Coffee in Toronto

If you've checked out my 'About Me' section on here, you've probably read that I also enjoy visiting different coffee shops when I travel. I don't drink coffee as much as I did before since I've developed a sensitivity to caffeine, but I still enjoy trying out a variety of decaf roasts or decaf lattes whenever I get the chance! I was just recently in Toronto for vacation with my husband Jon, so I'll highlight the coffee shops we went to during our visit on here first.

I'm sure most people think of Tim Hortons when it comes to coffee in Canada. While we did go to Tim Hortons both times we vacationed in TO, I was more interested in checking out the local/smaller establishments. The photos above are from our first trip when I got a special donut from the Tim Hortons in the Hockey Hall of Fame and a Canada Day donut from the Tim Hortons at Niagara Falls. Obviously I love Tim Hortons for the donuts more than the coffee.

1. The Sidekick - www.thesidekickcomics.com We came across this place during our first trip to Toronto last year and we knew we wanted to come back this last time. It was RIGHT below the Airbnb we stayed at during our first visit. Not only is this a great coffee shop, but it's also a comic book store! If you know Jon and I, this is right up our alley. One of my other hobbies I haven't mentioned is reading comic books, going to see comic book related films and going to comic book conventions. I don't read comics nearly as much as I'd like or as much as I used to, but I definitely still enjoy picking one up every now and then...and we have quite the collection. This place has a really cozy and fun atmosphere. There's comic prints all over the walls, multiple rows of comic books and graphic novels for sale, as well as a variety of comic book related mugs for purchase. Some of the specialty drinks have names related to comic books or video games. For example, this last time we visited I decided to get hot loose leaf tea and it was called, "Yoshi's Paradise" - how cute! It tasted delicious and had notes of cranberry and apple. They have a fireplace in the one corner with board games and a big screen in the other where they show comic book related films and tv shows. The employees are very friendly and love chatting about comics! They also sell some baked goods from a local bakery - the vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies were so yummy! If I lived in Toronto, I would DEFINITELY be a regular here. I would probably get back to reading comics more frequently again as well.

2. Central Cafe - www.facebook.com/centralcafetoronto This is a coffee shop themed after the tv show F.R.I.E.N.D.S, which I've seen every episode of. My mom used to watch it, so I'd watch it with her growing up...and then a few years back I watched all of the episodes over again since they put all of the seasons out on Netflix. I literally only visited this place because it was decorated to look like Central Perk from the show (no regrets). There were big comfy couches and armchairs in assorted colors - some had velvet material. They used to have a big brown-ish couch that looked just like the one on the show, but they did away with it by the time we visited. However, I still got the overall Central Perk vibe they were trying to portray. Jon got a mocha and I got a decaf latte. The coffee definitely wasn't outstanding, but it's to be expected from a place like this I suppose. I also was hoping they would serve the drinks in those gigantic mugs like on the show, but sadly they were just normal sized ones.

3. Versus Coffee - www.instagram.com/versuscoffee Unfortunately this was a very quick in-and-out stop for us. We were busy walking around the city trying to fit everything in we wanted to do, so we took the coffee to go. Luckily it was pretty small and they were just about to close up shop, so there wasn't much to see and not much time to spend there anyway. The interior is aesthetically pleasing. It's super bright with very subtle notes of plant elements. I got a decaf americano and walked to our next destination with it. Jon thought he ordered an americano, but accidentally ordered a double shot of espresso and drank it quickly while we were there - needless to say, he was very wired after that.

4. Strangelove Coffee - https://www.instagram.com/strangelovecafe/ There's a few different locations in the city and I believe we chose the smallest one. I'd like to go back and check out the one on Spadina since it seems to be a lot bigger. There wasn't much room to sit and enjoy your coffee in the location at Queen Street West, but we did anyway since we had some time to kill. This one was a little more cozy and had beautiful greenery. As you can see from the sleeves they use, I think they're trying to go for that plant vibe in their branding, which is really neat and pleasing to the eye. I also really loved their menu board shown below. I got another decaf americano and Jon got a regular black coffee.

5. Early Bird Coffee and Kitchen - https://www.instagram.com/earlybirdbrew/ This one also has a couple locations and I'd definitely like to check the other one out. I'd even go back to the one we went to again since we loved it so much! We were going here for breakfast on our last day, but I'm including this in my coffee blog category since it's both a coffee shop and a restaurant. I branched out some more with my last coffee choice and got a decaf vanilla latte with oat milk...it was delicious. They have healthier options for breakfast and I really appreciated that. When I eventually do my blog post on the restaurants in TO, you will notice a lot of the ones I choose are ones that have some healthy menu items. I decided to go with avocado "toast" on a sweet potato...and I savored every last bite. Seriously, so good - and look at that presentation! Jon got a breakfast sandwich and a regular black coffee and he enjoyed his just as much as I enjoyed mine. Another wonderful interior here. Bright and clean with beautiful greenery and gorgeous marble tabletops. Also, the reason he looks so tired is because he had bronchitis. I ended up getting sick too at the end, but we didn't let it ruin our trip!