I posted this in August of 2025, but I will keep appending to this post as I visit more cafes, so check back on a regular basis!
Prior to 2025 would often spend time Saturday mornings walking down to my local Tim Hortons to pick up a coffee and a muffin which I would then enjoy at home while working on my computer. It was convenient; I could walk there and back in about 15 minutes and it was a great way to start getting my steps in for the day. This routine satisfied me for years and would probably still mark the start of my Saturdays if geo-politics didn’t get in the way.
As just about everyone is aware, 2025 started off with the inauguration of arguably the worst US president in history; Donald Trump, or more accurately, the Facist Cheeto. The man has done his best to ruin everything that once made the US great, while at the same time turning the US against it’s allies and instigating conflict around the world. One of the Cheeto’s first targets in the international community? Canada – for no reason starting a trade war with one of America’s oldest allies and largest trading partner.
If the Cheeto’s attacks had stopped at an economic war then perhaps, in time, Canadian’s would have come to terms with it, but when he began attacking our sovereignty – implying that he would force Canada to join the United States, Canadian’s took note.
Following the Cheeto’s attack on our right to exist, Canadian patriotism surged. We started flying our flag en masse, we cancelled our vacations to the US and we stopped buying American products wherever possible. Personally, I also started paying attention to where my spending went – doing my best to cut American products from my life and buying Canadian when possible. It was against this geopolitical backdrop that I made the decision to cut Tim Hortons, a company that for years had been owned by an American conglomerate, out of my life – but what to do about my Saturday morning coffee and muffin?
Greater Victoria is home to dozens of small, independent cafes, and while none were really within walking distance of my home, I decided to try some of them out, even if it meant taking the bus. Since I was being forced to take a longer trip for my morning fix, I decided I’d travel with my laptop and spend some time at each of the cafes I visited and get a little work done at the same time. While deciding where to go, I began to realize just how many independent cafes my home town has, and promptly decided that over the next year I would try all of them!
A few months into this en-devour, I decided to start keeping notes on each one – I had visited so many that remembering my favorites would be tough – and why not make my opinions public for the world to see. What follows is strictly my personal opinion, yours may differ, but I hope it’s a good read, and maybe will help you pick an independent cafe to patron in Victoria!
Wonderffle Cafe – Yates St
This Cafe is one of the most recently opened ones I have tried, as it only opened up around April of 2025. This is a combination of a sit down restaurant (which serves sandwiches, and of course Waffels) and a takeaway cafe. There are a few seats on the cafe side, but most of the seating is reserved for the restaurant side. I really liked the unique muffin flavors here (coffee cake was my favorite) and the Vanilla Latte to drink. Location does have WiFi available, which is open to connect to. Overall, I really like the food and beverage options, but the lack of seating makes it less then ideal for sitting and working from. It is my go to coffee place for take out, especially since it’s so close to my office space.
Union Pacific Coffee
This is a neat little cafe situated on Herald St and backs into Dragon Alley. There is a huge amount of seating in this place, which is important because it was quite busy when I showed up. I think Union Pacific is the longest line I’ve had to wait in to order so far! My matcha latte was pretty good, but the almond croissant was out of this world. Probably my favorite croissant in Victoria! I spent about an hour here enjoying the WiFi and the general atmosphere, but after about an hour my butt started to hurt from sitting on the hard wooden seats. Possibly this is intentional, to make sure that people don’t stay too long xD Overall, I would say this was my favorite cafe for pastries.
Moka House – Cadboro Bay
Taking a trip away from the downtown core, you’ll find Moka house situated in the community of Cadboro Bay. Right at the corner of Cadboro Bay Rd and Penrhyn St it’s just steps away from shopping, restaurants and houses and is just a short walk away from the picturesque beach at Gyro park. Atmosphere-wise, I didn’t find Moka House to be terribly cozy; the florescent lights, open concept and metal tables almost reminded me of a fast food outlet. The food though, was good – my carrot cake was moist and tasted exactly like I would expect, while a variety of unique drinks were on offer and I was quite pleased with my selection of the rooibos latte. I can’t rate the WiFi at this place because I was visiting with a friend so I didn’t get a chance to use it.
Roundhouse Cafe – Cloverdale Ave
Even though it’s still 3km from home, the Roundhouse Cafe on Cloverdale is the closest independent cafe to me (I seem to live in midst of a dirth of decent cafes – McDonalds, Tim Hortons, and Starbucks dominate my neighborhood) and it’s tucked away so that you might not know about it unless you’d been there before. The cafe was reasonably busy, probably owing to the fact that it’s right across the street from the popular Rutledge Park. My hot chocolate was tasty and the brownie I got was just the thing to satisfy my mid-afternoon peckishness. I really appreciated the decor; the knick knacks on the walls and the mismatched furniture really made the place feel coy and homey. This is another place I never tsetd the WiFi at, owing to the fact that I was visiting with a friend.
Parsonage Cafe – Cook St
Heading back towards the city center, you come across the Parsonage Cafe run by the Fernwood coffee company. I was surprised at how busy this place was; while my order was taken fairly quickly finding a spot to sit was a challenge! I had a London Fog at this place, which was good, but the real highlight was my muffin – which came on an adorable little tray with cutlery and butter! This prize for best muffin presentation absolutely goes to this place! The seat that I eventually picked out for myself was a little uncomfortable since it was a hard stool facing the window, but I still enjoyed my time here. No WiFi at this cafe, possibly because it’s so busy they want to encourage people to move along.
