The café life in Beauvais is centred on the Place Jeanne Hachette, where several terraces fill on weekday lunchtimes and Saturday mornings when the market is running. The square itself is pleasant, overlooked by the statue of Jeanne Hachette and flanked by the Hôtel de Ville. Evenings are quieter — this is a working city, not a tourist town, and nightlife is limited.
For a coffee before or after the cathedral, the cafés along the Rue de l'Étape and the streets immediately south of the cathedral square are the most convenient. Nothing here demands a special journey, but the basics — a good espresso, a glass of Normandy cider — are reliably done.