Calhoun’s Bakery Cafe

Great study /​work place. There were a ton of students and people with laptops and earphones plugged in, as well some people who were chatting casually. The atmosphere feels warm and cozy, which is something nice and easy to settle in to. I really liked their wooden tables and how they used different chairs (compared to normal eateries that have the same chairs, this place featured different sets of chairs, which is interesting).
There are a variety of food and beverage options! From pizza to baked goods to ice cream, they have an interesting assortment of food. Unfortunately I didn’t order anything, so I can’t really comment on the quality of the food — but it seemed tasty enough.
Overall, I would recommend trying out this place.

Great place to go study! Open ²⁴⁄₇ and lots of dessert options. I had the blueberry cheesecake square but it was a bit too sweet for me. They have foosball too :)

The ultimate study haven.
I’ve walked pass this place several times over the years but only since I’ve returned to school have I found myself frequenting it. All university students can appreciate for a 24 hour coffee/​bakery shop that features free Wi-​Fi and large enough tables to spread out all your books, notes and laptop. Yes, I’m one of those people you see in there with a pile of textbooks and a large caffeine beverage or five beverages, depending on how far along in the evening’s studying efforts you catch me. Although you might not be able to pick me out from the crowd as it seems every table in the place features the same study scene.
My favourite thing to order here is the chai latte. It has a sharp spiciness that is pleasant and it helps me study, at least that is what I like to tell myself. There are also various food options available such as salads, comfort food and baked goods.
Although the tables are ideal for studying, the chairs are not the most comfortable. They are cottage styled, wooden chairs which match the cabin feeling of the décor.
If you’re looking for a date spot or fine dining, then this is not the place for you. However, if you’re looking for a place to pull an all nighter of studying or meet up with your school mates, then this is it.

wow, excellent… first time been there last week.
i thought it was excellent. will be back.

If you ever want to chill with friends and want to grab a drink or hungry late at night, then Calhoun’s is for you! Their beverage menu includes coffee, tea, hot chocolate etc and simple beers. I always go there if i’m still hungry or craving for some carbs late at night. Their menu includes: salads, perogies, lasagna, pizza etc. Quality of food and drinks is normal and price range is fair. The spacious place has lots of tables and chairs, ideal for students who want to pull an all nighter with their ipad and laptop as free WiFi is available. The only thing is i wish their chairs can be a bit more comfortable and I don’t mind the old tables. Street parking available.

My friends love this place the sour dough is really sour. And the sandwich is really made of whole grain or should I say 7 grain wheat bread. But again to me this place is not so great probably because I don’t like sour dough being sour or because I just don’t like their famous 7 grain wheat bread. I do find their sandwich a bit dry. This place opens quite late and yes because of its location there are lots of students there. It’s a student hang out place.

Stopped by for a London fog latte with almond milk… very disappointed… pretty sure the barista did not know how to make a London fog latte. The almond milk was not steamed enough so it was room temperature and he did not steep the tea long enough, I basically paid $ 5 for warm milk with a couple drops of vanilla flavouring. You could not taste the earl grey tea at all… I threw it out after a couple sips. If I had more time I would have gone back and asked them to remake it.
They do have soy and almond milk available for those who need alternatives. The place is always busy but I think they go for the coffee. They brew reciprocate coffee which is very good and the coffee cups are huge so you won’t need to pay for a refill during your stay.
Might give this place another chance, probably just stick to coffee and they had a dessert selection that looked very delicious :)

It’s large and spacious and you can always count on going to Calhoons for late night needs.
At a nit pickly level, the lighting sucks. It’s just not comfortable lighting condusive to study or conversation or anything. The chairs aren’t comfortable at all. But for a place to hang, it’s just fine.
Sometimes it’s a bit noisy with bad music, but overall, it’s a good place.
The wireless internet is reliable and is fair for the purchase. I think you get three hours or so with each code. I always have extra codes from all the stuff that I buy.
I really do wish that they had better food choices, but it’s good overall.