Castello Coffee – Douglas St
Just on the fringes of downtown, in an area that I normally wouldn’t associate with foot traffic you will find Castello Coffee situated on the first floor of a large office building. Upon first walking through the door I found myself referencing Doctor Who – it was bigger on the inside! While looking at it from Douglas St I had imagined a small space, just large enough for a counter and a couple of tables, but once I got inside I realized it was connected to the lobby of the office tower and extended some 100ft further to the left then I had imagined. The cafe is clearly run as a family business, with the husband and wife taking turns manning the counter. The decor is eclectic with many of the tables and chairs seemingly hand-me-down’s from household furniture. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, I really liked this place – it had a cozy, familiar atmosphere and I definitely intend to return. My vanilla London fog was good, and the mixed berry bran muffin I had was a truly unique experience. The cafe does have WiFi, but its password protected and you need to ask for the password. On a Saturday morning this place was so quiet, for a while I was the only person seated though there was a constant stream of take out orders. I suspect most of their business happens during the week when the offices above are open.
Township Coffee – Tyndall Ave
Township coffee has one of the strangest locations I’ve seen for a coffee shop. Located on Tyndall Ave it’s located randomly on the first floor of an apartment complex which itself is a juxtaposition being the only multi-dwelling structure in a neighbourhood surrounded by single family homes. Nevertheless, the cafe does a brisk business – both times I’ve visited it was a struggle to find seating. The muffins served at this place are huge, and the cappuccino I had was excellent. WiFi was adequate, but again, finding a seat can be a bit of a challenge.
Blenz Coffee – Douglas St
Blenz Coffee is part of a chain of independent cafes and is located in the heart of the entertainment district in Victoria’s downtown. This place is a fairly generic, modern coffee shop and I’d go back if I was in the area, but wouldn’t make a special trip. My mocha and chocolate muffin were good, the WiFi was adequate, and the seating was comfortable.
Yates Coffee Bar – Yates St
As the name suggests, the Yates Coffee Bar is located on Yates street in the hear of Victoria’s downtown. This is actually a pretty tiny shop and almost all of the seating is located outside. The Yates Coffee Bar is actually part of the food court of the Saint Andrews Square building, and I suspect that during the week there is more seating inside the office building. I had a salted-caramel chi latte, which was good, but I didn’t really taste the salted caramel part. They also didn’t offer any muffins, so I had to settle for a brownie, but it was still good. There is WiFi available, but you need to make sure to ask for the password.
Habit Coffee
Habit coffee is located just up the street from the Yates Coffee Bar and is on the first floor of the Atrium building which is a major office tower in Victoria’s downtown. I was surprised that all of the food options were vegan, but the brownie I had was great. I had a sweetened chi latte here, which was actually pretty excellent. The seating was comfortable, and the large windows offer a great view of the street outside. WiFi is available if you ask for the password.
Cafe Fantastico – Quadra St
Back towards to my neck of the woods you’ll find Cafe Fantastico right at the intersection of Quadra st and Kings rd. Cafe Fanstico is actually quite large on the inside and it’s walls are filled with paintings from local artists. They also have shelves of merch and coffee paraphernalia you can buy if you’re so included. This was another fairly busy location, but the spacious interior meant that it wasn’t a challenge to find a decent seat. I had a very unique drink here – the sour cherry hot chocolate and a muffin both of which were good.
North Perk – Quadra St
North Perk is a brand new cafe that I only noticed by accident while looking out the window on the bus one day. The cafe is located in a brand new building which was constructed to revitalize the space a left vacant by a now defunct marine supply company. The cafe itself is quite small, with just two indoor booths to sit in, but the outside seating is very comfortable on a warm summer morning. Despite the cafe only being open for a few weeks, it was reasonably busy, with most people opting for take out. The cafe offers a classic selection of coffee products, so I opted for a simple latte and blueberry lemon muffin. Both were very good, and the convenient location across from a rec center probably means it will do a brisk business.
Nor. Coffee – Quadra St
This place is another one that opened relatively recently, having only been open for business for around a year before I visited. The plentiful, large windows and modern decor gives the interior a very bright ambience, which really pushes you into “start your day” mode. The interior is quite spacious, with plenty of seating; though when I visited there were only two other groups here with a few more take out customers. I had a chocolate chip muffin and matcha hot chocolate, and while the muffin wasn’t great – a little dry and tough – the drink more then made up for it! The combination of matcha and hot chocolate turns out to be an excellent pairing, though not something I’ve seen anywhere else. The seating itself was adequate, though too hard to stay longer then an hour and wifi details are conveniently displayed on a poster in the shop. Overall, I really liked the unique drink selection here, but would skip it for pastries.
Discovery Coffee – Broughton St
Discovery coffee is an iconic Victoria coffee chain with a number of locations around the city. When someone asks what a good coffee place in Victoria is, Discovery coffee almost always bubbles to the top of the list. Despite it’s reputation I’d never been to Discovery coffee, so it was high time for me to check out this Victoria icon! While there are multiple location, I visited the convenient location at the corner of Broughton and Blanshard. The interior is quite spacious, with a coffee bar taking up most of the centre of the wide-open interior. Along each side, there is seating, with plenty of additional seating outdoors. When I visited, the place was reasonably busy; but I never felt crowded – meaning the space seems sufficient for the customer volume. I had a London fog and a Blueberry muffin and both were good. The muffin was exactly what I would expect in a muffin with a moist interior and a slightly hard top, and the London fog was deliciously thick. This was also the first place I’ve had a London fog where it was served to me without a teabag – meaning the drink didn’t get more bitter as I worked my way down. The seating here was reasonable, and I spent an hour working on my laptop, after grabbing the WiFi password from a sticker on the wall, without feeling uncomfortable. Overall I’d recommend Discovery as the food and drink were good, but the decor is pretty bland, and this space doesn’t have a unique or niche feel to it.