6 Affordable Cafes Near TMU Campus You Should Try

We’re on the hunt to find affordable, quality cafes near the Toronto Metropolitan University campus. Here’s what we found!

By Talia Saley, Emily Zhang, Teresa Valenton, Owen Kropp

COTTI COFFEE

COTTI COFFE, a popular Chinese coffee company open near TMU campus. (J-School TMU/Talia Saley)

COTTI COFFEE is located at 374 Yonge St., a three-minute walk from the Sheldon & Tracy Levy Student Learning Centre (SLC). 

The cafe is extremely close to campus, making it perfect for students who are on the go. 

The drinks’ regular prices range between $2 and $5 on their mobile app and with their discount, you can get $1.99 off your order for up to five discount coupons. 

Reply 

Reply is at 637B Bay St., a five-minute walk from the SLC. 

Reply offers a variety of unique drinks, from a maple macchiato to Cold Brews with lavender cream foam. 

“I lived in this area and I just wanted a place where it’s welcoming for the neighborhood because I noticed this area is becoming a little more deserted,” said Jae Jin, owner of Reply. 

Jin has always been interested in coffee and studied it in London, England. 

Reply is known for its flavoured cream lattes. Jin’s personal favourite is the Black Sesame Cream Latte. 

Angela Wang, a customer who visits the cafe every day for its comfy, cute atmosphere and close proximity to campus, said her favourite drink is the classic Iced Americano priced at just under $4.

Hailed Coffee

Hailed Coffee is a Middle Eastern and European coffee location near TMU campus. (J-School TMU/Talia Saley)

Hailed Coffee is situated at 44 Gerrard St. W, a six-minute walk from the SLC. 

“The owner’s from Saudi [Arabia], and it brings Italian and Middle Eastern together,” says Alyssa Gomez, a worker at the cafe. 

The term “hail” means cardamom in Arabic, an ingredient that can be found across the menu.

Her favourite drink is the Cardamella Latte, infused with caramel and cardamom, priced just over $5. 

Fresh Start Bakery & Cafe

Fresh Start Bakery & Cafe is located at 595 Bay St. on the lower level of the Atrium, a five-minute walk from the SLC. 

This cafe’s atmosphere feels homey, and it offers Turkish coffee and tea placed in traditional tea cups. Expect some amazing pastries all made in-house daily!

We tried the Turkish tea and it was extremely affordable, priced around $3. 

bbtease

bbtease is located at 111 Dundas St. W, a six-minute walk from the SLC.

bbtease offers a range of drinks including coffee, milk tea, and smoothies.

Customers say you can expect a cozy interior, good tables for studying, and plenty of outlets.

Drinks range from $6 to $10, with coffees being on the lower end and smoothies near the top.

Dispatch Coffee

Dispatch Coffee, a Montreal-based coffee shop located near the TMU campus. (J-School TMU/Emily Zhang)

Dispatch Coffee is located at 390 Bay St., a 12-minute walk from the SLC.

The Montreal-based business is known for their commitment to responsible and sustainable beans and coffee lovers can find lots of variety here.

The upper-level seating is also a great spot for students to bunker down and get some last-minute studying done.

The location even has an Americano very reasonably priced at around $4.

Those were some of our favourites around campus. Let us know yours!

Smile Tiger Coffee Roasters: Unique coffee in a unique environment

A great place to study, read or relax in Waterloo, with an exquisite interior and delicious coffee and desserts.

By: Kaden Nanji

(Kaden Nanji/CanCulture)

This article is part of CanCulture’s food review series, where our writers explore some of the best food finds across the nation.

I discovered Smile Tiger Coffee Roasters by chance when stuck in an unfortunate predicament on my trip to Waterloo, Ont. My train home was scheduled for 3 p.m.; however, at 5 p.m., I was stranded at the train station in the freezing cold. Then from across the station, I spotted it, a small rustic-looking coffee shop. 

I hurried inside to find that the interior of the coffee shop is beautiful. Abstract art is framed on the walls; modern geometric chandeliers hang on the ceiling; wooden couches and tables spaced out on the floor of the cafe. The use of exposed pipes throughout the cafe added to the intended rustic look as well. The peaceful atmosphere allowed for various customers to study, read or write at the tables, as well as chat amongst each other. This overall ambience of Smile Tiger Coffee Roasters is enough to make me go back.

