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A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or cafe (also spelled as café from the French, Spanish, and Portuguese or caffè from the Italian) shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on providing coffee and tea as well as light snacks. Other food may range from baked goods to soups and sandwiches, other casual meals, and light desserts. In some countries, cafes may more closely resemble restaurants, offering a range of hot meals, and possibly being licensed to serve alcohol. Many coffee houses in the Muslim world, and in Muslim districts in the West, offer shisha, powdered tobacco smoked through a hookah. In establishments where it is tolerated, which may be found notably in the Netherlands, in Christiania (Copenhagen, Denmark), and in certain parts of Canada, cannabis is smoked as well.

An essential part of a coffeehouse from its beginnings has been its social functions, providing a place where people go to congregate, talk, write, read, play games, or while away time individually or in small groups.

This tradition is alive especially in the original Viennese cafés which offer (at least) fine sweet bakery and great coffee along with any degree between cemeterial tranquility, urban hustle and enthralling cultural events. In those extended living rooms you may enjoy, as a typical ironic local phrase says, being "not at home and yet not out in fresh air" - caused, different from the aromatic diversity described above, almost merely by common tobacco industry products.