Chance Cafe — Restaurant in Vancouver

I used to come here 2-3x per week to study for a couple of hours. This was my go-to coffee shop. My routine is to order a cup of hot water and pay 26c (now 56c) for the cup, and add my own tea bag to the cup. Every other time I come here, I would order an Americano or hot chocolate ($5) or something else for my occasional relative who comes with me.

Today, the owner abruptly approached me and sat in the seat on my table without asking for permission. She told me that I should be purchasing other items and that buying a cup of hot water would not suffice for me to sit at the coffee shop because 1) I am using electricity from charging my laptop which is costing her money, and 2) I am taking the seat of a paying customer. Given that we've spoken briefly several time before, I was shocked and wordless.

To address the first point: through basic calculations of the electricity usage of charging an average laptop, it would cost up to 2 cents of electricity per hour considering the electricity rates of BC Hydro. So if I stay at the cafe for 3 hours, I will cost the cafe 6 cents. This is much less than the price of the cup of hot water which I pay for every time I come here. It is a negligible cost to be honest.

Regarding the second point: the cafe is mostly empty, and I am either alone or with one other person in the whole coffee shop for many hours at a time. In the past 4 months that I've been coming to this coffee shop, I've only witnessed all the tables occupied once or twice. It is not fair to say I am taking the seat of a paying customer because the tables would stay vacant regardless of my presence.

I used to enjoy the environment at this coffee shop. The baristas are very friendly and recognize me by looks greeting me every time I enter and leave. It's a shame the interaction with the owner today overshadowed my positive experiences here.

I won't be coming back here again, and I discourage customers from supporting penny-pinching coffee shop...

Been coming here frequently for the past year. The baos are $3.50 and I think that's a very reasonable price. They're always fresh and hot and super fluffy. I only wish they have more variety for the buns as everytime I come (around 9:30am) they only offer BBQ pork or chicken & shrimp at that time. I wish they have the pork and veggie bun in the morning. The other items are a bit on the pricier side but you can feel that they use good ingredients. I really like their blue horizon smoothie, the turkey sandwich, and their grilled cheese sandwich. Usually I get one drink and one sandwich and I pay around $18 after tax and tips.

As for coffee they're a slight bit more expensive than a certain franchise. But if you think about it, the franchises are such a big companies they have way more wiggle room for prices yet they STILL charge a lot for a cup of coffee and people are still willing to pay, whereas little cafes around the city that offer quality items are trying to survive and people complain about their prices? Many other cafes charge extra for dairy alternatives as they DO cost more, so I don't see anything wrong with that. Let's support local businesses!

I haven't had any problems with services, they've always been courteous. Even when it gets busy and there's only one staff, they're still very nice. I also love the atmosphere and the overall vibe of the hood and the customers. I really hope this place will stay...

Interesting little cafe in a very special and unique community, very fitting! I drive on Victoria very often so this cafe wasn't a "hole in the wall" - off the radar sort of establishment.

It's located on the southern corner of the Victoria Diversion, flanked by Commercial St. Wedged shaped corner building.

The decor inside was very homey and we'll thought out. It reminded me of a humble east-van non-pretentious cafe that welcomes everyone! There were green plants and big windows that allowed for a lot of natural light. The store really pushed the green/environmentally friendly concept - bring your own bubbletea cups/paper straws...

There were three people ahead of me in line. I ordered a deluxe pork bao bun, and at the recommendation of staff a regular size Taro bubbletea/boba. I waited maybe 3~ minutes - fairly quick!

The bun was warm, bubbletea was cool - no ice which is nice. The bun was delicious as the bao was fluffy and light but upon biting in there wasn't much filling. And the bubbletea not overly sweet and had lots of natural flavour - did not taste artificial. I liked how the drink did not include ice to water down the fragrant flavour.

Price is a bit on the higher side, but I can understand why. Overall, I would return again.

Please...