Best Cafes in Nairobi 2026 — Top Coffee Shops, Kenyan Coffee Culture and Specialty Cafes in Nairobi

Best Cafes in Nairobi 2026

Nairobi has a remarkable specialty coffee story — Kenya produces some of the world's most celebrated coffees (Kenya AA and Kenya SL28 are among the most sought-after single-origin beans globally, prized for their bright acidity and complex berry-forward flavour profiles), yet for decades Kenyans exported their finest coffee and drank instant Nescafé at home. That has changed dramatically: Nairobi now has a thriving specialty café scene that showcases Kenya's extraordinary coffee heritage. This guide covers the best cafes in Nairobi in 2026.

Nairobi Cafe Culture Overview

• The Westlands neighbourhood has Nairobi's highest concentration of specialty cafes including several dedicated to Kenyan single-origin coffee education and tasting; Karen suburb has upscale café culture in a garden setting popular with Nairobi's expatriate community; the CBD's coffee culture is fast-paced and office-centric; Nairobi's weekend brunch café culture has developed significantly, with queues at popular spots rivalling Johannesburg's brunch scene; chai (spiced tea with milk) remains more widely consumed than coffee by most Kenyans

Best Nairobi Cafe Neighbourhoods

• Westlands's Woodvale Grove and Westgate Mall area has Nairobi's best specialty café concentration; Karen's Karen Shopping Centre has upscale garden cafes popular with Nairobi's expat and Kenyan professional community; Gigiri near the UN compound has excellent international-standard cafes; the Lavington and Kileleshwa neighbourhoods have good mid-range cafes popular with Nairobi's local professional community

What to Order at a Nairobi Cafe

• Kenya AA or SL28 single-origin pour-over (the genuine Nairobi café experience — tasting Kenya's world-class coffee on home soil); masala chai (spiced milk tea — the most widely consumed hot drink in Kenya); mandazi (fried dough, slightly sweet — the classic Kenyan café snack); samosa with chai (ubiquitous at all Nairobi cafes); fresh passion fruit juice alongside coffee (Nairobi's most popular café juice)

Nairobi Cafe Prices 2026

• Kenyan single-origin pour-over: KES 500-900 ($5.37-$9.68 AUD); Masala chai: KES 150-350 ($1.61-$3.76 AUD); Specialty flat white: KES 450-800 ($4.84-$8.60 AUD); Brunch at Westlands café: KES 2,000-5,000 ($21.50-$53.75 AUD) per person

This article was compiled by AI and screened before publishing. See our editorial standards.