District Café & Bakery

Warm indoor environment & nice staff. Good place to work on your own projects or have a coffee with someone.

Amazing lunch special, peanut butter banana cinnamon French toast.
Great portions and fair prices.
Great atmosphere, nice staff.
10/10 would recommend

Have been frequenting District every weekend for about a month now as its in our neighbourhood. Fantastic breakfast sandwich and pastries. Very solid coffee and drinks. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to want to return as some of the staff is borderline rude and as a whole they are generally unpleasant. The service is poor overall. In addition, I have paid cash for my order 3 times and never once been offered my change. I would have left it in the tip jar anyways but its the principle of the matter. Crazy to me they would feel so entitled to a tip when they indicate so clearly they could not care less about their customers. Price is also probably too high which is fine when you want to support a business but its not looking like we will be doing so any longer.

TLDR: good beverages but not worth putting a damper on your beautiful sunny morning stroll.

Wow! We visited today. My coffee was warm and tasted like it was sitting all day. My kids as well had iced lattes and they too complained that their drink did not taste good. Turn dune the music it’s not a bar!

Came for brunch, food was good, but for $12 maybe something of a side would be nice with the beef dip sandwich (which was good even on its own).

Locating is great, close proximity to the legislature grounds and to the tram stop (when it's running) and the food was brought out pretty quick too.

Patio area could have a couple planters around it to make it a bit more of a cozy outdoor feel, inside is nice with a nice decor.

The staff here are so rude! I thought maybe it was just my first experience but I went back two more (!) times to try and support a local business and every single time the cashiers were just so impolite and standoffish for absolutely no reason. Ruined the entire vibe of a place that I think could be excellent but when you're greeted by such a sour person - repeatedly! - it's a huge turnoff. Spend your money elsewhere.

Waited almost 15 minutes for a sandwich which had 3 ingredients! Worth $5, paid $12! Uninspiring!

I have bought coffee here nany times but never tried their food. Today i had lunch here and I loved their vegetarian sandwich with artichokes. I also had the tomato soup, it was nice and thick, most likely made from scratch?

It was the most terrible experience that we had!
At the beginning, bartender was kind of cold, but we didn’t think much about it. We ordered sandwiches and some drinks. Then my friend suggested to get something sweet. For the record, she always leaves very generous tips even for smallest things.
Once we place our order, we got one of the drinks and continued with our conversation. After 10 minutes, it was no sign for our tea, while my friend was finishing up her coffee.
She went to ask for it, and then girl at the station without any apology made us a wrong tea flavour. It was not a big deal, if during our order she wouldn’t ask twice for the preference.
Then, once my friend came to her again pointing that it was a wrong flavour, she looked at her the way as we wouldn’t have known which tea we requested. My friend also explicitly asked her to bring this to our table, since we were pretty close. Guess what? Nobody not even tried to do so, and moreover they made our order in to-go cup.
My friend was mad by this point, and she told the girl that it is the wrong cup. Then, I have no words, so just judge the service yourself SHE GAVE HER TO STAY CUP AND TOLD HER TO MOVE IT TO THE REQUESTED CUP.
No apology, nothing. I don’t know what is their problem, but I would never and ever recommend anyone to go there.
P.s I wanted to add some honey to my tea, but when I thought a bug stuck to the only honey bottle they had, I was okay, thanks:)

This review is solely dedicated to the breakfast sandwiches. If you are a breakfast sandwich person you have to put this place on your list. The bread is fully and soft, the bacon is crispy, the cheese, aioli and arugula perfectly balance the crispy egg. It’s a perfect sandwich.

Great Americano. To-Go cup lid leaked and I've noticed this a few times here so I would recommend bringing your own reusable cup if taking your beverage to-go.

The staff are super friendly.

The baked goods always look so delicious and the whole place smells yummy. Th pumpkin chocolate chip muffin is yummy.

Love the atmosphere here - the large windows let all the glorious light in so the space is bright.

I love the District Cafe and Bakery. During COVID, like with many establishments, this place shut down to a crawl. It's great to see this downtown spot alive and well again.

The food and baking is amazing. We love coming here for breakfast/brunch. The coffee is always on point too.

The space is wide open with lots of natural light coming through the windows of 109 Street. It's a little difficult to find parking though unless you get lucky!

Lastly, the service from all the staff is very good. There is one older lady that is quite cold and doesn't really engage. Otherwise you can always count on the rest of the staff to be awesome and helpful.

4 x?

