Café 260

@Cafe260 @GrabbMobile #COFFEETO #FAIRTRADEORGANIC # UnilocalTO
Ordered to pick up via Grabb (sign up with GH1TQ for $ 5 off).
I got a Ham, Provolone and Artichoke Hearts Panini for $ 7.30. The good — it was large and filling. However, it didn’t taste as great as I thought it would.
Overall, this place is cute. I’d trust it for coffee; not sure if I’ll buy food again.

This little coffee shop is so cute! I went because I was in the area and due to the reviews on Unilocal.There are a lot of regulars but even if you’re not their friendly personalities make you feel at home and welcomed. It’s a small coffee shop but it’s comfortable. 4 stars only because it’s a little expensive if you’re on a budget other than that it’s the perfect downtown coffee shop.

Very welcoming café with excellent coffee, lattes and delicious food. Whether it’s a snack with your coffee or a sandwich the food is fresh and tasty. Bob T and his staff are the friendliest of any café I have been to in Toronto. It’s also a great place to meet someone for work, or catch up with a friend.

Cozy little café. I like that it seems to be a family run place, it is always the owner and I think his daughter there in the morning. Very friendly service. Even when they are very busy they still take the time to make you feel welcome and ask you how your day is. The breakfast burrito is delicious. Coffee is always very fresh. Usually I drink the dark roast, it has good body without having that burnt taste. Today I tried a flat white, also very good. Went very nicely with what was probably the best pecan tart I have ever had. So glad I found this place.

Wow! Best cappuccino ever. They’ll make it foamy if that’s what you want! The staff was super friendly, and after sitting in the café for 15 minutes, I could tell that they know how to keep their customers. At least 20 regulars stopped by in that time period.
Café 260 has a wide variety of delicious drinks, treats and breakfast dishes. They’ll make anything to your liking. If I was from the area, I’d be a regular too.

I just finished a super amazing grilled cheese with tomato. It was fresh made on great seed bread and havarti. They give you a choice of cheddar, swiss etc. The décor and ambiance is nice, the service is prompt and 7 $ for a great fresh sandwich and specialty tea is a great deal. I’ll definitely be making myself a lunch time regular here.

nice place. Nice service. I only got a Latte to go, so I can’t speak to anything else there. It wasn’t amazing, but it was good.

I love this place. The atmosphere is fantastic and the staff are super nice and interactive! Whenever I get the chance, I come here as much as I can during the school year. :)
I like to try new things so I would usually order different drinks with a panini melt or soup. Everything I’ve had is delicious. My favorite would be the red Symphony and roast beef panini melt.
Probably my most favorite café yet.

A café I always tell people to go to whenever they ask for one located downtown is Café 260. Although this was my second visit, the café always stuck out in the back of my mind. Why? The first time I had their white chocolate latte, I was in heaven! The selection of coffee and specialty drinks here are absolutely phenomenal! (Take a look at the pictures of the drinks! Not only pretty but delicious as well, each and every one of them!). My friend who came with me could definitely back me up here.
The coffee beans are grind to brew at the moment of purchase, so your drink is always at it’s freshest! For decaf drinkers, they use the Swiss water process, which has no chemicals, and has it tasting just like regular coffee. As well, in order to make their delicious lattes, they use the Pacific Barista Series for those who are curious.
Bob, the owner of the café, decided to open up Café 260 after his retirement in construction. He wanted it to be a place of comfort where people could come back to and enjoy their experiences there shared with friends or alone. Café 260 does just that and to add to the touch, sells the art adorned on the walls. One of the most popular series is by the artist Jen Masters (
) called Dressed to the Nines (picture below). The series is a collection of sophisticated girls wearing dresses made out of the number nine! The art pieces definitely stood out to me when I was there the first time because I was contemplating on buying a piece!
For all the Starbucks lovers out there, I want you to take this challenge and visit Café 260. Then let me know if you have been converted! (Comparing Starbucks’s Pumpkin Spiced Latte with Café 260’s Pumpkin Flavoured Latte, I prefer Café 260’s 100%!)
Regarding the holidays: The café is closed for the holidays and reopening on January 3^rd. Also, if you are a regular, stop by this Friday for a drink on the house!

This little shop has the best coffee I have had in Toronto. I had a beautiful wrap, everything tasted extremely fresh. I also had an ice coffee, where the cubes were shots of espresso. A very clever Idea! especially since ice coffee has a tendency to turn watery!
The owner was extremely pleasant, and very knowledgeable about his coffee. I ended up buying some organic blend, which I am actually sipping on right now, It is delicious!
As a gal from a family full of restauranteurs I know something special when I see it. I hope to be back soon!

