First Look: Crema Coffee

I've been to Crema numerous times since it opened. It's definitely the best, and my favorite cafe in the area. All the coffee is high quality and the staff are the nicest people ever.

5 stars!

I'm pretty sure the "sensibilities" of the junction are still best played to by Coffee Time.

the last time i went, they ran out of cup lids. and the staff was snarky. maybe they missed their morning brew?

They use Vancouver's 49th Parallel Coffee. It's a nice space, but compared to Ideal or Cherry Bomb, the coffee is slightly overpriced. An Americano should be $2, especially considering the size they give you (rather small.) Basically, they need to lower prices by about $.75-$1.00 for all their drinks. Why? It's the Junction, and we're used to being cheap.

Well I think in the instance of serving a far superior quality product, sourced from superior roasters, and farms, made expertly by superior baristas, in a superior space, with superior equipment, the price they charge seems more than reasonable.

And in the interests of NOT watering down your Americano, you're better off with a smaller size.

In fact, at $2 or less, an Americano is likely to be a waste of your money, or a waste of time for any cafe actually serving a quality product.

It's time people recognize the difference in quality, and pay accordingly.
You wouldn't complain that a Bymark burger was "too expensive, given the size", because you could get 3 Baconaters for the same price now....would you?

Crema is cheaper than most cafe's in T.O.
You have the option of a fresh "brewed" coffee, made to order, at any time throughout the day. Something else that you can't get any the vast majority of cafes in Toronto.
Using one of North Americas leading roasters, there's no doubting the quality and alot more money is going directly to the coffee farms through the direct trading agreements.

Hi Zidud,
I am the owner of Crema. Firstly, I'd like to apologize that your experience at Crema was so disappointing. If you've been several times and have had this same experience I am quite concerned. If you've been in on one of our busy days (Saturdays or Sundays), we do tend to rush the line bit as we don't like to keep people waiting for their drinks. I do remind the staff to greet customers and make eye contact at all times, but sometimes the niceties get forgotten in these busy times. That said I still would like to know when you were in and who you were served by. If you can reply to me personally or give me your email address I'd greatly appreciate it.

Hi Zidud,
Can you give me a call at the cafe and leave a message with your number and/or email and I will get back to you. The number is on the web site.
Thanks,

Great atmosphere! it's places like this that are making the Junction get better and better! My only complaint is that the last time I was there it was a bit messy ... the garbage container was overflowing. Staff need to pay better attention to cleanliness. But that's a fixable problem.

Overall, a great coffee shop. The Junction rocks!!

I've just begun to work for this coffee shop that takes it's major product seriously! The owner is top notch; he trains the staff intensely, invests in some of the best coffee and espresso making products/machines and sincerely values his customers and their opinions. I'm so proud to work for Crema!
Also wanted to update that there's a new patio, perfect for summer lounging.

Clearly we cannot make you happy Zidud. We work our butts off to provide our customers with the best coffee and service we can.
I don't understand, if we're so terrible why do you keep coming in?
If you can find a better latte in the city I suggest you go there.
Good luck!

Wow.
This is unbelieveable! The owner of a business arguing with a customer online. As a demonstration of customer service attitude, this clearly supports all the negative comments about staff. If the owner behaves like this, why would anyone expect anything different from the staff? He even has his staff shilling for him.
This place is overpriced, the staff have a bad attitude and, worst in my opinion, it is pretentious.

Kudos to Geoff and Crema for providing the only coffee experience I've had during my 14 years in Toronto that compares in quality and courteousness to what I've found in Seattle (Vivace and Caffe Vita level, even!). I'm new to the neighbourhood, and have found every member of your staff consistently friendly and professional. Love the space, love what you're doing. Much thanks!

Geof. I was a store manager for 9 years. Here is what I'm picking up from these postings.
You are self-controled and cool until you lose it. And then you allow yourself the luxury of flying off the handle. You can't do that!!. Because you do it, your staff have picked up your habit.
It starts at the top.

"""Clearly we cannot make you happy Zidud. We work our butts off to provide our customers with the best coffee and service we can.
I don't understand, if we're so terrible why do you keep coming in?
If you can find a better latte in the city I suggest you go there.
Good luck!"""

This is petty and rude. More suitable from a manager would be, "I'm sorry that we have not been able to satisfy you thus far. When you next come to our cafe, I hope you'll intruduce yourself and the coffee, which I will oversee myself will be free. It's important to us that all our customers have a good experience and if there is something that we are not doing we need to fix it. Thank you for your comments and the interest you have taken in our business" (or words to that affect. In other words; no haughtiness, Treat the customer as you would a friend. All be it a difficult friend. )Try any means to keep that customer happy, as sometimes the nasty ones are the ones that become your best customers. If he becomes a good customer, good. If not, at least you've left him with nothing more to say about the cafe than that the staff are ALWAYS polite and curteous. And the staff will see that the manager means that as a policy of the business.

