The Best Cafés in Stockholm
Joanna Alm started with a one-kilo roaster in 2009 and built one of Europe’s most respected specialty coffee companies from there. She has won the Swedish Roasting Championship three times. Her calm, minimalist café near Mariatorget pairs coffee with pastries from nearby Svedjan Bageri.
When Ester Nordhammar opened this konditori in 1928, Swedish women had held the vote for barely a decade and female business owners were scarce. She employed only women and ran the place until her death in 1961. Crystal lamps, velvet chairs, and princess cakes carry her legacy forward.
Formerly Mellqvist Kaffebar, this Södermalm institution is featured in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium novels as Mikael Blomkvist’s go-to spot and served as the author’s own regular café, too. It serves David Haugaard’s micro-roasted coffee alongside Valhallabageriet pastries and has a sunny terrace.
This specialty roastery on Kungsholmen sources beans directly from South and Central American farmers. Baristas pull espresso with care and provide tasting cards detailing the origin and altitude. Empanadas and medialunas bring Buenos Aires to the North; curious guests try the espresso tonic.
What if dietary restrictions meant no compromise? At this dedicated gluten-free bakery, everything is also oat-free and lactose-free, with many vegan options. Constraints breed creativity here: the choux-semla hybrid merges French pastry technique with Swedish tradition.
Uppsala’s oldest operating café, founded in 1878 by confectioner Erik Ofvandahl, has occupied its Sysslomansgatan address near the cathedral for well over a century. Filter coffee comes with free refills, a tradition called påtår. One specialty is the Linnébakelse: a marzipan pastry bearing the profile of botanist Carl von Linné.
This organic café with tables beneath apple trees serves vegetarian dishes made from scratch, alongside homemade bread and seasonal pastries. The kitchen uses produce from its own greenhouse and garden plots. Alfred Nobel’s 1860s dynamite factory and a swimming spot lie just footsteps away.
The name means “little brother’s” because founder Stefan Berg is the younger sibling of another baker. The space is just as small (just a wooden counter where bakers work in plain sight), but the tosca buns with caramel-coated nuts are worth the queue. The 27-layer croissants remind guests of Paris.