Outdoor seating cafés in Tainan

Courtyards and gardens in old houses

Many of the city's best outdoor seats are inside the walls of an old house. At 錫鼓 Tin Drum, in a Kaishan Road lane, the outdoor tables, chairs and bamboo blinds are as Japanese as the rooms indoors.² The tea room 衛屋茶事 near Fubei Street, a wooden dormitory from the 1920s, opens onto a planted courtyard where guests sit on the engawa.³ Tea is served from noon to 19:00 on every day but Wednesday.²

In Anping, Meller on Anbei Road is ringed by plants inside and out and has earned the nickname 小森林 (little forest).⁴ Beefcake Coffee's shop on Anping Road, by the canal, has a takeout window on the side street under an awning lettered in Japanese.⁵

Sidewalk tables in West Central District

Coffee Hollow at Minsheng Road Section 1, No. 148 has outdoor seats, a toilet and takeaway, and is smoke-free. The Yuan sets its tables outside at Zhongzheng Road 86.

Breakfast outside

The earliest outdoor table is at Everyday Cafe at Shengli Road 204 in North District, which opens at 06:00 and serves until 14:00 on weekdays and 15:00 at weekends. 敖早咖啡早午餐, at No. 435 on the same road, has seats inside and out.

In the old city, Carpenter Coffee at Guohua Street Section 3, No. 81 opens at 07:00 and keeps tables outside until 19:00. 魚羊鮮豆 at Dongfeng Road 275 starts at 07:30 and has both outdoor seating and vegan options.

Evening tables

For a table outside after sunset, 辰星咖啡 on Fulian East Road opens 08:00–23:00 and has Wi-Fi as well as outdoor seats. 9 Cheers Café and Bar on the western section of Dongning Road, near NCKU, pairs outdoor tables with brunch and card payment.

Akatsuki is the late choice in the old city, with outdoor seats and coffee until midnight. 魚羊鮮豆 on Dongfeng Road also keeps its outdoor tables until 22:00.

When to sit outside in Tainan

Heat matters as much as rain. Tainan's average daily high is 29.0 °C over the year, and the record is 37.8 °C, so a summer terrace is a morning or evening affair.¹

December is the driest month, with 15.6 mm of rain on average, which makes the weeks around it the most reliable for a courtyard afternoon.¹ August, the wettest, averages 478.9 mm.¹