Pak Tea House was an intellectual cafe in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan that was traditionally frequented by the city's artistic, cultural and literary personalities. Some of the best-known regulars were Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ibn-e-Insha, Ahmed Faraz, Saadat Hasan Manto, Muneer Niazi, Mira Ji, Kamal Rizvi, Nasir Kazmi, Professor Sayyid Sajjad Rizavi, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan, Dr. Muhammad Baqir, Intezar Hussain and Syed Qasim Mahmood.
Before Partition, Pak Tea House was known as India Tea House and a Sikh family ran it. After Partition, Siraj-ud-Din rented it from the YMCA administration and renamed it Pak Tea House. From 1960 to the early 1970s, meetings of Halqa-i-Arbab-e-Zouq were held in the YMCA building, later shifting to Pak Tea House.
Due to the active involvement of the Progressive Writer's Association, Pak Tea House had a left-wing inclination. Many writers frequented it, and it was also a favourite haunt of the section of Lahore youths with non-mainstream points of view. It maintained a reputation as a forum for people of diverse backgrounds to voice their opinions in a non-judgmental atmosphere.
A few years ago, it was shut down by its owner due to lack of business, a decision criticized by the intellectual community of Lahore. But on February 2, 2012 on the orders of the Lahore commissioner, Pak Tea House was put under the control of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). Pak Tea House is located on the Mall Road Lahore, near Anarkali Bazaar and Neela Gumbad.
Read more about Pak Tea House: Internet Culture, Reopening
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