Photo Credit: Tibor Trupec

There's really something special in coffee

If you have ever passed through Zagreb's center on Saturday mornings, you've surely seen a lot of people soaking up the sun and enjoying the smell and taste of coffee. While Brazil might be the first country in the world for coffee production and Italy might also be famous for their espresso and other varieties of the coffee drinks, people in Croatia are surely the first on the list when the topic is the time people spend on drinking coffee. It is one of the most cherished rituals and social events for the people of this country. Personally, I've never been a big coffee drinker, right up until I started college. My colleagues got me to develop the habit of coffee drinking and while I don't drink more than one or two cups a day, a day without coffee is just not the same for me. It's not that it wakes me but rather, I think it's more of a psychological switch that toggles me from sleeping to being in the working mode for the day. Although people started drinking all sorts of coffee, the ones to go, the ones to sit down with a friend and talk about the things that are new in your lives, the ones they made themselves or bought it from a coffee machine, taking your coffee sitting down is still very popular. People here, just drink coffee a lot and everywhere. Even when you're going out, and you know you aren't going to drink coffee, you would invite someone for coffee. I never heard someone that says, let's have a juice or something like that. Besides drinking coffee, people in Zagreb started to appreciate the design and decoration of a room where they drink their coffee, and the cafe bars noticed that, of course. 

Photo Credit: Tibor Trupec

Cafe bars are like people, they change

Cafe bars are called so because of the demands of the market that caused them to work until late hours because people started going out at night a lot more, not only to nightclubs but cafe bars as well. Some places though tend to call their businesses kafeterija so they would awake and evoke that vintage flair. Because, if you didn't know, vintage is popular these days! The owner of the Cafeteria Corso was thinking along the similar lines a while back when he thought about opening his coffee shop. It's a real ode to that past times when things like radio were popular. You can really see that they've given some thought into their interior decoration. There are a lot of details they've included in decorating their cafeteria. Even their waiters are dressed to match the description of the times. In the last couple of months, I developed a special relationship with Corso. I first went there with my friend and immediately liked it. A couple of weeks later I went there on a first date with my girlfriend, so it's a really special place for me. I really recommend it. 

Photo Credit: Dagmar Rohr/Johann Franck

The one with a true history

A lot of cafe bars were opened in the times when Zagreb was just developing, and the amazing fact about them is that they still work. Some of those businesses were passed down through generations, and other changed their owners, but one thing surely lasts through Zagreb's history. Now that I mentioned history, there's one cafe bar that really has an interesting one. Originally called "Gradska kavana," it was completely redecorated and rebranded a couple of years ago when one of the biggest coffee manufacturers in Croatia took it under tenure since the town is the owner of that specific building. The cafe bar was named Johann Franck after a German trader and businessman that opened the subsidiary of his family firm, right here, in Zagreb. The rebranding appeared to be a proper bullseye since the cafe bar named Johann Franck has more visitors than ever. The population that visits it is a lot different in comparison to the guests that it used to have, but you know what they say: "The children are our future." The best thing about Johann Franck for me is that, on its upper floor. It also offers great food and breakfasts as well, and there are a few things I like more than a good breakfast. 

Photo Credit: Dagmar Rohr/Johann Franck

More than meets the eye

Just across the main square from Johann Franck, there's "Mala Kavana." While it's not so small, as the name would suggest, compared to Johann Franck, it really is. It's perfect for when you want to drink your coffee not surrounded by a hundred people, but you still want to observe the people passing by. Among other cafe bars in Zagreb, I would single out the one called "Kavanica" and the one with a really creative name "The worst coffee in town." I've been there, and their coffee is definitely not the worst, but hey, they've got me to try it and to come there. Whatever coffee place you choose, be sure you can't miss much. Just as much as the citizens of Zagreb like to sit outside and drink coffee, the cafe bars in Zagreb are paying a lot of attention to the brewing the dark nectar that is so much more. Here's to coffee and all its drinkers, cheers! 

Photo Credit: Tibor Trupec

Header Image Credit: Dagmar Rohr/Johann Franck

Author: Tibor Trupec