Saska Kępa’s shopping street. It was named in 1926 and asphalted in 1937, and since 2006 it has been the main stage of the Święto Saskiej Kępy, the neighborhood’s annual festival.⁴

Artisan Boulanger at Francuska 8 keeps its outdoor tables from 06:00 to 22:00 every day, Francuska 30 serves outside until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, and Akwarium is at no. 50. Also in Saska Kępa, Hałas Vinyl + Coffee at Elsterska 10 roasts its own espresso and filter coffee and sells new vinyl records.⁵

Courtyards and pavements in the center

Kawiarnia Patio sets its tables in a courtyard behind Piwna 40/42, hidden from the street.⁶ Elsewhere in the Old Town, Keks puts chairs out on the Market Square at Rynek Starego Miasta 1/3/5/7, and Mariensztat Coffee has a terrace below the escarpment at Garbarska 3.

La Bomboniera, an Italian-style cukiernia at Aleja Solidarności 82, serves iced coffee in its garden in the warm months.³ On the Royal Route, Croque Madame at Nowy Świat 41 and Cafe Atlantic at Chmielna 33 have pavement tables, and Gromada on Plac Powstańców Warszawy serves outdoors until 23:00.

Powiśle, toward the river

Tamka ends by the river at the Syrenka, the mermaid statue put up on the bank in 1939; the rebuilt boulevard beside it opened in March 2019.⁷ Stor at Tamka 33 has outdoor tables partway down the street. Caffe Kafka at Oboźna 3 serves inside or in its summer garden, keeps shelves of books and board games, and welcomes dogs.²

On Solec, Brainfarm at no. 46A, Pastelowe at no. 52 and Baja at no. 85 have outdoor seating, and Cosmo at Topiel 19 sets out its tables from 09:00 on weekdays.

Mokotów, Żoliborz and Bielany

Mokotów’s terraces follow Narbutta and Puławska. Muus at Narbutta 27A and Stolica Cafe at 50A have outdoor tables, as do Cafe Relaks and Osom side by side at Puławska 48 and 50. Vennskap on Zdziechowskiego and Cafebar Boni on Bonifacego add Wi-Fi to the terrace.

In Żoliborz, Początek on Plac Wilsona is open until 22:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, and Błysk Espresso Bar at Słowackiego 22 opens at 07:00 from Tuesday to Friday. About a third of Bielany’s cafés have outdoor seating: Cafe de la Poste and Roślina are at Schroegera 72 and 80, and Czytelnia at Kasprowicza 52 opens at 07:30 on weekdays.

Cafés with outdoor seating in Warsaw

At a glance

4 Pokoje

Ave Coffee

Błysk Espresso Bar

Brainfarm

Buno Specialty Coffee

Cafe Atlantic

Cafe central

Cafe de la Poste

Cafe Jurta

Cafe Relaks

Cafe Toast

Cafebar Boni

Caffe Kafka

Canela Bakery

Ciacho Cafe

Coffee Karma

Cosmo

Croque Madame

Cukier do Kawy

Cza Cza

Czekolada Café

Czy Kawka

Czytelnia

dobra materia

Dobroczynna

Dolce Amaro

dżezva

Fabryczna

Fat White

Filiżanka Cafe

Filtry

Forum

Francuska 30

Grzybek Cafe & Chill

Hałas Vinyl + Coffee

Jaś i Małgosia

Francuska and Saska Kępa

Courtyards and pavements in the center

Powiśle, toward the river

Mokotów, Żoliborz and Bielany

Sources

Other ways to browse Warsaw

Specialty coffee

Bakery cafés & cukiernie

Vegan & vegetarian

Open late

Wi-Fi

Outdoor seating in Warsaw: questions

What is an ogródek at a Warsaw café?

Which Warsaw streets have the most café terraces?

Where can you sit outside at a café in Warsaw’s Old Town?

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