Cafe entertainment in Vancouver
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A
Café Calabria
When Vancouverites tell you that Commercial is the city's best coffee street, this is one of the places they're thinking about. It tops a healthy handful of great cafes founded here by Italian immigrants, and these guys really know their java. Don't be put off by the chandeliers-and-statues decor (if Liberace had opened a coffee shop, this is what it would have looked like) – just order an espresso and biscotti and pull up a chair outside.
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B
Mario's
A java-lover's favorite that only downtown office workers seem to know about, you'll wake up and smell the coffee long before you make it through the door here. The rich aromatic beverages served up by the man himself are the kind of ambrosia brews that should make Starbucks' drinkers weep – you might even forgive the incessant 1980s Italian pop music percolating through the shop as you sip on your perfect Americano.
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C
Caffè Artigiano
An international award-winner for its barista skills and latte art, Artigiano has the locals frothing at the mouth with its satisfyingly rich java beverages. The drinks appear with leaf designs adorning their foam and there's a good side attraction of gourmet sandwiches and cakes. The small patio here is almost always packed – grab a table quickly if you see one – and the interior has a classy Tuscan look.
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D
Melriche's
With its mismatched wooden tables, hearty array of cakes and crowd of journal-writing locals hunkered in every corner, this is an ideal rainy-day nook. Warm your hands on a pail-sized hot chocolate and press your face to the condensation-soaked window to watch the Davie St locals bustling past. This is the kind of place where Morrissey would hang out on a wet Monday afternoon to check his emails.
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E
Cafe Deux Soleils
This rambling bohemian coffeehouse is a hip, healthy and child-friendly addition to the Drive. On sunny days, folks relax outside with a beer, while acoustic musicians, performance poets and open-mike wannabes take the stage several nights a week. There are plenty of good-value vegetarian snacks and meals but this is a great spot if you just want to chill out and meet the counterculture locals.
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F
Prado Café
Eschewing the kitsch-heavy interiors of many Commercial Dr coffee shops, the comparatively austere Prado is the kind of place where minimalists sup in peace. But it's not just about aesthetics: the baristas here are serious about their fair-trade coffee, which – don't tell the Italians down the street – may be the best on the Drive. Consider a Nutella chocolate cookie for the road.
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G
Gene Café
Colonizing a slender, flatiron wedge of concrete floors and expansive windows, slide onto a chunky cedar bench here with your well-thumbed copy of L'Etranger and you might catch the eye of an available SoMa local. If not, console yourself with a perfectly made cappuccino and a chunky homebaked cookie (the fruit pies are recommended for additional consolation).
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H
Delany's
A laid-back, wood-lined neighborhood coffee bar that's popular with the West End's gay community, Delany's is a good perch from which to catch the annual Pride Parade, although you'll have to get here early if you want a front-row seat. The usual array of cookies and muffins will keep you fortified while you wait.
reviewed