Coffee Talk

Image Credit: Nicola Hamilton/The Grid, 2012

One of the pleasant discoveries about living in downtown Toronto has been stumbling across independent coffee shops during my walks to and from work.

I was curious how many of the large corporate coffee chains were actually in the city, as it seems one is never 500 feet from at least one of them. Turns out, the awesome paper/blog The Grid had the same question a few months back. They came up with the accompanying image to the left, which nicely depicts the number of stores per company as of this past February.

So, given the saturation by the big guys, it has been nice to stumble across the little guys, such as my daily favourite, Dark Horse Espresso Bar as well as my runner-up, Crema Coffee Co.

Other spots that offer a great Americano plus a treat include Wagamama Pastries & Cafe, which make hands-down the best croissants in the city, Little Nicky's (known for their sinful home made donuts), as well as Nadage Patisserie, surely one of the city's gems.