In this article, you’ll find about unique café concepts worldwide alongside examples. Let’s dive in!
Ice Cream Café– A coffee place specializing in ice cream and serving unique flavors and classic options. This cafe would be a popular destination for ice cream lovers. Here’s an example of how an ice cream company opened a cafe/ice cream place.
Example: Oddfellows Ice Cream co. Opens Coffee & Cream
Upside-Down Café– A café where everything is upside-down, from the furniture to the menu, creating a unique and surreal dining experience. This is unusual and weird, but I love the idea.
Example: USD Café everything from the toilets, furniture and entrance is upside down!
Gravity-Free Café– A café designed to simulate zero gravity, where customers sit in chairs suspended from the ceiling. In such a café, everything would be weightless and float freely in the air, including the customers, tables, chairs, and food and drinks. To keep the objects from drifting off into space, the café must be in a sealed environment, like a spacecraft or a station in orbit around a planet. This idea is more an imagination than reality, but who knows? Maybe this could be the future of our cafés when we travel in space. Take a look at how astronauts eat while in space.
Nature Café– A café with a natural theme that showcases plants and serves food and drinks surrounded by greenery. This coffee shop would be a popular destination for those who love nature. The sitting areas could be divided: a rain simulation in one room or sand in another, with a green garden with butterflies.
Example: 8 Amazing Back to Nature Cafes in Bandung
Puzzle Café– A cafe specializing in jigsaw puzzles and providing a space for customers to work on them while enjoying food and drinks. This café would be a hit among puzzle enthusiasts. Similar to board games café, but more specialized. The Exciting World of Puzzle Races: A Look Inside the Amazing Puzzle Challenge at Pieces Cafe
Example: Cafe The Puzzle
The Timepiece Café– a clock-themed café with vintage clocks and watches covering the walls, creating a unique and whimsical atmosphere for customers to enjoy their coffee.
Example: Orsay Museum (at the top floor)
Fairy Tale Café– A cafe with a fairy tale theme that serves food and drinks inspired by popular fairy tales. This café would be a hit among fairy tale fans. Fantasy movies like Harry Potter, The Lord of The Rings, and Game of Thrones are good examples.
Example: Little Kook in Athens is a perfect example. We’ve personally visited this cafe and it is like it seems during winter holidays!
- Wine Café– A café that specializes in wine, offering wine tastings and pairing menus. This can be a restaurant, but a wine café can also work. Can you imagine a community of people drinking wine, listening to classical music and enjoying cheese mixed with bread? Ideas for a wine coffee shop
- Cozy ambiance: relaxing atmosphere, comfortable seating
- Tasting flights: a wine café can offer pre-set tasting flights, or allow customers to create their own flights from a selection of wines
- Curated wine selection: the selection should include a variety of reds, whites, and rosés from different regions and countries
- Education and events: again, the community that offers regular classes or workshops on wine appreciation, tasting, and pairing (cheese/wine)
- Retail sales: an opportunity for customers to buy a bottle of wine (or two)
We have another list for you, and you can find out about 20 unique coffee shops HERE.
Let’s continue with the unique café concepts around the world article!
Travel Café– A cafe that provides travel tips and resources and hosts travel events and workshops. I’ve visited Kota 84 and it was a wonderful experience chatting with a waiter and reading a part of the book.
Example: Kota 84
The Victorian Tea Room Café– A coffee shop inspired by the sophisticated atmosphere of the Victorian era, with fancy teas, scones, and delicate finger sandwiches.
Example: The Bridge Tea Rooms
The Bubblegum Café– a colorful and playful café with bubblegum machines and bubble-themed decor, providing a fun and lighthearted atmosphere for customers to enjoy their coffee.
Example: This is not a café, but it can be a good inspiration for a café Bubblegum Pink Bakeries
The Prohibition Speakeasy– A café inspired by the era of Prohibition in the United States, with hidden entrances, password-protected access, and cocktails served in teacups.
This idea is so cool because you never know where the entrance is or what’s behind the doors.
Example: 17 OF THE COOLEST HIDDEN BARS AND SPEAKEASIES IN PARIS
The Hippie Café– A café inspired by the counterculture of the 1960s, with tie-dye décor, vegetarian food, and a communal, laid-back vibe.
Example: Garden of Dreams
Silent Café– A café where customers can enjoy their drinks in silence, with noise-canceling headphones provided to block out external sounds or have separate rooms. Sometimes you need to be at place in silence, reading a book, listening to music (on headphones). A site for maybe introverts or people who want to go out alone and be surrounded by like-minded people.
Example: Silent café in Japan
Zen Café– An inspirational café that promotes mindfulness and relaxation, with decor inspired by Japanese gardens, meditation spaces, and drinks with calming ingredients. Adding plants, calm natural perfumes and big windows can elevate the experience.
Example: Must-Visit Japan-Inspired Cafes in Chiang Mai
Pyramid Inspired Café– having a small pyramid café with a triangular base and sloping sides, sand colors and hieroglyphic-inspired decor. You can offer people the experience of having Egyptian clothes for people to dress up.
The cat-friendly policy is a plus, of course-( Cats Rule in Ancient Egypt). The coffee shop’s menu could feature drinks and snacks inspired by Egyptian flavors and ingredients, such as spiced coffee, honey cakes, and dates. Adding books and Egyptian music can enhance the experience. Ancient Egyptian decoration can offer insight into Egyptian style and design.
Example: I couldn’t find a café like that, but if you know about it, let us know 🙂
The best inspiration and imagination could be these pyramids Exploring Sudan’s forgotten pyramids
Mars Inspired Café– I always imagine how it would look like to live on Mars. What about you?
Example: Mars.cnx
Pottery Café– I’m always up for the new experience, and pottery is something I’ve never tried. If you have a hobby like making and painting mugs, this could be a fabulous combo for a café idea.
Example: Pottery Café has been operating for over 20 years.
Gardening Café- a place where you could learn more about plants and have workshops. It’s something like tropical heaven. If you know how to care about green friends and combine good practical/theoretical teaching, this can not be just an ordinary place. Customers can also learn about plants in the form of rotation. Who wouldn’t want to see Awesome 8 Carnivorous Plants or learn about vegetables you can plant at home?
Example: 12 Gardening and DIY Camps and Workshops for Adults
- Famous people-themed coffee shops:
- The Shakespeare Cafe – a literary-themed coffee shop with Shakespearean decor and drinks inspired by the famous playwright’s works.
- The Marilyn Monroe Cafe – a retro-style coffee shop with Marilyn Monroe memorabilia and drinks named after the iconic actress.
- The David Bowie Cafe – a music-themed coffee shop with David Bowie-inspired decor and drinks named after his songs.
- The Audrey Hepburn Cafe – a classic and elegant coffee shop with Audrey Hepburn-inspired decor and drinks named after her most famous movies.
- The Elvis Presley Cafe – a retro-style coffee shop with Elvis Presley memorabilia and drinks named after his most famous songs.
Example: Grand Café Van Gogh
