Little Nest

Oh.Oh.
This location is CLOSED???
I am surprise because I been there for like 3 years…
Always going there with my girlfriends who has children.
The food was organic and delicious.
At the time they was making their homemade ”Nutella” spread on a baguette
and it was a big hit for us and the kids.
I was giving the Lil Nest a 3 stars simply because the furniture was old and dusty…
You know the lil sink with oven and a fridge was cute but so old looking…
The fridge doors was gone and the books was half destroy…
I was about going there to meet my girlfriends and their kiddos mid June…
Well we will meet somewhere else on the Drive…
The Café Des Deux Soleil is family oriented but the food is so-​so…

Fun place for breakfast/​brunch on a weekend. Super kid friendly. There were lots of kids just playing with toys on the floor.
Food was good and service was decent.

Oh my gosh. The food here. Is SO good. It is really, just, really good. I wish I had a bigger vocabulary, just to write a better review for this place.
Kinda reminds me of a hippy breakfast joint in Olympia, fresh everything, amazing bread, great organic coffee, high prices, families abounding, hip neighborhood… well, I guess Canada reminds me of hippies anyway, fresh this, local that, it’s lovely. That’s the word you guys use, right, «lovely»?
Breakfast polenta, beluga lentils, salad. Other half had poached pears with brioche french toast. Both were AMAZING, and you had that, «I’m happy cause I’m eating something healthy» feeling, but, not like muesli (though, that had that too, homemade, of course).
I really like this place. It was expensive for breakfast, 2 entrees, 1 latte, and tip, think $ 40. Ouch. Still, sooooo good!
Thanks for listening!

I adore everything about Little Nest! It’s a fantastic go-​to spot for parents seeking good food and an environment where their kids can be kids without so much as a raised eyebrow. Highly recommended!

Stating that Little Nest is kid friendly, is somewhat of an understatement. If you have toddlers in tow and you want good food, look no further! I have never seen so many high chairs in one place in my life, and they all looked different! There is a little play area with toys for the kids while you wait to be seated, and there were mini chalkboard slates with chalk at the table. Plus, you actually get an alphabet block once you order your food (who needs a number for your table when you can have a block instead?)
I’m not really a kid person myself, but the food was so good, it didn’t even matter. I had one of their little mini cake/​muffins while we were waiting for our table, so I was a pretty happy camper. :) I had the vegetable soup (it may have been a special… I don’t quite recall), and the french toast was a real winner too. The sandwiches that my family ordered were really good as well.
We went during the weekend, and it was pretty busy, so you may have to wait a bit for your table, and parking looked like it could be a little troublesome, but to be fair, I’m not from the area, and it may have just been that day.

Wow! Amazing Brioche French Toast! Cool little joint just off Commercial Drive. Will definitely be back!

On a sunny warm (ish) day in October, my family and I were craving brunch before they left for Seattle. Most of the brunch places were closed by 2PM, but not Little Nest! Based on the stellar Unilocal!reviews, I decided to check it out.
First off, this place is a self-​seating venue, like a café where you order at the counter.
I had the brioche french toast with organic bananas, walnuts, and candied bacon (!!!). I really enjoyed the whole meal, but compared to the wholesome Little Nest breakfast, I felt a bit on the fat side. Everything tasted amazing, and I would even suggest to lighten up on the bananas and gimme more walnuts!
Ambiance was great. The kids/​families were non-​existent, and finding a spot by the window was easy. Service was polite and accommodating, and reminded us when we walked in that the kitchen closes in 10 minutes (at 3PM).
And my mom was impressed with the latte art on her chai latte. I don’t drink coffee but I heard it’s amazing here.
Definitely a little gem on the Drive. Worth at least one visit.

We were traveling with a friend from Seattle staying Downtown Vancouver and my friend said he had a treat for us for breakfast. Little did I know what we were in for. Kind of hard to find, but when we did there are no regrets. This place has THE BEST eggs I have ever put in my mouth. And I cook some mean eggs. We had three different things and all were incredible. I will definitely go back and would recommend you try. Kids everywhere but it is worth it…

Love this place! Yummy, high quality food from baked goods, fancy coffee, to wholesome breakfast for the young and old. Not ready for cous cous salad or eggs benny? Try the fruit fries or chicken noodle soup.
Love the crowded, yet cosy family feel but watch where you’re walking… little people are all over the place. Great amenities for the whole family, lovely staff, and just a great place to be. You certainly don’t need kids to enjoy the atmosphere.

