20 Best Restaurants in Cape Town, South Africa

Although it's on Canterbury Street, this community-building café is also accessible from Harrington via the "Electric Avenue" alleyway. Occupying a former mechanic shop, expect good, wholesome food, fresh juices, music events and social happenings, and an effort to help feed the local homeless and hungry. If you're looking for a spot to linger, fill up on nutritious drinks and bites, and maybe start a conversation with a stranger—this is a good place to make that happen. At the same time, there's plenty of choice in terms of salads, sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, flatbreads, and an extensive choice of beverages, both healthy and boozy.

Hidden in the Montebello Design Center and Nursery is this quaint little cafe that has been serving locals for decades. Serving thoughtful breakfasts, light lunches, sandwiches, and a select number of delicious hot meals. There is an extensive cake, pastry, and deli counter with all kinds of homemade goods. On warmer days, a seat outdoors allows you to view the wonderful plants in the nursery next to it and there's a small play area for kids to enjoy. 

Delicious things—think eggs Benedict, French toast, American-style pancakes, ostrich bacon with smashed avocado on toast, warm polenta porridge, and buttermilk-fried chicken with waffles—are the norm at this designer space (with its dark-wall exterior and pale pink interior). With an all-day breakfast menu that's purpose-made for the brunch crowd (lots of drinks options), this feel-good space is a favorite for lingering catch-up sessions (over coffee or over mimosas), perhaps after a late night on the town or as a preamble to a day's exploration.

A surprise repurposing of a former auto repair shop, this vast warehouse-like space is full of mix-and-match furniture and packed to the rafters with plants—whether it's a nursery with a restaurant or a restaurant with a nursery is beside the point—and has become a true neighborhood gathering spot. You come here for the personality of the waitstaff, the comforting food (breakfasts, lunches, toasted sandwiches, and dinners, plus all manner of baked goods, and no expectation that you sit down for anything more than tea or coffee), the buzz, and the marvelous assortment of people, many of them strangers sharing tables. There's a separate room at the back where free-roaming laptop workers are often connected to the outside world via free-flowing Wi-Fi.

Amid the tribal masks, beaded place mats, and raw-wood headrests, this vast café is a breath of fresh air tucked away from the mainstream in a historic building in the backstreets of Green Point. It's such a secret that you could walk right past it without knowing it's there, but do seek it out because it's not only a lovingly restored oasis, but the food (mostly breakfasts and brunches, but also excellent lunches) is wonderful and the kitchen is always striving to bring more creativity to the menu. Expect dishes like Turkish eggs (homemade labneh topped with poached eggs), chicken livers with mosbolletjie (a traditional Cape Dutch sweet bun), and some super-healthy and entirely vegan options, plus salads, burgers (falafel, beef, or chicken), grilled sandwiches, and freshly baked cakes for lunch.

This super little retro-themed deli-cum-pantry-cum-café serves beautiful breakfasts and low-key lunches with a side-order of authentic Cape Town too-cool-to-care swagger. You can pick up essentials like butter or fruit and veg (from Umthunzi Farming Community), find ethically sourced cold meats (Frankie Fenner), jars of Willy’s Chilli (by owner Will Hobson) and get tasty pastries, or sit down for the city’s finest hot dogs and top-notch toasted sandwiches. Tuesday through Saturday nights, it gently transforms into a bar, and there's the occasional dinner, too.

With tables spilling onto the sidewalk, there's almost always a buzz at this vibrant neighborhood café. Expect all-day traditional breakfasts and café fare with a Cape Malay twist—spicy masala mince shakshuka, burgers with cheese and macon (a halal-friendly bacon substitute), pastas, smoothies, and flat whites alongside baked goods and sweet treats like koesisters (a fried dough dessert steeped in syrup). If you can't find a table, head across the street, where the annex also incorporates The Sweet Spot, a good place to find imported sugary treats. 

From a thick slice of buttered banana bread to lunchtime mushroom and Parmesan risotto, this all-day breakfast bistro in the heart of Cape Town serves yummy and diverse light and not-so-light meals that are unafraid to lean into their decadent side. Whether that means flapjacks or French toast, sourdough or scrambled eggs, you can be sure to taste the buttery goodness that oozes from the wide array of comfort foods on offer. Although there's a salad or two, virtually the only other things on the menu that don't get the butter-love treatment are the drinks, which range from coffee to cocktails and include beer and wine as well as all-day cocktails and great coffee. 

There are plenty of baked goods, including traditional cheesecake, and a very tempting lineup of desserts from matcha chiffon rolls to mango and coconut mousse, plus beautifully buttery scones at this tiny, pastel-hued café in De Waterkant. Sometimes there are savories such as Japanese egg sandwiches or croissants with cheese and tomato, but ultimately you're here to experience some extraordinary baking skills, and you certainly will.

