Coffeehouses of Budapest

Posted on by Nori
coffeehouses
Stylish and elegant. Customers on the terrace of Café Abbázia, 1917.

What Is a Hungarian Coffeehouse?

According to the historic Pallas Great Lexicon, a “Coffeehouse” (Kávéház) was defined as a business space above ground level, where coffee, tea, chocolate, and certain alcoholic drinks (no permit required) were served alongside cakes and pastries. At least two full-sized billiard tables had to be available to the public, except in suburban coffeehouses, where a single table was enough. Only a business meeting these requirements could legally use the name “Coffeehouse.”

Coffeehouse vs. Coffee Shop: The Rules

Only a reliable, licensed person could open a Coffeehouse (Kávéház) or a Coffee Shop (Kávémérés). A Coffee Shop could sell coffee, tea, milk, and pastries, but no music, dancing, games, chessboards, billiards, or other entertainment were allowed. Coffee Shops kept strict hours, closing at 11 p.m. and reopening at 3 a.m. Coffeehouses, by contrast, stayed open around the clock.

A Vanishing Tradition

Budapest’s Great Boulevard alone was home to 64 coffeehouses in 1896 (around 500 across the whole city). By the start of World War I, only 50 remained, and by World War II, just 25 were still open. When nationalization and the Communist era arrived, none of the originals survived. Before the tradition could revive, fast food chains and banks moved into the vacated spaces, paying rents the old coffeehouses could never have afforded.

The End of an Era: Café Abbázia

“96 marble tables, 6 double marble tables, 164 armchairs, 242 chairs, 5 sofas measuring 3 meters (about 10 feet) and 2 sofas measuring 2 meters (about 6.5 feet), 67 terrace marble tables, 183 reed chairs, 3 phone booths…” This is part of the inventory list of goods seized from Café Abbázia by a nationalist brigade “in the name of democracy” on February 19, 1949, at 2 a.m. — the work of three generations, gone in a single night after 80 years. (Source: Saly Noémi, Törzskávéházamból zenés kávéházba)

Bring the flavor home: Recreate that cafe moment at home. this porcelain espresso cup set is a lovely little touch of Budapest coffeehouse culture on your own table. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)