This place definitely is not for everyone, WARNING, if your looking for a quiet place, quickly buy your things and go to the nearby park, this place is not for you. This place can get filled with families, or just mothers bringing their children here, and we are talking anywhere from 5 and younger (think screaming teradactyl), so if your not in the mood for children noise, take my advice, as the people here make some wicked food, take it to go, but if you can stand all of that, please stay and enjoy the atmosphere.
I have come here a few times, and if you can’t find this place, know that it is on Charles, a block in from Commercial. This place is very community driven, from all the postings on their wall of certain things that go on in this neighbourhood, to the clientele that comes in. Kids act like kids here, it’s chaotic yet somehow it works, kids running around while parent’s, or parent come with their friends to chill out, think of it like a double chill out. All too often you will see things like breast feeding happening right in front of you, of a kid with food drooling out of his/​her mouth, total normal things that happen here, if this is too much of a stretch for you again, I have given you warning.
This place serves some great breakfast options, and uses quality ingredients, and you can tell when you take a bite. The menu is on a huge blackboard hand written once you enter, with the bakery items as well. I usually come for the baked goods and I hope that I see the strawberry rhubarb square make a comeback (nudge, nudge now!) and I’ll be coming by every so often, I heard that’s a summer item — fair enough. Their other baked goods are solid also, having tried the pistachio cake this place is a winner.
In an odd rustic looking spot, this place lays, and on any given day you will see the very young play inside, whether on the floor or on their parents lap, watch your step is what I have to say, but if you are wanting to come here, I have warned you, and be prepared for some real find items from this place from a woman who knows something about good food. This place is very much a community type place, and if you have kids, don’t be scared to bring them here.

I had the scrambled eggs, cranberry toast and lentil. I’d give the food a 6.5 out of 10. I don’t mind the excessive number of kids. They were all well behaved.
I wanted easy over eggs but they do mostly scramble and to have the easy over would limit me to a smaller dish menu. I was hungry but the food flavour did not satisfy. Usually when I’m hungry almost anything tastes good.
The lentil tasted like a hippy’s sandal. I would like to give them a good review but based on the yum scale it failed. Little Nest concept is good but they need to improve on the food.

First of all– Disclaimer… I don’t have children. If I DID have children, I’d probably be giving this place an extra star or two. It’s really a fabulous restaurant to go for brunch or lunch with your gaggle of children. Well equipped with tons of oversized plastic dinosaurs and sharks, a miniature kitchen-​play area and more 1960’s vinyl highchairs than you could ever ask for.
The food? Well, it was alright. Fairly pricey (my french toast and mocha came to $ 20) and yummy. I feel like, though… Like Little Nest is trying just to bit too hard. Their menu is interesting, for sure. But Every item (from the ‘Little Nest Breakfast’ to the ‘Rice Pudding’) has just *so* much going on— Arugula on everything. Pistachios in everything. Creamed Goats Cheese Galore. Fig this. Persimmon That. UGHHHHH! I just want some fucking scrambled eggs with avocado!
Just tone it down a bit, Little Nest. We’ll still like you even if your your breakfast special doesn’t have 18 different items in it. Sometimes ‘less is more’ y’know?
Anyway. Little Nest is a cool place to go if you have some hipster friends that you need to impress… and it’s even COOLER to go if you have Hipster-​Friends-​With-​Kids to impress. Otherwise, you’ll probably find a comparably good (and cheaper) breakfast at about 500 other places on The Drive.
… Granted– no other place with have a 3ft long, squeak-​able brontosaurus at your table.

All right;
What do I do with you? You are into 18 months, not talking –yet-​, do not smoke, do not drink… I can’t take you to the bar, you are small in size, they would step on you, so it would be a bar fight. And can’t leave at the coat check, cos you are very capable of soiling yourself, not fair to the coat girl… You need company, I need breakfast; I will take you to the place where, like Jim said, ”all the children are insane…” Let’s take the laptop and the wild turkey out of the backpack and load with diapers and such. Little Nest here we come…
As soon as you step in, that genuine café warmness grasps you, looks like the cafes in movie sets. It is not modern, it is not sleek, there is not a pretentious prick brewing and telling you how to sip your coffee with an awful new age playing in the back ground.
Little Nest is a real café. Baked goods, tasty simple breakfasts, decent coffee, smiley people, kids running around, and if it is raining outside with an option of Tom Waits in your headphones, I would not rather be anywhere else sipping on a coffee, thinking where all those years went by.
I had the Little Nest breakfast with a muffin and an Americano. Over all great tasting food, every bit on the plate has some love and some ”little nest” to it. Their display, their plates, their mugs, their kitchen, their staff looks, feels and sounds like ”Little Nest”. Almost a perfect harmony going on. People say it is pricey, but you know what, good things cost, every single penny in this case. If they are getting out of bed at that hour and setting this beautiful thing up everyday, consistently, yes mam, you are going to pay a bit more.
A little confession; watching the children play is the only time I entertain the idea of being a vegetarian, and how funny it is that we associate it with ”being a better person…” It is amazing how primitive, instinctual, simple and straight forward they are, which we all were at some point and somehow lost it along the way.
On a second note, I like meat. Just forget all I said.
Awesome job Little Nest.

