While India Coffee House is owned by the Coffee Board, there is an equally well known Indian Coffee House which is a workers cooperative owned by the Indian Coffee Workers' Cooperative Society Ltd.

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.

The first café is said to have opened in 1550 in Constantinople; during the 17th century cafés opened in Italy, France, Germany, and England. During the 200 years after the mid-17th century, the most famous coffeehouses of Europe flourished in London as ready points for news, discussion, and faction.