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| - If you are interested in getting unroasted coffee beans from around the world or coffee-making equipment, this may be a good place for you to check out; however, this review deals just with the cafe side of the joint, since the only reason I go here is to have a cup of coffee with a side of munchies.
One extremely welcome feature of this place is their reliable long hours. Toronto's annoyingly early closing times are a common and valid complaint on yelp, and I'm always happy to find a place that keeps more reasonable hours.
The coffee, to my not-very-sophisticated tastes, is very good. I usually get a large cappucino -- it could be a little bit stronger for my liking, but it's smooth and overall very pleasant. There is also a good selection of Stash teas (alas, bagged only). The selection of baked goodies is rather impressive, and all I've tried so far have not disappointed. There is also a small selection of savoury items such as bagel sandwiches. Nothing special, but very welcome, since I often try to combine lunch and good coffee. (That's the reason linuxcaffe and Saving Gigi and my favourite cafes in the city -- kickass coffee + kickass food + free wi-fi... but I digress...)
The cafe is airy and spacious, with tall windows that allow for great people-watching, especially if you sit on the taller bar stools. I like the decor -- elegant, stylish, and coffee-centred. No mismatched furniture here -- everything looks fresh and sharp (except for the chairs that are extremely soft and comfy :-)). [Correction -- apparently there is no free wi-fi! I wonder what network I managed to "catch" there, assuming it was the cafe's... Damn, this definitely makes me want to yank another star off the rating!]
The selection of reading materials is pretty small and rather odd -- for example, they don't carry the Now Magazine, which is a staple at most such establishments. Instead, they have National Post.
I agree with the comment made by another reviewer below -- the servers always seem to be too busy... it's not even necessarily that they are slow, but they do seem to give the impression that taking your order and making you coffee is not the main reason they are there. It may indeed have something to do with the fact that this place is half retail store (and that gives the otherwise great space a rather cluttered, disorganized look). Ironically, I noticed that retail customers feel just as semi-ignored here: I remember a poor guy who stared at a line-up, confused, trying to figure out whom to ask about different models of coffee grinders on display (he eventually managed to ask the question to one of the baristas, and was told to wait for "just a few minutes" until the barista finishes making coffee for the customers).
Now to the major problem with this place, which caused me to knock my rating down to 3 stars from 4 (I even thought about lowering it furher to a 2, despite all the good things above). The place can get rather dirty. It's not dusty or grungy -- in fact it feels like quite a new, fresh space -- but there is often mess around. Yet the staff just don't seem to care or else are too busy juggling coffee-making and selling coffee-grinders. The first time I saw an overflowing garbage bin by the coffee pick-up counter, I dismissed it as a one-time incident due to an especially busy day. However, it's happened often enough that there is definitely a noticeable pattern. A wrapper on the floor next to a full garbage bin, a puddle of spilled milk -- this sort of stuff is annoying but can be dealt with. However, the real "kicker" happened just yesterday and it might just be disgusting enough to cause me to stop coming here (stop reading now if you're eating or are squeamish). After enjoying two rather well-made cups of coffee and a delectable pecan butter square, I got up to take a bathroom break. To my very unpleasant surprise, the washroom greeted me with a rather foul stench and what looked very much like a pool of half-dried urine on the floor. I think there was other garbage, like bits of tissue lying about, but I really did not stop to take it all in. I backed out of there ASAP and decided that my bathroom break could wait until I got home...
If they cleaned the place up, it'd be a solid 4 instead of a shaky 3 I give it right now.
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