Too successful for it’s own good?
Tough to rate this place because it is geared specifically for families with infants, toddlers, up to ~5 year olds.
Rustic set up, worn wooden floors, retro furniture, and highchairs. There is a communal table in the middle of the room. There is even an elementary grade school desk in the play area.
Pros:
Great for kids with the play area
Food is excellent
Reasonably priced
Cons:
Can get noisy
Floors are messy with food droppings
The communal table can be a mess
To be fair, the cons come with the territory of kids. So the cons are more «observations» rather than «cons» per se.
The breakfast that I had was excellent. None of the processed crap that you get elsewhere. Even if you are eating a «clean diet», no worries here. The bread I got was multigrain, with real butter, and the sausage was cured chorizo. Chorizo, the way it should be. No blood insulin spike will be caused with this meal.

Always give props to these neighbourhood places, esp. on the drive.
went there just on a saturday for their one day only, famous french toast, and def lived up to its name. Whipped cream, plenty of candied pecans, peaches, and for sure fluffy bread…
But an extra bonus was the baguette bread – absolutely superb. multigrain, the right crunchiness, so so fresh, you can just smell the aroma up your nostrils thru every bite… and spread w/​the right touch of butter…

Great place for family brunch.
Portions are just right.

Little Nest may be the coolest and tastiest community service project ever.
Its a café sure, but its a café full of babies, kids, strollers and families, singletons, middle aged couples and octogenarians, It also has some of the some of the tastiest, freshest and well-​crafted breakfasts in Vancouver.
While noise levels were very loud (on a Monday, so they must be doing something right) with all the kids playing in the large play area & the crowds, this cozy café is tucked on a shady side street off the Drive, Little Nest is impressively serving up simple, innovative ingredients that make for a relaxed and enjoyable brunch.
Highlights:
*Brioche French Toast with tropical fruit salad, passionfruit curd, whipped cream, toasted coconut and maple syrup. (Kid’s version w/​bananas, just $ 5.)
*Scrambled eggs, pea risotto w/​roasted zucchini, asparagus, roma tomatos, red onions and parsley, sunflower seed pesto & toasted homemade cranberry, orange, cardamom baguette.
*Poached eggs, baked polenta, black bean and vegetable stew, roast tomato salsa, queso fresco, cilantro chipotle relish with toasted pumpkin seeds & toasted homemade cranberry, orange cardamom baguette.
*Free range organic eggs that are so farm fresh they scramble up orange. (If you’ve had farm fresh eggs, you know what I mean.)
*Homemade breads. Fresh made jams: fig and rosemary, lemon curd, and apricot and orange blossom.
*Perfect soy lattes with thick crema.
Man, I love this place.

Big big fan!
Went today on a Sunday quite late in the afternoon (2pm) and it was fairly empty so scored great seats outside. It’s rare to get patio seating in Vancouver where the street’s actual QUIET for once!
My companion and I split the french toast brioche with whipped mascarpone, berries and peaches and the Little Nest special of scrambled eggs, ratatouille, baguette and polenta. Both were AMAZING. Fresh ingredients and presentation was very appealing. I regretted splitting and wished I could’ve had the french toast all to myself!
Their baked goods by the counter also looked amazing. The whole place just had a very friendly relaxed vibe. They’re very geared towards being ‘kid friendly’ so I can’t comment on how noisy it’d be right at the peak hours of brunch. Although based on my experience today, I would come back again and again.

Not sure if there’s anything more I can add to all the glowing reviews. Yes, I also loved the homey interior, the retro décor, the open kitchen, and the menu on the chalkboard. Yes, this place is extremely kids friendly –lots of spaces between tables for strollers, a big play area in the back, and several items on the menu have «kids’ size» at a cheaper price. (Everybody had a fashionable toddler in tow that we felt a little left out and wanted to kidnap one!) And yes, the food is salivating, scrumptious, satisfying! The Little Nest breakfast is simple but crunchy polenta + pesto purée + goat cheese = heaven. The French toast rivals the one at Burgoo which I adore.
Food: 4*
Ambiance: 4.5* (breakfast & a show — the kids are so adorable to watch; free entertainment!)
Service: 3* (no table service. Order up front but they will bring the food to your table)
Value: 4* (because the french toast is massive!)

All the elements here make a pretty perfect brunch place. The large windows, the wide open space, the communal table, a chalkboard menu (with changing items daily), and the retro wallpaper and furniture completes it. Did I mention that it was super kid/​stroller friendly?
Their menu is simple, and their ingredients are local and organic. Order and pay up front, and help yourself to water.
We shared the Little Nest Breakfast, with scrambled eggs, baked polenta, caramelized pearl onion, roasted portabellini mushrooms and herb goat’s cheese with pesto, and a toasted baguette. The polenta with the pesto and goat cheese was quite delcious. Eggs were creamy, but they ran out of the apricot almond baguette.
The brioche french toast was the highlight. Soft, sweet bread, with smooth cinnamon mascarpone cream, bananas and walnuts. Soo good. With every bite, all the different textures and flavours simply worked perfectly. Ethical bean coffee is served here, and I got a large latte (which was very large!) and it was great too.
Watching such cute kids roam around the restaurant was simply too good of entertainment as we enjoyed our brunch.