Nelson the Seagull

I enjoyed my coffee. I love their bread. Great spot on a rainy day, even when all the hobos are fencing their stolen goods outside.
Why 4 stars? Guys, do something about the cobwebs in the bathroom. If the bathroom is this bad, what about the kitchen, and the corners that we cannot see?

I’ve gone to nelson the seagull every once in a blue moon since they opened, and I’ve always been disappointed. They haven’t changed their menu in years, and their service definitely hasn’t gotten any better or any friendlier.
The other day I ordered a soup to go, and they gave me a half filled coffee cup filled with the same orange sludge they’ve been serving since they opened and no spoon. When I asked for a spoon, they made me feel badly about it. What was I supposed to do? Drink this thick purée like a coffee? Not only that, but they only gave me one stale piece of baguette — not even one piece of their good sourdough which I had specifically asked for.
They get away with as little as they can, charging as much as they can.
Definitely not recommended to anyone.

Excellent bread and avocado toast. Latte that I ordered was weak, wouldn’t order it again. I’d go back for the toast though, yum.

With all the charm of a historic building this restaurant is riddled with antiques and delicious food! I am a bit of a Java snob and I have to say that this was the best latte I’ve had in ages. I love the Picnic platter for sharing and the soup was hearty and homemade! Oh, and you gotta love that name!

Literally everyone I asked recommendations from for places to eat in Vancouver mentioned Nelson the Seagull, namely for their avo toast. I love avocados and I love bread, so avocado toast is my favorite, go-​to breakfast item. Nelson the Seagull officially has my fave avo toast. Seriously. It was seasoned well, the avocado was PERFECT and presented beautifully, and the bread was fresh and delicious. Will definitely be back next time I visit!

This place is as good as it gets. I just moved to Canada and stumbled across this lovely place when I was exploring my new neighborhood. Their coffee is fantastic and the bread melts in your mouth. Every employee makes you feel so welcome the minute you walk in the door.
It’s also a great place for a meeting and/​or getting some work done. They have large communal tables with old school wooden chairs that remind me of elementary school.
Yes, there are ‘sketchy’ people walking around on the street… but it’s Gastown and I think it adds to the charm!
All in all you can’t go wrong.

Firstly, I love the space, it’s cool but relaxing, roomy, but has a great atmosphere and I like being in a space with history. The area surrounding Nelson the Seagull is also full of character, especially the people.
I like going to a place where you order, pay, then get your food, yet you’re not hustled out or anything like that so I really enjoy that aspect of this place.
But our food took awhile. About 20 minutes, which was quite a wait considering it wasn’t too full. I got the leafy and grain salad with a side of sourdough, but only the leafy salad arrived. I thought that the rest of my food would arrive but after some time, nothing showed up. I’m not sure what happened, but after a few more minutes the rest of the order arrived, and I ended up with more salad so that was a bonus.
The salads were okay. The leafy one was nice, but the grain one was a little flavourless. It could have used a vinegarette or something to give it a bit more taste. The portion size was good and my side of sourdough was two huge slices which was pretty awesome.
Serves me right for getting the salads though, my friend had the classic avocado on toast and it was divine, so this place clearly knows what it’s doing when it comes to simple tasting dishes, and as others have mentioned, the sourdough is amazing.
The coffee is amazing as well, their baristas know what they are doing. It’s great to get a proper coffee and an americano that needs no milk or sugar as it is so good on it’s own. I also tried a almond butter cup — delish! And vegan. Awesome. The sweet treats here are really good and how refreshing that it is all made in-​house?
There isn’t a lot to say about the service, as it is not a resturaunt, once you get your food, you’re on your own, but the people I dealt with were all friendly enough, but that’s not what this place is about anyway.
Nice place to set up a laptop and settle in by yourself, and cool for casual brunches with a small group. Not the best for the gluten-​free friends as the best things here of full o’ gluten. Buy some sourdough to take home — you won’t regret it (until you eat the whole loaf in one sitting, not that I did that or anything…).

Great coffee and simple but really tasty food. The settings isn’t one of a cozy café where you hunker down in armchairs. It’s sparsely furnished but the open kitchen where they make your food and bake fresh bread is a wonderful site.