Ambiance
A little on the small side, right away I felt at home as the brick walls and vibe about it is very relaxing and old school! The architecture feels very 1800’s/early 1900s and it’s right beside an arts gallery so perhaps that’s why it feels cool to be around ;) The baristas are very friendly and laidback which has a large impact on the overall feel of the place :)!
In terms of the clientele, it seems like a very laidback crowd (no pretentiousness like @ Wibke’s) and with no sketches around and great conversation flying around (Haha I am a people watcher after all) makes this an awesome place to grab a girl/​guy for a date :) But of course, some of us are too busy for that but this place is a good place to grab your notes and do so work as well (free wifi is key too).
Barista Skills (/​10): 8
Dating Appeal (/​10): 10
Overall Ambiance (/​10): Solid 9
The Good Stuff
Right away:
Obviously I need to go euro and grab some light dessert but I’m a sucker for effort and latte art! The drink *is* ridiculously awesome… what more is there to say? The desserts were pretty bland/​average but the Ham/​Swiss sandwich that I ate was well made… small. but tasty. One last thing. cucumber water… interesting ;)!
Coffee (/​10): 9
Only because I didn’t drink espresso to truely taste wether it was well made or not ;)
Food (/​10): 8
Because of the euro wafer sticks ;) Truly euro. Standard panini sandwhich, on the small side.

Small shop with decent drip coffee for a decent price ($ 2.25 for a large) and a selection of sandwiches, Café 260 offers free WiFi (thought it was flaky while I was here) for it’s customers and didn’t hassle me one bit as I sat here loitering for 4 hours with my laptop doing some work.
House drip coffee wasn’t bad, the mini syrup flavor shots were were a nice touch as well.
Also have small salads for $ 3, nice for a light snack in the afternoon.

My second visit has improved the experience here. While the cappuccino was pedestrian at best the Mochacino quite decent.
Topped with fresh grated chocolate it gives out a nice coffee and coco aroma. The drink is not overly sweet unlike the other famous chain one is used too.
I could also feel the espresso shot was more pronounced so overall a decent drink.
Bumping my rating to 3 stars for now.
Another interesting thing I saw espresso tea!!? I was given an explanation that it is for people who are coffeed out and want to have an alternate to espresso based drinks. I guess I will come back here to try it out.

This café is a little gem on Richmond East. I recently started working close by and began visiting it pretty much daily. The coffee is great (I love the dark roast) and the staff are pleasant and informative. It only took a few days for them to know my «regular» and they’ve always greeted me with a smile. I’ve never felt so welcome at a café before.
Sometimes the wireless is down but they reset the router as needed to get it back up and running. It’s nice to sit in the cozy chairs and do some work or read while sipping on some java while hearing the cheerful greetings/​conversations of their other regulars as they enter, order, chat, and sit for a bit or head back to life outside.
I’m so glad I found this little café and will most likely be a regular myself for a long time coming. Feels good, almost like Cheers. :)

Came to Café 260 with a voucher in hand for $ 12 worth of goodies.
It is located near George Brown College and no doubt students are their biggest clients.
It is home to a few cozy couches and wi-​fi is available but you will have to inquire as to the password.
They have a good selection of sandwiches and paninis for under $ 7.00 and gigantic muffins and substantially-​sized cookies for $ 1.95.
The staff working are also obviously students, although the chap that was helping me seemed to be quite unkempt (greasy and sleepy?)
My coupon was worth $ 12, and upon taking my order my good chap tried to scam me from the residual value of my voucher. Of course, to perpetuate stereotypes about Asians and math, I realized I still had a remaining balance available. Nice try!
I walked out with a coffee (which I thought for a café was pretty disappointing — I got a French roast which is one of their bolder brews and it was bitter and not «bold» in flavour at all). But coffee is about preferences, so I won’t say they have «bad» coffee. Just coffee that was not to my liking.
The Artichoke, Provolone and Ham Panini was made on a 9-​grain ciabatta bread and was quite delicious.
I would probably come back again if I were in the area, but wouldn’t make a special stop!

I really enjoyed my visit here, out of all the physically small stops of the passport this and Bisogno are probably the only ones that also have some sort of charm and personality. There is nothing fancy at all inside here that really sets it apart and it does give off a downtown vibe as it seems to have options for people that are always on the go who are I assume the main patrons here.
But the baristas behind the counter were really friendly and had easy conversations going not only amongst themselves but with the customers as well.
They seem to have a good amount of food options to go along with their drinks menu and my latte here fit my tastes just fine so no complaints at all there.
If I do find myself in this area I am sure I will be visiting again.

I decided to drop by this place since I had the Indie Coffee Passport and was having dinner nearby. It’s connected to an art gallery so naturally there’s interesting artwork around the café. The café has a warm and comforting feel to it. The barista was really nice. She suggested that I get a larger size since the passport covered it (nice, no need convincing here!) and let me lingered a bit after closing while she was cleaning up as I would have been a bit too early for dinner.
They also had flavoured syrups (french vanilla, cinnamon bun & hazelnut vanilla) available in the self serve area. Doubly nice.

