Cafés in Manali — Old Manali, Mall Road, Vashisht and the Naggar road
How Manali's cafés are laid out
Manali's cafés sit in four places, and each has its own kind. [Old Manali](/places/old-manali) is the café village: a lane that climbs from the bridge past the Manu Temple, with more than seventy cafés, bakeries and dhabas on the map, most of them open from breakfast until late. [Mall Road](/places/mall-road) and the Tibetan Colony by the bus stand have the first-floor cafés over the market and the town's older restaurants. Vashisht, across the river by the hot-spring temple, has a smaller and cheaper lane. And the Naggar road south of town, through Jagatsukh, has a few cafés with gardens and space to park.
Photos: Ivishalbhutani (CC BY-SA 4.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
A note on how this page is made. Four of the cafés below run their menus and websites on HimLocal, so we have their full menus, prices and hours, and they get a paragraph each. Every other name comes from OpenStreetMap, the open map, and is listed by area without a judgement. A café being listed on HimLocal says nothing about its cooking, and a café we do not describe is not a worse one.
Old Manali
The Little Sisters Cafe & Bakery is on Manu Temple Road near the government school. The coffee is taken seriously: espresso, pour-overs, French press, AeroPress and moka pot, iced coffees and matcha. Breakfast runs all day, with Israeli, English and Indian plates, eggs any style, porridge and waffles. Later come momos and thukpa, falafel and schnitzel platters, pasta, pizza and Indian curries. It keeps a separate plant-based, gluten-free card of pancakes and smoothies sweetened with banana, jaggery and maple. All the seating is indoors. Open every day, 8 in the morning to 11:30 at night, with free Wi-Fi. A meal for two costs about ₹750–1,200. Menu and prices.
River Music Garden Restaurant & German Bakery is a garden restaurant on the riverbank in Old Manali, near the Old Manali bridge. Its tables sit under trees and prayer flags with the river running past the rail, and a covered garden takes the evenings. The day starts with eggs, pancakes and porridge, a German bakery counter of cakes and pies, espresso and fresh juice. It goes on to momos and thukpa, sizzlers, tandoor, biryani, Indian and Chinese gravies, pizza, pasta and Israeli plates. You sit outdoors, in the open garden or the covered one. Open every day, 8:30 in the morning to 11 at night, with free Wi-Fi. A meal for two costs about ₹600–1,100. Menu and prices.
Also on the Old Manali lane (from OpenStreetMap): Moon Dance Cafe, Dylan's Toasted & Roasted Coffee House, Sukha Art and Cafe, Israeli House, Cafe 1947 and Blue Elephant Cafe. Further up are Shesh Besh, Come a Napoli Pizzeria, Little Italy, The Lazy Dog Lounge, Shiva Garden Cafe and Rendez-Vous. Several close or shorten their hours in the winter months, so ask on the lane.
Mall Road and the Tibetan Colony
Café Coffee Drips is a first-floor café on Mall Road in the Tibetan Colony, a few steps from the bus stand, with the market below and outdoor seats facing Mall Road. It serves espresso coffee, a German bakery counter of cakes and cheesecakes, woodfire pizzas, all-day breakfasts, Israeli plates, pasta, momos and thukpa. It opens at 8 in the morning (10 on Fridays) and closes at 11 at night. It has free Wi-Fi, and a meal for two costs about ₹600–1,200. It is the easy choice for a breakfast before a bus or after a night one. Menu and prices.
Also around Mall Road (from OpenStreetMap): Chopsticks, Mama B, The Corner House, Il Forno, Cafe Amigos, Manali Sweets & Bakers and the Himalayan Dhaba.
Vashisht
The Vashisht lane climbs from the hot-spring temple and is the quieter and cheaper version of Old Manali. Names on the map: Green Garden Café, Shiva Moon Cafe, Pachamama, The Yogi and the Chef and Basho. Pair it with the temple's baths, and walk rather than drive the last stretch, because the lane is narrow.
Jagatsukh and the Naggar road
Valentino's Jagatsukh is the second kitchen of Kullu's Valentino's, on the Kullu–Naggar–Manali road at Jagatsukh. It cooks vegetarian Italian and Mexican food: pizzas, pasta, lasagne, risotto and Mexican plates. It has outdoor seating, a fireplace for the cold months and free Wi-Fi, and a meal for two costs about ₹600–1,000. It suits a lunch on the way to Naggar or back from it. Menu and prices.
What it costs
From the menus of the cafés listed on HimLocal, as of October 2026: a cappuccino or latte costs ₹120–200, and masala chai ₹60–100. A plate of momos is ₹170–320 and an all-day breakfast plate ₹250–490. A slice of cake or a pastry is ₹120–350. Pizza runs ₹250–720, by size and toppings. Old Manali and Mall Road price at about the same level. Vashisht's lane and the dhabas are cheaper, and our Manali costs guide has the rest of the budget.
Small things
Most cafés take UPI, but carry some cash for the lane's smaller places and for the days the network drops. Old Manali is a walk, not a drive, at the top: park below and climb. In the deep winter months several lane cafés close or keep short hours, while the cafés by the bus stand stay open. For the valley's own food — siddu, trout, red rice, dham — read what to eat in Manali; for a plan built round eating in Old Manali, the two-day cafés-and-lanes plan.
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Questions people ask
Which are the best cafés in Old Manali?
Old Manali has more than seventy cafés and dhabas on the map, so "best" depends on what you want. For specialty coffee and a vegan card, The Little Sisters on Manu Temple Road. For tables over the river and a German bakery counter, River Music Garden. The lane above holds dozens more, listed below by area.
Which café in Manali is good near Mall Road and the bus stand?
Café Coffee Drips is a first-floor café on Mall Road in the Tibetan Colony, a few steps from the bus stand, open from breakfast until eleven at night. It has espresso coffee, a German bakery counter, woodfire pizza, Israeli plates and momos. Chopsticks, Mama B and The Corner House are nearby.
How much does a coffee or a meal cost at a café in Manali?
On the menus of the cafés listed on HimLocal, a cappuccino or latte costs ₹120–200, masala chai ₹60–100, a plate of momos ₹170–320 and an all-day breakfast plate ₹250–490, as of October 2026. Pizza runs ₹250–720 by size. Old Manali and Mall Road sit at about the same level.
Which cafés in Manali have Wi-Fi and outdoor seating?
All four cafés in this guide that run on HimLocal offer free Wi-Fi. For outdoor seating, River Music Garden's tables sit in a garden by the river near the Old Manali bridge, Café Coffee Drips has outdoor seats facing Mall Road, and Valentino's Jagatsukh has outdoor seating too. The Little Sisters seats everyone indoors.
Are there vegetarian or vegan cafés in Manali?
Yes. Valentino's at Jagatsukh, on the Naggar road, cooks only vegetarian Italian and Mexican food. The Little Sisters in Old Manali keeps a separate fully plant-based, gluten-free card of pancakes and smoothies. Most of the lane's cafés mark vegetarian dishes, and the town's dhabas are largely vegetarian.