I visit District Café regularly on the weekend with friends for brunch. The food is always pleasant - great tasting pastries, sandwiches and coffee - but food preparation can be slow during high traffic.

From Prime to Grime

I’ve been coming here since they originally opened. (Roughly 6-7yrs?) I’ve been a loyal customer and have watched the cafe evolve and pivot many times. From their morning breakfasts and “Red Balloon” baked goods (their business within the business), quick lunches, elegant dinner menu, incredible cocktail bar and super popular weekend brunches. Slowly things began to die off, beginning with the elegant dinner and cocktail menus.
Unfortunately I believe this was due to a loss of important staff members.
Eventually a replacement of evening pizza happened which in itself was quite disappointing. Then covid hit and I believe an issue with the landlords and the Cafe closed completely for a short stint. At this time I believe their focus shifted, closing their prep kitchen (which supplied a large amount of their food) and opening up a few spaces in the highland area.
To my joy the cafe re-opened. I unfortunately wasn’t able to go right away but had visited rather recently. What a drastic and depressing change. The staff were directly nice, but their standards were super low. When I originally began coming in the kitchen crew and chefs were all clothed in white and grey uniforms and aprons, and the FOH members seemed to have a theme of black going on. They were super attentive, speedy, and on the ball. Now their was no professionalism at all. The kitchen members included a gentleman with a metal band type shirt and a grungy baseball cap who would touch his phone constantly and then fail to wash his hands. Thankfully after coming back inside from a smoke he did. Phew. Unfortunately the girl who had replaced him during his break was the bigger issue. Wearing no apron and a crop top shirt, her belly fully exposed, she brought over her own coffee and placed it on her cutting board/prep station. She began to start putting orders together. Not washing her hands at all before jumping on. She paused a few times to sip out of her own, glass, uncovered coffee. Then pulled her phone out and placed that on the prep table next to her coffee. Just that in itself painted a horrible picture of the sanitation that wasn’t happening in the space. Dust collection and staining on the white walls, fine dust on the merch shelves and the same overtop the line. If I can see spider webs and grime behind plates while sitting along the wall there is a problem. All while the staff wasted their time chatting and playing on their phones.

The coffee we ordered didn’t seem to be dialled in correctly and was sour, along with an overly steamed burning hot milk to top it. The food was disappointing. I don’t think they have a real chef anymore. The creativity, plating and general food itself lacked any sort of imagination and was not worth the money spent. If I wanted a sandwich with a couple of deli slices and a thin piece of cheese I could have gone to 7-eleven. It actually probably would have been better there. Don’t call that a croque Monsieur because you’ll offend anyone who tries it.
The baked goods seemed just as pretty as they were from the beginning. So that’s where to one star comes from, otherwise I would give zero.

In all honesty I just feel like the owners forgot about this place completely. There is no love. There is no passion. There is no technique or skill. Zero care in the world. Zero cleanliness. Zero professionalism. I doubt I will be back unless I see some major changes. I understand the heart aches of this business, but if you don’t have time to run it, or find the professional who can then I can’t see it lasting long. I hope the owner sees this and knows that I am rooting for you, but you honestly dropped the ball big time.

Windows wide open to the outdoors, airy and fresh. A bit pricey but the breakfast sandwiches and coffee are soo worth it!

BEST BREAKFAST SANDWICH IN YEG
Delicious coffee and, in case you missed it an amazing breakfast sandwich!

Worst service the girl at the cash was so mean she had the worst attitude never going back

Possibly the greatest breakfast sandwich I’ve had in my whole life…. The space is amazing, Service is incredible another win for the great Nate Box

Clean and friendly, and great coffee. And actually open early on Sunday. Hard to find a good espresso early in the morning in downtown Edmonton.

A great little coffee shop downtown with very tasty cinnamon buns. Usually open before everyone else and can be quite busy in the morning.

Best bagel I had so far in my life. Really love the place. Food is so classic. You must have to check out this place

Addicted to their coffee!
I think i drink there coffee every single day its so good.
Love how fresh and tasty the pastries are!
They have great breakfast and lunch options too!

I love their breakfast sandwiches. Options for veg and vegans too. Amazing coffee as well! Try the Oat Latte. You won't be disappointed.

Pastries are the reason to go here, they have an amazing variety. Best to get there before Noon if you want a full selection.
Ambience is nice.
Coffee is meh.
Service is hit and miss.

I haven't been here in the evenings, but I do know they don't have pastries that late.

The pride of this locally owned establishment comes through in the quality of the food and service.