The Valley has a latte great java joints. Peruse our picks for the best ones
The Okanagan Valley is worldrenowned for its wine and, more recently, craft beer. Sometimes lost in the shuffle is the charm of locally-owned coffee shops and cafés.
Here are our choices for the 10 best (11 actually, as there was a tie when we counted our votes), presented alphabetically.
THE BEANERY CAFÉ Summerland
Summerland’s Beanery Café has been the choice for locals and out of town visitors since Darin and Rochelle Fair opened its doors more than 20 years ago. Located at the end of Main Street, the café acquired a Euro feel in 2008 when Piet and Aline Borsboom became owners. The couple owned a tiny bakery with a huge following in the heart of Amsterdam before moving to Summerland. Baker Piet is up early preparing his famous paleo bars and a wide selection of other treats, and nutritious breakfasts and lunches.
“We pride ourselves on hand picking the most delightful people we can find to work the counter,” Aline says. Well-mannered pooches are welcome on the patio.
THE BENCH MARKET Penticton
Right on Vancouver Hill, baker/chef Stewart Glynes, a former competitive curler, and his wife Heather bought the established business in 2013. Constructed in 1945, the building served for six decades as a corner store. Now it’s a welcoming breakfast and lunch place, specializing in muffins, scones, bennys and waffles. They serve fair trade, organic coffee that’s roasted in Summerland, with a bargain price on in-house refills. You can also pick up a few grocery items or meals to go. It seats 45 indoors and another 45 outdoors on its fabulous patio where Granfondo and triathlon fans enjoy a great vantage point. Parking can be a challenge, but worth the effort.
THE BIKE SHOP CAFÉ Kelowna
Downtown Kelowna’s Bike Shop Café is the go-to spot for a hearty lunch made with locally-sourced ingredients or a specialty coffee. Its name is reminiscent of its original venue on Doyle Avenue, which used to be a bicycle shop. Paying homage to its roots, the cafe walls are lined with old and vintage bicycles.
“Every bike on the wall has a story, with many of them being donated by regulars who may even make it a point to come in and dine under their old bike,” husband and wife team Darren and Kim Ansley say on their website.
In Kelowna since 1998, Bike Shop Café specializes in fresh food, with an everchanging menu to reflect the season.
The cafe also partners with other Kelowna businesses to offer specialty coffee blends, craft beers and kombucha.
(Disclosure: With its convenient back door exit, this is the closest coffee shop to the Kelowna Daily Courier building.)
BLENZ West Kelowna
Located in Westbank Centre, near Encore Cinema, the locally-owned franchise is more like a clubhouse than a coffee chain. Owned by former commercial fisherperson and knitting addict Melissa Brown, who’s active in the arts community, customers feel as though they have to come here due to the strong sense of community. Many local utility workers are regulars, so much so that they built their own table for the shop. The coffee shop hosts mar jong tournaments plus a stitching, crocheting and knitting club. Local artwork is displayed and changed monthly. All of the baking is purchased locally. The coffee and beverages are what you’d expect from Blenz, but it’s the friendliness and warm atmosphere that bring customers in off the highway.
BLISS Peachland
The husband and wife who opened Bliss Bakery in Peachland in 2005 had never even heard of the town before their first visit. It was, Darci and Barry Yeo say, bliss at first sight.
“We knew there was nowhere else we wanted to be,” the Yeo’s write on their website, recalling their enchantment with the seemingly-endless views of lake and mountain afforded by just about anywhere in Peachland, jewel of the Okanagan.
Bliss Bakery, at the corner of Beach Avenue and 13th Street, has a mouth-watering array of treats and delicious coffees, to savour while taking in those panoramic vistas.
Other Bliss bakeries have opened since, but for our money the flagship shop is unbeatable in terms of is location, menu, and simple delightfulness.
MARMALADE CAT CAFÉ Kelowna
This cheerful, independently-owned café at the corner of Pandosy Street and West Avenue in the Mission has welcomed visitors since 1998. There’s no missing its brightly coloured, Victorian-style exterior. Inside, you’ll find a quaint, cozy atmosphere with warm colours.
