If you came to Poland thinking your coffee options were filter brew at the hotel breakfast or whatever the closest Starbucks is serving, Poznań (POZ-nan) is going to surprise you.
I grew up in Poznań, and I watched this whole speciality scene basically being born around 2016, 2017. I was a teenager skipping the occasional lesson to sit with a flat white instead, learning that V60 wasn’t some chemical compound but a way of brewing coffee, and that „single origin” meant something specific instead of marketing fluff. The cafés below are the ones that taught me, and they’re the ones I still come back to.
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Stragan — the cult classic of speciality coffee in Poznań
It’s been around since well before speciality coffee was a thing in Poland, and the people running it take coffee seriously enough to refuse to make Americanos. Yes, really. They will not pull you a long black with hot water added.
If that sounds annoying, it kind of is, but it also tells you everything about how they think about extraction.
The space is on Ratajczaka 31, just off Plac Wolności. You’ll see students reading actual books at 9am and freelancers parked on laptops by noon.
Warm wood, soft lighting, low background music. They roast their own beans (the roastery is theirs), and you can choose between espresso, drip, AeroPress, Chemex, or siphon depending on which beans they’ve got rolling that week.
They’ll explain the origin and tasting notes without making you feel stupid. Their bajgle (bagels) are excellent, baked in-house, and the cheesecake gets praised by basically every visitor I’ve sent there. Expect to pay around 18–22 PLN (~$4.50–5.50 / €4–5 / £3.50–4.50) for a milk coffee, 22–28 PLN for a filter brew.
For me it is a special place, as I was studying there for my exams, meeting with high school friends, and even went there on a first date with Michał!
One thing worth knowing: Stragan has a smaller sister café called Strag. over in Jeżyce on Szamarzewskiego 39. Same coffee, more food-forward menu, natural wines in the evening.
Address: Ratajczaka 31, Poznań
Hours: Daily 8:00–21:00 (Strag.: Sun–Thu 7:30–20:00, Fri–Sat 7:30–21:00)
Best for: serious coffee drinkers, breakfast meetings, working with a laptop in the morning
Kaferdam — the design-forward coffee spot near the Old Town
Kaferdam is a more recent addition to the Poznań coffee map, and it’s already become one of those places people Instagram before they drink. The original location at Grobla 30 sits about two minutes’ walk from the Old Town, on a quiet side street most tourists miss completely. The interior was designed by oyka studio with brushed steel tiles meant to evoke the embankment that used to run along the street, and yes, it’s as good-looking as it sounds.
The Berlin café influence is obvious (concrete, steel, big windows, plants), but the coffee is the real point. Speciality beans, careful brewing, a short menu of brunch plates that actually change with what’s in season. They lean into natural wine in the evening, so the place shifts from coffee shop to wine bar somewhere around 6pm.
There’s also a second Kaferdam location at Święty Marcin 84, in the courtyard right in front of CK Zamek (the cultural centre in the old imperial castle). It’s a glass pavilion, all light, and a really nice spot to sit if you’ve been walking around the imperial district. Same coffee quality, slightly different menu, kitchen open 8:00–16:00.
Address: Grobla 30,(main); Święty Marcin 84, 61-804 Poznań (Zamek)
Hours: Both locations 8:00–20:00 (food 8:00–16:00)
Best for: brunch, design lovers, anyone who wants to combine coffee with sightseeing near the Old Town
Taczaka 20 — the long-running favourite with the soft-serve and patissier trick
Ulica Taczaka is probably my favourite street in Poznań. It’s a short pedestrianised stretch between the main station and Plac Wolności, lined with bars, restaurants, and a few of the city’s better food spots.
Taczaka 20 has been on this street since 2011, which in Polish café years makes it ancient. It survived the pandemic, watched the entire street transform around it, and somehow stayed exactly as good as it was a decade ago.
The interior is small and a bit shabby-chic in a deliberate way. Distressed walls, mismatched chairs, the kind of place that fits maybe 25 people at a stretch. In summer, they put tables out on the pavement, and the place becomes a small social ecosystem all its own.
They serve speciality espresso, batch brew, AeroPress, Chemex, V60, basically the whole range, and the prices are kinder than most: a flat white is around 16–19 PLN (~$4–4.75 / €3.75–4.50 / £3.25–4).
Now, the actual reason I’m sending you here. In summer, they wheel out a soft-serve ice cream machine. Then they take their own freshly baked croissants and stuff them full of soft serve to order.
They also do drink combinations with the soft serve — affogato variations, iced coffees with a crown of vanilla. If you’re in Poznań between June and September and you don’t try one, you’ve made a mistake
Year-round, their croissants alone are worth the visit. Plain, almond, pistachio, seasonal fillings. Plus a short breakfast menu with toasts and sandwiches.
Address: Stanisława Taczaka 20, Poznań
Hours: Mon–Fri 9:00–16:00, Sat–Sun 9:00–18:00 (check the Instagram for summer extended hours)
Best for: a coffee-and-pastry stop while exploring, soft-serve croissants in summer, soaking up Taczaka street energy
Okruszki — coffee with the best Korean breakfast sandwich in Poznań
The literal translation of the name of this place is breadcrumbs. That’s what is gonna be left on your plate when you decide on their breakfast.
If you’ve never had one of the Korean egg drop sandwich: it’s a buttered, toasted brioche bun stuffed with what’s essentially the world’s softest, fluffiest scrambled egg, plus cheddar, plus a sweet-spicy sauce, plus whatever else is on the menu that day (avocado-nori, kimchi, bacon, vegan options with a different protein).
It is delicious.
