Caffeine & Creativity: Laptop friendly Cafés in Vancouver 🎞️ 💻

If you’re working remotely in Vancouver, you’ll most likely get to the point where you have to accept that your connection on Cypress is terrible, and if you’re trying to have another (questionably exhausted) work call at 9 in the morning, you’ll soon have a LOT of time to explore those BC trails. And, if that’s your goal: Fair enough, go and have a badass backcountry hot girl summer and enjoy the hell out of those beautiful mountains! But if it isn’t (and you really need those dollar dollar bills for that heli-bike tour you booked up Squamish) – then this Guide is for you. It sums up my favourite cafés in metro Vancouver, that perfectly combine calm and aesthetic interiors with that sweet spot of good coffee, nutritious food, a strong wifi connection and a couple of locals wishing you a very good day (you are still in Canada after all).

Read less

Updated ago

Beach & (Cinnamon-) Buns: Workspaces in Kitsilano

TurF Kitsilano (KITS)

@brigittebuck

🧚🏻 Female-owned Pilates studio with an amazing in-house café/restaurant serving lots and lots of healthy pre-workout smoothies, as well as nutritious bowls, mushroom ricotta bagels, salmon burgers, and blueberry pancakes. 🧚🏻 If you've got time for it: Check out one of their amazing/ fun classes led by Angela Driscoll or ask for Olivia (hi, girl!) at reception — I swear both will be a little treat for your soul. 🧚🏻 Honestly this place will make you feel at home. On and off the mat! SWEET SUMMARY • 32$ (CAD) for two pilates classes within 60 days • Lots of vegan and vegetarian options • Smoothies, Coffees, Bowls, Burgers, Toasts, Salads

Add to

Details

Grounds for Coffee

@brigittebuck

🧚🏻 The one and only Grounds for Coffee: Ask any Vancouverite and they'll tell you it's their safe haven for mouth-watering cinnamon buns. Creamy frosting on top and a warm, soft cinnamon sugar combo swirling around the inside. Living on the same street was never good for my diet. SWEET SUMMARY • Ethically sourced & organic coffee • 5$ (CAD) cinnamon buns • Hand made, daily fresh buns

Add to

Details

Just Another

@brigittebuck

🧚🏻 60s interior with white-yellow checkered tables and floral umbrellas meets light wood, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a couple design objects: One Another is café by day and wine bar by night. 🧚🏻 There are no Laptops allowed past 5PM. SWEET SUMMARY • Brunch every day from 8am til 4pm • Happy Hours from 5pm til 6pm • Wine tasting every Thursday at 6pm for 20$ (CAD)

Add to

Details

Kits Beach Coffee

@brigittebuck

🧚🏻 Family-run business with a focus on the Kits(-ilano) community. Everything you want from a chill Canadian spot by the water – and more. Regular community events, wonderful coffee, lovely staff, wooden swings, and light-filled interiors. SWEET SUMMARY • Monthly events from pottery to trivia, live music, makers markets and private events • Little literacy library in the back • Small percentage of your tips is donated to the Battered Women's Support Services and the David Suzuki Foundation's Ocean Conservation Programs

Add to

Details

Viva Cafe & Bakery

@brigittebuck

🧚🏻 Your go-to if you're missing a good Scandinavian minimalist interior (and mirabelle plum/ apricot tarts): Viva's two pastry chefs create new, heavenly treats every day, so you can sit and enjoy these little pieces of art together with your work day. Before picking up some ceramic vases or pretty coffee filters from their little in house pop-up store. 🧚🏻 Very Hygge: Danish sweets and alternative milk in abundance. SMALL SUMMARY • Everything from Rhubarb Tart to Black Forest croissant and Hazelnut Chocolate Tarts • Lunch: Sandwiches, Burritos and Wraps • 5$ (CAD) coffee

Add to

Details

Lumine Coffee

@brigittebuck

🧚🏻 Heaven on earth for coffee snobs: Lumine's small backroom is the perfect place to focus on work (and the extensive coffee menu). Different roasts, Pour Over on ice, mango espresso tonic, or matcha latte – you name it. This is your go-to for all the caffeinated good stuff out there! SMALL SUMMARY • Multi-roaster coffee shop and in-house baked goods • Coffee beans available for purchase • Gluten free treats

Add to

Details

Cobblestone & Caffeine: Where to work in Gastown

Nelson the Seagull

@brigittebuck

🧚🏻 Going to Nelson and the Seagull feels like walking into your grandma's kitchen on a Sunday morning, being handed the first slice of warm sourdough bread. There’s nothing quite like it. Surrounded by beautiful stone mosaic floors, colourful woollen rugs and a couple of vintage sofas from the 80s, this is where you wanna be on a rainy Sunday morning (or any other morning really). SWEET SUMMARY • Get your own Sourdough Starter Pack for $30 (CAD) to make your own bread at home • Little Pantry to take Eggs, Milk and Butter straight home • Must try: Peaches on toast (besides lots of other home made breaded goodies)

Add to

Details

Birds & The Beets

@brigittebuck

🧚🏻 If there's one cool kid on the block, that makes you feel like you're somewhere around Hell's Kitchen in Downtown Manhattan, it's probably Birds & the Beets. Surrounded by brick walls and floor-to-ceiling windows, through which the sun seems to shine all day long, you here either sit opposite the counter, watching Vancouver's beautiful people come and go. Or you make yourself comfortable in the back under a few designer lamps, devouring a huge tofu sandwich for lunch and pouring water over the flower boxes, so that really nobody’s thirsty anymore. 🧚🏻 Wonderful place, wonderful people, wonderful food. SMALL SUMMARY • Breakfast, lunch, coffee, bread & other things • Summer patio out back • Turns into an amazing wine bar at night

