For all you coffee-starved travellers through Iran (or the soon to be coffee-starved if Tehran is your first port of call in the country) you'll be glad to find the string of coffee shops on the south side of Jomhuriyeh Eslami Ave, a couple of hundred metres west of Ferdosi St. You can stock up on coffee beans and related paraphernalia, or even sample a cup for IR 4,000.
There is also a well-known, but small coffee shop called Hot Chocolate - they stock cigars and a number of European cigarettes as well. This coffee shop is on occasion, a meeting place for some of Iran's sporting elite.
A few doors west of these shops is a delightful coffee shop next to Hotel Naderi. They serve coffee, tea and pastries to a mix of Tehran's intelligentsia and bohemian elite. It's a great place to sit and watch hip young guys eyeing gossiping girls while old men reminisce about the "good ol' days" under the Shah.
Coffee shops (called "coffeeshop" in Persian, versus "ghaveh-khane" (literally, coffee house) which instead means a tea house) have become especially popular in the affluent North, so if need, a visit to the White Tower (Borj-e Sefid) along Pasdaran Ave, or any other mall in the area should suffice. These coffee shops can also be very appealing to tourists interested in watching how young, affluent locals deviously bend the government regulations on contact between the sexes. Definitely worth a visit if in the area- try "White Rose" in the White Tower.
A visit to Sanaee Coffee Shop on Sanaee Street, 13th Street is definitely worth it for their absolutely fabulous chocolate milkshakes.
Try the 'Icepack' chain with their huge sortiment of milk- and ice-shakes. Popular with the Iranian youth.
Many places you can find fresh sickly-sweet carrot juice - as well as some other juices - for just 500 tomans a cup.
By most main bazaar in Tehran you can get a drink of blended honeydew melon with ice and sugar. Its delicious and extremely refreshing on a hot day.
The quintessential Persian drink is a Doogh. Its is a mixture of yoghurt, water, salt and spices. It can be purchased at almost any establishment and is often consumed in the afternoon while eating kababs. It comes in two main varieties fizzy (gaz-daar) and non-fizzy (bigaz). Typically the flavour has a slightly subtle mint flavour and is a good accompaniment to most foods.
For trendy cafes filled with liberal Iranins try Gandhi Shopping centre where you will find about ten coffeshops as well as a few very good restaurants, including Monsoon.
The best and most atmospheric cafe in Tehran must be Entracte Cafe . Bohemic cafe operated by actress Leila Hatami and her husband. Ask for the traditional Iranian tea which is amazing. They serve a fantastic brunch between 11AM and 2PM on Fridays and it includes sausages, normal bread and brie! It is located upstairs in a cinema on Jomhuri Avenue, just west of Valiasr Avenue.(This Cafe and the Cinema burnt down some months ago,so don't count on it.)
Gramophone Cafe, Charrahe Vali-e Asr (Vali-e Asr St. - In front of Theatre building). If you want talk to your friends, you can go to Gramophone coffee shop, listen to nice music, and have a nice coffee. Some of people who work there can speak English. Ask for Beiruz. �
Chai bar (Anjoman Khoshnevisan), 145 North Salimi Blvd (Farmanieh), ☎ 22210310. located in a beautiful historic garden in Tehran,Iran.It is an ideal place to spend late afternoons/evenings. It offers great selection of teas and coffees as well as sandwiches. �
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Tehran
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Tehran - updated Dec 2023
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Tehran Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
