Press Cafe & Bistro

It’s kind of cool to have a coffee bar with hookahs now on Whyte Ave. It seems like the kind of thing that should have been a long time coming, don’t ya think?
It’s a pretty large coffee shop, and although it was empty when I went in, I didn’t read much into it. There’s kind of a lot of competition for coffee on Whyte.
The owner was nice and our drinks were hot. I might try some of the food next time. My caffeine partner and I grabbed the couches near the front. What I did like was the spread of magazines on the coffee table in front of us — very homey :)
Nothing too good or bad to say about this place so I’ll throw up a 4-​star. If I’m *Pressed* for time and need a caffeine fix, I’ll visit again.

Press Café is a new café that’s opened up on the 108^th street block of Whyte Ave. It replaces the Scottish Imports store. It’s a nice little café that has the hookah charm added to it for a more complex feel. Owned and run by an Egyptian, who is extremely friendly and courteous, the café offers an alternate coffee spot for tired shoppers in the Whyte Ave area.
Although, I like the idea of a decent coffee shop on Whyte Ave, don’t we have enough already? Well, this café does have its unique quirks such as serving coffee on the press and having hookahs along with a good ol’ collection of espresso based drinks and some traditional café fare. Also, they’ve got a decent collection of loose tea (at least six different varieties), which is always great! They also sell different types of Illy coffee and perhaps even some of their loose tea (not sure of the latter), for people who are looking to buy stuff for their home.
The ambience is decent. It’s spacious and spread out. Very basic and café like. Non-​confrontational furniture and an inviting atmosphere with soft music in the background. They also have a few books lying on this sort of large coffee table. I could see people easily spending an hour or two at this place. Unfortunately, though, every time I’ve walked passed it — it seems empty!
Now the downside. I do hope they do well and all, but I feel that the place has good expensive instruments but lacks the knowledge required to serve up a good cup of coffee. With so many coffee and tea places within 5 – 10 min walk from here (Kopios, Steeps tea, Transcend coffee, De Capo, Leva, two Starbucks, two Second Cups and two Timmys) and not forgetting the middle eastern presence on Whyte, in terms of food, and of course the established breakfasty places like Friends & Neighbors café among others, I think this place has a real tough competition and it will be interesting to see if they get better and a lot more innovating in their style as time goes by.
I would suggest this place for a break from the rest — but I wouldn’t see myself becoming a regular here. Try it out!