Lucero Canteen — Restaurant in Kitchener

Hello, considering you asked for me to share details, I thought it best to inform you about my experience. I was told by a fellow coffee lover that there is a quaint and unique coffee house that I must try. When I arrived, I found the employee that served my wife and I was very pretentious and didn't look to happy to serve us. I informed her that it was my first time and asked if there was any recommendations, she responded by sharing the different menu options at the cash register. So I quickly realized that she didn't want to help us out with more informed guidance. We decided to order two espressos. We paid and for some reason I decided to not leave a tip. I think that annoyed our barista because she didn't seem too happy when I didn't tip her. After payment no guidance was given on if we should wait there or sit down or... So after some time I asked if we could sit down and if she can bring the espressos out to us. She said 'yes'. During this time the establishment was about 50% full and there was a group of 3 gentlemen drinking by the side counter while standing and they were very loud and somewhat obnoxious. They didn't care to disturb the other guest with there loud speech and behaviour. These gents were clearly friend with our barista and another employee because they were all engaged in the conversation. After around 10 mins we got our espressos, which arrived to us without any créma and they were warm. So I thought to myself, in a small cafe the least they should do is raise the backround music so it drowns out the noise of the obnoxious clientele and there conversations, however, they didn't do that. Moreover, the essence of a clean espresso is the consistency, temp and CRÉMA. We did NOT get any of those. The espresso tastes horrible. My wife and I drank a few sips and just left the drinks on the table. We then went to a a Turkish cafe that was of similar size and we had amazing Turkish Tea, freshly baked goods and desserts. Thank God we were able to go there because the experience we had at your establishment was subpar. I apologize if I sound harsh but I'm only telling you...

So what do you do in K-W on a warm Sunday afternoon… take the dog for a walk and treat yourself to a Cortado and maybe a tasty pastry! Downtown Kitchener proved itself up to the challenge!

Just down Ontario Street from the Apollo, the Apollo Cinema that is, I found the Lucero Canteen, a very unassuming name for a perfect gem… just my kind of place!

Tucked away on a quiet street, spotlessly clean, low hum of conversations, great service, perfect Cortado, and yummy pastries! As well, two dog bowls at the door to take water out to your four legged friend!

About the Cortado, instead of the usual, “Is dairy milk OK?”… I got, “What kind of espresso would you prefer?” They have the standard, plus two rotating bean/roast choices! Awesome! But now I have to go back and taste the other two! Life is hard!

And whoever filled the pastry with vanilla custard really leaned on the squirt bottle! Yummm!

While I sat outside sipping my Cortado, nibbling on my pastry, and giving Storm, my husky-mix, a dried sweet potato, we were serenaded by a busker and his violin echoing off the tall buildings! Did I mention, life can be hard?

Well, it really can be… I’m blessed with pretty easy to take “hardships”, but many have far too many and too heavy hardships! As Storm and I walked back up the hill, we can upon a throng of people enjoying a Community BBQ and used clothing handout… put on by the River of Life Fellowship!

I chatted briefly with some of the folks, and checked in with a couple organizers. I got a real old time community feeling! And when I asked if they took donations from passers-by, I couldn’t find anyone to take mine! Couldn’t believe it! Finally one of the blackshirts told me I could go to the website and e-transfer! Which I did, kinda payback for my blessings! I like seeing where my money goes, and it was right there in...

Oh how I really really want to give 5 stars, but for now, I'm giving 4. Here is my reason. We came into the Tri-City to go to the St Jacob's Farmers Market. Knowing that most vendors prefer cash, we stopped in Kitchener to go to the bank. We parked across from Lucero, where my partner could see that this place looked very busy, lots of people arriving and leaving, Latte, cappuccino, americsno in hand. After the market and being from Toronto, my partner suggested we stop at Lucero to get coffee. As we are not "Timmies" fans and prefer small, unique coffee boutiques, I said for sure, let's try. We saw these raving reviews, so we decided to venture in. Our experience was pleasant. Our barrista (did not get his name) walked through the different coffee blends, and we decided on the Ethiopian blend. Decided we would have our coffee in and just relax before hitting the highway. We ordered some pastries to have with our coffees. I had the blueberry coffee cake. My partner had the cinnamon roll with apricot jam/jelly?? My coffeecake ideally was a little dry. The cinnamon roll was just that a cinnamon roll. The ambiance was fair, very small interior, but there was a table to sit at. I will say the staff were extremely pleasant and very helpful and welcoming. They told us to have a seat and they would bring our order to the table. One thing that stands out for me, for which I was greatly appreciative of, was that they don't allow sitting at the tables with laptops and access to wifi. unlike a certain Star-something where every table is taken, faces buried in computers, nursing that cup of joe till I am sure is now an ice coffee. No, you could hear conversations, people talking, and generally having a great afternoon. Will I be back? Will I be back? Well, if in the neighborhood again any time soon, sure, we will...