20 Best Toronto Coffee Shops
If you’ve ever spent a decent amount of time in Toronto, one thing you’ve likely noticed is this city knows good coffee. But as a newcomer or a weekend visitor, trying to navigate the seemingly endless list of must-try cafés can be overwhelming. Even for life-long Torontonians, the number of new coffee shops and locations increases year after year, making it difficult to know which café to try next.
To help narrow things down, we’ve put together a list of the 20 best coffee shops in Toronto and broken them down by category so you can find the perfect place for your morning pick-me-up.
Caffeinate and Chill
This first group of coffee shops is all about the vibes.
From intimate patios and cozy corners to sleek and streamlined industrial-inspired works of modern art, these local hot spots are perfect places to start your Toronto coffee culture crash course.
Wallace Espresso
Wallace Espresso features four locations: one on King St. W., a few blocks west of Bathurst; another just off St. Clair, east of Dufferin; and two in the Junction Triangle.
The shops use Social Coffee and Reunion Island beans and feature a clean, minimalist design.
Lait Night
Located just off Dundas a few blocks east of Kensington Market, Lait Night provides a caffeine fix for Toronto’s true night owls.
Lait Night offers the standard coffee options made with Reunion Island beans. You can also choose from a selection of bubble teas, fruit teas, and smoothies alongside a number of Asian-style desserts, many of which are vegan-friendly.
One of Lait Night’s most unique offerings is a Coffee Jelly that is made in-house using agar-agar. It can be topped with either whipped cream or a vegan-friendly coconut-based alternative.
Thor Espresso Bar
Thor Espresso Bar has two locations in King West and Queen West. Both locations feature a modern, slightly industrial style that is both chic and welcoming.
The shops feature a rotating selection of single-origin, small-batch coffees from the company’s roasting brand, Odin Coffee Roasters.
Odin Coffee Roasters uses a Bellwether roaster that boasts zero emissions, adding to Thor Espresso Bar’s dedication to sustainability and quality.
Shy Coffee
Shy Coffee is located on King St. W., just west of Bathurst. The shop features intimate indoor seating, as well as a small outdoor patio, perfect for people watching.
Its coffee options are brewed with Barocco beans and pair nicely with the assortment of croissants and other fresh pastries.
Dineen Coffee
With three Toronto locations and another in North York, Dineen Coffee offers signature blends with a dash of nostalgia.
Named after the building of its first location, Dineen Coffee has embraced the historical aesthetic while maintaining a sleek, modern design.
Dineen offers a selection of pastries and sandwiches, as well as catering and events services.
NAVA SOCIAL
Nava Social has three locations: one in Corktown, a second in the Fashion District, and another in Humewood. Each of the three locations brings its own variation on modern chic.
The shops feature a rotation of coffee beans from local Ontario roasters, including Hatch, Java Roasters, Seth Taylor, and Ethica Coffee Roasters. In addition, Nava Social also hosts a line of wellness lattes made with matcha, turmeric, beet, or butterfly pea.
Nava Social also offers an assortment of fancy toasts and flavored croissants, as well as spices, beeswax products, and even organic soaps.
Beans and Grapes
While coffee and wine may not seem to have much in common besides both being beverages, the care and attention that is taken in the growing, selecting, sourcing, and processing of both espresso beans and wine grapes make them sippable siblings. So the growing number of coffee shop and bar combo spots make a lot of sense.
Here are some of our favorite booze-friendly brew houses.
Arvo Coffee
Arvo Coffee has two locations, in Liberty Village and the Distillery District.
Arvo offers private event bookings, as well as a selection of wine and beer tasting classes. After your class, you’ll know exactly what to order from the wide selection of wine and beer in Arvo’s bottle shop.
As for the coffee, Arvo is known for its signature drink: Aussie Magic. The Aussie Magic features beans from Australia and is made with a short pulled, double ristretto shot and steamed microfoam milk.
