The complete guide to contemporary Cafés in Turin

In the city with the highest number of historic cafés in Italy, perhaps in Europe, and which has always been home to prestigious brands—Lavazza, Costadoro, Vergnano, to name only the most internationally renowned—a new wave of cafés (and coffee) is emerging. Contemporary venues, experimental spaces, minimalist spots where the focus is on the product, all dedicated to specialty coffee. Here’s a map of eight “different” cafés in Turin.

The best contemporary Cafés in Turin

Orso doubles up ten years later

When it opened in 2014, over ten years ago, it immediately became the go-to spot for coffee lovers, with its shabby-hipster atmosphere in the trendy San Salvario district. Today, as other neighbourhoods gain popularity, such as Regio Parco beyond the Dora and close to the Einaudi Campus for humanities faculties, Orso is doubling up and inaugurating a second venue on 7th March at Via Cagliari 18, where Pai Bikery once stood—the city’s first bicycle repair shop with a bar. Coffee remains at the heart of the project, just as Alessandro Minelli, heir and co-owner of the Giuliano Caffè roastery in Caluso, envisioned from the start. A coffee journey followed from bean to roast, with single origins from selected plantations worldwide and various extraction methods, from espresso to V60, aeropress, and French press. With the goal of transforming the coffee cup into a sensory and conscious experience, Orso paved the way for a new coffee culture in Turin.

Orso, via Berthollet 30 - Via Cagliari 18 – www.orsolaboratoriocaffe.it

Mara dei Boschi, specialty coffee inside a famous gelateria

Mara dei Boschi is one of Turin’s finest gelaterias, boasting three “cones” in the Gambero Rosso guide and three locations in the city. The largest and most central, in the square known to all Torinese as Piazza Carlina, features a spacious outdoor seating area under the shade of plane trees and also has a substantial section dedicated to coffee. This stems from an innovative project: a high-quality micro-roastery created in Barolo, in the heart of the Langhe, in 2019 after twenty years of experience in coffee extractions. This led to the birth of Ialty, a specialty coffee line comprising five carefully selected and passionately sourced varieties. A project that speaks of territory but also of art—founder Riccardo Ronchi is an artist—and sport, with Oliviero Alotto, an endurance athlete taking on challenges around the world on foot and by bike.

Mara dei Boschi, piazza Carlo Emanuele II 21 - www.maradeiboschi.it

Costadoro Social Coffee Factory

Costadoro is a historic brand, founded in Turin in 1890 as a small roastery. Today, it is internationally recognised, and right in the city centre, inside Palazzo Bricherasio, it has opened a Social Coffee Factory—a space with a sustainable industrial design (recycled iron and wood from dismantled roofs and structures of mountain huts and houses in the region, iron sunshades to reduce internal heat from sunlight, and stabilised lichens used for soundproofing and air purification). The bar offers the Costadoro RespecTo blend, 100% organic and Fairtrade Arabica, alongside Specialty Coffees and Single Origins, with a wide range of extraction methods: Espresso, Filter, Chemex, French Press, V60, Clever, Aeropress, Cold Brew, Syphon Moka, and Napoletana.

Costadoro Social Factory, via Teofilo Rossi di Montelera 2- www.costadoro.it

Caffè 500, on the rooftop of the factory

This contemporary café is attached to the Pinacoteca Agnelli (but open to everyone, even those not visiting the collection) and is spectacularly located on the legendary rooftop test track of the former Fiat Lingotto factory, an architectural masterpiece by engineer Giacomo Mattè-Trucco. The coffee is from a historic Turin brand—Vergnano, established in 1882. Here, the modernity and attraction come from the location itself: no surprise that when Le Corbusier looked out from here, he declared that Turin had “the most beautiful natural setting in the world.”

Fiat Caffè 500-Otto Gallery, via Nizza 262 - www.pinacoteca-agnelli.it

Gocce di Cioccolato, specialty coffee in the suburbs

Borgo Vittoria, in the northern outskirts of Turin. It’s surprising to find one of the city’s most cutting-edge, experimental, and creative cafés here. Credit goes to Maurizio Galiano, roaster, master barista, and above all, coffee lover. Galiano not only selects the best specialty coffees from plantations committed to economic and social sustainability, but he also runs a micro-roastery, Dropstery, where he carefully crafts each product. Since 2017, he has also been a partner in Finca Rio Colorado, the first coffee plantation acquired by Umami Area Honduras for truly sustainable coffee. The perfect place to try different types of coffee and various extraction methods.

Gocce di Cioccolato, via Stradella 262- www.goccedicioccolato.net

Pressato: coffee, exhibitions & books

In the heart of the Quadrilatero, on a hidden street named after Turin’s first mayor in the 1600s, Gian Francesco Bellezia, and inside a historic building, Palazzo San Liborio, sits a contemporary café that plays with time: artisan-printed books, art, and specialty coffee from Maurizio Galiano’s roastery. The café offers specialty coffees from Kenya, Colombia, and Honduras, prepared using a historic Faema E61 machine—a vintage gem. Everything here is of remarkable quality: handcrafted artist books, independent publishers, limited editions, and high-end specialty coffee.

Pressato, via Bellezia 16b- www.pressato.it

Artifact, the new deal

In the same area, a new address. A concept by Riccardo Alesso, who returned to Italy after a long stay in England, where he worked first as a videomaker and then as a passionate coffee expert and trainer for a roastery with over 70 retail locations. He became a true connoisseur of specialty coffee, focusing on quality and sustainability. Six months ago, he opened Artifact: a specialty café offering over 20 coffees from at least ten different Italian and international roasters, from Ialty to Dropstery (Galiano’s roastery, which crafts a perfect Brazilian single origin for him). He has also created a coffee cellar, used for filter coffee. A rich coffee menu, an international atmosphere, well-matched food pairings, and coffee tastings: the new deal of coffee in Turin.

Artifact, via della Misericordia 3 c - www.artifactcoffee.it

Dapper, the bold newcomer

Opened at the end of January in the Vanchiglia district, its name derives from Dutch, meaning bold and elegant. It is the newest independent café dedicated to specialty coffee, launched by three friends in their thirties—Andrea Perrone, Giada Cistara, and Andrea Violano—who share a passion for coffee. Their coffee comes from the Turin-based Santaromero roastery, which supplies a Colombia single origin and the house blend, composed of three single origins from Guatemala, Ethiopia, and Colombia, as well as other suppliers such as Milan’s Nowhere and Florence’s D612 roasteries. For filter coffee, they use Piso Rojo, a Spanish roastery from Barcelona. High-quality coffee is used to prepare bicerin, marocchino, and the “dapperino”—a blend of filtered coffee, milk cream, gianduja cream, and cocoa. A minimal design location, a place where coffee encourages socialising. As a café should.

Dapper, corso San Maurizio 51G-www.dappercoffee.it