All That Jazz
Name: All That Jazz
Submitted by: Richard
Location: 72 Howard Park, Toronto
Description: A great small coffee shop that features jazz music. Located in the Howard Park & Roncesvalles area, a short walk from the Dundas West subway station. It has free wifi, provides coffee, tea, and light meals, and is a good place for laptop work.
The Rex Jazz Bar/Hotel
Name: The Rex Jazz Bar
Submitted by: Crystal
Location: 194 Queen Street West, Toronto
Description: If you enjoy listening to jazz music while you write, you’ll love this bar. Located on Queen and Simcoe Street just east of University Avenue (which means convenient access by streetcar and subway), this place is the perfect spot to stop a while and feed the muse over a pint. Admittedly the live bands can be a bit loud, but there’s patio seating available, and while it can get crowded around the dinner hour (and depending on who’s playing), it’s generally pretty easy to find a seat because there’s lots of room. Oh, and if you need something to nibble on while mulling over your latest WIP, might I suggest their amazing popcorn shrimp?
Timothy’s World Coffee on Roncesvalles
Name: Timothy’s World Coffee
Submitted by: Crystal Cheverie
Location: 327 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto, ON
Description: A cozy little coffee shop on the corner of Roncesvalles and Grenadier Road, this is one of my favourite places to get some writing done. The atmosphere is very relaxed with the music at just the right volume, the seating includes comfy booths as well as chairs, and there’s a patio outside for those gorgeous summer days. Add to that their five different varieties of hot chocolate, and what writer could resist?
Paddington’s Pub, Grand Bend
Name: Paddington’s Pub
Submitted by: Mattbin
Address: 18 Ontario Street, Grand Bend, ON
Description: A warm and welcoming pub in Grand Bend. Very crowded at supper time but a very pleasant, quiet place to write in the afternoon. Staff is extremely friendly and welcoming, and the fish and chips are beyond excellent. If you’re in Grand Bend — say, for a writing retreat — it’s definitely worth stopping in for a nice pint and a couple of hours of work.
One of these people in Paddington’s is writing. Everyone else is definitely not writing.
Starbucks, Yonge and St Clair
Name: Starbucks
Submitted by: Mattbin
Address: 1597 Yonge St, Toronto
Description: Most Starbucks are pretty much the same, but this one is nice enough (and near enough my workplace) to be my go-to writing location on my lunch hours. There’s a fair amount of seating there, with eight or nine tables and four bar-style seats at the front window. Not a lot of laptop plugs. The music is often loud enough (and annoying enough) that headphones are needed. The staff is pretty friendly and like at most Starbucks, they don’t bother you if you spend all day there. Free Starbucks wifi.
Lettieri Espresso Bar and Cafe
Name: Lettieri
Submitted by: Mattbin
Address: 21 St Clair Ave W., Toronto
Description: Lettieri is another Toronto cafe chain that’s not bad for takeout coffee but isn’t exactly an upscale espresso bar. That said, the St Clair location usually has a few seats available, and is quiet and pleasant enough to work in. The space is shared with a Hero burger joint, which means that on nice afternoons, the place can be overrun with local high school kids.
Not the best place in the city to work, but if you’re in the St Clair and Yonge area, you can do a lot worse.
Boccone Deli and Pizza
Name: Boccone Deli and Pizza
Submitted by: Mattbin
Address: 1378 Yonge St, Toronto
Description: Boccone is a lunch counter, espresso bar, cafe, bar, and pizza joint all rolled into one. If you can make your way past the crowd at the lunch counter, there are plenty of seats throughout the three or four poky seating areas. But it’s cafeteria style, although the panini and hot specials are far better than cafeteria quality. Coffee is good and the beer and wine are suspiciously inexpensive.
Although the seating is a little cramped, and the place is packed to the gills with businesspeople during lunch hours, the quirky ambiance can be very stimulating for writing. It’s a nice place to get a sandwich and a coffee and while away a couple of hours.
Artisano Bakery Café
Name: Artisano Bakery Café
Submitted by: Mattbin
Address: 353 Iroquois Shore Road, Oakville; 3145 Dundas Street West, Mississauga
Description: Artisano is a growing chain of bakery cafes in the Greater Toronto Area. They feature fantastic sandwiches, baked goods, and pizzas, and usually have lots of seating. (Lunches can be busy, so plan your writing time in the morning or after 1:30 pm.)
The food is on the expensive side, with pizzas and sandwiches usually running in the $10-12 range. However, the coffee is self-serve, so refills are free; there’s free wifi in every location; and the staff really don’t seem to mind if you loiter all day.
The Mississauga location (on Dundas St W) actually has a separate room with tables and a number of outlets, perfect for laptop users. Don’t be afraid to ask to share a table if they’re all in use, either.
Dark Horse Espresso Bar
Name: Dark Horse Espresso Bar
Submitted by: Mattbin
Location: 215 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, ON
Description: This popular Toronto chain is known for great coffee and a laptop-friendly environment. The ground floor of their Spadina location is dominated by two huge tables, both with plenty of power outlets and lots of chairs. Upstairs there’s a more intimate area for sitting and chatting, although without any good tables for writing. Note that you can’t get drip coffee here — it’s strictly espresso-based drinks. Get an Americano if you’re looking for the tall cup of black stuff; you won’t be disappointed.
By the way, the offices for a number of arts organizations — including the Professional Writers Association of Canada — are in the same building. Lucky them!
Photo by Andrew Louis.