This is a café in wine country, but its in-house bakery has made this place justifiably famous for its exquisite breads, pastries, and cakes. If you're going to have wine and want something more substantial, menu items range from nourishing bowls and breakfasts that lean into organic, clean, nutritious ingredients, to full-blown fried eggs and bacon "Piggy" breakfast. Their burgers, wraps, smoked salmon bagel, and falafel bowl all hit the spot as well.

Just a few blocks from the bustle of Greenmarket Square, this airy comfortable café serves delicious breakfast and lunch fare. Lunches tend to have some Asian influences, but you can also expect a good array of salads, pastas, and sandwiches.

With floor-to-ceiling shelves stacked with everything delicious from French champagne to truffle oil, Giovanni's is a classic Italian deli with global ingredients unavailable elsewhere, making it a great place to stock up for a gourmet picnic or to enjoy a bite to eat at the counter. There's always a wide selection of hams and cold cuts as well as fantastic cheeses, and the display counters and fridges have a wide selection of pay-by-weight pasta dishes, salads, and other ready-to-go meals. Though a little chaotic at peak times—and to be honest, the raised counter seating is not especially comfortable—this place shouldn't be missed for its unflinching sense of being part of the Green Point "scene."

Delicious daytime meals are just one reason there's almost always a crowd in this friendly corner spot on the outer edge of De Waterkant. It could also be the changing art exhibit on the walls or the warm service, but it's probably the tasty meals conjured from nourishing ingredients, the excellent coffee, smoothies, and freshly squeezed juices. The menu adapts according to the seasons as the emphasis is always on fresh, healthy flavors (they have plenty of gluten-free and vegan options available), and the food is exquisitely presented (don't come if you're in a hurry as they do everything to order). You can sit inside or on the sliver of space outside—sometimes there are even people sitting across the road with their mugs in hand. It feels as much like a community get-together as a gracious, intimate neighborhood breakfast spot, and being here always feels like you've discovered a secret hub of culinary excellence.

This quaint sidewalk café in the charming and pedestrian-friendly De Waterkant neighborhood above Green Point serves good coffees and teas, not to mention tasty breakfasts and lunches, both available all day. The quiches and savory pies are all flavorful, and the carrot-walnut cake remains deliciously moist. There are also more hearty options on offer—Karoo lamb shank, sticky spare ribs, and mac 'n' cheese—as well as a full bar and dinner service.

In a light-filled space that feels a bit like a community hub (there's a church on the top floor and an art studio that offers classes), the menu focuses on nourishing, mostly healthy meals like chia and fried banana oat bowls; brunch-time croissants filled with Halloumi and a pork banger; or one of their double-patty burgers with roast potatoes on the side. Service is with a smile and the atmosphere pretty exuberant, even when people start setting up their laptops to work while they nibble or settle in to talk business over coffee.

The smells of freshly baking bread will immediately whet your appetite at this friendly café serving delicious breakfasts, lunches, and treats daily except Sunday.

Delivering unfussy comfort food from a gorgeously casual, slightly theatrical space, Mantra's second-floor vantage provides sweeping views of the beach and sea while also lifting you above the street-level irritations of cars and hawkers. A great spot for breakfast or brunch, the range of heartier mains for lunch and dinner should lure you in for steamed mussels or pan-seared prawns, burgers, or a well-grilled steak. The décor is an eye-catching blend of photographs, vintage mirrors, dangling plants, and Moroccan-inspired tiles creating a warm ambiance that invites lingering, especially when the sun glints off the ocean and bathes everything in a golden sheen.

A four-generation family-run business, this fuss-free bagel shop and deli specializes in traditional boiled and baked New York–style bagels that are made fresh daily, with a number of delicious toppings—go with a simple schmear of cream cheese on a poppy-seed bagel or try the brisket, smoked salmon, or pastrami. They also serve great coffee, pastries, a few traditional sandwiches (like the Reuben and hot beef on rye), croissants, and an amazing New York cheesecake.

Serving yummy, organic fare from breakfast through lunch, this minimalist designer café is a popular downtown option where you will often find locals on laptops enjoying items like raw muesli with Greek yogurt or coconut quinoa porridge. Lunch includes several salad and sandwich options, and healthy mains like zucchini linguine.

When self-proclaimed coffee evangelist David Donde moved into an old warehouse on Buitenkant, it was this venue that proved Capetonians (and tourists) were prepared to trek east for a quality caffeine kick. A vintage roaster (adorned with copper dispensers, gauges and contraptions)—the inspiration for the café's steampunk design—helps to create that sought-after coffee, and the barista academy and a bakery churning out kick-ass sourdough (used to fashion excellent breakfasts and sandwiches) add to the fun, but never frivolous, atmosphere where they take the provenance of food and beans very seriously. With its full bar, and live performances on many nights, Truth continues to capture the happening atmosphere in what has evolved into Cape Town's creative hub. Observing the ebb and flow of the always-bustling clientele, from mobile office workers to business folk and camera-toting tourists who almost can't believe their luck when they "stumble" into this slightly crazy alternate universe, is almost as good as the coffee. Note that Rapt, the weird little chocolate factory-cum-shop across the road, is also owned by Donde, and is worth a visit.