Add to

Details

Nemesis Coffee Gastown

@brigittebuck

🧚🏻 Nemesis always reminded me of going for coffee in France: Great pastries and croissants, everyone acts too cool for school to actually admit that that's probably the best breakfast they had in ages and you wonder how your gluten-free friends survive. 🧚🏻 Nemesis is a young coffee company that stands for community and great coffee culture in the city. With three locations, they are not only the perfect place to work in terms of interior design, but especially because of their in-house roastery and homemade pastries. SMALL SUMMARY • Three wonderful locations around the city • Sustainably sourced ingredients and personal relationships with coffee farmers • Must try: Pistachio, raspberry pain au chocolat

Add to

Details

Drip (Coffee) & Doughnuts: Pleasure at Mount Pleasant

Gene Coffee Bar

@brigittebuck

🧚🏻 Gene Coffee Bar is essentially the Flatiron Building of Vancouver, just smaller and made of glass (does that count?). Surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows, right in the heart of Mount Pleasant, you get the most beautiful view of the mountains, Main Street, and Harbour Center. Right at the front, you sit alone at your table, with the café in the background and nothing but work and Vancouver in front of you. Okay, that only sounds really good 50% of the time. (Just get over with the first part asap). SMALL SUMMARY • Great Matcha Latte • Quite café, since there are maybe around 15 seats inside • Lots of digital nomads there to focus

Add to

Details

Nemesis Coffee GNW

@brigittebuck

🧚🏻 Ever worked inside a blossom? If you're not a bee, probably not. Nemesis at Great Northern Way is perhaps the most architecturally unique, impressive, and soothing café in Vancouver. It seamlessly merges the outside world with a design oasis, featuring an in-house roastery and a sun-drenched terrace. You sit beneath a flowing wooden ceiling, sipping the sweet nectar of caffeine and feeling like you're working inside a piece of art (which you are). SWEET SUMMARY • If you only check out one Nemesis, it has to be this one • For all the Designers out there: This is the most natural light you'll get in any Vancouver café • The ceiling acts as acoustic panels, providing a peaceful environment

Add to

Details

49th Parallel Café & Lucky's Doughnuts - Main Street

@brigittebuck

🧚🏻 Perhaps the best doughnuts in town: If you're a sweet tooth, you'll love it here. 49th Parallel has several locations in Vancouver, all with a diverse selection of doughnuts as big as your faces (I'm not kidding). Very Canadian: It's all about going big or going home (or getting diabetes). 🧚🏻 The location on Maine is perfect: In winter, you sit on the 60s sofas indoors in front of the fireplace, and in summer, you get comfortable on the terrace. 🧚🏻 When work day is done, just pop up a few blocks down into Uncle Abe's for a couple of cozy drinks with friends! SWEET SUMMARY • Very popular digital nomad spot in the city and therefor great to have a chat with others • Did I mention they have great doughnuts? • Home roasted coffee to take home

Add to

Details

Skyline & Sweets: North Vancouver's best cafés

Nemesis Coffee Polygon

@brigittebuck

🧚🏻 Another Nemesis gem right by the water: Just like the other spots, you'll get great pastries and coffee here. What's special though, is that in North Vancouver, you walk around the building and get a full view of Vancouver's stunning skyline and Stanley Park, while the ferry shuttles back and forth (the one you came on as well). After work, you can watch the sunset from the Shipyards here, and from the pier, see Science World slowly starting to glitter. SWEET SUMMARY • Amazing coffee and pastry • Perfect place to watch the sunset and end the work day • Smallest venue of them all

Add to

Details

Sorry Coffee Co.

@brigittebuck

🧚🏻 If you want to completely get out of the city and feel like you've landed in your own little Canadian rom-com, then Sorry Coffee in Deep Cove is your dream come true. Surrounded by pine forests, large Canadian houses overlooking the sea, a bay with crystal clear water, and a small harbor, the café is located in a deep blue building in the heart of town. The coffee is great, and so is the food! The best part here, after work, you can hike up to Quarry Rock for sunset and watch the ball drop over the fjord. SMALL SUMMARY • Dreamiest, most canadian location • Patio out back • Surrounded by nature

Add to

Details

If you've enjoyed this guide, you can write me a love(ly) letter or pay for my next coffee. Stay soft!

* * *

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brigitte Buck

🧚🏻 Travel writer & photographer 🧚🏻 Spent most of my early 20s living in Munich as a writer for a hospitality & lifestyle magazine 🧚🏻 Travelled around 30+ countries (mostly solo) and lived in Munich, Vancouver and Sydney. Over time, I’ve become the go-to girl for friends and family seeking travel advice from female solo adventures to aesthetically pleasing co-working spaces, sun-drenched rooftop bars, community-led yoga studios, mouth-watering (or bottomless) brunch spots and generally everything design/ interior and outdoor-related. 🧚🏻 I personally thrive in a nourishing, community-embedded environment and am still learning how to sustainably combine the people I love (at home) with the things I love (not being at home). I'm a sucker for aesthetically pleasing interior, hand made ceramic mugs, vintage furniture, 1940s architecture, early pinkish sunrises, bold illustrations and design, warm people, intimate bars, green velvet sofas, rooftop pools, underground clubs, fancy drinks and boutiques, Mexican food, cobblestone streets, every single book Dolly Alderton has ever written, and travels that bring me closer to culture, nature, and people.

Read less

Send A Tip

Support Brigitte Buck’s work.

Select your tip amount

$10

$20

$50

Or type in other amount