Rustic Owl

This is a sweet space! Unfortunately I spilt my coffee on my laptop here so it’s a bit of a sore spot for me (it fried the battery), but I must say– the coffee is solid (It’s rare that I approve of coffee, being an Australian with inevitably high standards).

I don’t know what happened to this place in the past few weeks but it seems it is under new management and they made some seriously disappointing changes. This place used to be really chill with great atmosphere, a nice layout and I usually felt pretty good sitting anywhere and eating a sandwich. The last time I went (a few days ago) I got there and it was new people working, they had painted the walls a cold white from a nice soft yellow, added like 10 tables to try and seat more people even though the place was empty and still now felt completely cramped, and it basically just looked like a half empty garage. My girlfriend and I made an order and then felt so shitty about being in the space (made us feel stressed and anxious) that we snuck out when they weren’t looking. Instead of going here, I would recommend you go get a breakfast sandwich across the street and a few blocks west at a place called Everest. It’s awesome cheap good service and was exactly where we went when we ghosted on our sandwiches at the new shitty rustic owl. Bummer to see a nice place turn to shit.

Great hipster coffee shop for a sit down with a friend or if you want to do some writing for a few hours. Coffee and food is pretty good, same with the music they play in the background. Only negative thing would be the chairs are fairly uncomfortable.

Fantastic space, lovely art, great lighting. Really and truly, when it comes to pure looks, décor, feel, this place is 4 stars.
I’ve been there a couple times, and like it as a place to meet in the area.
The coffee, however… I had an americano two of the times, and my friend had the same. It was kind of burnt and not that pleasant. Also, I like putting loads of almond milk in mine, and the cups are way too small to accommodate that tasty habit.
Next time I’ll get tea…

Fantastic space, good light, lots of seating. All your hipster decore standards: antlers, mason jars, a motley collection of furniture. Food is decent, coffee is some times hit or miss. Staff need to work on getting a bit more organized as the wait times seem disproportionate to the lines.

A great place to grab an artisan meal and a coffee but experience varies depending on which staff are working.

Their new male «barista» seems like such a dope. Everytime you make an order, he will vacantly stare at you. I get so weirded out.
Like other critics have mentioned, food does take time to prepare. But the food itself is good, I don’t have any complaint.
I like the fact that they carry vegan/​gf options and the atmosphere is indeed quite charming. Stacey, the owner, is a sweet girl with a creative vision, and the café can definitely be improved.

I had a relatively nice experience here. It was a bit crowded for my taste but the lady behind the counter was friendly, saw me with my journal and said I should nab a seat instead of waiting near the counter for my latte — which I totally appreciated. My coffee took about 15 minutes to get to me but I luckily didn’t have a tight schedule.
The roof was leaking on the table next to me, which brought new meaning to ‘rustic’.
I would go back because we might have just caught them on a down day where things were going a bit haywire.

Ok so this is my first negative review on Unilocal and I’m gonna dedicate it to Rustic Owl.
I’ve always been a big fan of their latte. But is it really worth it to be treated badly? I don’t think so. One day the owner charged me 4.50 for a 4.20 cup. I was confused and asked if they had a price increase lately and she gave me back a quarter without directly answering my question. However she gave me that attitude as if I’m some kind of cheap customer. To me it’s not about the money, it’s about being fair and consistent with their pricing, and honor the price you put up on that board!

I honestly can’t believe what gets 4 stars sometimes. This place is so so at best, down right bad at worst. The staff have clearly not been trained to do food or drinks, and have no idea what they’re doing. The one guy who did know something couldn’t focus long enough to finish anything.
There were maybe 5 people in the place when we got there and it took 15 mins to get two americanos that were weak but drinkable. A group of 5 came in and ordered drinks right when my friend ordered a sandwich. Then things really ground to a halt.
After waiting 25 minutes my friend was informed thy it’d be another 20 minute wait for his food. For a sandwich. He also said «we’re really not equipped for big orders». Umm. Then don’t offer food.
Not going back, with so much good food and drink all over the neighbourhood, I highly recommend you go ANYWHERE else.