It’s also the only place in Poznań doing them properly. The brioche is baked in-house, which makes a real difference.
But this is a coffee guide, and the coffee at Okruszki is genuinely strong. Speciality beans, careful preparation, especially good cortado on coconut milk if that’s your thing. Around 17–20 PLN (~$4.25–5 / €4–4.75 / £3.50–4) for milk drinks. The sandwiches run 24–34 PLN, depending on the version, which is an honestly absurd value for what you’re getting.
Address: Zwierzyniecka 10, Poznań
Hours: Mon–Fri 7:30–16:00, Sat–Sun 9:00–16:00
Best for: breakfast or brunch with a coffee, weekday mornings, anyone bored of standard Polish breakfasts
Okruszki on IG
Uno — for the seasonal breakfast, and a coffee souvenir
Uno (formerly Uno Espresso, but they dropped the second word a few years back) is on Mickiewicza 20 in the Jezyce, and it’s one of the cafés that essentially trained an entire generation of Poznań baristas.
They’ve been at it since 2011, and they run their own roastery called ODIJA, where they roast the beans they serve at the café. You can buy bags to take home — they sit on the counter in those very recognisable black bags with animal labels.
The breakfast here deserves its own paragraph. The menu is short and changes with the season — that’s not a marketing line, it actually does.
Different takes on eggs, peanut granola, a sandwich with pork loin, a really good shakshouka served with bread from Zakwas (a bakery just up the street).
I’ve had breakfasts (scrambled eggs with chanterelles and broad beans, ohhh) at Uno in summer that were entirely different from what they were serving three months later. If you want a Polish café where the kitchen takes seasonality seriously, this is it.
Local tip: if you like the coffee, buy a bag of ODIJA beans before you leave. You won’t find them in any UK or US shops, and they make a much better souvenir than fridge magnets.
Address: Adama Mickiewicza 20, Poznań
Hours: Check their Instagram: typically Mon–Fri 8:00–18:00, weekends slightly shorter
Best for: breakfast, taking beans home, anyone who wants to understand where Poznań’s coffee scene came from
Vandal — the Berlin-vibes café in Łazarz worth the tram ride
Vandal is on Strusia 9, in the Łazarz district, which until about ten years ago wasn’t really on the radar for tourists or even most locals. Łazarz has had a slow renaissance.
If you’re planning a visit to Palmiarnia, or just to walk around the beautiful old tenements, then stop at Vandal is a must. Check what else to do in Poznań.
The vibe is genuinely Berlin. Off-street, casual, a bit messy in a deliberate way, with that kind of music playing that suggests someone in the back has strong opinions about it. It is worth stopping by just for the interior, which is insanely good!
They serve speciality coffee from rotating roasters, classic cappuccinos with foam art, and drip filter that’s a particular point of pride. Around 16–20 PLN for milk drinks (~$4–5 / €3.75–4.75 / £3.25–4.25), 20–25 for filter.
It’s also far enough from the tourist core that you’ll mostly be surrounded by Poznań locals, which I personally find more enjoyable than fighting for table space in the Old Town.
Łazarz is about a 10-minute tram ride from Plac Wolności (lines 5, 6, 12, 14 all work — get off at Rynek Łazarski). If you’ve already done the Old Town and want to see a part of Poznań that’s actually changing in real time rather than preserved in amber for tourists, come here.
Address: Strusia 9, 60-711 Poznań
Hours: Roughly 8:00–19:00, slightly later on weekends — check their Facebook before you go
Best for: getting out of the centre, working alone, meeting a friend, seeing how Łazarz lives now
Practical info: paying, tipping, and timing your coffee runs
Some things worth knowing before your first café visit in Poznań, especially if you’re used to coffee culture in London or New York.
Card payments work everywhere. Every café on this list takes contactless cards and Apple/Google Pay. Cash works, too, but you basically don’t need it. There’s no minimum spend at any of these places. Cash is good too.
Tipping isn’t required. 10% is standard at restaurants, but at cafés, locals usually just round up or leave a few złoty. Nobody will be offended if you don’t tip on a 20 PLN coffee. If you’re picking up coffee to go from the counter, it’s perfectly normal to leave nothing.
Don’t expect filter coffee in Polish-language cafés. If you walk into a generic, non-speciality café, you’ll likely get espresso-machine coffee. For actual filter brew, AeroPress, or Chemex, you need a speciality café like the ones above.
Mornings are calmer than you’d think. Polish café peak hours are typically 11am–1pm and again 3pm–6pm. If you want a quiet flat white with good light, walk in at 9am.
That’s the hard one, but I’d say Vandal and Kaferdam. You will get a delicious coffee in every cafe from the list, but those would be my bets. Both serve speciality beans brewed by people who know what they’re doing.
A specialty milk coffee (flat white, cappuccino, latte) typically costs 16–22 PLN, which is roughly $4–5.50 / €4–5 / £3.50–4.50. Filter coffees and alternative brews run a bit higher, usually 20–28 PLN. Expect an extra charge for non-cow milk.
Yes, and frankly, some of the best ones are. Vandal in Łazarz, Strag. and Okruszki in Jeżyce, and Uno in Jeżyce border are all worth the short tram ride. Jeżyce in particular has become a real café neighbourhood over the last few years, with much better atmosphere than the touristy spots in the historic core.
Most speciality cafés in Poznań open between 7:30 and 9:00 on weekdays. Okruszki opens at 7:30 Mon–Fri, Stragan and Kaferdam at 8:00. Weekends usually start an hour later. If you’re an early riser used to UK or US opening times, you may need to find breakfast at a hotel for the first hour or so — there’s no equivalent of a 6 am Pret here.
