Cafeography
Seoul · Seongsu-dong

Cafés in Seongsu-dong

Former shoe workshops and warehouses between Seongsu station and Seoul Forest, now cafés, roasters and pop-ups.

Photo: Je Hwan Lee, Pexels License

Shoe, auto-parts and printing factories moved into Seongsu-dong from the late 1960s, and at one point it made more than 80 percent of Korea's handmade shoes.1 Cheaper Chinese goods slowed the trade from 2000; around 2010 young artists began moving into empty factories, and the area picked up the nickname "the Brooklyn of Seoul".1

Cafés followed the artists. Daerim Changgo (대림창고), a rice mill and warehouse from the early 1970s, became a gallery café that kept its red-brick walls, frame and old sign, and its success set off a run of cafés in former factories.23 Pop-up stores, flagships such as Dior's and multi-brand shops now share the same streets.3

Local tip: Go on a weekday morning: Café Onion opens at 08:00 and Mesh Coffee at 08:30, three hours before Daerim Changgo, and the weekend pop-up crowds on the Seongsu café street are not there yet.

At a glance

213Cafés listed
11With opening hours
08:00Earliest opening
22:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: 카페 어니언, from 08:00 (Mon–Fri 08:00–22:00 · Sat–Sun 10:00–22:00).
  • Closes latest: ㅊa, until 22:00 (Daily 10:00–22:00).
  • Most listed streets: Wangsimni-ro (2).
  • Most common features: wi-fi (6%), specialty (6%), outdoor seating (3%).

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Coffee chains in Seongsu-dong

Chain

Mega MGC Coffee 메가커피

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Getting to Seongsu and Seoul Forest

Seongsu station on Line 2 is the main stop.4 Ttukseom station, also on Line 2 (exit 8), and Seoul Forest station on the Bundang Line (exit 3) serve the park side.5 A walk from Yeonmujang-gil (연무장길) passes public art and sculptures on its way into the old workshop blocks.3

Weekends bring the crowds. In the last quarter of 2025 the Seongsu café street averaged 11,880 passers-by a day, almost four times the 3,086 on the Seoul Forest café street.6

Factories and warehouses turned cafés

Café Onion (카페 어니언) at Achasan-ro 9-gil 8, about two minutes from exit 2 of Seongsu station, occupies a 1970s building that has been a supermarket, a restaurant, a repair shop and a metal factory; the renovation kept its rough, broken-down walls.4 It opens 08:00–22:00 on weekdays and 10:00–22:00 on weekends. Daerim Changgo is at Seongsui-ro 78, open daily 11:00–22:00.

The old trade has not quite gone. In 2018 about 2,500 shoemakers still worked in some 300 workshops here, down from about 6,000 five years earlier, as rising rents pushed factories out to Gyeonggi Province.1

Seoul Forest's café lanes

Seoul Forest opened on 18 June 2005 on land that had held Seoul's first water purification plant, from 1908, and a racecourse from 1954; admission is free.5 From around 2014 artists priced out of Hongdae turned the old houses nearby into studios, the lanes now called Atelier-gil (아뜰리에길), and coffee and beverage shops are the commonest business on the Seoul Forest café street, 35 of them in an April 2026 count.6

Seoul Forest 2-gil (서울숲2길) has more cafés than any other Seongsu street: Clementine (클레멘타인) at no. 5-1, Cafe m comma at 11-16, The Picker at 13 and momento brewers (모멘토 브루어스), a specialty café with outdoor seats, at 19-18. On Seoul Forest 4-gil, Milestone Coffee Roasters is at no. 15 and Matchacha (맛차차) at no. 9, open 11:00–20:00 Monday to Saturday.

Early and late coffee in Seongsu

Upside Coffee (업사이드커피) and Café Onion open at 08:00 on weekdays, HBC coffee (카페,) at 08:00 every day except Tuesday, and Mesh Coffee (메쉬커피) on Seoulsup-gil at 08:30 on weekdays. At the other end of the day, Daerim Changgo, nuah and ㅊa (CHA) on Seoul Forest 6-gil stay open until 22:00.

Sources

  1. The last shoemakers of Seongsu, The Korea Times (October 17, 2018), accessed October 2026
  2. Old Warehouses, New Faces, KOCIS Korean Culture webzine (February 2022), accessed October 2026
  3. Guide to Seoul's trendiest autumn fashion districts: Seongsu, Itaewon, Hongdae, The Korea Times (October 31, 2025), accessed October 2026
  4. Café Onion, Time Out Seoul (December 2, 2016), accessed October 2026
  5. Seoul Forest, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  6. '넥스트 성수' 서울숲…공실 채운 무신사 '상권 부활 실험' 통했다, MTN (April 3, 2026), accessed October 2026
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In Seongsu-dong, also browse: Specialty coffee Wi-Fi Open late Outdoor seating Bakery cafés

FAQ

Seongsu-dong cafés: questions

Why are so many Seongsu-dong cafés in Seoul in old factories?

Seongsu was an industrial district from the late 1960s and once made more than 80 percent of Korea's handmade shoes. After the trade slowed from 2000, artists moved into empty factories around 2010, and Daerim Changgo, an early-1970s rice mill and warehouse turned gallery café, set off a run of cafés in former factories and warehouses.

How do you get to Café Onion in Seongsu, Seoul?

Café Onion is at Achasan-ro 9-gil 8, about two minutes from exit 2 of Seongsu station on Line 2. The 1970s building was a supermarket, a restaurant, a repair shop and a metal factory before it became a café. It opens 08:00–22:00 on weekdays and 10:00–22:00 on weekends.

Where are the cafés near Seoul Forest in Seongsu-dong, Seoul?

Seoul Forest 2-gil has the most, including Clementine, Cafe m comma, The Picker and momento brewers, and Seoul Forest 4-gil has Milestone Coffee Roasters and Matchacha. The nearest stops are Seoul Forest station on the Bundang Line and Ttukseom station on Line 2. The park opened in June 2005 and is free to enter.

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