El Horreya Cafe

60 EGP / £1/$1.20 PER 500ml BEER. They DO NOT serve food. Just beer. If you're a tourist and want a nice, safe and local way to spend a part of your evening I can't recommend this place higher. Just beware the area where you can drink beer is smoking ONLY. (You can't drink beer in the non-smoking section). As these are the rules you can choose to visit or not to visit but if you do decide to go just bear this in mind. You will be shown to seats when you arrive which may feel jarring as you don't get a choice but as seats and tables open up you can move. Inside are locals and tourists enjoying beer for as long or as little time as you like. The waiter is very friendly and regularly walks around carry beers and tapping on then for more rounds, just raise your finger and you'll get another beer. When you're done, just signal to pay and he'll show you the total on a calculator. Just make sure you keep track of your beers but there are no tourist prices here. Overall a great time and place I would gladly recommend.

No food is served but you can bring snacks such as you peanuts or a sandwich. The beer price is very good compared to any other place. Lower your expectations bar and you gpnna be really happy 😂

We loved the down to earth reality of this local pub. Here everyone is treated equally, and kindly. You can drink beer only in the smoking area but doors are open so it is generally well aired. When you finish, the waiter comes around with beers at hand and shows you the bottle and opens it only if you hold your hand towards it or nod. You can get food from the next door restaurant (we got aubergine, fries and falafel and they were all tasty) or chips from the buffet, or bring along a snack and it will be fine. Enjoy your time in downtown Cairo with cheap beer in this local gem.

⸻ I have endured many indignities in my time, yet few compare to the revolting farce I witnessed at this bar. Having ordered what one might optimistically describe as a fresh bottle, I instead observed the barman perform a manoeuvre more suited to a battlefield scavenger than a purveyor of drink. With the casual confidence of a man entirely devoid of shame, he scraped together the dregs from sundry near-empty bottles, poured this brew into a single vessel, plopped the cap on tight, and attempted to pass it off as new to me When challenged, the fellow displayed neither apology nor embarrassment, merely the dull obstinacy of someone who has done this before and expected to get away with it. The result was an atmosphere not of convivial cheer, but of grim distrust — the sort one feels when realising one’s drinking companion may be serving poison, or worse, watered-down saliva assembled from the leavings of strangers. In short, if you value basic cleanliness, honesty, or the notion that your drink should not be an archaeological dig through other people’s leftovers, I recommend you beat a hasty retreat. There are many dangers in this world; being handed a Franken-bottle of stale dregs should not be one of them. The bar itself is of classic beauty and a feather in the cap of any honest traveller but unless you would like to drink the remnants of someone else's swill I suggest watching the barman pop the cap in front of your eyes, otherwise there is a chance you are drinking dirty pennies from a nonchalant well. Bode well my fair traveller.

Great atmosphere, Stella beer for 80 egp. Going strong for 80 years, El Horreya is the last Cafe in Cairo with a license to serve beer. Great bustling atmosphere and friendly crowd.

Lovely place, atmosphere and people! The place serve just beers and the waiters bring you the next one before you finish the previous one!!!!

It's a great place for a very cheap beer or a dozen. Very crowded, almost everyone is smoking, it's not quiet by all means. But still recommended if you want to chit chat with your friends or have a beer. The place doesnt serve food at all by the way

My friend who grew up in Cairo took me here as it’s one of the oldest pubs in the city and presents a cross-section of everyday life in the city. Beer, coffee, cigarettes and tea - it’s a great exposure to another side of Cairo and I loved the people watching