BRU Coffee + Beer House

I was excited to try this new coffee shop that opened up in my neighbourhood. Anywhere that serves coffee from great roasters such as Bows and Arrows is worth trying out. However, I found myself to be very disappointed with the experience.
I ordered myself a coffee and a croissant breakfast sandwich. The coffee itself was good, but their serving method is odd. I am used to a level of pretension when it comes to a nicer café, but serving the coffee on a wood plank with a cut out for the coffee server and coffee cup is a little much. For a 12 once cup of coffee I don’t need a separate 6 once cup to pour it in, as the coffee loses a lot of its heat and ended up luke warm when I actually drank it.
The croissant breakfast sandwich was a disaster. There is an expectation that for 7 or 8 bucks, you will be served something that is markably better than a McDonalds or Tim Hortons sandwich. Bru missed that memo. That croissant itself was small, and undercooked, as you could see layers of raw dough inside the pastry. I suspect this is a frozen pastry that was shipped in and baked in store, as all the pastries within the display case looked like that. The sandwich was filled with cheese, an egg, and a raw, cold tomato. The cold tomato did a great job of cooling the rest of ingredients within the hot sandwich, making it a not so lovely just above room temp offering.
On top of the bad food experience, I have a few observations. As I mentioned before, there is a large amount of pretension in this café, but it does not have much substance to back up the level of sophistication it is trying to live up to. The trick to making a good breakfast sandwich is not hard. A good piece of bread and a fresh egg will get you there in no time, but they cannot even get that right.
I am at the point where I actively recommend to my friends not to go to Bru. I hope they can evolve their menu into something better, but for the time being, i will not be back.

Super hipster hangout, kinda overpriced, yes. If that’s your deal, this is the place for you! But it is pretty cool. All I had was green tea, which was presented to me artfully on a wooden plank, after it had steeped for the requisite 3 minutes, but it was good — they didn’t screw it up like Starbucks would. Good quiet place to have a meeting in the afternoon.

It’s my first stop in here but love the ambiance in here. Good tunes, great coffee and a fun #craftbeer list that looks poised to change frequently. This may be a routine stop for 2016

Chai latte is great, not overly sweet with a rich aromatic flavour that wraps around you like a welcomed hug.
The dark Chocolate Mocha is spot on without the added sugar. The bold taste of dark chocolate carried on the creaminess of low foam froth.
The room itself is trendy with geometric artistic accents. It’s obviously a new business with some functionality issues to be sorted out. Merchandising and food could be more prevalent.
With over 15 years of restaurant/​café experience and 7 years commercial finance experience my suggestion to the owners are as follows:
–Dim the lighting as the sun sets to bring in the social drinking crowd. Dim lights create a warm environment and keep wallets open.
–Wine (2 red, 2 White) by the glass, half litre and bottle. Advertise bottles can be bought off sale and unfinished bottles can be recorked if not finished.
–Counter space is what pays the bills. Only products that the customer can pick up and purchase should be present. Move your espresso machine to the back bar to open up lines of site. Move your till to the end of the counter where your espresso grinder is. Then fill up the bar with value priced items; not cheap, but good value to the customer. Customers are 60% more likely to buy items they can touch.
–Add a menu to the empty concrete space behind the counter. Customers will then be quicker to order once they reach the till. Think Starbucks, they don’t care how long you wait for coffee because you’ve already paid and on your way to paying you’ve picked up snacks that your already munching on.
–There aren’t many options but if you can move your merchandise. People browse it on the way in and pass it on the way out. Ideally it should form a «back wall» to your line. On one side food and treats before getting to the register and on the other side cool merch and spontaneous buys.
–Fresh orange juice is great, I’m a big fan. But I imagine the machine was not cheap. Might have been better to purchase a couple masticating juicers for additional juice options. You need to sell a lot of OJ to cover the $ 2−3K the OJ machine cost.
–For the next location:
–Bar seating should be off to the side, it’s natural for people to not have their backs to an entrance. This will keep guests drinking longer.
–The bar seating looking at the counter is a waste. 70% of customers prefer table seating. Put in a long low top table for community seating. Put seats on both sides of it to maximize seating options.
Overall a great room just needs tweaks to maximize sales and improve customer experience. Form is great but function and form can coexist.
Great décor and good intentions on culture, I’m curious to see where they take the next location.

