We were recently asked by a customer what cafes we'd recommend in Vancouver and we thought we'd also share the list here. This is by no means an exhaustive list as Vancouver is full of great cafes and everyone has their own preferences. The list below is just our favourites that we frequent, which are mostly specialty third-wave cafes serving light roasted coffees. We've roughly sorted by region and added some additional notes. Some cafes have multiple locations but we made sure to specify which one. For some extra context, we usually enjoy flat whites and pour overs with light roasted beans at home.

Burnaby/East Van

Single V Coffee

5000 Kingsway #140, Burnaby, BC V5H 2E4

Nice selection of single origin coffees, they roast their own beans, good pourover selection and possible espresso choice of beans too.

Prototype

883 E Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V6A 1R8

Usually a good selection of single origin beans for pourover and espresso, they roast their own beans.

 

Yuán Coffee

550 Clark Dr, Vancouver, BC V5L 3H7

Offers a large rotating selection of single origin beans, mainly lightly roasted that can be brewed as pourover or espresso based drinks. Chill environment and friendly staff.

 

Richmond

Sunny M Specialty Coffee & Tea

4540 No. 3 Rd #1345, Richmond, BC V6X 4E4

Small shop, serves a great "pourover of the day" which also frequently changes. Coffees range from all around the world and sometimes own roasted. Sometimes a selection of very high end coffee is also available. Espresso is default on the medium side

R Ki Coffee Lab

8280 Lansdowne Rd #110, Richmond, BC V6X 0B2

Small shop, rotation selection of own roasted coffees. Choice of beans for pourover and espresso. Nice single origins.

Moving Coffee Roastery

13880 Wireless Way Unit 118, Richmond, BC V6V 0A3

Own roasted coffees, previously won some awards for roasting. Has a good selection of pourover single origins

North Shore

Barrio Coffee

4840 Capilano Rd, North Vancouver, BC V7R 4K5

Hidden away in a church, they carry coffees from other roasters. Great batch brew in addition to flat white. You may find some beans by Australian roasters here like Ona.

Vancouver

Kahve Coffee

1822 W 1st Ave, Vancouver, BC V6J 1G5

Clean interior.

Revolver

325 Cambie St, Vancouver, BC V6B 2N4

Can get pretty crowded, often hard to park at, but serves interesting and top coffees roasted from around the world.

 

Coffee Roastery Modus

112 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC V5Y 1P1

Roasts their own beans.

 

Small Victory Bakery

3070 Granville St, Vancouver, BC V6H 3J8

Pourover and espresso on rotation. Usually has choices for coffee beans.

 

Other Notable Locations

These locations have notable interior/exterior designs but the coffee is not the type that we are typically into.

Kafka's Coffee Roasting

860 Richards St, Vancouver, BC V6B 3B4

In a Downtown urban park, coffee on the medium roast side.

La Forêt

6848 Jubilee Ave, Burnaby, BC V5J 4B3

Large spacious interior, coffee is medium-dark roast.

Nemesis Coffee GNW

555 Great Northern Way, Vancouver, BC V5T 1E1

Interesting building, their own roasted beans from light to medium roast coffee but a significant portion of the times we were a bit disappointed with their coffee.

Isetta Cafe Bistro

4360 Marine Dr, West Vancouver, BC V7V 1P1

In a peaceful location away from the busy city life. Some nice classic cars occasionally show up there. Medium roast.

Pallet Coffee Roasters HQ, Cafe + Roastery

395 Alexander St, Vancouver, BC V6A 1C4

One of the larger scale roasters in Vancouver. Their coffee selection ranges from regular beans to premium, interesting single origin beans. Likely has pourover beans on rotation.

Photos are our own. Used with our own permission 😉