I agree with Drew. Being a longtime resident of the Junction my first time in Crema was during the Junction Arts Festival due to the fact that they close at 7pm. Even if you stayed open on Friday nights I believe you would see some new faces whom would quickly become regular customers. I also have to say that your cappuccino was definitely one of the beat I've ever had! Great place,just wish it had longer weekend evening hours.

Voting yes to Crema staying open later Fridays and Saturdays.

John: comparisons to Seattle happen to be coming from a former Seattlite barista. So, actually, it's a fair and informed comparison -- and a number of people, online and off, seem to agree. What's childish is random internet mud-slinging.

Every place, regardless of how much its customer base might love it, will have its haters, too. Why the haters and the lovers, both, seem all too often to waste their time and energy hating on each other merely for having a differing viewpoint is utterly beyond me.

Wow, lots of great feedback, thank you so much!

Firstly, I'd like to respond to Jill. I think that you were probably right, I did not need to react to Zidud that way. It was not necessary & certainly not professional. I simply lost my cool. I'm now reasonably certain Zidud was a former employee who was fired some time ago. I'll leave it at that.

Staff has definitely changed over the past couple months, but I think most of our regulars would agree that service and quality are better than ever. I certainly notice a huge change in the overall energy and vibe of the cafe. Just this morning I worked a very busy shift and I had such a blast with the staff and the customers. If I'm relaxed and enjoying myself, believe me, things are going well.

As for staying open late. We would love to do this at some point. Currently I am striving for late hours beginning in the spring or early summer 2010. I know the Beet and some other establishments on the strip stay open late, but keep in mind, they sell beer! We don't have a liquor license and we won't be getting one. It's just not part of the business plan, sorry folks!

Thanks to everyone for all your positive and negative feedback. I really do appreciate it. We know we're not going to make everyone happy but we can certainly try our best. Thank you.

Wow! What a lot of comments! Unfortunately, you've all made a BIG oversight:

I stopped in at Crema the other the other day and I was amazed at how CUTE their staff was. There were two guys working behind the bar (both looking a little on the scruffy side, i must say) and I was a bit overwhelmed! The super-cute one (John or Jim, I think) made me the best decaf soy chai I've had in a LONG time!

Kudos to Crema. Keep up the good work!

Indeed. Geoff may be running his ramshakle business into the ground by not heeding the advice of anonymous members in the comment section of a blog BUT he does know how to hire sexy, hip and intelligent staff members.

Two very different cafes

If you visit Crema in the late afternoon you will find interesting and interested baristas dispensing sweet, golden, caffeinated nectar, the likes of which cannot be found anywhere else. The music is relaxed and atmospheric and you can count on getting a nice, cozy seat great for catching up with a friend or reading.

If you happen to need caffeine in the morning (and who doesn’t), well, that’s a different story. First, you will need to allot some time for standing in line, and if you get a seat consider yourself lucky (they’re busy, good for them – not much we can do about that). Customer service, yes, much better than it was in the spring and better than most establishments in the city, but pales next to the usual afternoon crew. The music is loud and the baristas are usually rocking out clearly enjoying the music they are playing for their own benefit while the customers are yelling at each other instead of having conversations. What breaks my heart the most is this: that sweet, golden brew which can’t be found anywhere, well, it can’t be found here either. The espresso at this time of day is kinda bitter and sour. Is it the baristas? Is the machine unhappy with the mass volume of coffee? I can't figure this out. But it is disappointing that the cafe I love to visit in the PM doesn't really exist in the AM. …oh well.

Crema, I wish you were open right now so I could be ther instead of this starbucks that smells like a porta potty.

While I love espresso, I'm really digging the drip right now. Think it was the best African bean I've tasted around town so far. Also treated myself to a clover the other day, which was also nice. The staff here are great, no attitude, and I like that this place is not Nice to see a place doing its own thing (so many cafes in Toronto just seem to be copies of each other - using the same beans, etc.) and still really succeeding.