The only reason I am giving Nelson more than one star is the interior design. It’s in a beautiful building with high ceilings and is wonderfully decorated, but beyond the aesthetics, I can’t say much positive about this place.
My friends and I were visiting Vancouver from the States and sought out a place to grab a quick breakfast in Gastown before heading out for the day. Our first impression of Nelson was good, despite having to make our way through a sea of homeless people selling everything from ice scrapers to mushrooms (yeah, that kind) before entering the establishment (not Nelson’s fault, and obviously not something to hold against them. As a side note, we also had a homeless man who’d wandered into Nelson kick his cowboy boot up on our table as we were waiting for our food, which was not the most pleasant experience, but again, not really something to blame the restaurant for).
The wait for our beverages was short, and the quality of the coffee was good. I was feeling pleased about our breakfast selection, but that was short-​lived. Though we’d ordered rather simple items (two bowls of muesli with yogurt, avocado toast, and French toast), we somehow ended up having to wait 50 minutes before receiving everyone’s food. Our two bowls of muesli were given to a pair of girls who’d entered well after we had and ordered the same thing. Two rounds of avocado toast made their way to patrons who’d shown up at least 20 minutes later than we had. Meanwhile, we sat without food. We checked in on our orders multiple times, only to be told there’d been a mixup and they’d check to see what was going on.
After the first round of asking, we were given a plate of two coconut balls and two chocolate peanut butter cups as compensation. About ten minutes after, we received the order of French toast, followed five minutes later by the two bowls of muesli. We waited for our friend to receive her avocado toast, but after five more minutes it appeared it may not be making its way to us. Upon watching the second round of avocado toast be delivered to someone who’d arrived after we had, we followed up with the staff by asking what the deal was, and were told once more they’d check on it. Finally, fifty minutes after ordering, a woman came around to deliver the toast while my friend who’d ordered it was in the bathroom, asking only if Dawn was a part of our party, and making zero attempt to apologize about the extreme wait and mixup.
The food was okay: nothing spectacular (slices of avocado with salt and pepper on bread, for instance), but certainly not bad, either. After ten minutes or so of eating while staring down the staff in hopes they’d sense our discontent at the complete avoidance of admittance of fault on their behalf, the girl who’d delivered the avocado toast stopped by our table and finally delivered a half-​hearted apology about our wait. I expressed to her how disappointed I was that she’d completely failed to offer any sort of apology upon delivering the tardy food, to which I received a «Yeah…sorry,» in response. When she came to clear our plates later, she dropped four free drink coupons on our table, which were unusable for us considering we don’t live in the country, but even if we did, I feel pretty confident we wouldn’t be returning anyway.
The bottom line is this: I am not ever one to complain about service that is less-​than-​stellar (you can reference my few other Unilocal reviews to see that I typically abide by the rule of «If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.»), but this experience was on a whole different level. I am always willing to be patient and give anyone in customer service the benefit of the doubt; I worked in customer service for a decade and know how tough things can get. But when you mess up, you need to own up to it. A simple, sincere apology will do wonders for turning around the attitude of a dissatisfied customer, and the refusal to offer one will do the exact opposite.

Avocado toast and coffee are great.
They make their own bread. It’s really good. My wife’s a semi-​pro baker and agreed.

Stopped in for a vegan lunch. Very fresh bread (sourdough), fresh ingredients, great service and the sandwiches were fantastic. I liked the rustic atmosphere. My only complaint was that the sandwiches were too light on the hummus/​pesto. Other than that, great experience.

PROS
+ Picnic board is a must
+ Fresh ingredients
+ Spacious
+ Good for brunch/​lunch
CONS
— Sketchy areas close by
— Not many food options
RATING
Food 3.5÷5.0
Ambience 3.5÷5.0
Service 4.0÷5.0
Price $
While my friend and I were waiting for our foodies come for dinner at Malt and Marrow, we were looking for a café in downtown to munch on some snacks. My friend wanted to have a Nelson the Seagull’s Picnic Board so we walked down there. The place was spacious with the bright sunshine coming through the windows. Even though they didn’t have an extensive menu, it seemed like every food item they had was was worth trying out.
Because we were going to have dinner in 2 hours, we only had a PICNIC BOARD ($ 15) which was like a DIY sandwich platter. A selection of sandwich ingredients on the wooden board included some bread slices, hummus, chutney (a mixture of spices, apples and dried fruits), pesto, swiss cheese, walnuts, corned beef, cucumbers, tomatoes, artichoke, avocado and strawberry. I liked how I could make several different sandwiches by using a variety of ingredients they provided. I simply put some veggies and spreads on a slice of breads and enjoyed them a lot. My favourite combination would be avocado, swiss cheese, corn beef, pesto and hummus.
This place can be perfect for enjoying your breakfast/​brunch/​lunch or maybe for someone who needs to work on their stuff on computer as I saw many people doing it. Come out on a sunny day and enjoy the sunshine while eating good food!

Oh Gastown, you get me with your cool hangouts every time. Im a sucker coffee shops with yummy baked goods like Nelson the Seagull. The menu is small but you have options. I know this place is known for its bread, so its a must try. The prices are on the high side, I don’t mind paying but better be tasty. When you see «Poached eggs» $ 11 you better be the best Ive ever had!!! My friend and I shared «poached eggs» and the «picnic board». 1^st tip picnic board was awesome and bang for your buck!!! $ 15 and you get cheese, tomatoes, avocado, nuts, 3 dips hummus, pesto, and chutney, famous bread, cucumbers, cold cut meat. The poached eggs came with bread and a side salad. We ordered a espresso and a macchiato. Tips and tax $ 38. Coffee was good! Food was great. Fresh, filling, and tasty. The bread is so tasty I could stop eating it! The space is also adorable. I watched them make bread pretty cool. Overall cool place to hangout, Id come back.