I’ve been here a few times. The coffee and pastries are good, and the tables are excellent for setting up your laptop or iPad to get a little work done. The interior is clean and brightly lit, and the staff are all quite friendly.

I had heard really good things about BRU so was really looking forward to my visit here. After circling the area for 15 minutes to find parking I settled on the closest spot 2 blocks away. Not bad when it’s not the first cold day of winter. Upon entering the café, out of the way of the bitter cold wind, I was not welcomed by the concrete glass and metal interior. I’ve noticed comments that the décor was warm and cozy and I actually laughed out loud at how inaccurate that description is. Concrete benches, plastic super uncomfortable stools– I was having coffee with a good friend and neither of us could wait to get out of there. I also noticed comments about great service, but my friend and I each ordered an espresso drink and took our seats. The barista sat our drinks at the end of the counter and then walked right past us without even mentioning the drinks were done, let alone bringing them to our table. My coffee was fine, but was topped with far too much foam (¹⁄₃ of my drink). I really prefer independent and local businesses, but I was completely underwhelmed by BRU. The name is super clever…

I’ve been here a number of times for coffee, work meetings, and meet ups with friends. It’s always been great. They don’t roast their own beans, but they use great beans:
— Bows & Arrows
— Transcend
— Phil and Sebastian
Here’s why I love it here:
— the coffee is excellent. I always get the pour overs.
— atmosphere. the space is beautiful, warm, and they play great music.
— parking! I’ve always been able to get free parking on the street in front of the building.
— the food is good. I have had their Italian trio sandwich twice. Good bread. High quality meats. Tasty. I had it with Thai chicken soup today which was awesome.
— great beer selection for evening get-​togethers.
— fast wifi!
— not too busy (yet)
It’s nice to come to a place with good coffee, good food, good atmosphere, free parking, and fast wifi. It’s my new go to coffee shop downtown.

Personally, I liked Bru. Found the inside clean, spacious and it had lots of natural light. The atmosphere was great. On a Sunday afternoon the space was filled with an eclectic mix of people inside. Not surprising given that Oliver is pretty eclectic itself. They give glass cups and mugs for your coffee to stay which is a bit weird given the thermal insulation properties of ceramics being far superior. I don’t get it, but it did not take away from my Vanilla Latte (5 $) which was great. They serve Phil and Sebastian coffee here which I was a big fan of in Calgary, so yet another plus. The sizes are smaller than Starbucks down the road, but I think the coffee is better here :)
Overall a great experience and I am now a fan. They’ll likely see more of me during times when I want a nicer cup of coffee.

