Cafés · 26 of the best in Tirana
Komiteti – Kafe Muzeum
A café full of memories
About Komiteti – Kafe Muzeum
Komiteti is part café, part museum of daily life, and the first coffee bar in Tirana furnished with objects from the communist era. Old radios, furniture, posters and household items from 20th-century Albania fill the rooms, so you enter a small museum without a ticket. Come for a coffee by day, when it is calm, or work through its long raki list in the evening, when the line between café and bar disappears. It is near the New Bazaar and very popular with visitors.
A café of memories
Komiteti calls itself a café-museum, and it was the first coffee bar in Tirana to be furnished with objects from the communist era. Old radios, sewing machines, posters, typewriters, furniture, household items and crafts fill every corner, many of them now hard to find anywhere else. Sitting here is a little like visiting your Albanian grandparents’ flat in 1980.
From coffee to raki
By day it is a calm place for a coffee and a slice of cake, popular with visitors exploring the centre. By evening it becomes one of the best places in the city to try raki, the fruit brandy that is Albania’s national drink: plum, grape, mulberry, quince, walnut and many more, from master distillers in different regions. The staff will explain the differences and suggest a tasting.
A museum you enter without a ticket, where the exhibits are the chairs you sit on and the radio by your table.
Where to find it
It is on Rruga Fatmir Haxhiu, near the New Bazaar and a short walk from Skanderbeg Square, and the small terrace fills quickly on summer evenings.
Our advice: come in the late afternoon, order a coffee and look around, then stay for a tasting of three rakis with a plate of cheese and olives as the evening begins.
Why it's on our list
- Vintage Albanian décor
- A long raki list
- Coffee by day, drinks by night
Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Komiteti – Kafe Muzeum before you go.
Plan your visit
- Where Rruga Fatmir Haxhiu 2, near the New Bazaar
- When Coffee by day, raki by night
- Try A tasting of regional rakis
- Price €
What’s nearby
Distances from Komiteti – Kafe Muzeum are approximate, measured in a straight line (as the crow flies). Times are approximate too: walking at about 80 metres a minute, cycling at about 15 km/h and driving at typical city-traffic speeds. Traffic and routes vary.
Nearest taxi ranks
- Taxi rank, Bulevardi Zhan d'Ark250 m3 min walk
- Taxi rank, Bulevardi Dëshmorët e Kombit250 m3 min walk
Key sights
- The Pyramid of Tirana100 mWalk 1 minCycle 1 minCar or taxi 3 min
- Postbllok – Checkpoint350 mWalk 4 minCycle 1 minCar or taxi 4 min
- Tirana Castle350 mWalk 5 minCycle 1 minCar or taxi 4 min
- Bunk’Art 2500 mWalk 6 minCycle 2 minCar or taxi 4 min
- Skanderbeg Square550 mWalk 7 minCycle 2 minCar or taxi 5 min
- Et’hem Bey Mosque550 mWalk 7 minCycle 2 minCar or taxi 5 min
- Clock Tower of Tirana600 mWalk 7 minCycle 2 minCar or taxi 5 min
- House of Leaves650 mWalk 8 minCycle 3 minCar or taxi 5 min
- New Bazaar (Pazari i Ri)800 mWalk 10 minCycle 3 minCar or taxi 5 min
- National Historical Museum800 mWalk 10 minCycle 3 minCar or taxi 5 min
Getting around
- Tirana International Airport (TIA)13 kmCar or taxi 43 min