Agro Café

Great set up, genuine staff (Stina is a gem), and a very cool layout. Check out the foggy mirror washroom… never seen anything like it!

The space is cool. Coffee was okay.

Nice little coffee shop that’s much better than starbucks.

People who visit yaletown go to Starbucks, people who are from Yaletown go to Agro Café. Thank goodness! A coffee shop in Yaletown that isn’t a huge chain and that has great coffee!
This spot was just a few blocks from both my home and my office so I came here all the time. It’s a small neighborhood spot owned by a really nice guy who is in the store from time to time.
All of their coffee is organic and fair trade. The decaf is made with the swiss water process (hooray, no chemicals!). Most of the meats used in the sandwiches are organic or free range. And best of all they have lots of vegan options.
Come here for THE BEST vegan muffins in the city.
Scratch that, come here for the THE BEST any muffins in the city.
Like I said, I was coming here for years, in my pre and post vegan days. The regular muffins are probably one of the things I miss most about being a vegan, they were sooooo good. Almost more like a loaf. The vegan muffins are really good as well, the best vegan muffins I’ve ever had in fact. So moist, just like a regular brown muffin.
The vegan hummus wrap is really good too, very filling though.
In my pre-​vegan days I used to eat the egg breakfast wrap all the time as well. It’s made with organic eggs, nice! It’s soooooo filling though, I dont know what they put in that thing, but it will weigh you down for hours. Even my husband couldn’t finish it.
I’ve tried to convince them to carry steel cut oatmeal, but I have yet to see it appear. I think this would be hugely popular. They would be the only place in yaletown selling it, and its so cheap to make. Please take note Agro Café!

Agro math:
Classic soho vibe + Raspberry mocha =delectable in Yaletown
If I knew math was this fun I’d of gotten a PHD in the stuff
g

One of my fav cafes in the area. Their latte never lets me down. Customer service is kind of poor at the moment. I don’t know what happened, but the current male barista seems antipathetic to everything. I recall the previous baristas were friendly and smiled.
Newly opened Artigiano’s a stone’s throw away must be stealing a lot of customers and attention.

Cool spot with some hip cred in the middle of the Yaletown world that needs to be seen to be believed. Comfortable chairs and ‘put a bird on it’ art make you feel miles away from the oversized sunglasses and purse dogs just steps away in the outside world. The indie soundtrack certainly didn’t hurt either.
The cappuccino was pretty good although not quite a favourite. The foam topper was frothed a little too bubbly for my liking rather than that smooth, creamy layer that I’ve come to love. Still, the taste was right on track with no bitterness in sight. Or taste. You know what I mean.
Wireless was smooth although it was a bit of a disappointment when we asked if it worked outside on the patio and the barista shrugged apathetically as if it wasn’t his problem and he couldn’t have cared less. On the plus side, it *did* work… so there.

Ended up here since we were staying nearby in Yaletown. Our barista was helpful and even concerned when we gave him a set of house keys we found on the ground. We described the young girls we saw earlier peering into the bushes in Opus half an hour before and figured they must have been looking for the keys. He was playing awesome music too! Wasn’t even a jerk when we asked who it was (his girlfriend!).
Since other Unilocalers mentioned mochas, I inquired whether that was the popular drink. He steered me towards just a great coffee latte. Minutes later, I was glad he did.
Loved, loved, loved the energy balls! Funky little things made of walnuts, cranberries, pumpkin seeds and a bit of chocolate powder. Ate them two days in a row. Must replicate at home.
My favorite thing about Agro was their bathroom! It is an odd shape but what gets me is the privacy glass. The minute you turn the lock, the glass fogs up. Entertained me and the bug endlessly!

This coffee shop is really cozy and friendly and brews good coffee. There was a good variety of choices; 3 bean choices of mild, medium, or dark, and all the regular milk/​cream/​soy choices, plus what impressed me the most was you could even get almond milk in your latte.
When I stopped in on a Saturday morning, there was one barista behind the counter, and though he was really helpful and knowledgeable — he gave me the exact number of minutes since he had made the brewed coffee (8 minutes) and the method of brewing (french press) — there were three people in line in front of me so I had to wait about 10 minutes before I got my coffee. I guess if you want a carefully crafted and individually brewed coffee then you should expect to wait, but I’m used to Starbucks speed so I found this a bit slow. There’s a large patio outside though so a lazy weekend morning would be a good time to come to Agro.

I got some sweet mocha love at this place earlier this week… great coffee with the perfect cinnamon-​y, vanilla-​y hint to it. Very competent, friendly baristas, with one of Yaletown’s most affordable patios to people-​watch on.
If they came out with fresh desserts, would be a 5. They should team up with Ganache Patisserie maybe…

I stopped in for an espresso and some free wi-​fi, but I ended up trying out their Clover coffee machine — and I’m glad I did!
It was my first Clover cup of coffee, and it was wonderfully smooth. I prefer Cuban coffee (espresso), but in a taste test I think the Clover outperforms a normal French press. If you’re a coffee nut, then you need to try it. If you’re a true connoisseur, then this is all old news…
As for Agro, they have a great business model pushing sustainability and free trade. If you’re in the area, why not buy coffee from one of the «good guys?»

I don’t really have any complaints about the coffee or service itself. All solid (well actually the coffee was a little bitter but whatev). My main gripe is the soy… i opt for soy in my americano and there is nothing i hate more than curdling coffee. Not a good time. The constant stirring required to «uncurdle» the concoction is distracting and the visual, kinda unappealing.
If the soy was a good brand i probably would have given 4 stars… maybe next time.

