Greater Sudbury coffee shops
There are a number local premium coffee shops in Sudbury.
A selection of pastries at Beards Bakery and Coffee Bar.
It’s not surprising that Greater Sudbury has 21 Tim Horton and four Country Style locations. They are the largest and third largest coffee shop chains in Canada.
Starbucks, the second largest chain in Canada, has three outlets in Sudbury; one in New Sudbury and one in the south-end on Paris Street. The third location is at Laurentian University.
However, it is surprising that Greater Sudbury doesn’t have any Second Cup, Coffee Time or Timothy’s outlets. It doesn’t even have any of the numerous Coffee Time knockoffs that are scattered throughout the GTA.
At one time, there was a Starbucks in the Chapters bookstore. In June, a Good Earth Coffeehouse franchise opened in its place.
However Sudbury has a large number of high-end local coffee shops. So far I have counted ten of them.
Shop Local
A window display on Durham Street
When it comes to coffee shops, you can Shop Local and get as good, or better, pastries, cakes and drinks—without paying any more—than you would at Starbucks.
Don’t even think about ordering from Amazon. By the time your order arrives at your door, the baked goods will be stale and the coffee will be cold.
Downtown coffee shops
The downtown has just one Country Style and one Tim Hortons. The Country Style donut shop is in Doyle’s Market Place in the Elm Place Mall.
The Tim Hortons is located beside the downtown bus terminal at the corner of Paris and Cedar Streets. It offers only take-out and drive through service.
The downtown Tim Hortons has no seating and the customers cannot use the washrooms.
Neither of the two offer an inviting environment to relax and enjoy a pastry, sandwich or a coffee while you read a book, browse the Internet or meet up with friends.
However, the downtown has four local premium coffee shops within walking distance of each other with another six located in the south and north-ends of the city.
They all have a pleasant ambiance and serve excellent cuisine.
I hope to visit and write about all of them in the months ahead.