America's first coffeehouse was established in 1676, in Boston. The Tontine Coffee House on Wall Street in New York is the origin of the New York Stock Exchange. It is the building with the flag on it in this 1797 oil-on-linen painting by Francis Guy (1760–1820).

The first coffeehouses appeared in the Muslim world in the 15th century. The first coffeehouses appeared in Damascus. These Ottoman coffeehouses also appeared in Mecca, in the Arabian Peninsula in the 15th century, then spread to the Ottoman Empire's capital of Istanbul in the 16th century and in Baghdad.

: an establishment that sells coffee and usually other refreshments and that commonly serves as an informal club for its regular customers.