In search of a coffee and some eats in the area I ended up hear with a friend.
We spent the afternoon drinking and eating and were in here for a few hours.
Café latte is good, searing hot and fresh tasting. Top my latte with a heart and I will love you! I had a tuna melt. Served with a side salad which was dressed in some sort of honey dressing. A little on the sweet side for me but still tasty enough I could finish it.
I also has a tasty coconut cake thing half dipped in chocolate. Tasty.
I love the décor and the atmosphere is warm and welcoming.
The only thing that baffled me was that there were four staff serving but they do not do table service.
All in all a general good café; menu is interesting. Gluten free treats available. Couple of vegan options on the menu too.

I live a block from Rustic Owl, so I’m there pretty often. I work freelance, so I’ve gotten to know almost every café on the west side of the city, here’s my thoughts on this one:
Best food: Definitely the best food of any café in the city west of Yonge. I used to be all about the egg melt, which is great, but they now have a spicy mayo chicken sandwich that’s killer. The food can take a while to get ready, if you’re in a rush, just so you know, because they actually make it on the spot, rather than other places that just toss something on a panini grill.
Coffee: They don’t have black drip coffee, which is now my drink of choice, but the latte’s etc are pretty good. And they do have Americano’s. For just coffee, Lit is probably my favorite, but it’s a bit of a hike from this area. The Common has the strongest, but no real food, and I’m not a fan of the dark atmosphere.
Wifi: Really good, fast, hardly ever goes down in my experience.
Atmosphere: It used to be really quiet place to work, but it’s gotten really popular over the last few months, which is great for them, and shows the quality. It’s no library, but a lot of people still work/​study here, really a great place to grab food with a friend and take time to catch up now. It’s also super laid back. The art in the place gets better each month, I’ve noticed. I’m not a fan of kid’s in cafes cause I like to nerd out, but you can definitely bring your little bundle of joy here.
Overall: Definitely one of the best in the city. If you know you’re going to eat, while you work or catch up with a friend, then choose this one over anything else. If you’re just looking for coffee to go, and you’re super particular, I’d recommend Lit or the Common.

COFFEE
My friend had a sinfully rich mochaccino made with coconut milk that was incredible – more desert than coffee, but delicious nonetheless. I found my Americano to be bland.
DECOR
With beautiful dark hardwood floors, rustic tables and an assortment of chairs all painted a perfect tiffany blue, ‘charming’ is an understatement. Local art for sale adorns the walls.
VIBE
It was bit strange at first because it felt like we were walking into someone else’s living room – there were about ten patrons who all seemed to know each other. Turned out they did– the owner’s friends had come out to support open mic night, the first of what she hopes to be a week (end)ly event. A super cute Newfie strummed his guitar and tooted his harmonica, and played us a very romantic cover of The Shins.
SUM UP: Will return to enjoy another open mic night or a quiet place to study/​hang out.

I would say this place rates 4 – 5 stars for ambiance and eco-​consciousness, and 2 – 3 stars for actual coffee.
Ambiance:
The Rustic Owl is really laid-​back, spacious, artsy, with an «indie» feel. It’s very easy to walk by this place on the street, but once inside you realize there is plenty of room. Decent local artwork adorns the walls, and there is even a lovely gallery space in the back. The staff is young and friendly and the takeout cups are bio-​degradable. They have free wi-​fi, and I enjoy sitting here with my drink and reading.
Coffee:
The coffee and snacks leave something to be desired. The coffee flavor is not great, and the barrista’s technique is so-​so. They have a great selection of teas and tea lattes, but many of the drinks are under-​steeped or too sweet, and their way of icing the coffees occasionally produces lukewarm drinks (yechh…). I haven’t tried the sandwiches, but the healthy dessert snacks were dry and not very tasty (healthy baked goods can still be delicious).
I like visiting this place, but it’s the atmosphere I look forward to, not the coffee.
This place is CASH ONLY.

