Cabin Fever

I really like this place for the vibe, coffee, treats and well-​rounded, though limited, selection of records. Nice people too. A very nice neighbourhood place. It’s been featured here:

Really amazing people running an innovative place. Super accommodating and friendly to this out of town visitor. Honestly my new fav place to visit and play pinball in Toronto.

Not sure why this place has such a good rating, with so many coffee shops in the area (in the junction, bloor west, roncesvalles) there’s no way a «coffee shop» should have a 4.5 star rating with NO WIFI IMHO. These days, it’s a basic offering. Maybe I should have been tipped off by the empty Café w the exception of one lady getting a to-​go cup and someone drinking a beer at the bar.
I came here at 3pm. These were my observations in the 30 mins I was there:
— LOUD: the music is loud here, so much so that the staff and patrons at the bar drinking beer are all screaming to talk over each other. To me it was car-​stereo-​blazing loud.
— NO wifi. Go be productive elsewhere.
— NO menu anywhere, so you’re stuck having this conversation:
C: so what do you have here?
Barista: Everything.
C: Oh ok, do you have hot chocolate?
B: No.
C: Do you have decaf coffee here?
B: No.
C: Can you do a chai latte?
B: No, sorry.
C: uh OK so what do you serve here?
B: Brew coffee, Americanos, caffeinated teas…
Righttt so not «everything». I was looking for something decaf but nothing was avail. Without a menu, not only do you now know what is available, you don’t know how much things cost. FYI a cup of brew coffee is $ 2. Hubby said it was decent and gave it a ⁷⁄₁₀. Oh, And you’ll also have to ask the barista for the cream.
Depending on what you want to do in a coffee shop (or bar in this case), it may be helpful to know that the lighting is dim here and provided entirely by Edison light bulbs. So unless you score one of the two two-​seater tables by the window, it might be difficult to read a book or do paperwork here.
Good aspects:
— music selection was decent
— appears to turn into a bar in the evening; has pin ball machines and sells records
— has beers on tap.
— staff was nice enough, not her fault they don’t serve anything decaf or lack wifi
In the end, this is definitely more of a social bar setting rather than a quiet catch up with your friend or getting work done environment which is what I was looking for at the time. I just wanted to try out a new place and wandered in.

This a lovely café. Very friendly woman runs the place and is very sweet and conversational. I love the front part of the store with the bay window and window seat facing bloor street. Perfect for watching the hustle and bustle of the city or people watch. Americano had amazing flavour and perfect bite to it! They also have a variety of lovely nibblys to pair with coffee or tea. Only wish ps mine would be a– to have cushions on the benches by windows to make it comfort and b– I am patio lover. I’m definitely making this my go to spot for coffee before work or walks in high park it’s definitely one of the best on this stretch of bloor st w.

It’s everything you’ve been wanting in a coffee shop.
1) amazing espresso
2) friendly staff and customers
3) awesome music and art
4) chill vibe
oh and 5) The BEST buttertart in the GTA.
Pinball too???

Love this place! Great Coffee, Great people, Great Good, Great Music, Great atmosphere, FAST WiFi! and great prices on Vinyl and damn. everything comes at a great price! I don’t wanna come across as someone who is blowing smoke just cause but… Honestly its a really nice change from your average coffee company. Highly recommended for everyone.
update: Just went back to get some coffee and found that they took away the wifi because people stayed too long

Adorable.
Wish there was more seating so I could spend more time here.
Americano was top notch. By far the coolest thing on Bloor between Lansdowne to Jane (and well beyond)

Cabin Fever Collective is the combination of a café and a vinyl store. I thought this was a very interesting concept and inquired the owner about it. He told me that his wife and him wanted to open a vinyl store originally because of their love for music. However, the cost of maintaining a store was a bit pricey. By making it a café, it helped with the store maintenance.
They have a collection of vintage and pre-​owned vinyls for sale, along with new releases. Cabin Fever Collective likes to support local artists and sells CDs of lesser known bands in the store. Sometimes the café hosts live music nights with various bands. Thursday nights are also movie nights. They like to air music documentaries to follow the theme of the café. The café also has artwork for sale by one to three artists every month. If you really love Cabin Fever Collective, you can buy and proudly wear one of their shirts ($ 15-​$ 20).
I enjoyed their tea latte and I liked the variety of teas made available from Herbal Fusions. You can sniff each tea in separate vials before deciding on your order. There are a lot of vials too! If you need help, the staff will gladly give you a recommendation. Overall, Cabin Fever Collective is the perfect place to be if you are a vinyl collector and want to be in a space to share your interests with other music enthusiasts.

Staff is awesome, relaxed and super friendly. Loved the ambiance and loved their tea as well. This is the kind of place I’d visit often if I lived in Toronto!

Saw this little place from across the street and dipped in for an iced coffee since it was hot out and I was tired. The plan was to grab and go but it was just so nice inside, I bought an iced coffee and Rocky Road cookie and took a seat near the window. It was a good people-​watching spot facing Bloor St W. There were a few seats outside too but it was too hot today.
The atmosphere was perfect for reading. They played good music (they’re a record store too, if you haven’t noticed) that wasn’t loud or obnoxious but created a great casual vibe. There were a couple of Star newspapers out for customers but I had my own book. I didn’t plan on staying but it really was a great atmosphere — there weren’t a ton of customers (most are grab-​and-​go) but a few quiet others either reading or on their phones.
My iced coffee and Rocky Road cookie were decent. Nothing really indulgent but made for a great afternoon tea. It wasn’t expensive either ($ 4.50 or so for locally made, independent goods! I’ve paid much more and unreasonably so) though apparently there was a Canada Day/​Pride weekend deal for $ 2 coffees/​americanos. Tho a hipster joint, they don’t charge a stupid hipster premium.
I would definitely come back (and with a book!).

