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Soho has no shortage of chic hangouts, but now one of its most stylish book cafés has gone global. Bibliotheque, the literary-minded café and wine bar on Mercer Street, has just been named one of the 10 most beautiful book cafés in the world for 2025, according to the 1000 Libraries Awards’ annual list.
That’s no small feat: More than 200,000 votes poured in from readers, café hounds and urban planners worldwide, narrowing the field from 16 nominees to a final top 10. The Soho spot ultimately landed in ninth place, rubbing shoulders with heavyweights like Istanbul’s sprawling Minoa Pera and Mexico City’s lush Cafebrería El Péndulo.
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So what makes Bibliotheque list-worthy? For starters, the design is a mood. Books aren’t just on shelves here—they snake along sofa backs and line the walls, punctuated by sleek art pieces that give the space an effortlessly cosmopolitan edge. By day, the café is all about lattes, teas and flaky pastries; by night, it swaps the cappuccino machine for an extensive wine list. The vibe shifts with the lighting: morning sunlight floods in for a serene workspace, while evenings feel more like a snug, bookish cocktail lounge.
The space has been steadily building buzz since it opened, attracting downtown locals and curious tourists who stumble in while wandering Soho’s boutiques and art galleries. Reviewers often point out its balance of intimacy and glamour, just the right mix of cozy enough to read alone but polished enough for a date night.
In a city that churns through cafés as quickly as subway delays, Bibliotheque has already established itself as more than a place to sip and scroll. It’s part of a broader global movement that reimagines the café-bookshop hybrid as a modern “third place”—not home, not work, but a cultural anchor where people gather, connect and occasionally dog-ear a page or two.
The recognition also puts New York on the map in a list otherwise dominated by Paris and Mexico City, proof that even in a city bursting with bars, bakeries and bookstores, there’s still room for one more spot that makes you want to linger. And Bibliotheque, with its leather-spined charm and wine-bar glow, has officially earned its bookmark.