The rustic Smile Tiger Coffee Roasters features wooden furniture and warm lighting in industrial style. (Kaden Nanji/CanCulture)

Then comes the food. As it was a cold, rainy day and I had a few hours to spare, I decided to order two drinks and a small dessert. The first drink I ordered was the peppermint mocha, which has the perfect ratio of peppermint to chocolate and coffee. A lot of the time when making peppermint drinks, the peppermint taste can be overpowering; however, at Smile Tiger, you can distinctly taste their world-renowned coffee. As well, the foam at the top of the mocha helped to texturize the drink. 

The second drink I ordered was hot chocolate with oat milk, because I have lactose intolerance. I ordered a large size; however, the serving was smaller than I had anticipated. I also felt that the drink lacked a bit of chocolate after tasting. I am personally a fan of more decadent hot chocolate, and this particular type had a much lower concentration. The taste reminded me of the nighttime drink Ovaltine or warm hot milk. Although the drink was refreshing, I wouldn’t call it hot chocolate. 

To accompany my drinks, I purchased a salted caramel brownie, recommended by the waitress. At first glance, the brownie looked fairly large, with nice colouring and visible pieces of salt. Then when I went to cut the brownie, my fork almost broke! The brownie was extremely hard! However, after a bit of a struggle, I got a nice bite of brownie and it was delicious. It reminded me of a brownie I had once had at a French restaurant — quite thick, but so flavourful it makes you salivate. The bit of saltiness helped balance the sweetness of the caramel as well, without overpowering the chocolate undertones. If I were to go back, I would ask for the brownie to be heated up a little so that it wouldn’t be such a hassle to cut through.

Smile Tiger’s salted caramel brownie, hot chocolate with oat milk and peppermint mocha. (Kaden Nanji/CanCulture)

Overall, I had a great time at Smile Tiger Coffee Roasters. The tasty food and beautiful demeanour paired together make a great experience. I would definitely recommend the peppermint mocha and brownie, which are around $4 and $6 respectively, so they make for a nice $10 snack combo. 

I like to end all my articles with my restaurant rating scale, which contains six different categories: taste, presentation, service, ambience, price and creativity. Each of these categories are ranked from 1 to 10 on the scale. For more details on the restaurant rating scale, check out the end of my first article, a review of Hong Shing.

  1. Taste: 7.8/10

  2. Presentation: 8/10

  3. Service: 8.3/10

  4. Ambience: 10/10

  5. Price: 7.7/10

  6. Creativity: 8.2/10

Are we looking at Tim Hortons’ fall from grace?

A timeline of highs and lows for the beloved Canadian symbol.

By: Kaitlyn Stock

(Tyler Farmer/Unsplash)

Whether you live in the bustling city of Toronto or go east to Charlottetown, everyone in Canada knows the name Tim Hortons and its significance to Canadians. 

While the words “double double,” “Timmy’s” and “Timbits” are present in most Canadians’ vocabulary, how much do you know about the company’s history? 

Since 1964, this fast food restaurant has had its share of ups and downs, prompting Canadians to have mixed opinions about its hype. 

1964:

Tim Hortons was established by Toronto Maple Leafs player Tim Horton, along with Montreal-born businessman Jim Charade, in April 1964. A long-lived desire for entering the restaurant industry and searching for a career to pursue outside of the NHL hockey season led Horton to open Tim Hortons. Its first location was located in Hamilton, Ont., and only doughnuts and coffee were on sale here.

Tim Horton in his Toronto Maple Leafs uniform.  (Louis Jaques/Library and Archives Canada)

The very first Tim Hortons location in Hamilton, Ont. (Designecologist/Unsplash)

1966:

Jim Charade leaves the company due to personal financial difficulties. Hamilton police officer Ron Joyce became Horton’s new partner after buying out Lori Horton’s half in the company. 

1974:

10 years after founding Tim Hortons, Tim Horton died on Feb. 21, 1974, at 44. He was involved in a single-vehicle car crash in St. Catharines, Ont., and an autopsy revealed that Horton had been drinking and driving. At the time of his death, Tim Horton had co-founded 35 stores across southern Ontario.

