Turtles Specialty Coffee

Turtles Specialty Coffee sits back from Vasil Aprilov boulevard in the Rusin Mahala area, run day to day by a family, a married couple and the wife's mother, who keep the room feeling more like a neighborhood living room than a cafe on a busy road. Coffee comes from a Bulgarian roastery rather than an in house setup, but the brunch menu is a real draw too, with mekitsa and banitsa served alongside the espresso and filter drinks. A shaded plaza out front gives the whole place a buffer from the traffic, with room for laptops, strollers and dogs alike.

Despite sitting on one of the busier boulevards on this side of the city, the outdoor tables stay noticeably calm, helped by free parking nearby and a layout that keeps the road at a distance. It has built a loyal following among people living in the surrounding streets who treat it as a regular breakfast spot rather than a one time stop on a coffee crawl.