Cafe Comma
- Wi-Fi
- Outdoor seating
- Air-con
- Card payment
- Toilets
- Open late
Warehouse cafés in Seongsu, hanok teahouses in Bukchon, late-night cafés around Hongik University and coffee bars up the stairs of Euljiro's print-shop buildings.
Photo: Constantine Kim, Pexels License
Korea had 106,452 coffee shops in 2023, 13.4% of all its food-service businesses, by the agriculture ministry's count.1 The tax office's register of coffee and beverage shops, which more than doubled from 45,203 in early 2018, fell for the first time in the first quarter of 2025, to 95,337.2 Starbucks alone had 2,050 Korean stores in August 2025, more than in Japan, and its first opened in 1999 in Edae, the student quarter around Ewha Womans University.3
The earliest recorded Korean coffee drinker is King Gojong, who was served it in 1896 while sheltering in the Russian legation.4 The dabang (다방, tearoom) became a meeting place for writers and poets in the 1930s, and the number of dabang peaked at about 45,000 in 1992 before chains and better coffee replaced them.45 The oldest still running in Seoul is Hakrim Dabang on Daehak-ro, founded in 1956 and named a Seoul Future Heritage in 2013.6
Desserts carry much of the menu. Bingsu (빙수), shaved milk ice with sweet toppings, is most often patbingsu, topped with red beans.15 The croffle, a croissant-waffle hybrid, was introduced in Seoul by the café Aufglet in November 2018 and spread across the city in 2019.16
Seoul has 25 gu (districts), and the Han River splits the city roughly into northern and southern halves.14 Most of the café districts lie north of the river, from Hongdae in the west to Seongsu in the east; south of it they cluster in Gangnam, Apgujeong, Jamsil and Sinsa.

Hanok cafés and teahouses on the lanes of Gye-dong, Bukchon and Samcheong-ro.
114 cafés
Print shops, lighting stores and metal workshops around Euljiro 3-ga, with cafés up the stairs.
120 cafés
Coffee around Myeong-dong's shopping streets, Namdaemun Market, Jeong-dong and the City Hall office blocks.
171 cafés
From Hongik University's gate to the cafés along Yeonnam-dong's rail-trail park, with Hapjeong and Sangsu.
585 cafés
Cafés on the slopes of Itaewon, Noksapyeong and Hannam-dong, between Namsan and the Han River.
133 cafés
Former shoe workshops and warehouses between Seongsu station and Seoul Forest, now cafés, roasters and pop-ups.
213 cafés
Garosu-gil's ginkgo avenue and the side lanes of Sinsa-dong, from Sinsa station to Dosan-daero.
116 cafés
Cafés between Dosan Park, Apgujeong Rodeo and Cheongdam's fashion street.
148 cafés
Roasteries in Mapo and Seongsu, Teheran-ro roasters south of the river, and the pioneers since 2009.
170 cafés
Wi-Fi cafés from Tojeong-ro roasteries to Teheran-ro offices, plus the city's free SEOUL network.
208 cafés
Open until 22:00 or later, from Hongdae's 02:00 closers to round-the-clock counters downtown.
105 cafés
Terraces by Seoul Forest, decks above Euljiro and hanok courtyards north of the palaces.
65 cafés
Salt bread, croffles and cakes with your coffee, from Bukchon to Hongdae and Itaewon.