Café 260 is kind of in a strange neighbourhood. I will never venture out to this area if not for the Indie Coffee Passport!
I do find the café itself really cozy. dim and soft «gallery» like lighting…
The Cappuccino itself is not bad… not as strong what I like. more milky but I drank it like a Caffe Latte.
Like those armchairs and the stylish side table for my coffee.
Free Wifi. and the password is written on the chalkboard. The washroom is outside make sure you ask for the key.
Café 260 is a nice café to relax with a cup of coffee. and I just have this little smile on my face when I walked out of the door.

Café 260’s neighbourhood is a strange enigma to me — i’m always surprised when i’m there what a sterile sort of area it is, seemingly filled big boxy buildings and little charm.
And then when you step into Café 260 it’s like a cozy hug — welcoming, warm, and the promise of delicious beverages! There’s a mix of regular tables and chairs as well as side table/​armchair seating — the latter is nice if you’d like a bit of natural light especially.
Very decent range of tea and espresso-​based coffee drinks on offer (my soy latte was tasty and in a HUGE mug, great value), including a crazy «Red Eye» which is an Americano with a shot of espresso added. Oh yes, yes there is a college nearby. I bet those students can’t resist.
I’m holding off on a fifth star just til I can go back and try the coffee again and sample some of their vegan snack offerings (sandwich options, and it looks like sometimes even soup of the day). But it’s a super-​solid four stars for now, for sure!

Another one of those lovely places that I’d probably have missed if it were
not for the Indie Coffee Passport.
First thing Saturday morning, I went over there to meet up with Nicole H. for a minicoffee crawl.
I got there way too early, but the moment I walked in, I instantly felt comfortable and welcome. It’s the kind of place I could see myself visiting everyday for a coffee. Very friendly atmosphere, the lighting was great, and there was ample seating (but of course, it was 10am on a Saturday morning). It was obvious this was a local spot, people coming in and out, chatting with Bob (the owner) like he was an old friend.
I ordered my usual large soy latte. It was so good. Thick, with a cute three dimensional heart made of crema. And I just loved the cup. I commented on it in my head and then again to Nicole H when she got there. It was the perfect size and shape to hold with both of my hands. Also, I was very happy to see they don’t charge extra for soy milk!
Other things that are great:
— They have free wifi (when I went in, the password was on the chalkboard at the front)
— There is definitely an outlet at the back corner. I didn’t look anywhere else, but there is at least one!
— There are vegan snacks, soups, sandwiches in addition to several nonvegan options.
Complaints:
— None really. It’s a bit out of the way for me, but I would go back anyway.

I thought to myself, WOW Gallery 260 has a Café inside? I looked through the glass inside the Gallery and didn’t seem to see anybody inside so I walked a few more steps and voila, Café 260.
There was plenty of Artwork here to warp my mind as I looked at a piece resembling Gaseous State, sorry forget the exact name but it was GAS related. Cappuccino was offered as the friendly staff even told me to up-​size my small to a large since my Passport provided $ 5.00 of beverage. Little did they know this would be my 3^rd cup of Coffee today excluding a Green Tea. 3.5 *Star*
My Cappuccino tasted like a medium Italian roast more than anything else as it reminded of the drink I had earlier this morning. Not my favourite flavour but the Art on the wall and near windows make this a semi-​gallery experience. I felt that I was somewhat cultured just leaving there.

C O F F E E P A S S P O R T S T O P (#7)
Drink: Large White Chocolate Latte
Food: White chocolate chip cookie
Atmosphere: This place is small. To me, it feels like a coffee shop that was set up in a cave. Is that a good thing? It would be great for the winter time to cozy up while sipping a nice warm coffee, but for the summer/​spring times when the sun is out, I’d rather be in a place where there is sunlight. And since this place is located on Richmond St. with buildings towering over them, they don’t get much sun.
As for my drink, it was not very strong. Of all the places I’ve been too, this seems to not have a very strongcoffee taste, which is not a bad thing for me, but for other coffee drinkers, I think you would want an extra shot of espresso. However, I liked it, but it was not anything special. It was light and too bad there wasn’t any latte art!
Lastly, the cookie. This is what really brought my review down. I think. well, not think, but it is by the –the– worst cookie that I have eaten in my whole life. It sure fooled me when I pressed upon it in its saran wrap. It felt soft, so I thought hey this is probably a chewy texture! WRONG. WRONG. WRONG. The first bite was gross… it was as if they injected oil into the cookie, then let it soak up more oil, and then injected more oil… the taste was just horrible as well, I don’t even know how to describe it. But be warned. Do not buy their cookies.
Overall, I’d come here for the drinks. They have some really cool ones with Rooibos tea — I think they’re called «Red Drinks» but yeah, they sound interesting and yummy so I’ll be trying one of those when I’m around.