☕ Specialty coffee and old-school cofetării
Cafés and patisseries in Craiova
Two separate traditions sit side by side here: a small, genuinely good specialty-coffee scene that has grown up around the university, and the old Romanian cofetărie, which is about cake and a glass of water and has not changed in forty years. Both are worth your time, for different hours of the day.
21 places
Street Cafe
Lăpuș-Argeș4.5(333)out of 5 on Google€€€€
4.6(175)out of 5 on Google
5.0(163)out of 5 on Google
Closed · opens 12:00
Specialty coffee
Craiova's specialty scene is small enough to work through in two days and good enough that it is worth doing. Harvest Specialty Coffee and NAO'S are the highest-rated in the city; Bad Habits, Coffee Story, Bulldog and Smart Cup are the rest of the short list worth knowing.
The student population is why this exists. The University of Craiova puts tens of thousands of people into the centre during term, and a specialty café needs exactly that kind of weekday footfall to survive in a city this size.
The cofetărie, which is a different thing
Do not file these under coffee. A Romanian *cofetărie* is a cake shop with tables — the coffee is incidental, the *savarină*, *amandină* and *cremșnit* are the point, and the glass of water that arrives unasked with your order is part of the format. Cofetăria Damarin, Patiseria Eugenia and Cofetaria Michelle are the ones to try.
Cuptorul Cozonacilor is worth a separate mention in December: cozonac is the festive sweet bread, and buying one here rather than at the Christmas market is what people who live here do.
When
Mornings and the middle of the day, especially in summer. Between eleven and five from June to August the centre is genuinely hot and shadeless, and an air-conditioned café is not a lazy choice but the correct one — see the weather. In winter the same rooms are the answer to the fog.
Several of the specialty places open at seven or eight on weekdays and close early; the cofetării keep longer, more conventional hours.
Where to stay in Craiova
Live prices and availability on a map centred on this exact spot — hotels, apartments and hostels, so you can judge the walk from here rather than guess from an address.
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Frequently asked
Is there good specialty coffee in Craiova?
Yes, and more than the city's size would suggest — the university keeps a weekday crowd in the centre that supports it. Harvest and NAO'S are the highest-rated; Bad Habits, Coffee Story, Bulldog and Smart Cup complete the short list.
What is a cofetărie?
A Romanian cake shop with tables. The coffee is secondary — you go for savarină, amandină or cremșnit, and a glass of water arrives with the order whether you ask or not. It is a different institution from a café and should be judged on the cake.
Where can I sit in air conditioning in a Craiova summer?
Any of the specialty cafés in the centre, and that is a serious recommendation rather than a joke: July and August average a 30 °C daily high and the centre has almost no shade. Between eleven and five, indoors is the plan.