Boxcar Social
Boxcar Social has five locations throughout the GTA, including Summerhill, Riverside, Harbourfront Centre, Waverly, and the Laneway.
Early Bird Wine + Coffee
Nestled in the bustling Queen West neighborhood, Early Bird Wine + Coffee is all about natural and healthy offerings.
Early Bird is a multi-roaster café, sourcing beans from around the globe. In addition to high-quality coffee, Early Bird also offers extensive brunch, lunch, and dinner menus that feature a number of healthy meals served with presentation in mind.
Even Early Bird’s bottle shop wine offerings are selected for their natural ingredients and lack of chemical and mechanical meddling.
Mallo Coffee Bar
Mallo Coffee Bar offers the standard assortment of coffee options, as well as both dine-in and takeaway bottle service featuring wine, beer, cider, and seltzer from a handful of local small-batch breweries.
The shop also boasts a line of loose-leaf herbal teas including Mello Mallo, a blend of chamomile flower, fennel seed, tulsi leaf, ashwagandha root, St. John’s wort, and peppermint tea; My Heart, featuring hibiscus flower, lemon thyme leaf, and hawthorne leaf; and the spicy Dr. Mallo, made with licorice root, cloves, mallo leaf, blue malva flour, and cayenne pepper.
The shops run seasonal lines of Subtext Coffee beans and offer bar services at the Summerhill, Riverside, Harbourfront, and Waverly locations.
The Summerhill general store features an eclectic assortment of food items, including tinned seafood, take-and-bake pizzas and the most mouthwatering empanadas we have ever seen.
Happy Coffee and Wine
Located a few blocks west of Dufferin, Happy Coffee and Wine offers a large assortment of wines through both its bar and bottle shop.
Happy Coffee uses an assortment of roasters including Sey, Luna Coffee, Quietly Coffee, and Not Even.
In addition to its beverage services, Happy also boasts lunch and dinner offerings that can be enjoyed in either the cozy interior of the shop or on its chic back patio.
Java and Gaming
Next up is the small but growing trend of gamer-friendly coffee shops. These niche cafés cater to tabletop gamers, puzzle solvers, and the nerd community at large.
Generally, these types of cafés charge a small cover fee – usually less than $10 – if you want to play a game, but you can still pick up your favorite frap or flat white to go without paying a cover.
Snakes & Lattes
With three locations in Toronto, Snakes & Lattes is the most common and recognizable name in gamer-focused coffee shops in Toronto. The company also boasts two locations in Arizona, one in Chicago, and another in Guelph.
Each location has a selection of board games that can be played in-house, as well as a retail selection of games to own at home. There is an $8 cover charge that grants you access to the shop's full line of in-house games, and private rooms can be rented for parties and events.
Keeping yourself fuelled through long campaigns is easy with Snakes & Lattes’ extensive food and beverage options, including pub fare, cocktails, and a selection of coffee and dessert specials that pair one mini cheesecake or mini vegan chocolate mousse with one of three drink categories: Caffeine Boost, drip coffee, Americano, espresso or tea; Milky Dream, latte, cappuccino, flat white or hot chocolate; and Sweet Tooth, chai latte, matcha latte, turmeric latte, Nutella latte, Nutella hot chocolate, or mocha.
For The Win Boardgame Cafe & Bar
Another top pick in the boardgame café category is For The Win Boardgame Cafe & Bar, located just north of Lawrence. You can check out their game library online beforehand, book a reservation that holds your table for three hours or arrange for a private event. The standard cover charge here is $8 for unlimited gaming.
For The Win boasts a wide assortment of alcoholic drinks, including unique signature cocktails, soju and sake, as well as a number of hot drinks, including a Nutella latte, a Baileys latte, and a taro latte. The café also offers a selection of milk teas, fruit teas, slushies and bubble teas, snacks, sandwiches, and desserts.
