In short: a great specialty coffee and a place to open your laptop do go together. We picked ten spots from our database, each one flagged by at least one editorial source: in Paris, Panas Café (11th), KB Coffee Roasters (9th) and Café Lomi (18th); in Lyon, Rakwé Café (6th) and Le Puzzle Café (Vieux Lyon); Brume Coffee in Nice, Verde Nero in Bordeaux, Super Bien in Grenoble, and two roasters outside the big cities, Le Palais du Café in Le Mans and L'autre café in Brive-la-Gaillarde. Details for each address below.
Want a carefully made coffee and, at the same time, a table where you can open your laptop for the morning? You don't have to choose. Plenty of roasters and specialty coffee shops happily welcome people who work, as long as you know where to go. Every address here is a specialty coffee shop or roaster from our database, flagged as laptop-friendly and open during the day on weekdays.
Wi-Fi is your top priority? See also our pick of cafés with Wi-Fi to work from.
Paris 11th, Panas Café
At 8 rue Paul Bert, in the 11th, Panas Café is an independent specialty coffee shop. For work, it ticks almost every box: Wi-Fi, power outlets, large tables, a quiet atmosphere and laptops welcome, with food on site. It is also the most cited address by editorial sources among the cafés in this selection.
Open every day: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. On weekdays it closes at 5 p.m., so start early.
Paris 9th, KB Coffee Roasters
At 53 avenue Trudaine, in the 9th, KB Coffee Roasters is both a coffee shop and a roaster. You will find coffee, smoothies and pastries, with Wi-Fi, a quiet atmosphere and laptops welcome. No power outlets are flagged on our page: arrive with a charged battery.
Open every day: 7:45 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. It is the earliest opening in the selection.
Paris 18th, Café Lomi
At 3 ter rue Marcadet, in the 18th, Café Lomi is a well-known Paris café set right next to its roasting space. It is a warm, pleasant place to work: Wi-Fi, power outlets, large tables and a fairly quiet atmosphere, with food on site so you don't lose your seat at lunchtime.
Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed on Sunday. Come early if you want a full day: it closes at 5 p.m. on weekdays.
Lyon 6th, Rakwé Café
On cours Lafayette, on the 6th arrondissement side, Rakwé is a specialty coffee shop with a studious, hushed atmosphere that doubles as an art gallery. It is the address for focused mornings: Wi-Fi, quiet, laptops welcome, and food on site.
Open every day: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Handy if you need a specialty coffee spot that stays open at the weekend.
Lyon 5th, Le Puzzle Café
At 1 rue des Estrées, in Vieux Lyon, Le Puzzle Café is a specialty coffee shop with Scandinavian decor, serving pastries and hot drinks. Wi-Fi flagged, laptops welcome and food on site: a good base for a work session between two strolls around the old town.
Open Tuesday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., closed on Monday.
Nice, Brume Coffee
At 34 rue Pairolière, in Vieux Nice, Brume Coffee is a specialty coffee shop. Wi-Fi, a quiet atmosphere, laptops welcome and food on site: enough to fit in a morning of work in the heart of the old town.
Open Wednesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed on Monday and Tuesday. Hours are short: aim for a half-day.
Bordeaux, Verde Nero
At 24 rue des Ayres, Verde Nero is a coffee shop and tea room that roasts its own coffee, serving breakfast and lunch. Laptops are welcome. Wi-Fi is not flagged on our page: if you need internet, plan on using your phone's hotspot.
Open Monday and Wednesday to Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed on Tuesday.
Grenoble, Super Bien
At 8 Grande Rue, Super Bien is a specialty coffee shop built around a large shared table. Wi-Fi and power outlets are flagged, and laptops are welcome: you settle in at the big table, laptop open, coffee by your side.
Open Wednesday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed on Monday and Tuesday. Mind the start of the week and plan a backup.
Le Mans, Le Palais du Café
On rue Nationale, right in the centre of Le Mans, Le Palais du Café is a specialty roaster that roasts more than 25 origins on site. Beyond the counter, there is a space where you can settle in and work for the day, with excellent coffee within reach and the smell of roasting in the background. Wi-Fi and large tables are flagged.
Open Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 6:45 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. then 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., closed on Sunday and Monday. Plan around the Saturday lunch break.
Brive-la-Gaillarde, L'autre café
On rue des Deux Porches, right in the centre of Brive, L'autre café is a specialty coffee shop and micro-roaster spotted by Le Fooding. You can taste the house coffees (Uganda, Ethiopia, Honduras) as espresso or slow brew, with pastries, tea and juices. Thirty seats inside, a terrace of around twenty, Wi-Fi and air conditioning.
Open Tuesday to Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., closed on Monday.
The right spot for what you need
- You want to work at the weekend: Panas Café, KB Coffee Roasters and Rakwé Café are open every day; Le Puzzle Café, Brume Coffee, Super Bien and Verde Nero also open on Saturday and Sunday.
- You need power outlets: Panas Café and Café Lomi in Paris, Super Bien in Grenoble.
- You want quiet: Panas Café, KB Coffee Roasters, Rakwé Café and its studious atmosphere, or Brume Coffee in Nice.
- You want your coffee straight from the roaster: KB Coffee Roasters in Paris, Verde Nero in Bordeaux, Le Palais du Café in Le Mans and L'autre café in Brive roast their own coffee, and Café Lomi sits next to its roasting space.
- You start early or finish late: KB Coffee Roasters opens at 7:45 a.m. on weekdays, Le Puzzle Café stays open until 7 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday.
- You like working with people around you: the large shared table at Super Bien.
Frequently asked questions
Can you work in a specialty coffee shop without feeling unwelcome? Yes, if you choose well. The ten addresses in this guide are flagged as laptop-friendly in our database, and some make a point of it: Le Palais du Café in Le Mans has a space for working by the day, and Super Bien in Grenoble is built around a large shared table. To stay welcome, order again from time to time and avoid taking up a large table on your own during the lunch rush.
Which specialty coffee shops have power outlets for working? Panas Café (Paris 11th), Café Lomi (Paris 18th) and Super Bien (Grenoble) have power outlets flagged in our database. Elsewhere, check your battery before heading out.
Where can you work in a specialty coffee shop on Sunday? In Paris, Panas Café and KB Coffee Roasters; in Lyon, Rakwé Café and Le Puzzle Café; Brume Coffee in Nice (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.), Verde Nero in Bordeaux (10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.), Super Bien in Grenoble (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and L'autre café in Brive in the afternoon (2 p.m. to 7 p.m.).
Are the opening hours up to date? The hours in this guide come from our venue pages, which we regularly check against Google Maps. They can change, especially during the holidays: take a look at the venue's page before you go.
In short
Specialty coffee and work get along very well, as long as you aim for the right addresses: a roaster that has set up a space to sit down, a quiet coffee shop with Wi-Fi and power outlets, and opening hours that cover your day. These ten cafés prove it, from Paris to Nice by way of Bordeaux and Grenoble. Know a specialty coffee shop that's great for working and that we missed? Let us know.
