Where to sit, sip and slow down in Nantes.
Coffee shops, bakeries with seats and the places Nantes lingers in over a cortado.
Café Penché pours specialty coffee next to a vintage clothes shop off Place Royale in Nantes, with V60, Chemex and Aeropress brews and cakes made in house.
Signature drink: Chemex and V60 filter coffee
Tip: The room is small and shares its door with the vintage shop, so mid-afternoon is easier than the lunch hour for a seat and a filter.
L'Artichaut gathers a coffee shop, a seasonal canteen and an urban art gallery into one room on Rue du Marais in Nantes, lunch served at midday.
Signature drink: V60 or Aeropress filter coffee
Tip: The lunch formula runs Wednesday to Saturday from 12:00 to 14:00, and brunch lands on the first Sunday of each month.
Boëma Café brews specialty coffee from a Breton roastery in a bright room off Rue des Halles in Nantes, brunch and focaccia lunches every service.
Signature drink: Filter coffee from a Breton roastery
Tip: Brunch is the house speciality and vegan plates are built into the card rather than added on; pastries are baked each morning.
Horizon Café works as coffee shop and bean cellar on Rue Léon Jamin in Nantes, about thirty specialty references rotating through the brew bar.
Signature drink: Rotating single-origin filter
Tip: The same pair run Alaïa Café; brewing, tasting and latte art workshops are booked through the shop's Instagram account.
Madeleine Café pours European specialty coffee in a converted warehouse in Nantes, pastries from Maison Arlot Cheng and art on the tall walls.
Signature drink: European specialty espresso
Tip: Lunch is small plates rather than a full card, and the room doubles as a gallery and meeting space for the Madeleine quarter.
Tokki was the first Korean coffee shop in Nantes, pouring Cime beans beside yuja tea, red bean lattes, croffles and bowls of shaved ice bingsu.
Signature drink: Korean Dabang coffee and red bean latte
Tip: Bingsu is the summer order and gimbap carries the lunch counter; the playlist and the pale wood room are Seoul to the last detail.
Izi Café Jazz sells specialty coffee and jazz vinyl from one counter on Rue Voltaire in Nantes, a spare room of wood and metal built around records.
Signature drink: Specialty espresso
Tip: The records racked along the wall are for sale as well as for listening, and the pastries are made for the shop rather than bought elsewhere.
Alaïa Café pairs a specialty coffee bar with a low-waste boutique on Rue de Budapest in Nantes, lunch and Saturday brunch from local producers.
Signature drink: Specialty espresso and house juices
Tip: Adeline and Florian went on to open Horizon Café; Saturday brunch is the busy service and vegan or gluten-free plates are handled.
Curieux Coffeeshop keeps a fully plant-based counter behind its specialty coffee near Commerce in Nantes, sweet and savoury alike made without dairy.
Signature drink: Espresso with plant milk
Tip: Everything on the counter is vegan, which makes it a safe stop if you avoid dairy; the room is small and fills fast at lunch.
GLAZ takes its name from the Breton word for blue-green, pouring Cime coffee with a daily three-dish lunch and Sunday brunch near Tour Bretagne.
Signature drink: Cime roasted coffee
Tip: Sunday brunch runs 10:00 to 15:00 and needs booking; gluten-free and vegan versions are made if you flag it when you reserve.
Chop Chop runs a two-floor coffee shop and canteen on Rue Saint-Léonard in Nantes, cooking from raw produce with locally roasted coffee at the bar.
Signature drink: Locally roasted espresso
Tip: The upper floor is the quiet one and the wifi holds, which makes this one of the better rooms in Nantes for a working morning.
Les Triplettes puts a pastry chef, a barista and a third friend in one Nantes room, patisserie counter in the morning and canteen at lunchtime.
Signature drink: Barista coffee with house patisserie
Tip: Lunch runs Tuesday to Friday from 12:00 to 14:30 and brunch fills Saturday from 10:30; the pastry counter is the reason to return.
Fricotte works as neighbourhood canteen, coffee shop and salon de thé on Rue des Hauts Pavés in Nantes, with pastries baked on site each morning.
Signature drink: Freshly roasted filter coffee
Tip: Dogs are welcome and the walls rotate work by Nantes artists; Friday closes early at 14:00, so plan that afternoon elsewhere.
Tumbleweed is the first fully vegan coffee shop in Nantes, a 1970s room on Rue Santeuil pouring plant-milk drinks with pastries from Délice Végétal.
Signature drink: Matcha latte with oat milk
Tip: Everything served is plant-based, and the pastries come in from the vegan bakery Délice Végétal on Quai de la Fosse.
Les Bien-aimé.e.s is a café-librairie off Bouffay in Nantes, feminist and ecological writing downstairs and a quiet tea room on the floor above.
Signature drink: Loose-leaf tea and citron de Corée
Tip: The upstairs room is the one to settle into; pastries come in from partner bakeries rather than being baked on site.
Café sur Cour hides a large courtyard terrace behind a Mellinet corner in Nantes, a daytime café that turns to tapas and concerts after work.
Signature drink: Coffee on the courtyard terrace
Tip: The terrace is set back from the street and stays sheltered; Thursday and Friday run late, with concerts in the back room.
Cime Café is the Rue Santeuil shop of the Nantes roastery of the same name, beans roasted weekly and poured as espresso, filter or sold by the bag.
Signature drink: Espresso from the house roastery
Tip: The chocolate babka and the tigré on the counter are the pairing to order, and the week's roast is sold in bags at the till.
Chez les Crèmes is the canteen and coffee shop that Anaïs and Hélène opened near Bouffay in Nantes in 2024, everything on the counter made in house.
Signature drink: Hot chocolate and comfort cakes
Tip: Vegetables come in from Les Fermes Placier and brunch runs one Sunday a month, announced on the shop's own channels.
Bam Bam Café is a neighbourhood coffee shop and canteen on Rue Adolphe Moitié in Nantes, a seasonal card with vegan pastries beside the espresso.
Signature drink: Espresso with vegan pastry
Tip: Monday starts late at 11:00 and Friday stops at 15:00; the shop posts a summer timetable, so check the week before a weekend trip.
Saguaro Coffee picked up where Canyon closed a few doors away in Nantes, pouring cold brew, affogato and coloured lattes beside grilled cheese.
Signature drink: Iced ube latte
Tip: The vegan chocolate and peanut butter cookie comes out warm and the grilled cheese anchors lunch; the room is small, so mid-morning is calmer.