Guwahati’s café scene got good quietly. Ten years ago the choice was a hotel coffee shop or nothing. Now there are more than fifty places in the city serving proper coffee, and a handful of them would hold their own in Bangalore or Delhi at half the price.
Axomor lists 51 restaurants and cafés in Guwahati with verified ratings, timings and price bands. These twelve are the ones worth planning around, whether you have an afternoon to kill before a flight or a week of working remotely from the city. Ratings and hours below come from our directory, and every name links to its full page with the address, phone number and map.
The Short List
| Café | Rating | Price | Hours | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The October Cafe | 4.7 | ₹₹ | 12:00 PM to 11:00 PM | The best all rounder |
| Ithakaa Restaurant and Cafe | 4.6 | ₹₹ | 11:30 AM to 11:00 PM | Long lunches |
| Daphne’s Cafe | 4.6 | ₹₹ | 10:00 AM to 11:30 PM | Evening, has a bar |
| Cafe City Streets | 4.5 | ₹₹ | 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM | Groups |
| Bagan: Poolside Cafe | 4.5 | ₹₹ | 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM | Sitting outside |
| Cafe Rivea | 4.4 | ₹₹ | 8:30 AM to 10:30 PM | Breakfast |
| Lush - The Café | 4.4 | ₹₹ | 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM | Vegan and vegetarian |
| The Bibliophilia Café | 4.4 | ₹₹ | 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM | Reading, working |
| Mocha Cafe & Bar | 4.4 | ₹₹₹ | 11:00 AM to 12:00 AM | Late nights |
| Cafe Shillong, Guwahati | 4.3 | ₹₹₹ | 12:00 PM to 11:00 PM | Hill café atmosphere |
| Café Hendrix | 4.2 | ₹₹ | 1:00 PM to 12:00 AM | Music, drinks |
| The Steaming Mug | 4.1 | ₹₹ | 12:30 PM to 1:30 AM | The latest closing |
The Best All Rounder
The October Cafe carries the highest rating of any café in our Guwahati list at 4.7 from 359 reviews, which is a strong score on a meaningful sample. It opens at noon and runs to 11:00 PM in the ₹₹ band. If you are in the city for one afternoon and want to know where to go, this is the answer.
For Working and Reading
The Bibliophilia Café is the obvious one, 4.4 from 665 reviews, and the earliest closer on this list at 9:00 PM. It is built around books and quiet, which makes it the place to take a laptop.
The Steaming Mug goes the other way entirely, staying open until 1:30 AM. It is a coffee shop and café at 4.1 from nearly 2,000 reviews, and it is the only place on this list you can still be sitting in at one in the morning.
Cafe Rivea opens at 8:30 AM, earlier than almost everything else here, which makes it the breakfast option. 4.4 from 1,688 reviews in the ₹₹ band.
For Sitting Outside
Bagan: Poolside Cafe does what the name says, 4.5 from 729 reviews, open 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM. Guwahati gets hot and humid from April, so outdoor seating is a winter and post monsoon pleasure rather than a year round one. From November to February it is excellent.
For Evenings
Daphne’s Cafe has the largest review count of the top rated places, 4.6 from over 3,300 reviews, and runs as a café and bar until 11:30 PM.
Café Hendrix opens at 1:00 PM and runs to midnight, a café and bar at 4.2 from nearly 2,500 reviews, built around music.
Mocha Cafe & Bar is the priciest on this list at ₹₹₹ and the busiest by review count, 4.4 from over 4,600. Open until midnight, and it does breakfast too.
For Vegans and Vegetarians
Lush - The Café is tagged vegan and vegetarian in our data, 4.4 from over 1,600 reviews, ₹₹, open 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM. Assam is not a difficult place to eat vegetarian, but it is a difficult place to eat vegan, and this is the reliable option.
If you want a fuller list, our guide to vegetarian restaurants in Guwahati covers the 109 vegetarian tagged places in the directory.
The One That Feels Like Shillong
Cafe Shillong, Guwahati is the Guwahati branch of a Shillong institution, 4.3 from 656 reviews, ₹₹₹, open noon to 11:00 PM. Shillong’s café culture is older and more developed than Guwahati’s, and this is the closest the plains get to it. If your trip is not taking you up into Meghalaya, it is a reasonable substitute. If it is, compare it against the real thing using our guide to rooftop cafés in Shillong.
What Things Cost
Almost everything on this list sits in the ₹₹ band, which in Guwahati means roughly Rs 350 to Rs 600 for two courses and coffee for one person. The ₹₹₹ places, Mocha, Cafe Shillong and DOCKYARD, run higher, closer to Rs 800 to Rs 1,200 for two.
A flat white or cappuccino across the city runs Rs 150 to Rs 250. That is materially cheaper than the metros for comparable quality, which is one of the quiet pleasures of the city.
When to Go
Guwahati’s café hours cluster around a late opening, with most places not serving until 11:00 AM or noon. If you want breakfast, Cafe Rivea at 8:30 AM and Uttsah By Sachika at 7:30 AM are among the few options.
Evenings are busy from about 7:00 PM, particularly at weekends. The city is at its most comfortable for sitting around from November to February, when the humidity drops. April to September is hot and wet, and the air conditioned places earn their keep.
Where These Fit in a Trip
Most visitors pass through Guwahati twice, once on arrival and once on the way out, which makes it a natural place to eat well rather than a destination in itself. If you have a half day, pair a café with Kamakhya Temple in the morning and a Brahmaputra sunset from Umananda Island.
Our Guwahati tourist places guide covers what to do around the eating, and the Guwahati hub city page has drive times to everywhere else in the state.
Browse the Full List
These twelve are a selection. The full directory of restaurants and cafés in Guwahati has all 51 places with ratings, hours, cuisines and maps, filterable by category and price.
One practical note: café openings and closings move fast in this city, and our data reflects what was verified at the time of writing. Call ahead if you are making a special trip somewhere. For the wider state, browse all Assam destinations.
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