Never again!
Ambiance was cute and casual — no issue there. There’s a ton of unique art that’s quite interesting too.
But the cappuccinos have nothing but a slight hint of espresso to them. So otherwise… Horrible.
The Real Pumpkin Latte was sickeningly sweet. So sweet it was Undrinkable to us. But everyone has different tolerances i understand.
What I did not understand was how uninterested and lackadaisical the cashier was. Barista? No she wasn’t. Could not have been a barista!
She wasn’t the least bit helpful trying to dilute the latte. What she did do was just put a slight amount of frothed milk on top which only had a subtle effect if any.
Then after I couldn’t take any more of my bland cappuccino, I asked her to refund both drinks because we hated them so much.
I asked the cashier for a refund, and she asked why. I explained that the cappuccino was flavorless, and the latte was way too sweet. Then she gave me attitude. «What would you like the cappuccino supposed to taste like?», and said I should have told her they were bad before we asked her to fix the latte.
So now it’s my fault that I need to say at a specific time that their product is sub par? Or should I have mentioned that after paying but before I could taste how bad it was?
She even had the nerve to say the reason for the latte being sweet is because when they steam the milk it gets caramelized. WHAT?!
If by that weird logic it does result in a super sweet drink, then change something about it!
She begrudgingly refunded the money (thankfully) but we won’t be going back.

Nothing to complain about here. My observations:
Great espresso based drinks,
Plenty of seating choices,
Fewer annoying people than most other independent cafes,
Appealing selection of grilled sandwiches and brunch items (burrito!),
Big art space in the back,
Cutie patooties,
Inexpensive.

3.5 stars.
Pros:
–kid-​friendly (yay!);
–trendy;
–charming décor;
–tasty bites;
–vegetarian options;
–prices are a going rate;
–nice touch of modern art;
–service is friendly, with a smile and positive attitude.
Could be improved:
–faster service would be extra appreciated**. we had ordered 2 sandwiches, and 2 desserts. Sandwiches took a long while to arrive today, for some reason. Probably because other customers regularly came in to grab a coffee to go. They were serviced, but we ended up having to wait extra. **We went there with a newborn, who was very quickly losing patience. Trust me, you don’t want to be in the same room, trying to leisurely enjoy a warm cuppa with a baby’s constant wail in the background.
–prices weren’t too bad, but my mental wish list would prefer if prices were .25, .50, .75 cheaper here and there. The place I usually go to has reliably good hot drinks, tasty treats, and still the prices are overall a bit cheaper than elsewhere.
**It’s Cash only, btw.

Freshly opened, large space with a gallery in the back. The woman working came over and brought me a glass of water without asking and then brought me a larger glass when she saw I drank the first one. Super friendly service.

Well, this space definitely looks better than it did when it was the NDP campaign office! It’s downright beautiful now.
Good coffee, great cookies (brought on a plate, decorated with cinnamon, and WARMED), and great design. A chat with the owner revealed that more is coming, design-​wise! The art is also wonderfully curated and definitely worth a look. And if you want to buy something, it’s actually reasonably priced! Everything is painted with adorable owls, and there’s free pocky at the register. What more could you want?
Quiet and pleasant but still kid-​friendly (lots of space for strollers and fidgety kids — while I was there, a group of five or six kids sat in the gallery in the back eating a snack and it was totally cool) and relaxed, his is definitely, definitely going to be one of my new hangouts.

This place just opened a few days ago. Rustic is definitely the right word here. It’s quaint and cozy. I’m not sure what was here before but I’m going to guess that it was a bar. Everything about this place looks like they didn’t do a ton to turn it into a coffee shop. Which I think adds to it’s charm and appeal.
I just grabbed a simple earl grey tea. They have jars of loose leaf tea for your choosing at $ 2.75 a cup. They have a lunch menu with an offering of sandwiches and a few other goodies. In the display case you can find muffins, bars, and squares. All look quite tasty.
There’s a back area which looks like a gallery of sorts. There’s benches but no real seating otherwise. Also on the walls throughout the café there is art hung up which you can purchase.