This review is based on just one item, I apologise for that. I shall return to try more.
Anyway, I quickly needed a bite to eat and fancied a croissant and coffee. When they told me what coffee they used I passed and just took the chocolate and marzipan croissant. It rang up as $ 4.20!
I exclaimed that at that price it had better be the best croissant ever, and by God it was! Incredible crunchy, flaky pasty, and the perfect balance of chocolate and marzipan.
I was in taste heaven as I ate it with a coffee brew I do like next door at East Van Coffee Roasters.
I shall return to try other items.
Addendum: went back to buy more croissants and try the sourdough bread. Wow, the bread is incredible. I don’t eat bread, I have now fallen off the wagon.

This is the first time I try their food and is as good as it looks! The bread is delicious and the quality of the food is pretty good. I had Poached Eggs and I added Roasted Tomato and Avocado, it comes with toasts and butter and some salad! I really enjoy it.
I rate with three starts because this is the second time I try their coffee and I don’t know if it is because I had order latte, but I didn’t like it. Next time I’ll try just americano! Also the price is high for the add-​ons and the pastries!
Overall if you’re looking for a good breakfast/​brunch/​lunch, and don’t mind spending little bit more than usual this is a really good place!

This is the place for an escape, I can sit there, watch people work, pretend to be an artist or writer, and enjoy good vibe and the aroma of ‘out of the oven’ goods. The advantage of open kitchen :)
They serve local roast coffee from Elysian, sandwiches with bread made in the open kitchen. Lots of window space, a number of tables for small groups and communal table to make new friends.
Parking might be a problem if you must park right outside, but it’s petty easy compared to rest of downtown. Free wifi :)

Love this little quaint joint just in the border of gastown.
They serve their drinks in mason jars which is a cute IDE but the drinks get very hot and difficult to handle! Need some sleeves please.
It’s a great place to hang out. Reminds me of the coffee perk from «friends» episode with a couch and long tables.
Had the coffee and London fog, both tasty. But looking forward to trying some of their food soon.
Get a group together for an outing and a little break. The area can be shady especially on Sundays with weird stolen goods fair going don outside but once inside you will find the quietness.
Value ⁴⁄₅
Atmosphere ⁴⁄₅
Service ⁴⁄₅
Quality ⁴⁄₅
¹⁶⁄₂₀

For starters it’s a hipster café, so don’t come in expecting a Starbucks, this is Nelson the Seagul. If you go in the morning you’re guaranteed to get the freshly baked bread (made in house, and it sells quickly). One of the best breakfast you can get from a coffee shop. Everything is very fresh.
Try the avocado and toast and don’t be afraid to make additions to it! Meat & Cheese was the cats meow!

The bad news is that almost everything went wrong with this business experience.
The good news is that there’s much area for improvement.
Here’s what I experienced:
1. We arrive a little after the normal lunch hour rush only to find the only menu item they were serving was salad. No sandwiches, soups … just two different salads.
2. «Perhaps I’ll get one of their yummy zucchini cupcakes,» I thought to myself. But then I noticed small bugs and gnats all over the various pastries.
3. Ugh. The bugs probably had a lot to do with the doors propped wide open. I understand Vancouver has great weather, but there has to be some sort of health code violation leaving doors open like that for bugs to make their way onto uncovered food.
4. The biz was also HOT. Again, Vancouver has great weather, but when the weather is unseasonably warm, they should provide fans or a portable AC unit to keep customers comfortable — and keep the doors closed.
5. My colleague had a filthy fork and a filthy restroom experience.
We left the business extremely disgusted. Hopefully they’ll clean up their act, because apparently it’s a cool hipster coffee house to set up shop with their free wi-​fi and interesting choice of music.

Dear Nelson,
I had high hopes for you… After all, you had really great reviews and the word on the street is that you were a solid pick /​place to hang, eat, get some work done, etc…
Unfortunately on the day that I visited, you disappointed me in several ways:
*No bread during our visit
*No AC and it was really warm during our visit
*Dirty utensils with not much of an apology
*A filthy restroom
I’ll now expand on the above:
I arrived with a colleague ready for a late lunch. It was a Friday afternoon around 2:30. What did we find? That you were out of bread… such a bummer! We stayed positive and ordered 2 grain salads. We were going to order a muffin or pastry as well, but there wasn’t anything super appealing in the case, and my colleague noticed some fruit flies on what was in there. No thank you.
The no AC thing is pretty self-​explanatory. I understand if you don’t have it, but why not get some fans for days like the day we were there. Everyone in there was glistening with sweat from the heat!
I went to unwrap my silverware (it came rolled up in a napkin), and there was dried food on it. Unacceptable. I went up and asked for some new silverware and while I did get that, I didn’t get much of an apology.
Before we headed out, I visited the restroom and it was filthy. I won’t go into detail on this one… use your imagination.
Nelson, I hear you’ve gotten pretty popular around town and are now providing bread to some other local businesses… congratulations. But it may be time to do some quality control with your actual location. On the bright side, the wifi worked well, prices are moderate, and the grain salad was tasty. Still, I would have preferred to choose from one of your fabulous sounding boards or sandwiches. Better luck next time I guess.