Pak Tea House

Pak Tea House is an intellectual tea–café located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan known for its association with progressive academics and left-leaning South Asian intelligentsia.

Traditionally frequented by country's notably artistic, cultural and literary personalities, it was founded by a Sikh family in 1940 and quickly acquired its current name after it was leased to one of the locals in Lahore after the independence of Pakistan in 1947. Intervention of Lahore High Court and personal initiatives of Nawaz Sharif led to the re-opening of the Tea House in 2013. Noted for being the birthplace of influential literary movement, the Progressive Writers' Association (Progressive Writers Association), the place is described as "house of writers and thinkers who serve the nation selflessly.

The café is believed to have been set up in 1932 and was owned by a Sikh family in Lahore as its rightful owners; it was later given to Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) 1940s. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, a local food supplier named Sirajuddin Ahmad rented the house from the YMCA administration and renamed it as "Pak Tea House" in 1947. The place was traditionally frequented by the city's artistic, cultural and literary personalities. Attendees including were: Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Agha Shorish Kashmiri, Ibn-e-Insha, Ahmed Faraz, Saadat Hasan Manto, Ahmad Rahi, Muneer Niazi, Meeraji, Kamal Ahmed Rizvi, Nasir Kazmi, Professor Syedd Sajjad Razavi, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan, Dr. Muhammad Baqir, Intezar Hussain and Syed Qasim Mahmood.

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