Good place to get work done alone or in groups. Wide open space, plenty of tables, and ²⁴⁄₇ unlike the rest of Kits and UBC which seems to all shut down by 6 PM. Good selection of cookies, sandwiches, and pastries.
Men’s restroom was really gross though with a huge puddle by the toilet.
Also their coffee isn’t great and their tea options consist of teabags and their iced tea selection consists of snapple. C’mon it’s not that hard to find a decent sourcer and provide quality beverages and fix up /​renovate the bathroom!

I was in the area with half an hour to kill and dropped in for a coffee, and talked myself into one of their raspberry oatmeal squares. WOW was it good! This place is now on my goto list, I’m going to have to try some more of the menu! Wifi is free — if you buy something, but not that fast — 2Mpbs.

I wish I could give a full review based on service and food, but sadly there was never any food or coffee to be had. I consider myself a fairly patient person and have waited in many long line-​ups to just get a cup of joe or grab a quick snack. However, my patience has limits… take this past Monday when I went into Calhoun’s to get a coffee and a snack. I went up to the till to place my order, but I was met with, «I’ll be back in a minute.» Okay, fair enough, so I waited, and I waited, and I waited… I could see that she was busy making sandwiches down at the other end, so I gave up and went to Starbucks. Really Calhoun’s? You have one person working when it’s close to lunch time?
So that’s it, my one star is for Calhoun’s inability to serve me a coffee.

This place is extra grimy — go here if you are a desperate student needing to find a place to write a paper with bad coffee. Even so, the grave-​yard staff is a little strange and quite rude, but they generally keep to themselves.
The manager is extremely rude, and I find that stems from feeling quite disenfranchised in having a 24 hour coffee shop and not having enough money to pay for the labour it costs to get people to work these hours, keeping food quality at minimal standard, and having students who park there for hours on end.
My worst experience was the one time I came to study with my giant Starbucks water cup, and he thought I had brought in outside food and tried to kick me out. He said he knew exactly who I was, «that student that comes here for hours and doesn’t buy anything.» However, he had it wrong because I have only been there three times in 2014 and I have not gone back since that horrible incident. It became obvious that he was an absolute lunatic and I was a manifestation of everything he hated about his own business.
In terms of these glorious outlets that everyone talks about, it’s really not like that. You have to fight over the power bar, and students have actually approached you after they have noticed the green light on your apple computer go on to plug their computer in. As well, because there are many students and that all-​nighter feel, there is lots of talking here and there that makes it hard to concentrate. Finally, wi-​fi is not free. You have to buy something every three hours.
I do not recommend this place. I would much rather stay at Buchanan all night than go to Calhouns. Go to the IT area in Buch C and get your student card upgraded to an after hours pass and pull an all nighter in the cozy computer lab. However, if you’re an undergrad, it wouldn’t hurt to hit up Calhouns a couple times just to get the full UBC undergrad experience.

It’s the perfect place if you are pulling an all-​nighter, maybe the best close to the UBC area. I have tried out quite a few other places nearby and so far this is the only one I went back to. With lots of power outlets and many desks, this place looks very welcoming for someone who’d like a coffee/​snack place to work from. Depending on exam seasons, this place might be super crowded, but mostly very quiet; most of these people will be working on their laptops or or on their homework on paper.
The coffees are decent, but the food seemed a bit on the pricey side given the quality.

The era of Calhoun’s is over. This place was cool in the 90s, and kind of the immediate next step in the evolution of Vancouver, over the counter food after the Bread Garden. In fact, the food really was, and is, like that,. not super fresh, a bit dried out and ready to microwave.
That isn’t to say that there aren’t some tasty items (especially the desserts) and that the room does not still have some appeal aesthetically. However, you won’t be able to stick around to enjoy those few pluses,. why? Because Calhouns is a UBC study haunt for people that somehow can study in loud, crowded places. Not only is there someone at every single table with a laptop,. they mostly have Macs which as everyone knows is highly correlated with douche-​baggery. Don’t believe me? Take a look, the ones with Macs are the ones that took over tables that would seat 4 or more while the MS systems tend to only take up 2 seat tables,…
If you worked in the area, I still think this place would be ok for lunch and free wifi,… to go. I have a hard time letting go of fond memories from the 90s.