BRU Coffee and Beer House has been on my radar for some time now! Unable to formally meet Tina, owner of BRU Coffee and Beer House, I was delighted to see general manager Samuel Lee doubling as the barista both times that I’ve visited, one at the start of their soft opening and again Sunday afternoon. Having worked together at Waves Coffee House, their love for coffee transformed into what originally was going to be a café named Blue. Lucky for Edmonton, the name somehow changed into BRU, a play on word the word as not only is coffee brewed, but so is beer! The best of both worlds, BRU Coffee and Beer House is offering a space open all day long dedicated to serving you quality drinks. When I say all day long, I mean all day long. They hope to be open 7 days a week, with Monday to Thursday from 7am to 9pm, Friday from 7am to late, Saturday from 8am to late, and Sundays from 8am to 9pm. Edmonton is in desperate need of cafés that are open late (in my opinion!), a perfect spot to study or hmm, how about blog?
The space is absolutely gorgeous! Kudos to whoever helped with their design concept. A large communal table with beautifully textured white and grey tiles tie in the front pastry display, complete with a set of modern (yet comfortable!) chairs; tables alongside the side wall underneath exposed ceilings; and countertop tables perfect for people watching by the window. Infographic prints of both coffee and beer are displayed, arriving just in time for the grand opening. There’s even local art displayed throughout the café! Beautiful space and extremely inviting!
On the coffee side of things, BRU is serving up single origin batched beans from the local Transcend, Calgary roaster Phil and Sebastian and Victoria, B. C’s Bows & Arrows. They hope to rotate between the three but also to keep with seasonal coffee. You can also purchase the beans for your home brewing system. Beer-​wise, numerous brands are up on the menu micro-​brewed beer from Alley Kat on tap. Unfortunately I was so fixated on caffeine that I wasn’t paying nearly enough attention to the beer menu. Next visit, promise!
My visit on Sunday was my first look at their food menu. Consulting with local chefs, BRU Coffee and Beer House is keeping things simple for now. It’s a bit hard to be open 12+ hours on a daily basis with no closing times and be consistent with coffee, beer, and a full blown menu! Throughout the day, the menu consists of a Mixed Greens with Vinaigrette Salad ($ 13, option to add grilled chicken breast $ 4), a couple of sandwiches (Italian Trio, $ 15 and Spring Greens, $ 13), and Soup of the Day ($ 7). For the evening crowd (although any time for me, really), charcuterie (Meat Board for Two ($ 24), Cheese + Pâté Boards for Two ($ 24), and a Meat and Cheese Board for Four ($ 45) is available and for the breakfast crowd until 11am, Yogurt Parfait ($ 5) and Pancetta & Egger ($ 7). Pastries and other baked goods, including the bread for sandwiches are imported from France and then baked in-​house.
My Italian Trio was surprisingly well done, the herbed focaccia bread really stealing the show. Capicollo, chorizo, and calabrese deli meats gave the sandwich a nice kick and balanced out with some mixed greens, tomato, Havarti cheese and their housemade BRU sauce. Unexpectedly, my late lunch also came with a side of mixed greens, tossed with crushed walnuts, dried cranberries, cherry tomatoes and a light vinaigrette. Love that even their boards were engraved, little details not missed by BRU. With local favourite Elm Café so close by, I can say that if I was hankering a sandwich, Edmonton has some fantastic options but I appreciate the fact that BRU Coffee and Beer House is serving up sit down food to go alongside their drinks.
I’m ecstatic to see some new food popping up between the downtown core and 124 Street, an area definitely growing with new residential buildings. It’s great to see everything connected! While although I might not come to BRU Coffee and Beer House solely for the food, I’m all up for a café with a large enough space to accommodate multiple groups of people and at all times during the day! For residents in the neighbourhood, imagine grabbing your cup of Joe in the morning on your way to work and then coming back to the same space to enjoy a beer! Or if you have a group of friends that are a bit conflicted as to where to go. That mid-​afternoon is an iffy time, coffee for some? Early beer? It’s nice that a local business can accommodate both.

Let me get this straight. You want $ 8 for a pint of domestic beer and $ 45 for a meat and cheese plate? Gee, I wonder who is going out of business within the year…

I know BRU is super new but I had a 5 star experience when I met my friend for coffee there this week.
To start, the place is super cozy with industrial décor, which I love. I wish it was a little bigger as I can imagine this place being packed but what they did with the space they have is perfect. Another bonus — unisex individual washrooms. I’m never afraid to go into a single stalled men’s washroom if I need to, but it’s always nice to not worry about exiting the men’s washroom to someone standing there giving you the crooked eye.
We were greeted when we entered and given the lay of the land. We ordered a coffee each, a bottle of sparking water and this amazing cheese croissant/​pastry. There are lots of beers, charcuterie plates and more — but I’ll have to try that another time.
We grabbed a seat and our coffees and pastries were brought out, along with the water, fairly quickly. The pastries were warmed up and I’m not kidding you, I could have eaten three or four as they were amazing! I would definitely recommend them, just save some for me! They also have some treats to go like packaged macarons and madelines, in addition to all of the pastries in the display and the food that you can order over on the beer side.
My chai latte was tasty too and I appreciated that they gave us two glasses for the bottle of water without my prompting.
There’s free parking out in front, right on Jasper facing East.
I will definitely be back and I wish this place had been open when I lived on Jasper!