Fitness and Flat Whites
In our final category, we take a look at fitness-focused coffee shops. From cafés right in the gym, to shops that offer health boosts brewed right into your morning cup of joe, these are the places to go for the fitness-first crowd.
KX Yorkville
KX Yorkville begs the question, is it a coffee shop with a gym in it, or a gym with a coffee shop in it?
The health facility boasts a full-service gym with personal training options, including a 12-week program. It also offers in-house therapy services, such as massage therapy and fascial stretch therapy.
After your workout or massage, you can grab a cup of coffee from the café, made with locally roasted beans, or maybe a glass of biodynamic wine.
KX’s market offers a wide array of essential everyday items, all sourced from local Ontario businesses.
AM Coffee Studio
AM Coffee Studio has the feel of a well-curated Instagram account come to life.
AM’s fitness offerings include yoga and wellness classes that span from guided practices to educational workshops.
After your yoga session, grab a coffee made with Pilot Coffee Roasters beans or a Kiki’s Latte, AM’s signature butterfly pea latte.
AM Coffee Studio also features specialty toasts, bagels, and salads, as well as a selection of pastries with a number of vegan options.
Jet Fuel Coffee
Jet Fuel Coffee offers what appears to be an endless assortment of coffee concoctions as the shop operates on an “ask and you shall receive” model that charges by the size. While the drinks are left up to you, Jet Fuel takes no chances with its house-roasted beans.
As for the fitness side of things, Jet Fuel is all about cycling. The Jet Fuel Cycling Team has held a spot among the top road cycling programs in Canada since 1998.
Academy of Lions
Located just north of Queen St. W., Academy of Lions offers the small gym experience with personal trainers and group classes in cross-training, metabolic conditioning, and even gymnastics, alongside a cozy coffee shop.
Academy of Lions offers a range of coffee options, including butter coffee, as well as a line of protein shakes to round out your workout the right way.
Sweat and Tonic
Sweat and Tonic sits between Dundas and Queen Sts. It features a café and tonic bar, as well as an in-house nutbar, an organic café that focuses on superfoods. You’ll find two additional locations in Summerhill and Leslieville.
The café serves Pilot Coffee in all the standard variations, as well as a caffeine-free coffee alternative, Dandy Blend.
After you fuel up with your favorite latte, hit up one of Sweat and Tonic’s small group training, private fitness sessions or studio classes, including yoga, HIIT, and cycling.
Sweat and Tonic also boasts a communal workspace and a private events space that you can rent out for your next business meeting or family gathering.
Fix Coffee and Bikes
Fix Coffee and Bikes has found success in its unique blend of offerings. The idea of selling bikes in a coffee shop is certainly uncommon, but for Fix, it works!
In addition to selling fully assembled bikes, the shop also offers an assortment of accessories and equipment, as well as repair services – it is called Fix, after all.
Fix also carries a number of coffee-making accessories in addition to its packaged and hot coffee options that come from some of the top roasters in Ontario, including De Mello, Quietly Coffee, Java Roasters, and The Angry Roaster.
Strange Love Café
What sets Strange Love apart is its unique mushroom powder-enhanced coffees. They come in wellness, energy, and immunity blends.
The shop also offers an assortment of mushroom supplements, tinctures, and gummies, formulated for a variety of functions, including sleep, stress, energy, memory, and focus.
Pump up Your Coffee
No matter which shop you choose, your daily cup of java offers an opportunity to do something good for your body by adding in a few grams of protein.
Protein is essential to a healthy lifestyle. It fuels muscle growth and helps keep blood sugar balanced. But finding ways to add protein to your diet without changing your daily routine can be difficult.
That’s where Allo protein powder for hot coffee comes in. The 10 grams of hydrolyzed whey protein powder is crafted specifically for hot drinks, like coffee, hot matcha, or tea, without clumping.
Check out our full line of protein powder flavors and creamers. Grab a few packets to throw in your backpack, glove compartment, or gym bag for when you find your perfect coffee shop.