1975:

Joyce became the sole owner of the company.

1976:

Tim Hortons introduces into the menu Timbits, a bite-sized doughnut hole, also known as munchkins in the U.S.

A box of Timbits next to a Tim Hortons drink. (Conor Samuel/Unsplash)

Throughout the 1980s:

Tim Hortons adds muffins, cookies, soup and chili to its menu.

1984:

Tim Hortons expands into the United States, with its first location being located in Tonawanda, N.Y.

1986:

The “Roll Up The Rim” contest was introduced.

1987:

Lori Horton sued Joyce and the lawyer that represented her in the 1975 sale of Tim Hortons, claiming that she was mentally incompetent at the time of the sale due to her addiction to amphetamine and alcohol. Horton wanted her half of the company back for $10 million; however, her lawsuit failed in 1993.

1995:

Joyce sold Tim Hortons in a merger with Wendy’s, an American fast-food company.

1999:

The iconic Iced Capp, a blended iced coffee, is added to Tim Hortons’ menu. 

2000:

Tim Hortons’ 2,000th restaurant opens in downtown Toronto.

2004:

“Double Double” makes its way into the Canadian Oxford dictionary.

2009:

Tim Hortons surpasses 3,000 stores in Canada, with 600 in the U.S.

The chain also had to defend its use of foreign labour over concerns about Canada’s temporary foreign worker programs. Despite being a Canadian brand, only a small number of Canadians were actually being employed by Tim Hortons.

2011:

Tim Hortons opened its first location in Dubai.

A Tim Hortons inside The Dubai Mall in Dubai, U.A.E., photographed in 2014. (Mostafameraji/Wikimedia Commons)

2012:

Tim Hortons was targeted by the Humane Society of America for getting its pork products from pigs raised in confining gestation crates.

2014:

Tim Hortons removed the short-lived Cold Stone Creamery from its locations after the idea failed to meet the company’s expectations.

A Tim Hortons-Cold Stone Creamery location on 42nd St. in New York City, photographed in 2013. (Hans-Jürgen Hübner/Wikimedia Commons)

Also in 2014, 3G Capital, a Brazilian private equity firm who also owns Burger King, gained ownership over Tim Hortons. Despite the company no longer being Canadian-owned, Tim Hortons’ reputation as a beloved Canadian fast-food chain didn’t seem to suffer. 

2017:

Tim Hortons opens its first location in Spain, along with launching restaurants in the U.K., marking its expansion into Europe.

A Tim Hortons in Madrid, the capital of Spain, photographed in 2019. (Jon Kolbert/Wikimedia Commons)

2018:

After the minimum wage in Ontario increased to $14 per hour from $11.60, some Ontario Tim Hortons locations were discovered to be removing employee benefits, paid breaks and tips. 

2019:

Tim Hortons opened its first restaurant in China. 

A Tim Hortons inside Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station in China, photographed in 2021. (Shwangtianyuan/Wikimedia Commons)

2021:

According to Yahoo! Finance, Tim Hortons’ sales declined by 15.7 per cent in 2020. While this decrease could be excused by COVID-19 pandemic, I personally believe that the company has experienced a downfall since merging with Burger King and focusing less on its coffee and baked goods. 

I have converted to McDonald’s coffee over the years. This is mainly due to Tim Hortons’ coffee being inconsistent with its taste, plus the fact that it’s no longer being supplied by family-owned tea and coffee company Mother Parker’s — who now supplies McDonald’s. I believe that Tim Hortons should stick to what it knows best — coffee and doughnuts, instead of attempting to compete with McDonald’s by putting burgers and sandwiches on its menu. 

On TikTok, many Canadians have shared the same sentiment, expressing their concerns regarding Tim Hortons’ downfall and criticizing the company’s changes. One user expresses her displeasure with Tim Hortons’ current lids and how she misses the old ones:

This is not the only TikTok posted about how people prefer old Tim Hortons' goods, suggesting its downfall over the years:

From removing some fan-favourite flavours to altering the presentation of its products, Tim Hortons has definitely changed since 1964 — for better or worse. Despite its transformation, however, the company will likely always have a major impact on Canada’s national identity to many.