The 12 Best Cafés & Coffee in Dubai

A homegrown chai brand started by two Dubai kids raised on karak, with its flagship inside Cinema Akil at Alserkal Avenue (roughly 10am-10pm) and outposts around town including Ibn Battuta Mall and DXB Terminal 3. Proper stove-brewed chai and Indian street snacks at honest prices. Caveat: the flagship is in an arts district you'll need a taxi to reach.

Dubai's specialty-coffee pioneer, founded in 2007, RAW is a working roastery and SCA training campus in a cavernous 13,500 sq ft industrial warehouse where everything is organic, ethically and directly traded. Sit at the espresso bar, taste through the brew bar, and take home a bag of beans roasted metres away. The catch is the location: it is buried deep in the Al Quoz industrial area, hard to find and effectively car-only.

A leafy courtyard cafe in the Al Fahidi heritage quarter serving proper Emirati food — machboos, balaleet, regag bread — plus a huge tea list, since 1997. Open daily 7am-11pm. It's the single best first-morning stop in old Dubai. Caveat: it's firmly on the tourist trail now, so expect a wait at brunch hours.

The flagship roastery of one of Dubai's most respected specialty brands, tucked into warehouse G62 in the Alserkal Avenue arts district. Order a pour-over or their nitro cold brew and pair it with the gallery-hopping around the neighbouring art spaces. Caveat: it is a small, industrial-chic spot deep in Al Quoz that really needs a car to reach, and seating is limited when the galleries are busy.

A design-led, minimalist specialty coffee bar founded by Emirati coffee champion Ibrahim Al Mallouhi, sitting in the creative heart of Dubai Design District. This is a place for coffee nerds: competition-grade beans, precise V60s and a rotating selection of single origins served with real care. The caveat is that it is coffee-first with limited food, and the d3 location is a short drive out from the city core.

A Melbourne-inspired triple threat of on-site coffee roastery, sourdough bakery and all-day cafe in an industrial-boho space on the ground floor of a Sheikh Zayed Road tower. Get the house blend as a flat white and anything off the all-day breakfast menu. The main caveat is that it fills up fast and gets loud at weekend brunch, and parking along SZR can be a hassle.

A beloved family-run indie bakery-cafe since 2012, tucked inside the Dubai Garden Centre so you sip among lush greenery and plants for sale. Come for scratch-made artisanal cakes, hearty breakfasts and a genuinely calm, unpretentious atmosphere away from the mall crowds. The caveat is that its garden-centre location off SZR (Exit 40) is a little hidden and really needs a car to reach.

A homegrown community cafe in d3, open since 2016, serving wholesome, mostly-from-scratch food with a laid-back creative crowd of designers and freelancers. Good for a nourishing bowl, a long coffee and laptop work in an airy, plant-dotted space. The caveat is that the setting overlooks the d3 car park rather than anything scenic, and it can get sleepy outside peak hours.

Named Time Out Dubai's best cafe for 2026, BRIX is the daytime, coffee-and-pastry offshoot of the BRIX Journey dessert restaurant, wedged among the old fishing-harbour seafood shacks with terrace views over bobbing boats. Come for the serious specialty coffee and head pastry chef Carmen Rueda's genuinely inventive desserts and viennoiserie. The caveat: it has become extremely popular, so weekend mornings mean queues, and it is not a cheap flat white.

A pioneering healthy cafe and concept store set in a whitewashed villa on Jumeirah Beach Road, open since 2012 and a multiple What's On Best Healthy Restaurant winner. Come for organic, largely plant-forward dishes, fresh juices and good coffee, then browse the curated homeware and wellness goods. The caveat is that it is small, often full, and distinctly pricey for the portion sizes.

A Parisian-bistro-meets-Dubai cafe in the photogenic Al Quoz Courtyard, themed around music with a curated playlist and a corner of old vinyl records. The all-day menu leans French comfort — pastries, egg dishes and bistro classics — alongside solid coffee. The honest caveat: it is heavily Instagram-driven and gets packed at weekend brunch, so expect a wait and a scene rather than a quiet coffee.

A reliable homegrown all-day cafe in the Gate District of DIFC, popular for a healthy-leaning brunch, good coffee and consistent comfort food among the finance-district crowd. Easy to reach, easy to like, and dependable for a weekday breakfast meeting or weekend catch-up. The caveat is that it is a small local chain with several branches, so it trades some independent character for polish and consistency.