I came here this past Sunday with three other friends for their Grand Opening event. The whole experience from customer service to product was overpriced and very underwhelming. They have a LOT of kinks to work out if they want this place to succeed,
To start, there was no one greeting people when they walked in, except if you were a personal acquaintance of the owner/​manager, in which case you were welcomed upon entry. Nor was anyone walking around to welcome people and introduce themselves at this «Grand Opening» event.
I don’t drink coffee so I ordered a fresh squeezed Orange Juice for $ 6. Yup you heard right. $ 6. And I was hungry so I saw some pastries sitting beside the til which I ordered two items from (I did not know they had a sandwich/​salad menu until much later and by chance). So the total for my two pastries and an OJ was $ 17. Wow! I should also mention that the girl who was taking orders, wearing a wide brimmed hat, seemed clueless and not so friendly.
Anyways, I sat down and waited for my order to be brought to the table. My three other friends had already ordered and two were also still waiting for their coffee orders.
While waiting, and throughout our stay, we had employees approaching us at the giant communal table to see if we ordered such and such a dish that they were carrying. Talk about confusing and lack of direction when it comes to delivering orders to the proper table.
As our orders very slowly made their way to our table, I got my pastries after about 5 minutes of waiting and the same confusing look from the employee. But yet to receive my $ 6 OJ. After several more minutes I got tired of waiting and trying to get someone’s attention that I had to get up and walk to the counter where several employees were just standing there talking with each other. I told them about the OJ and they apologized and went to grab me one.
For $ 6 I was expecting a portion to fill a large glass. Nope. Instead, it came already prepared in a glass jar with a rubber stop top and was actually super small in size. I’m talking less than the size of a standard coffee mug. Wow! Don’t get me wrong, it tasted fine but was way overpriced in all of our opinions.
Anyways, you get the picture. Overpriced and poor customer service makes me give this place only 2 stars. I know they serve beer here as well but I was unable to try any. And the actual food menu I only found out about while staring at the beer counter and noticing a separate menu which wasn’t readily availble at the til.
As for my friends, they commented that their coffees, while brewed in the drip-​style, were not executed well and nothing to rave about.

I was kicked out of a coffee shop and threatened with police action. I can’t believe I’m writing those words.
This was a surreal experience. First the good part — the only redeeming thing about the place. It’s decorated nicely with a modern look of grey walls, concrete and industrial lighting. Not that I got to see much of the interior.
I went in yesterday with my mom and after looking at a very restricted coffee menu asked for a double espresso long. After getting a puzzled look from the barista I said «allonger,» still not hint she knew what I wanted, «lungo.» Still nothing. She said I’ll just run the coffee through the machine twice. Clearly this isn’t a place where coffee knowledge is in abundance, though their prices are those of high-​end coffee shops. My mom ordered the same thing we both paid for our own drinks. I got my coffee she didn’t. When she asked for it she was told she hadn’t paid. The other staffer said yes she had paid and that she had paid him. The barista still insisted she hadn’t paid. This goes back and forth for a while — not a great first impression. Eventually she gets her coffee.
The last straw– the surreal moment: I walk over to the table and try to sit down the barista comes over and hovers over the table. I say «can I help you?» «I want to know how the coffee tastes» she replies. My mom still has yet to sit down at the table, she’s still carrying this super hot glass cup of coffee and can’t sit because the barista is there and won’t move. We both reply we’ll try it and let her know later. She doesn’t leave. I ask if she’s going to stand there the whole time I’m in her store. She still insists on knowing how the coffee tastes. My mom, totally frustrated says. «Just go away.» Now comes the mind blowing moment — the barista tells us to LEAVE. «You get out, this is my store.» We both look incredulous. I ask the other staff person for a take away cup. The barista/​owner says «get out or I’ll call the police» and disappears into the back. We leave and look at each other stunned that this has just happened.
The coffee: Mine was strong but not tasty at all.
My mom’s: We ordered the EXACT SAME drink. Hers tastes super weak. We’re convinced the barista just ran the grounds for 4 shots. 1 portion of coffee grinds = 4 shots at Bru.
They have a couple pastries that look factory made. They had lemon tarts uncovered on a counter & unrefrigerated. As far as I know lemon curd has eggs in it and should be refrigerated.
The real insult is in how they treated us. Even writing this review I’m still stunned that this happened.