The conversations at any thriving cafe in Lahore are all different but the people are quite similar: young Lahoris looking for a place to spend time together. On any given evening a famous cafe brand in either Phase 6, DHA, or Cantt feels as though it has squeezed itself into a single room. For Lahore’s Gen Z, cafes have become the default meeting place.

A generation ago, families visited clubs, parks or relatives’ homes, even fast-food outlets or family restaurants.

Today, many teenagers and young adults head straight to cafes after school, university or work. The fever is higher on weekends or during breaks.

Some famous brands have become fixtures of the city’s social life.

An obvious explanation for the more recent boom in cafe culture is the coffee itself. Each establishment has developed its own loyal following based on signature drinks, desserts and food. Some visitors swear by a particular latte, while others return for the cafe’s selection of light meals and sweet treats, one cafe’s beef brisket sandwich or another’s brownie served with ice cream.

A broader social scene

Regular customers often admit that coffee is only part of the story. What keeps people returning is the atmosphere.

Cafes provide something that has become increasingly rare in modern urban life: a semipublic space where people can spend hours talking, studying, working or simply existing without needing a specific purpose.

People visit to meet friends but also to participate in a broader social scene. The rise of Instagram has only strengthened this culture as these coffee shops are places where online acquaintances are encountered and where friendships are maintained through regular appearances.

Among affluent young Lahoris, there is a running joke that if you spend enough time at a certain cafe, you are bound to run into someone you know. The circles formed by students from Lahore’s elite schools and universities are often surprisingly small, and cafes have become the spaces where these circles overlap.

Some students use cafes as study spaces during exam season while freelancers and young professionals often transform corner tables into temporary offices. But almost every Gen Z teenager I spoke to said the primary use is simpler: catching up with friends, whether close ones or familiar faces they only see in passing.

“I use cafes for all three purposes actually,” says Maheen Moied, an A2 student at a renowned grammar school 55 Main.

“Sometimes I go to the nearest cafe in the middle of school breaks to study and chill out. I usually hang out with my friends at a cafe first, almost like a meeting point, and then we go ahead with the day after that. There are also so many new cafés in Lahore recently that I’ve been exploring with my friends and rating drinks, the best flat white, best matcha, things like that.” Maheen typically spends around Rs1,500 per visit and stays for about an hour. For her and many others, cafes have become places for birthdays, post-exam celebrations, and spontaneous meet-ups that don’t need much planning, the only requirements being a free evening and a familiar space.

For some, visiting their preferred establishment is an integral part of their daily routine, in fact, there are groups of high-school students who are known to visit the same cafes almost daily.

The same sentiment was echoed by Zoya Omar, a recent graduate of another institution.

“I mostly go to hang out with friends,” she says. She estimates spending at least two hours at cafes on a typical visit and around Rs2,000 each time.

For university students, cafes also often serve a dual purpose.

Qasim Zaid, a student at a top private university, says he frequents coffee shops both to socialise and to complete university work. On average, he spends around Rs1,200 on each visit.

Spending defines the class

The spending habits described by these students reveal an important reality about Lahore’s cafe culture.

While cafes attract people from different backgrounds, the cost of specialty coffee, desserts and frequent visits means that regular customers are often from relatively affluent households with the disposable income to spend between Rs1,000 and Rs2,000 on a single outing which is unavailable to many young Lahoris.

For some students, spending several thousand rupees each week on coffee and food has become normal. Others view cafe visits as occasional treats rather than daily habits. Yet, the influence of cafe culture extends beyond those who can afford to participate regularly as social media allows these spaces to shape trends and youth culture throughout the city. Cafe staff have noticed such patterns too.

Abdullah Khan, who has worked at famous cafe in DHA Phase 6 for the past two years, says the customer base changes throughout the day.

“In the morning, mostly working people come for meetings or to get work done,” he explains.

“After 12, students from schools and colleges start coming to study or relax. At night, it’s mostly young couples and some families who hang out.” According to Khan, customers generally spend up to Rs2,000 per visit each. He describes most visitors as coming from affluent backgrounds, although middle-class customers are also a regular part of the café’s clientele.

Rise of homegrown brands

Another notable aspect of Lahore’s coffee boom is the growing popularity of local brands. International chains continue to attract customers, but many young Lahoris increasingly prefer these homegrown cafes. Their reasons may vary from better coffee to more distinctive menus to unique interiors or simply a desire to keep up with the trends while supporting local businesses which better align with certain social and political values held by the general Pakistani public.

In a typical evening at a coffee shop in Lahore dozens of conversations unfold simultaneously, some are serious while others are trivial and likely to be forgotten by the next day.

Yet, together they create something valuable: a sense of belonging and community built through shared routines and familiar faces. The carefully curated menus and interiors are only part of the attraction.

For Lahore’s Gen Z, cafes are seen as all-purpose spaces where they can meet friends, study, work and unwind.

Through social media and word of mouth, cafes have become central to how an entire generation socialises, spends, and presents itself. As Lahore’s cafe scene continues to grow, so does the role of Gen Z in shaping the city’s economy and culture.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2026