Agro Café in Yaletown has quick, friendly service and free wireless internet. The café is small and cozy café in a convenient location.
Coffee is nice and strong with the bonus option of almond milk as an alternative to soy! Yay!
They also had a variety baked goods and sandwiches… muffins didn’t quite jump out at me and scream «EAT ME» like the ones at JJ Bean but looked good. I was all over the vegan brownie option — it was light with a semi-​sweet icing that helps you enjoy the not very chocolatey, cake-​like brownie.
*Currently there’s a lot of construction right outside the café but don’t let that deter you from going in! They are open!

My go-​to meeting spot, my first recommendation for a central location when in need of a decent cup of (perfectly-​brewed) coffee, one of my favourite personal «offices» downtown — this is Agro.
Free wifi, baristas who live up to their title (read: know their coffee how-​tos, how-​comes and why-​fors), an amazingly comfortable and sunny (without being too hot) patio, a never-​bitter iced americano, a quiet enough spot to think but a loud enough spot to chat. Coffee with a conscience, Yaletown without pretension — a perfectly relaxing café that has yet to be beat.

I’ve been here a few times. The looseleaf tea is nice, the coffee tasty (one of the first businesses in Van to use a Clover) and the location is a handy. In fact, for Yaletown java it’s nice to have a ‘non-​big-​chain’ option.
The coolest thing though? The bathroom.
Ok, I’m sure I’ll sound creepy saying this, but if you’re sitting at the raised table beside the bathroom, you’ll see the light blue panels of glass that seep light into the bathroom. And guess what? You can see straight through those panels. Scandalous, I know.
Once someone enters that bathroom and turns on the light BOOM! The glass frosts over and isn’t transparent anymore. Pretty cool trick. I was caught up with that one. I’m not ten, but sometimes I feel like it…
Um but ya, the drinks are good.

I‘m trying to believe my fellow Unilocalers and discover the magic that is promised at Agro. I have not found it yet.
Today, my Americano was (again) less than stellar, and the food options were limited to a half-​empty display counter. See my picture for the complete lack of any crema in my coffee, and the taste was similar to that of the cheapo stove-​top espresso maker I use at home. Most of the seating was taken up by people on laptops with empty dishes in front of them. It hurt a little inside because my favourite café is only a block west.
The food is ok. If you order a wrap, get it grilled, and get it to stay, with a soup for $ 1.50 more. The carrot/​onion soup with turkey stock was quite good, and the wrap was served with a bit of salad on the side. Good presentation for a small café. An extra star for this, but a 2.5 on the coffee.

If you’re used to the coffee served by the big chains down the street and are expecting something comparable you will be disappointed.
Seriously, what’s wrong with these people? They will make you a cup of coffee in their clover. What is that thing? It has like two buttons on it. Piece of junk.
Then they even grind the beans right before they brew it. What? This is going to take foreeeeeverrr.
And their beans? They were roasted as recently as 3 days ago. Beans should be aged to perfection. All things get better over time. Like wine and scotch. These people are total amateurs.
And the coffee is complex. Coffee should be simple. My taste buds can’t figure out what’s going on in there. One minute the coffee might be fruity and the next it might be sweet. It might even have hints of weird things like citrus or caramel, toffee or chocolate. Not even a hint of the charcoal briquette offered up by the big chains.
And it’s not even scalding hot! I mean coffee is supposed to burn my tongue. The hotter the better. These people don’t know what they’re doing.

Woohoo! I am really happy about discovering Agro@Yaletown last weekend. I really love the décor and the coziness of this place. There were only three people other than myself on Saturday 4:30PM. It means quietness and tranquility. em… I love the orange cups (one of my favorite color) and the wooden bark thing? that the barista puts the prepared cup of lattee to be picked up… (the pick up counter I guess).
It’s rustic yet modern. Is it orangy all year around or for Fall/​Winter? It suits the weather perfectly. I had their feature item, «Pumpkin spiced latte» it was good, sweet but not too sweet. My sister had a regular latte and it was good too. I didn’t give 5 stars because I still love Elysian on Broadway. But this place is nearly up there!!!

Free wifi, cozy atmosphere and a bathroom that makes you feel like you’re on a startrek space ship. Add to that some seriously knowledgeable barrista’s, and the team at Agro Café are in business.
I never drank coffee black before. I’m a complete coffee wuss, and there is no way I can take it without milk and sugar. Until I met Blake. The owner and one-​man-​army behind Agro Café; he loves his coffee. He REALLY loves his coffee, and is also very passionate about sustainability. He paired those 2 loves and came up with a business model that offers fair wages to the farms where he buys his beans from, sustainable practices within his shops, and amazingly good coffee.
I can’t drink my coffee black anywhere other than agro — he made me wait and try a light roast, promising me I’d be ok with it. He was right — it was amazing, I had never had a naturally sweet coffee before. He explained that because the light roast is roasted less, it’s less bitter — the bitterness comes as you roast the bean.
I can only hope more coffee shops have people as passionate about coffee as the folk’s at Agro.

The Yaletown location is a little small (they also have a location on Grandville Island) — but it’s nice place to stop on an afternoon for a sweet treat or a caffeine jolt. There are some plush comfy chairs inside, and several outside tables.
The biggest source of pride for Agro is their fair-​trade beans. Talk to any of the baristas and they can tell you what a difference it makes to the coffee farmers. All of their beans are fair trade in comparison with one big coffee chain that only has one fair trade variety. I’ve had the cinnamon roast– as you can imagine, the aroma is wonderful and it has a very full body.
The dessert case is great fun. Twice I’ve had the almond cake. It’s a dense cake– with a light chocolate shell around it. Very flavorful– the almond flavor is present in every bite.
This is definitely a great place to chill. Being in Yaletown– it’s fresh and
modern– without being pretentious. And with the socially responsible beans– it’s a win-​win place to go.