The Best Cafes and Coffee Shops in Liverpool, UK

How’s this for a concept: Everything is free inside, except for the time you spend.

That’s right, at Ziferblat you pay for the time spent in the café rather than the products you consume. Perfect for freelance workers or those looking for an external meeting place, Ziferblat houses meeting rooms and co-working spaces; you simply pay 8p per minute for your time inside the café, with the maximum spend capped at four hours. That means someone looking to use a space for a full day would pay just £19.20 for a warm, comfortable space with unlimited food and drink, Wi-Fi and helpful staff on hand.

If you’re all worked out, there’s a record player, board games, a piano, newspapers and much more — not to mention 43 types of tea, custom-brewed coffee and a lot of cake.

Rococo is an independent coffee house, situated opposite Liverpool ONE shopping centre. If you’re into great coffee, paninis, cakes and people watching, there is literally nowhere better in the city to pass the time. It’s always important to support your local independents, so forget about Starbucks this morning and try Rococo. We promise you won’t be disappointed!

Opened back in 2010 as Liverpool’s first speciality coffee shop, Bold Street Coffee, is still going strong seven years on. A firm favourite in Liverpool’s independent quarter, Bold Street Coffee uses only the highest regarded European coffee roasters; the shop also has a pretty solid brunch menu.

Bold Street also occasionally installs exhibitions from local artists in the café, which is a great added touch.

Locally renowned as one of the best places in Liverpool for a brew, Leaf is another great example of the ‘café by day, bar by night’ types. As the name may suggest, Leaf do sell about a billion varieties of their own brand of loose leaf tea which is available to drink on the premises or purchase in a packet to enjoy at home. Leaf also offers one of the most impressive food menus in the city, which is no mean feat for somewhere like Liverpool.

As well as a day time café offering, Leaf also hosts regular live music on evenings, making it one of the most versatile spaces in the city that you definitely need to visit.

With a strong American influence, New York to be precise, Moose Coffee bring the closest experience to a USA diner that can possibly be found in a coffee shop in Liverpool.

Moose’s brunches are famous in these parts. Their eggs Benedict is locally renowned and their coffee isn’t bad either. For something a little more filling, The Mighty Moose (homemade potato hash, organic bacon and free range eggs) will cure your hunger. This place is always busy, which is only a good sign.

The Old Hardware Shop is a vegan/vegetarian cafe in the suburb of Woolton. Quirks aplenty are in store here with a number of disorientated paintings on the wall and cushions on the sofas that simply don’t match; it just works really well here. With reasonable prices and a good selection of food and drink to go with a real homely, welcoming atmosphere, this village cafe sets the bar for so many who will inevitably follow.

Filter and Fox is Liverpool’s cafe by day and cocktail bar by night. One of the city’s standout verstatile coffee shops, Filter and Fox serves breakfast from 8am which runs right through to midnight (yep!) as some of the best cocktails on Merseyside start to surface.