Sam James Coffee Bar

This is my favorite coffee shop in toronto. the location is amazing, i wish i could spend more time in it. Super narrow, tall space located next to stüssy. The latte is out of this world, the iced coffee is pretty decent as well.
magnetic tip plate is fun!
Sad to hear that it’ll be leaving soon :(

Consistently good coffee, fast service, non pretentious friendly staff with a community mentality… really nice change for the queen street vibe.

When I came in to visit again, I was thinking of getting one of the pop tarts until I noticed that there were wasps flying around the display of baked goods. I was told that there was nothing that can be done about the wasps. How appetizing. At least their iced mocha was really good!

Had a latte. Was perfect. Place is decorated like a rappers mansion though. Just bare walls.

love all the SJCB, this one is closest to home. i love that they offer almond milk as an option. drinks are always solid and the baristas are always friendly and cool.

Discreet SJCB sign = pretty easy to miss this spot if you’re not looking for it. As expected, the Americano has fantastic crema and the coffee is solid.
Annoyed at the cheap lids on their cups– occasional spillage was unavoidable.
Unfortunately, weekend service was standoffish (was the only customer there, 2:30pm on a Saturday afternoon). Would not go out of my way to visit this location– the PATH location is far superior.

I’m surprised that I’m reviewing this place now and haven’t yet already. To start this is without a doubt the best coffee chain in TO. Pricing is very fair for coffee, for flavourful coffee. Definitely grab and go coffee shop since this location it’s super tiny shop with the only seating being a few steps on the shop. It’s my new fave for a grab and go coffee be heading to streetcar or OSS bus. It’s tucked beside the clothing shop on queen so it can be hard to find, but it’s worth checking out.

Great coffee, cool space.
Fast efficient service. Coffee was fantastic. I really like the design of the space. The «bleachers» are such a good idea.

So much hype about this place.
Definitely not the place for drip coffee (very acidic and too darkly roasted for my tastes.) They do a decent job with their espresso based drinks but I’ve had a few times where my shot was a bit off (staff are friendly though and they’re always happy to hear the feedback.) Still, you’ll get a better and fresher drink at Crafted up the street.

is it just me or do their americanos smell/​taste like toast?
good though

This place is hidden! Been searching for this place for a long time, driving by or walking, where is it? Even when you look for it, address says on queen, but don’t see anything.
Finally, one night taking bus down ossington, I see this odd space behind stussy and i think, what is that, some private place for stussy staff?
And then thinking another morning, really want to find this place, look at the picture and it clicks. It’s that place behind stussy.
Get to the door, no sign, no frills, just bare walls and a counter at the end. Order a cappuccino which is really good. Want to eat something, look at their bare selection of baked goods. Then I sit on the cement steps on one side and feel this warmth. These steps are heated! Genius!
While the coffee is one of best on ossington, wish they had better presentation on the baked goods, as well as if they come from somewhere closer. They come from a place near yonge and Lawrence says the barista.

Oh baby baby I’m in loooooooove.
Interior, coffee & overall vibes are spot on. The space is super modern with grey concrete, crazy tall ceilings and long steps as seating. More grab and go or casual. Not exactly somewhere to park it and stay a while. The location is perfectly placed on a block of great shops to spend your hard earned dollar dollar bills.

Best espresso in the Ossington strip.

My coffee go-​to spot in Toronto. Simple and minimalistic.
But the service could be faster, at least the staff looks good preparing coffee.

Minimalism décor and high vaulted ceiling make this narrow coffee bar interesting and spacious.
Cappuccino is a thumbs up.