(Article courtesy of: The Intrepid Diner)

You may know by now that The Intrepid Diner reviews Victoria area establishments that meet his self-avowed high standard of excellence. While this may be a recipe for disaster, it is nonetheless the standard by which Intrepid judges coffee shops worthy of your consideration.

Before you read further, you should know that the VRMNC Bulletin lacks an inbox for reader comments. To date therefore, Intrepid’s reputation remains unblemished, as far as he knows. But he digresses from the objective here…

The Intrepid Diner, on occasion, invites his life partner to join him for coffee at establishments frequented by those wishing to avoid the beaten track.

The Grindstone

504 Herald Street
Seven Days a Week until 5pm

Intrepid is forever seeking out the perfect coffee shop. According to Tripadvisor, The Grindstone may just come close to filling the bill. After three visits, Intrepid learned that TripAdvisor shows 32 of 35 of its ratings at 3.0 or better, with 29 of these 32 at the Excellent and Very Good level. This is possibly because The Grindstone is now operated by a young couple who earned their present position the hard way, by emigrating to Canada, loading up on university education (UVic) and building a business with excellence and flair in mind.

The tasty deli food is prepared on the spot daily till 4:30 and along with a alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage, you have your choice of sitting at the outdoors tables, inside at tables surrounding the prep area (each table has a window), or better yet, in the spacious but cosy upstairs which offers tables, couches and easy chairs.

Gigi’s Café

1002 Hillside at Quadra
Six Days a Week, closed Mondays.

Intrepid particularly appreciates those who earned their stripes through hard work, talent and kindness. Many of his preferred venues, therefore, are Mom and Pop operations. But how many Daughter and Pop cafés do you find out there?

Daughter Gina and Pop Gino, conceived of the eponymous Gigi’s Café and opened it well into COVID. While regulations forced them to close for a period during the lockdown, survival is in this family’s genes as they bounced right back and currently appear to be doing very well, thank you!

Since the food can’t speak for itself, it’s best to refer to Gigi’s website.

Plusses include plenty of indoor seating at tables for two, four or six, guest performers (website schedule) and art for sale or viewing as well as books for sale.

The Spiral Cafe

418 Craigflower
Seven Days a Week

This is truly a coffee shop, but a great choice if you want later hours as they’re open many evenings until 9 pm and later! (check out the website for precise details) If you crave baked items, the bakery next door is just what you want, but the café also offers a small selection of snacks and soup.
If just coffee is what you came for, you’ll also find a most welcoming place to relax and chat or read. The furniture is of the comfortable and pleasing old wood variety. In the front window are two big easy chairs nestled right up next to a woodstove that by October will be in demand.

Outside? Many tables on the street and mostly in shade.

Article courtesy of: The Intrepid Diner