District Café & Bakery — Restaurant in Edmonton

From Prime to Grime

I’ve been coming here since they originally opened. (Roughly 6-7yrs?) I’ve been a loyal customer and have watched the cafe evolve and pivot many times. From their morning breakfasts and “Red Balloon” baked goods (their business within the business), quick lunches, elegant dinner menu, incredible cocktail bar and super popular weekend brunches. Slowly things began to die off, beginning with the elegant dinner and cocktail menus. Unfortunately I believe this was due to a loss of important staff members. Eventually a replacement of evening pizza happened which in itself was quite disappointing. Then covid hit and I believe an issue with the landlords and the Cafe closed completely for a short stint. At this time I believe their focus shifted, closing their prep kitchen (which supplied a large amount of their food) and opening up a few spaces in the highland area. To my joy the cafe re-opened. I unfortunately wasn’t able to go right away but had visited rather recently. What a drastic and depressing change. The staff were directly nice, but their standards were super low. When I originally began coming in the kitchen crew and chefs were all clothed in white and grey uniforms and aprons, and the FOH members seemed to have a theme of black going on. They were super attentive, speedy, and on the ball. Now their was no professionalism at all. The kitchen members included a gentleman with a metal band type shirt and a grungy baseball cap who would touch his phone constantly and then fail to wash his hands. Thankfully after coming back inside from a smoke he did. Phew. Unfortunately the girl who had replaced him during his break was the bigger issue. Wearing no apron and a crop top shirt, her belly fully exposed, she brought over her own coffee and placed it on her cutting board/prep station. She began to start putting orders together. Not washing her hands at all before jumping on. She paused a few times to sip out of her own, glass, uncovered coffee. Then pulled her phone out and placed that on the prep table next to her coffee. Just that in itself painted a horrible picture of the sanitation that wasn’t happening in the space. Dust collection and staining on the white walls, fine dust on the merch shelves and the same overtop the line. If I can see spider webs and grime behind plates while sitting along the wall there is a problem. All while the staff wasted their time chatting and playing on their phones.

The coffee we ordered didn’t seem to be dialled in correctly and was sour, along with an overly steamed burning hot milk to top it. The food was disappointing. I don’t think they have a real chef anymore. The creativity, plating and general food itself lacked any sort of imagination and was not worth the money spent. If I wanted a sandwich with a couple of deli slices and a thin piece of cheese I could have gone to 7-eleven. It actually probably would have been better there. Don’t call that a croque Monsieur because you’ll offend anyone who tries it. The baked goods seemed just as pretty as they were from the beginning. So that’s where to one star comes from, otherwise I would give zero.

In all honesty I just feel like the owners forgot about this place completely. There is no love. There is no passion. There is no technique or skill. Zero care in the world. Zero cleanliness. Zero professionalism. I doubt I will be back unless I see some major changes. I understand the heart aches of this business, but if you don’t have time to run it, or find the professional who can then I can’t see it lasting long. I hope the owner sees this and knows that I am rooting for you, but you honestly dropped the...

Really wanted to like this place! I was willing to overlook the cluttered, unorganized procedure of taking down wait list names after being shuffled through the farthest door from the pastry counter where we were told to go (by a sign, not a single human being acknowledged us) because I'd heard so many good things. I get that it's busy, but at least say have passing servers say "Hi, just head over there to the pastry counter and we'll take your name". Long wait, but it was busy, so totally fine. Sat down and were promptly given menus, which was nice. The seater was far superior to our actual server! Unfortunately from the time I was brought my tiny shot glass of a cappucino (without even a handle so that I could hold it without burning my hand) for $4.25 I was incredibly unimpressed. Lackluster service (the server seemed to lack the social skills necessary to be engaging and good at her job) & disappointing food (could have used a steak knife to cut through my waffle, and the "salted caramel" sauce left much to be desired) left me spending additional money after 'brunch' at another local, independent coffee shop so that I could go home satisfied. Going to beat a dead horse here: If your cappucino is going to be served in such a way, it should NOT be $4.25, and it should at least be mentioned that it is so very small on the menu. I understand the traditional serving might be smaller than we are used to in North America, but acknowledge that and just make a menu note. I expect that size from an espresso, not a cappucino, how hard is it to note drink sizes? I also believe that I remember the price for a latte being the same, so is your latte also intended as a quick caffeine shot? The taste wasn't even anything to marvel at. It was certainly fine, but I'd take a generic Starbucks cappucino for the same price or less over that any day. Not worth the hype. I thought at least the food was reasonably priced, however that rule only applied to my waffle, and definitely not to the benny that everyone raves about. $16 for a waffle benny with a soggy salad, when you can get better at an Original Joe's chain restaurant with hearty sides for less money? Not to mention while you eat you won't be bumping elbows and getting unavoidably breathed on by your next door table neighbors. To top it all off, my bill was added incorrectly, at least to my knowledge $3 + $1 does not equal $6. The hype behind this place is just hipsters jumping on another trendy bandwagon because of the Instagrammable aesthetic of the interior and the sheer volume of oversized eye glasses and high waisted, cuffed jeans. Will quite...

We came here in the late morning. The cafe was semi-busy and filled with a bunch of people but there was still ample room for us. They have a bunch of things on their menu: from sandwiches, a large assortment of baked goods, and of course coffee and tea. It's a nice breakfast spot with alot of options.

We ordered the Tuna Fish and Chips, a Pistachio Rose croissant, and we got two matchas. I got the Strawberry Matcha with oat milk and my boyfriend got the regular matcha.

I really liked the food that we ordered. Upon first glance, the Tuna sandwich looked small but I was surprised by how much filling it had. The tuna salad filling inside was absolutely delicious. Also all their pastries in the display looked beautiful, but once I locked eyes with the Pistachio Rose croissant, it was over lol. It was splendid. The nutty and floral notes combined with the flaky, light, buttery texture of the croissant? Chef's kiss. And not only this, but the croissant had a pistachio filling inside! That croissant really was the gift that keeps on giving.

However the Strawberry Matcha downgraded the overall experience for me. I don't know if it's the combination of oat milk and not enough matcha flavor, but I couldn't stomach my drink. It tasted like too much milk, barely any matcha, and the strawberry syrup. I honestly felt a little nauseous and I was forcing myself to drink it because I paid for it. I felt bad and didn't know if I could ask if they could remake it. I only drank 25% of my drink then tossed it in the trash. My boyfriend's matcha was infinitely way better and what a matcha latte should taste like. He tried mine and said that the strawberry matcha he ordered two weeks ago was way better, which is why he recommended it today.

I wouldn't order the Strawberry Matcha just because it's a gamble depending on who's making it and what it will taste like, but I'd order a regular matcha or latte instead. Loved the food though, and the ambiance was so...