“It feels like you walked into a friend’s home,” says Tamie Sanderson, who owns the café with husband Don. Customers can choose from a variety of drinks, snacks and light meals, including gluten-free and vegan baking, and brunch is offered Sundays. But the café doesn’t satisfy just your stomach — works by local visual artists, rotated monthly, draw the eye, and guests can sip a lavender London Fog tea or caramel latte to the beat of free live music from 5-7 p.m. Fridays.
PRAGUE CAFÉ Penticton
Outlooking the scenic Okanagan Lake is a little taste of Europe in The Prague Café. The cozy spot on Marina Way features organic specialty coffees including espressos and cappuccinos along with homemade ginger tea and green tea matcha.
An authentic European experience in Penticton, owners Michal Gjurisic and Daniela Lojkova grew up in Prague. Using traditional Czech recipes for breakfast and lunch menus, The Prague Café has homemade fresh baked goods including old-style ginger bread.
Featuring soups, sandwiches, treats and more, The Prague Café becomes a European oasis with chairs outside providing a view to remind you that you are in fact still in the Okanagan.
PULP FICTION Kelowna
Pulp Fiction is an eclectic combination coffee shop, book store and antique dealer. The 3,600-square-foot premise at 1598 Pandosy St. at the corner of Lawrence Avenue does not take its name from the Oscar-winning 1994 Quentin Tarantino movie Pulp Fiction. But rather, its name is inspired by the cheesy pulp fiction of early 20th-century magazines and novels printed on cheap “pulp” paper. Owner Max Sloan spent most of his career as a geologist in the oil and gas business, but always knew he would one day open a combo bookstore-coffee shop. So he collected old books all his life in anticipation of opening Pulp Fiction five years ago. The shop roasts its own beans for unique black coffee, espresso, cappuccino, lattes and Americanos. Of course, there’s also awesome baked goods, paninis and free Wi-Fi.
RATIO Vernon
Tucked into the old railway station in Vernon is Ratio, the dream of Andrew McWilliam, his wife Sarah and partners Stephan and Laurie Knuevers.
A custom bike hangs on a wall, along with a collection of skateboards. But, it’s not the decor that attracts the nearby office workers, individuals and families to settle in for their morning coffee fix of ethically-sourced coffee ground by Drumroaster coffee on Vancouver Island. A curved, Parisanne-styled curved glass showcase displays the pastry of the day. Staff serve up daily lunch specials that might include Vegan Chick Pea Salad or mid-east Sweet Potato Wrap along with a Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Soup.
But, the big draw is Fridays, when between 12 and 15 flavours of doughnuts including Maple Bourbon, Creme Burle and Grapefruit Lemon, 68 dozen in all, sell out early.
SAINT-GERMAIN CAFÉ GALLERY Penticton
Located at 449 Main Street, The Saint-Germain Café Gallery offers a mix of great coffee and great made-in-store food along in a lively atmosphere with interesting local art work on the walls.
When they opened the café six years ago, restaurateur Stephano and artist Brigitte Liapis wanted to create the atmosphere of a European coffee shop within an art gallery. They took advantage of the heritage wood plank floors, painted the walls a brilliant white and installed gallery-style lighting to showcase the artwork on display. The Saint Germain also offers sidewalk tables in season, where patrons can sip organic coffees while watching the Penticton street scene unfold.
Now under the new ownership of Chris Millin, The Saint-Germain Café Gallery is still a great place to meet friends and share fine coffee, food and art at reasonable prices. It’s a regular hangout for many of the local lawyers.
WANDER CAFÉ Osoyoos
The Wander Café, at the bottom of Main Street in Osoyoos, is more than just a good latte or Expresso — it's an experience.
Yes, you can still find your favourite coffees, teas and cold drinks, but the cafè is also home to a fair-trade Southeast Asian boutique. You can browse one-of-a-kind, often funky pieces of furniture, art, clothing and jewellery — coffee mug in hand as you wander about or just seated amid the explosion of colourful fabrics, unique woods and hand-crafted jewellery.
The cafè’s homemade soups, sandwiches and baked goods are a perfect complement to the expressive beverages, everything created fresh each morning (sans packaged ingredients).
Not surprisingly, as would be expected in this unique environment, no two soups or sandwiches are ever the same. —Contributing writers: Dale Boyd, Wayne Emde, Steve MacNaull, Susan McIver James Miller, Bob Nicholson, Andrea Peacock, Ron Seymour, Andrew Stuckey, Ben Verkerk