Cafeography
Beirut

Cafés with outdoor seating in Beirut

Seats outside by the Raouché corniche, on the Vendome Stairs and along Hamra sidewalks.

Photo: YL Lew, Pexels License

Beirut has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate: the sea keeps days and nights mild, autumn and spring are warm but short, and frost has never been recorded.1 Summers are long, hot and humid, and the large majority of the 825 mm of annual rain falls between October and April.1

Smoking rules matter for where you sit. Lebanon's law has banned smoking in closed public spaces, including coffee shops, restaurants and bars, since 3 September 2012, and café owners who turn a blind eye face fines of US$900–2,700.2 Hamra has the most cafés with outdoor seats, followed by Mar Mikhael.

Local tip: Between October and April, when most of Beirut's rain falls, choose a terrace with cover or a café with seats both inside and out.1

Where these cafés are: Hamra & Ras Beirut (3), Mar Mikhael (2), Raouché & Manara (1), Jnah & Ramlet el-Baida (1), Gemmayzeh (1), Mazraa & Basta (1), Achrafieh (1).

At a glance

10Cafés listed
7With opening hours
07:00Earliest opening
01:00Latest closing

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By the sea

The Corniche is lined with palm trees and looks out over the Mediterranean, with the summits of Mount Lebanon to the east.3 Near its Raouché end, cafe lucy at No. 123 Raouché Street has outdoor tables, Wi-Fi and air conditioning, and is open 24 hours.

Brimm, on Madame Curie Street a few blocks inland, never closes either and has outdoor seats and Wi-Fi. The coast itself changes every few hundred meters, with rocky beaches, sandy shores and cliffs side by side,1 and at Raouché the cliff-top cafés look out on Pigeons' Rock.4

Stairways in Mar Mikhael and Gemmayzeh

The stairways that link Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael with the higher neighborhoods double as terraces, and Time Out's advice was to enjoy a coffee or a cocktail and an argileh on one of them.5 Sole Insight sits on the Vendome Stairs, a small spot with a good vantage point that Time Out recommended for meeting friends or watching people go by.5 It has seats inside and out and a smoking area.

Caffeine Coffee Beirut in Mar Mikhael has outdoor tables and serves 08:00–01:00. In Gemmayzeh, Aaliya's Books at No. 497 Rue Gouraud has seats outside and a smoke-free interior. Nearby, the St Nicholas Stairs, known as the Escalier de l'Art, climb to Rue Sursock and fill with an art festival once a year.6

Hamra's sidewalks

In Hamra, روسّا كافيه (Rossa Café) has outdoor tables from 07:00 to 01:00, and Trop Cool Cafe has a terrace with Wi-Fi and air conditioning, Monday to Saturday 08:00–18:00.

Sidewalk sitting has deep roots on this street. In the late 1990s Modca was still a sidewalk café of the old kind on Hamra Street, before a bank replaced it.7 Hamra Street was given a facelift by the municipality in the mid-1990s, and the Hamra Street Festival opens there each autumn.8

Achrafieh, Mazraa and Jnah

Noja Café, on the Achrafieh slope above Mar Mikhael, has outdoor seats. In Mazraa, yasmine cafe is open 24 hours with tables outside, and in Jnah, cozy cafe serves 08:00–00:00 with outdoor seating and Wi-Fi.

Plan for the wind. In the afternoon and evening the prevailing breeze comes in from the Mediterranean, and at night it reverses and blows offshore.1

Sources

  1. Beirut, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Smoking ban enforced in Lebanon, The National (AFP, September 3, 2012), accessed October 2026
  3. Corniche Beirut, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  4. Raouché, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  5. What to do in Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhaël, Beirut's coolest neighbourhood, Time Out (November 21, 2019), accessed October 2026
  6. Rue Gouraud, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  7. Walking Beirut's Transformed Neighborhoods, From Hamra to Gemmayzeh, New Lines Magazine (Nada Bakri, August 11, 2026), accessed October 2026
  8. Hamra Street, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
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By area: Gemmayzeh Mar Mikhael Achrafieh Hamra & Ras Beirut Raouché & Manara

FAQ

Outdoor seating in Beirut: questions

Which Beirut cafés have outdoor seating and stay open 24 hours?

Cafe lucy at No. 123 Raouché Street, Brimm on Madame Curie Street and yasmine cafe in Mazraa have outdoor seating and are open 24 hours in Beirut. Cafe lucy and Brimm also have Wi-Fi.

Can you smoke at outdoor cafés in Beirut?

Lebanon's law bans smoking in closed public spaces, coffee shops included, since 3 September 2012, with fines of US$900–2,700 for owners who allow it. Outdoors, Time Out suggested a coffee and an argileh on the stairways of Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael in Beirut.

When is the best season for café terraces in Beirut?

Beirut has mild winters with no recorded frost and long, hot, humid summers. Most of its 825 mm of annual rain falls between October and April, so terraces are driest from May to September.

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