What a quaint relaxing place. While it’s an indie coffee shop, it’s not completely grungy like some hipster coffee shops. It reminds me of an upper middle class living room with its comfy couches, antique records and how well everything is organized.
As for the food and drinks, well they had a great selection of pastries such as scones, butter tarts, muffins, cookies and empanadas. They also had your normal coffee selection with espresso based drinks, fancy tea and normal coffee.
I had the empanada with spicy chipotle dipping and an iced coffee. The empanada was nice and crispy, fair amount of filling, sweet on the outside and salty on the inside. It also went really well with an iced coffee that was not too strong, but also not too watery.
Verdict: this is a great place to chill and study.
Also — they take debit and credit! Sweet for an indie coffee shop.

This place is awesome, it screams hipster and it hurts you a little to see it everywhere you look, but we still loved it. My crème brûlée chai tea latte was one of the best tea lattes I’ve had, they actually give you a fist sized tea sachet. it was half the drink. I had my cup refilled with water after and it was a very nice chai.
Enough on drinks, the café itself is beautiful. You understand the name as soon as you’re there. The staff were funny and friendly, happy to give me some butter for the roll of bread I brought in.
Wish I lived closer! Will remember for future high park visits.

2 Stars
Cabin Fever Collective is a nice little place in High Park. It is a unique place that sells coffee and records; maybe a little odd, but every place needs there thing. Cabin Fever also has a unique vibe to it, with great music, interesting art, plants on every table, and an old suitcase as a table.
They have an incredible selection of tea available and a decent selection of coffee drinks including Chemex style drip coffee. As soon as I saw this, I said ‘I’ll have a Chemex please’. I have watched one of the leading baristas in Canada prepare a Chemex just for me and so I watched meticulously how Cabin Fever prepared it and it was disappointing. It was prepared with not much precision; the filter wasn’t even primed first before the grounds were poured in to be poured over.
Ok, I know I may seem crazy and I also know I have never prepared one of these before, but I have seen some great baristas prepare one for me in the past and the way they did it looked nothing like the one prepared here.
They have a great espresso machine and looks as though they prepare the other drinks with care. The food selection is as expected in a coffee shop and the music is great and adds to the good vibe here.
I’m hesitant to recommend this place because I know there are others around that are better, but this place is ok. I will definitely give it a plus for trying to do something new with the selling of the records; that’s pretty cool.
All in all, not bad, average, and a place to come if only around the area.
That’s it!

Love this place. Staff is extremely warm. Bright spots to sit in front. Cool «woodsy cottage» room in the back with comfortable couches. Great variety of sandwiches, snacks & teas. Always some pretty sweet tunes playing — as you might expect from a café/​shop that sells new & used records.

This coffee-​cum-​record shop has a great selection of teas, friendly service, and a real independent, community spirit.

Good selection of tea and vinyl. Friendly staff. Cozy décor and fun videos projected on the wall.

Really 4 ½ stars. The café au lait — soy, of course — was really good. Lots of foam, frothy, rich. I came here via the Indie Coffee Passport and came back the very next day for another café au lait. For $ 2.25, it was a great deal. The only tiny drawback was the to-​go cup which gave the coffee a bit of a cardboard aftertaste. But apparently, if you bring in your own mug, you’ll get 10% off. Nice !
Music is everywhere — stacks of vinyl and music-​related art all around. Behind the counter, really friendly staff; and over the counter, baked goods and sandwiches and about a trillion different teas. You can even pick up some packaged tea and related gifty merchandise, including quirky things like crocheted bow ties and cupcake soaps.
Want to stay a while? Park yourself in a comfy chair in front or settle in, surrounded by books, in the quieter space in back. Pretty soon, you’ll feel like you’re at an old friend’s place, a friend who makes really good café au lait.

What an amazing space! Based on my first impression, hands down, my favourite café at the moment! It’s beautiful, sweet and clean in here! The seating area reminds me of a living room/​dining area in an interior decorating magazine or something. It’s very homey, clean and simple with cute little accents. Feels like going over to my stylish best friend’s condo lol.
The friendly owner has a wide selection of teas and a little sampling display where you can smell each flavour before ordering. I’m making it my goal to try each flavour at least once lol.
I’m not a pastry person, BUT you must try their BUTTER TARTS! The red velvet cupcake is amazing too! BUT THE BUTTER TART! I’ve never had a flakey crust butter tart before! It’s such a good idea!

Cute little place, great tea selection! The woman behind the counter was friendly & warm. I don’t have a record player (yet) so that section of the store was lost on me. Seating was sparse; I was grateful it wasn’t more crowded otherwise our tea shop excursion would have turned into a tea-​to-​go-​walk instead. I’d like to revisit in a bit to see if they’ve upped their cozy factor.

Indy coffee in the neighbourhood — finally!
Nice ambience, nice people, nice tea selection. Something not quite right about the coffee, but I’m hopeful that the arrival of espresso will improve the situation. I’d love to update this review with more stars.
Update: still nice people and nice ambience. I really like the new stuff they are bringing into the space from local artists. More seating too. Coffee seems better, but I continue to hope for them to get what they need to bring in espresso. I“m upping my rating because I believe in them!