Vörösmarty tér 7., V. district, M1 metro
Open: 9.00-21.00
Standing in the heart of Budapest Gerbeaud is usually filled with tourists no matter what time of the year you come.
It's is one of the oldest and most famous cafés of Europe operating since the middle of the 19th century . The Gerbeaud exudes tradition and style.
The café has three separate shops and a terrace facing Vörösmarty Square. The main shop opens from the square.
Do spare some time to walk through all the rooms and admire the varied decoration!
You'll see the portrait of Emile Gerbeaud the Swiss pastry chef who bought the place in 1884. He created the famous Hungarian bonbon, konyakosmeggy: sour-cherry soaked in cognac and covered with dark chocolate.
The first thing that pops in most Hungarian's mind about Gerbeaud is not coffee but the delicious homemade cakes. Its flagship is the Gerbeaud cake: ground walnut and jam filling between layers of sponge covered with chocolate.
Other sweet delights to try from the Gerbeaud's pastry counter:
- Krémes,
- Dobos torta,
- Gesztenye püré (chestnut purée with whipped cream),
- Eszterházy torta,
- Oroszkrém torta (Cake with rich cream),
- Sacher torta, and
- strudels with various fillings.
The other thing I can't resist is the Gerbeaud ice-cream, in summer they sell outside the café on Vörösmarty Square. Find out more about Gerbeaud Cafe's history and see more photos.
New York Café-on the ground floor of the New York Palace
Erzsébet körút 9-11., VII. district, M2 metro Astoria station, tram 4, 6
Open: 9.00-24.00
Out of the 500 Budapest coffee houses the New York Café was the most elegant and popular at the turn of the 20th century. Writers and poets formed the regular guests.
According the story the writer Ferenc Molnár wanted the café to stay open day and night so he threw its key into the Danube.
Besides writers, actors, journalits, artists people who wanted to enjoy the bustling atmoshpere also favoured the New York.
The tables in New York Café witnessed creation of many important pieces of Hungarian literature .
The New York Café together with a luxury hotel reopened in spring 2006 so you can see the place in its original splendour. Find out more about the history of New York Palace Budapest.
Centrál Café
Károlyi Mihály utca 9 ., V. district, M3 metro Ferenciek tere station
Tel: (+36 1) 266 2110
Open: 8.00-24.00 daily
 | As the grandest of all historic Budapest coffee houses, the Central was not only a place for drinking coffee and nibbling cakes but a meeting place for writers, poets, editors and artists. The coffee house functioned as a focal point of urban social life where new ideas, notions were discussed and dispersed. Many literary works were inspired and born here at the turn of the 19th-20th and in the first half of the 20th century. The staff of the famous literarary periodical, the Nyugat were regulalrs here. They worked on the gallery where the Central's restaurant section operates today.
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The Centrál reached its heydays between the two world wars with famous writers Frigyes Karinthy and Lőrinc Szabó among the regular guests.
The communists did not tolerated popular and unique places like the Centrál, so they shut the place down.
The grim times ended and the Centrál Café was the first classic coffee house that reopened after the fall of communist dictatorship in 1989.
The restored café managed to recapture the grand coffe house feeling of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Enjoy its excellent coffee specialties (like the Café Pepperino: espresso with chocolate and pepper), cakes and patisseries!
Price guide: coffee drinks are around 420-650 HUF, a breakfast menu is cc. 1800-2400 HUF, while a 3-course lunch costs cc. 5000-6000 HUF.
Lukács
Andrássy út 70., VI. district, M1 metro
Open: 9.00-20.00 on weekdays, Sat-Sun: 10.00-20.00
The Communists confiscated the café from the owners, the Lukács family in 1949. It was closed to ordinary people and became the meeting place of the secret police.
Although it has fine decor reflecting the Habsburg era: marble tables and columns gilded walls, chandelier, the Lukács has a slightly depressed aura.
The fact that an international bank occupies a large part of the café's area doesn't help to restore the old-world charm. Still if you want to have delicious cakes you can't go wrong with Lukács.
Művész (means Artist)
Andrássy út 29., VI. district, opposite the Budapest Opera House, M1 Opera station
Open: 9.00-24.00 daily
Today the Művész is favoured by rather elderly customers.
Although the interior lost most of its original glory, its paintings, mirrors and statues still ooze that grand coffee house feeling.
In summer sit on the terrace and watch the world go by on grandiose Andrássy Avenue.
Astoria
Kossuth Lajos u. 19-21., V. district, located in the hotel of the same name, M2 Astoria station
Open: 7.00-23.00
Of all historic Budapest coffee houses, Astoria managed to survive the wars and the communist regime without much damage. Lavish interior and stiffly polite waiters welcomes you inside.
Auguszt
Kossuth Lajos u. 14-16., M2 Astoria station, V. district, Fény u. 8., Buda
Hauer
Rákóczi út 47-49., VIII. district
Open: 10.00-20.00
Both Auguszt and Hauer Confectioneries boast with great history. The traditions of pastry and confectionery making have been passed on generation by generation. Perfect places to sample some of the best home-made Hungarian cakes and pastries.
Zsolnay Café in the Radisson SAS Béke Hotel
Teréz körút 43., VI. district, M3 metro Nyugati pályaudvar, tram 4, 6
Open: 10.00-22.00
An up-scale interior dated from the 1930s and coffee served in exquisite Zsolnay porcelain cups awaits you in this slightly snooty coffee house.
Another Zsolnay Café operates at the groundfloor of the Hotel Taverna in Váci utca (Open: 9.00-22.00).