69 cafésRecently opened and recently added
Gohui
Suyeon Sanbang Tea House
jinjury
More about cafés in Euljiro & Chungmuro
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Small good
Madame Tiramisu Show Room
More about cafés in Sinsa & Garosu-gil
More about cafés in Apgujeong & Cheongdam
Square Garden
Your my cake
Midnight Rollercoaster Club
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Cafe Pokpo
Momc coffee
Season Coffee&Bake
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The default order is an americano, and for many people it is iced all year. The iced version is shortened to ah-ah (아아, from 아이스 아메리카노), and its most loyal drinkers are eoljuka (얼죽아), from the saying "even if I freeze to death, iced americano".7 Iced drinks made up 76% of Starbucks Korea's sales in 2022, and during the January 2023 cold snap, with temperatures down to −17 °C, iced americanos still outsold hot ones.7
Prices come in two tiers. Budget chains such as Mega MGC Coffee sell an iced americano for ₩2,000 and, since April 2025, a hot one for ₩1,700, while a tall americano at Starbucks rose to ₩4,700 in January 2025.89 In a 2024 Korea Consumer Agency survey of 25 franchise chains in the capital region, the average americano cost ₩3,001 and the average café latte ₩3,978.10
Plastic cups are not allowed for customers who drink in, and chains that joined a reuse scheme in September 2026 serve every drink to stay in a reusable cup.11 Bringing a tumbler usually takes ₩300–400 off; at Ediya, Paris Baguette, Starbucks and the more than 150 independent cafés in that scheme, government carbon points can raise the saving to ₩800 a drink.11
Tipping is not expected anywhere in South Korea, and many cafés do not open until around 10:00; Koreans generally eat breakfast at home.12 Long laptop sessions have a name, cagongjok (카공족, the café-study tribe), and Starbucks Korea asked customers in August 2025 to leave desktop computers and printers at home while keeping laptops welcome.3
| Drink | Typical price |
|---|---|
| 아이스 아메리카노 (ah-ah) Iced americano, budget chain | ₩2,000 Mega MGC Coffee, 2025 |
| 아메리카노 Americano, tall | ₩4,700 Starbucks Korea, from January 2025 |
| 카페라떼 Café latte, franchise average | ₩3,978 25 chains, capital region, 2024 |
| 애플망고빙수 Apple mango bingsu (shaved ice), hotel lounge | ₩95,000–149,000 Seoul hotels, May 2026 |
Menu prices, as of 2024–2026. Mega MGC Coffee's are from SBS Biz (March 2025), Starbucks Korea's from The Korea Times (January 2025), and the latte average from the Korea Consumer Agency's survey of 125 franchise cafés, reported in November 2024.8910 Hotel bingsu prices are as of 9 May 2026, from the Seoul Economic Daily; the Four Seasons charged ₩149,000 and Walkerhill ₩95,000.13
When cafés open and close: 06:00 coffee in Vietnam, Italian bars shut by 20:00, Melbourne cafés done by 15:00, Sundays in Berlin, Ramadan in Dubai.
Coffee culturesHow Korean cafés work: kiosk ordering, the vibrating buzzer, ah-ah and tteu-ah, cup rules for drinking in, tumbler discounts and 2026 prices in won.
An iced americano costs ₩2,000 at the budget chain Mega MGC Coffee, and a tall americano at Starbucks Korea has cost ₩4,700 since January 2025. In a 2024 Korea Consumer Agency survey of franchise cafés in the capital region, the average americano was ₩3,001 and the average café latte ₩3,978. Apple mango bingsu in Seoul hotel lounges ran from ₩95,000 to ₩149,000 in May 2026.
Hongdae & Yeonnam-dong and Gangnam & Yeoksam have the most cafés, followed by Seongsu-dong. Hongdae's cafés spread north from Hongik University into Yeonnam-dong along the Gyeongui Line Forest Park, and Seongsu's fill former factories and warehouses between Seongsu station and Seoul Forest.
Ah-ah (아아) is short for 아이스 아메리카노, an iced americano, the standard order in Seoul cafés in any season. Its most loyal drinkers are called eoljuka, from the saying "even if I freeze to death, iced americano". Iced drinks made up 76% of Starbucks Korea's sales in 2022, and iced americanos outsold hot ones even in the January 2023 cold snap.
No. Plastic cups are not allowed for customers drinking in, and the chains and independent cafés in a reuse scheme that began in September 2026 serve drinks to stay in reusable cups. Bringing your own tumbler usually takes ₩300–400 off, and at cafés in that scheme government carbon points can raise the saving to ₩800 per drink.
No. Tipping is not expected anywhere in South Korea, in cafés or elsewhere, and the price on the menu is what you pay. Many cafés also open later than you might expect, around 10:00, and Koreans generally eat breakfast at home.
Hakrim Dabang on Daehak-ro, founded in 1956, is the oldest café still operating in Seoul, and it was named a Seoul Future Heritage in 2013. Dabang, the old Korean tearooms, were meeting places for writers and poets from the 1930s and numbered about 45,000 at their peak in 1992.
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