My favourite coffee shop in Calgary! I started going here in university and then it became my local hangout when I moved to Kensington.
This place has an amazing atmosphere, comfy seats, well-spaced tables, toasty-warm fireplaces and terrific drinks. They make a great London Fog and my best friend nicknamed The Great Divide (espresso, hot chocolate & raspberry) the 'Better than Sex Drink'. They also have a monthly drink which is usually more than worthwhile if you try it! The desserts are routinely great, but I haven't had much of the food - what I've tried is decent but a bit too expensive for my budget. The staff is a good bunch as well and really friendly and helpful (and really apologetic every time they have to kick you out when you're still there past closing).
This is an absolutely terrific place to hang out with friends in evening over a cup of coffee, tea or wine, and it makes a great meet-up point at the beginning of a night out or road trip (it's amazing how much you can sweeten up your driver with a Higher Ground coffee or hot chocolate).
Although I've gone several times to work on projects with people, but I've always preferred to use it just as a relaxation place. It can get noisy when invaded by students, but at most times is a mellow place to chill out and enjoy a good book or a good conversation with friends.
This is definitely a place all Calgarians should check out at least once!