Joining the 3pm knitting group on a Sunday afternoon I found tables haphazardly and narrowly placed amongst a floor maze of extension cords and device power adapters. The only way to join the current table of 5 or 6 would be to muscle any extra chair I may lay claim to (none in the vicinity) and Tarzan it over my head like a pirate carting over prized loot. Did I mention the high backed chairs? Yeah once I read the situation I promptly left. I’m perfectly fine with crowds and cramped spaces but am not so with the potential to hurt myself or someone else in order to simply sit with gals I know. Oh well. Back to elsewhere

After eating at the Banana Leaf in Kitslano, we went to study at Calhoun’s Bakery. This nice venue is open 24 hours a day and has a great vintage atmosphere. The only thing that somewhat bothered me was that the bathrooms had a little bit of stink to them. Sitting close to the bathroom, the smell of dirty bathrooms slowly creeped up my sensitive nose. However, it wasn’t all that bearable but it is something Calhoun’s Bakery can improve on.
We ordered a tiramisu, mocha, and a double shot espresso. They were all nicely made. The tiramisu was soft and moist. The cream in the middle lathered my tastebuds with joy. The mocha was pretty decent too. It tasted like a mocha from starbucks… Finally, the espresso was smoother here than it was at other cafes. It was okay but the espresso tasted a little empty here in my opinion.
Overall, Calhoun’s Bakery is a great place to study at if you are pulling an all-​nighter. It is conveniently located only 20 minutes away from UBC which probably makes it a hot spot for UBC students.

The food is okay, the pastries decent, the coffee actually pretty good, the service indifferent (which is normal for Vancouver) so why does Calhoun’s get three stars?
Because it’s one of the few remaining 24 hour places left in the city. There used to be plenty, a Bread Garden on every corner, most Blenz locations downtown, The Grind on Main, Bean Around the World on Main… and now we’re reduced to a few sketchy Blenz and Wave locations and Calhouns. It’s enough to drive an insomniac to sleep.
So even though I have to push a few annoying first year UBC philosophy students out of the way to get a table at 4am, at least with Calhouns I still have the option.
Plus it’s big, a plus for maintaining anonymity whilst penning your most recent heartbreaking work of staggering genius (yes I know that’s David Egger’s line… he owes me money).

Pros: Good place to work on group projects or to study. Spacious café with tons of tables and they are open 24 hours.
Cons: Don’t expect much for service, iced drinks seem a bit overpriced for the quality or maybe I’m just too picky when it comes to iced coffee.
Service charge on debit/​credit for transactions under $ 5.

Great place for comfy, casual, late-​night bites.
I decided to try and be ‘healthy’ and get the gluten&egg free brownie. It looked really dense, almost solid through the glass case. It’s about the ‘average’ brownie size– sorry, no exact dimensions here!
I asked them to heat it up (microwave) and they did that which was cool. Including tax, the brownie was about $ 5. I’m glad I tried it because it was moist, and surprisingly not hard as rock, which was what I was expecting. I think I even liked it more than regular brownies! I will definitely get this again. I was really pleased with the brownie and I asked a worker where Calhoun’s got the brownies from, and she said the café made them.

Came here for a beer. Yes, they do serve here.
Parking is available on the side streets, or on Broadway for free after 2200.
The inside is «bare hipster», which means lots of mismatched vintage tables and chairs, some of which are wobbly.
This place is completely flooded by students most days, so even though the place is full, it’s pretty quiet as everyone has their headphones on and is staring at their laptop screens.
Drinks are a bit pricey here, but there isn’t too much other selection in the area.