Hi all,
I think what is getting lost in all of these positive/negative postings is that not everyone should love Crema. We are not robots, right? That being said, I am desperate for the new place to open up on Annette. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I have lived in the Junction for 20 years and I have waited patiently for this day: the day that I could sit and have a great cup of coffee in a supercool cafe. The day that I could go to the coolest bar in town (The Troubadour) and buy great organic food (Sweet Potato).
I am so sorry to say Geoff, that Crema is just not living up to my expectations and to be honest I think why so many people "LOVE" Crema is that you are the "only place in town" at the moment. People have been waiting so long that they are willing to put up with snot-nosed, ok RUDE, barristas for a good cup of coffee. Yes, the coffe is good, but it is hit or miss and you don't get your money back when they miss, they just offer to make another one. If you don't know how to make a good cap at 3:00 o'clock what has changed by 3:10? You're still a bad coffee-maker, right? Can I just have my money back? But you get a look, a sort-of non-look and, I just shrug my shoulders and walk away. I have personally had 6 caps and about 3 teas from Crema and I won't complain. I stopped buying coffee for myself about a year ago and am forced to go into to get coffee for my Mum and/or brother. (sort of payment for watching my kids if I go shopping etc.) Extra money for a soy cap is just insulting. The cost of soy is not that much greater than cow's milk...suck it up Geoff and don't make the lactose intolerant of the world pay more. It's just bad business. get more scones et all. Because if I am ordered to buy a scone or some sort of sweet and you don't have any, I really just feel like not ordering.
Sorry this post is so long. I think that's it. And don't bother replying Geoff. I'm done. You'll never get me back. You're as snotty as the staff on some days. Yes, everyone has good and bad days, but you chose customer service. It's called acting!

I love the coffee at Crema, and the staff. I've never had a bad experience there. Except like a comment below, I had to go to the east side to buy some of the coffee I wanted. And it was damn good from a local roaster. Keep up what you're doing Geoff. Your staff are great.

I was very disappointed to learn that they moved their Clover machine to their new location at Yonge/Bloor. That was the only real draw to Crema for me.

Yikes....easy on the sarcastic anger....and I have the negative attitude? I happen to like great coffee AND great service. Sorry. I find that quite nicely at Good Neighbour and Birds and Bees in Mimico. I am a happy positive person Neene. You might want to take a moment of self-reflection. You’re just the kind of person one might bump into while waiting endlessly for a coffee at Crema!

best coffee in the city...great service...so glad you guys are here.

I am a barista at one of the best coffee places in Toronto that will remain unnamed. My biggest issue is that people come in who have little to no knowledge about coffee. They expect something instead of embracing what the business is trying to offer. Coffee is an experience, it's not just something to sip on to get you going in the morning. Don't complain if you don't know what the fuck you are talking about, I can't tell you how many Starbuckers/Tim Hortoners/Coffee Timers who have fought with me at my bar about my coffee when I have been through years of training, retreats to coffee growers, and traveled worldwide to simple study the art of it. Customers that don't know what they're talking about CANNOT be right, and managers in that position should not be forced to caress these peoples' unreasonable expectations. I am rude to customers who are rude to me, you reap what you sow.

Not sure why my post to Kyle/Nancy, who I am pretty sure are the same people, did not get posted.....but Tiki, holy smokes! Are you bang on with this post? Until there is at least a diploma program attached to the job....profession???

There's certainly nothing wrong with elevating one's occupation to that of a professional.
If you treat people as professionals they will act like professionals. No one said catering to Latte-Moms was a walk in the park.

To Zoe and Diana:
It usually requires some sort of outside certification to be considered a professional, Zoe. And the barristas at Crema will certainly never get that from me.

Diana,
I am so sorry that you had this experience. If you're talking about the girl with the mohawk...oh ya she's a piece of work. Not sure how she keeps this job. Good mood one day and a bitch the next. If you want to be certified in anything, how about getting a certification in customer service. Even if you're in a bad mood, you have to smile and suck it up. Latte Moms or not...that's the job you took.


But hey, have no fear Starbucks will be open soon and Geoff will see just how fragile his business is and then perhaps he will go out and get some better staff. Because whatever you want to say about Starbucks I have never had a bad customer service experience. They are trained well.

Worst place ever. Rude staff, noise place, unconfotabe, poor design.
The girlwith the mohawk is the worst ever.Today, she crossed in front of me while I was ordering, opened a service door againt my face and not even said excuse me or sorry...minutes late she hit me from behind, almost lost my coffee and again not one single word. I will never go back there. Coffee time has a better service.Tired of those clubers boutiques.

By the way, this environmental thing sucks.300 soccer ball fields are cut in Amazon every day and yourcoffee shop cant do nothing to stop it. Get a life.

After running my own restaurant for 24 years, I have become aquainted with both the customer and staff side of problems. The owner's problems are a combination of both.
I grew up in the Junction area (St. Clair, Keele, Rogers Rd. etc.... and spent a lot of time in the old Junction Restaurant. I'll visit this coffee shop and make some notes for myself which may at some point help both sides of the controversy.
My policy is to look at these problems and report "without prejudice".

Until then,
Benny