8 Cool Ideas For Cafes Because We’re Tired Of Boring “Concept Stores”

Our city is buzzing with the coolest new spots, from Beirut’s first ever molecular gastronomy to juicy burger joints. However, we feel like cafes are falling short. While new ideas are spicing up Beirut’s food scene, Beirut cafes are becoming more and more…average. If I wanted a new cafe that doubles as a boutique, I would’ve just gone to one of the 80172731 that already exist in the city – so, if you’re an entrepreneur, here are 8 cool ideas for cafes.

P.S. if you’re actually going to make these a thing, we demand free coffee for Beirut.com members FOR LIFE.

1. A Fairuz-inspired café called “Fairuziyat”

We found out that there’s a café in Egypt dedicated to the iconic Naguib Mahfouz, who happens to be the only Arab to ever win a Nobel Prize in literature. And a café dedicated to a Lebanese icon like Fairuz? Count us in. We’d be all over that. Serve drinks inspired by her songs or even her stage appearances, play her music in the background, pictures of her all over the walls, and maybe have weekly screenings of the musicals she starred in.

Now if we’re talking business, we think the diaspora would love this place. They’re equally, if not more, obsessed with the Lebanese star, so why not feed into that obsession? SOMEONE PLEASE MAKE THIS A THING.

2. A (new) cat café called “Purrrista” or “Beirut ToeBeans” or some clever wordplay

Beirut had its very own cat café, but it closed down a few years ago. Maybe these big name animal NGOs can do some good with the money they’re getting from sponsors/donors and double their offices as a café to generate funds for the cats they’re fostering.

Not only will people give the cats all the love they need, they can also adopt them if they were looking for a new pet. All that while enjoying a delicious meowhite mocha? We can’t be the only people who have been PRAYING for a cat café comeback.

3. An ancient Roman-style book café that called “Berytus”

People often forget just how rich Lebanese history is, especially during the Roman Empire. The first ever law school was the Law School of Berytus (which is why our capital is called Beirut…I think), a school dedicated to teaching Roman law.

Now this is what we want the café to look like: shelves of books about Lebanese history, classical Greek and Roman literature, statues of important philosophers from classical antiquity, and of course – something that resembles the Baalbek temples.

4. Teta’s house, but make it a resto-café

And we don’t mean making it ✨Lebanese✨, we mean “lebnene”. No overpriced, mediocre shit – and make it actually look like your teta’s house. We’re talking patterned floor tiles, comfortable couches covered in checkered blankets so they don’t get dirty, vintage albums with old photos, stacks of mouneh, and fresh fruit baskets.

@raedhamdan86

Welcome to Teta’s kitchen

♬ الصوت الأصلي – 𝐺𝐻 ☁️

This has to be both Teta-friendly AND Teta-approved. And please name it something cute. Either just keep it simple like “Teta’s House” or name it after your teta. That would be cute. Make sure she visits the place, have pictures of her everywhere – WE LOVE OUR TETAS.

5. Something inspired by Seinfeld, and call it “Monk’s Café” (or something else, in case of copyright issues)

An entire café in the heart of Beirut, created to resemble the iconic Monk’s Café from Seinfeld. It will play Seinfeld reruns all day, every day, with coffee orders inspired by the characters, and you can even order “a big salad”.

This can apply to literally any other popular TV show. We already have Unicorn Coffee House, which is inspired by Central Perk from Friends, so why not make this a series and open up a bunch of cafes around the city that are dedicated to our favorite shows?

6. A buffet but you set the price…café

We need more of these concepts in Beirut. Who else loves buffets? Well, let’s make it a whole café, where you can set the price and chow down on baked goods and coffee as much as you want. And this should DEFINITELY be a work/study café with good WiFi connection…and no, you shouldn’t have to pay for WiFi.

7. A Christmas café

Christmas is the most festive time of year, so let’s have an actual Christmas café that serves the best pumpkin spice lattes, marshmallow-filled hot chocolate, lots of DIY gingerbread houses, and Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” playing all year round…EXCEPT December.

8. Turn a dating app into a café

For the people who don’t like to mix and mingle at Beirut pubs or use dating apps, but they love the café vibe, then why not have that option at cafes? When you step in, you get to pick a bracelet that shows your relationship status. For example, red is “taken”, yellow is “it’s complicated”, green is “you can hit on me”, white is “I’m single but fuck off”.

We can brainstorm some names for it. Maybe the “Swipe & Sip”, or something like “Cupid Café”. That would be cute, right? RIGHT?

Does anyone else have some cool ideas for cafes? Please get us in touch with someone who can make these ideas a real thing…we want more cool cafe ideas, SAY NO TO BORING CONCEPT STORES.