Mallo Coffee & Bar — Restaurant in Toronto

Tasty drinks and pastries, interesting and beautiful art that rotates throughout the months. The staff are mostly neutral, somewhat inviting but also can mess up your order easily as the volume of the store is constantly too loud for anyone to communicate properly. Calen always brings the best vibes in their service while others are so-so depending on how busy it is, the customer care + attention can be lost. I definitely have left satisfied with drinks and pastries before although some were served better than others, sometimes the matcha is clumpy or not as tasty as it could be. The volume of the music in this cafe no matter if it is 6am or 7pm is consistently at such a high volume that it makes this place completely intolerable to sit down in which is why i rated lower stars. The space is beautiful with interesting artwork to look at and church pews to sit on, but I have never and will never sit down in this space as the volume is ridiculous and affects how you can communicate with the staff as well as peers. It is overstimulating for most and creates a huge divide from those with accessibility needs. Although the space is very queer friendly presenting, you will also get stared at by old men as you walk in, everytime without fail. Not really in their control but also adds to the point of never wanting to sit in this cafe. If the volume is lowered and the space is treated more as a social space like I imagine its intended to be with alcoholic options, perhaps more folks...

Mallo is an absolute gem. The food and drink are all wonderful: great coffee (I'm easy to please coffee-wise, though), made-from-scratch muffins, a variety of croissants from local bakers, cookies, biscotti, and I'm probably still missing some.

The atmosphere, though, is what makes Mallo special. Meandering neon tubes in the ceiling; ever-changing displays from local artists; bathrooms wallpapered in a gleeful chaos of magazine cutouts and scribbled commentary from patrons over the years; LGBTQ+-positive posters and decor; and music that's just, like...I dunno, cool, and good, and fun, and not just "whatever's on the radio" or "whatever specific genre is inoffensive at the moment."

Everyone I've seen who works at Mallo is kind and upbeat, bantering with regulars and each other. If you like dogs, you'll see plenty pop in and out with their owners. The staff I've seen have treats for the dogs and are happy to give them attention; our tiny, grumpy, untrusting shih tzu loves Mallo because she knows the happy people there will give her yummy treats.

I'm so grateful to have a place like Mallo nearby. No exaggeration: Mallo, and the people who work and gather at Mallo have made my life measurably better.

Go get food and coffee there, tip generously if you can, and keep places like...

The atmosphere is wonderful, but this new place seems disorganized, and has limited options.

The first time I came in, they said they stopped serving food at 4, even though food was clearly listed on the blackboard. The next time I came in - in fairness, almost at 4, around 3:45pm - they said they'd already stopped serving food. The blackboard still had food listed on it 2 hours later.

I asked if there were dairy-free options among the remaining cookies and pastries, to which the bartender essentially said 'not today, but sometimes'. I asked for decaf coffee, and they responded they didn't didn't serve decaf. I asked for a food menu, and a drinks menu, and they didn't seem to have either. The first bartender looked but couldn't find one. The second bartender said the drinks menu was on the back of the blackboard, which was neither visible nor accessible by customers.

It certainly always seems busy, but that also means that seating is limited.

Cool outdoor sign that changes from the word "coffee" to the word "bar" as it gets...