JJ Bean Coffee Roasters — Restaurant in Vancouver

Each JJ Bean coffee shop has its own unique style.  When I first discovered Commercial Drive, this was the first coffee shop I went to and it landed up being the one I frequented the most.  Mainly because it has a ton of character and is very art friendly.  The character starts outside on the street because JJ Bean is right beside Dollar Grocers, which has a ton of character as well.

The entire Commercial Drive is famous for its artistic community and a lot of artists live and work here.  I see artists working in this coffee shop all the time.  Actually painting pictures at their table.  I don't fit in anywhere in this city, but I can sorta disappear in this coffee shop.

I’ve taken a lot of pictures here but it was too hard to dig them up so I just shot some new ones in March to give you a flavour of the space.  It was rainy and overcast so it was a very average day for Vancouver.

This place has a ton of outdoor seating, but the rain chased most people inside.  In the summer time this place is busier on the outside than the inside.

Details matter at this JJ Bean because it’s so artsy.  There are so many cool details in this coffee shop and they’re all photo worthy.  I could spend all day just photographing the details.

However, the clientele who frequent this coffee shop are even more interesting than the details.  Because it attracts the most eclectic group of people imaginable.  But they tend to be a little camera shy.

JJ Bean gets the basics right. Good food, service, staff, seating. Even good bathrooms. Killer bulletin board. It's near the skytrain. Lots of other coffee shops on the Drive, if you can't find a seat here.

If you’re near Commercial Drive, and you like coffee, art, and a creative vibe, I highly recommend a visit to this...

Follow-up January 20 Was walking down commercial today so decided to pop in and try out JJ Bean again. Well it looks like have improved from my last visit. Service was good as usual, my coffee tasted great & the place was cleaned up well. Good job JJ Bean keep it up!

Unfortunately I haven't been at this location for awhile, but my family and friends used to bike here and have a coffee and treat for many years. Today I had to wait for someone so I decided to order a coffee to go. The service was fine, there wasn't many people inside. The inside and outside seem a little run down, lots of marks on walls and not very clean. Maybe there is a staff shortage and just can't keep it up properly, not really sure. I took my coffee and go, later when I took a sip it was awful. I'm not sure why but the fellow who made my coffee absolutely did not know what he was doing, I ended up throwing it in the trash - a far cry from my past experiences. I like JJ Bean coffee and had bought a few bags of beans in the past to brew at home. Hopefully as summer is coming up things will change as there are plenty of good coffee shops...

I was a customer way back before it was JJ Beans and half the size it is now, and it is one of my favourite coffee shops on the Drive.

While I avoid the busiest times if I can, I still like to come in, smell the aroma of fresh ground coffee, and sometimes in those quiet times, over a coffee and maybe a local paper, my mind wanders back to the old coffee shop with the zen-like smiling elderly black-dressed woman who took so much satisfaction in making me a truly wonderful espresso.

Today, the coffee is--remarkably--just as good as it was back then, though at any given time, I'm probably among the oldest people there--most of the clientelle having not been born when I first darkened the door in the early 1980s.

Friendly service, nice atmosphere, and quite often the occasion for a good random conversation with a stranger.

Oh, and good food too. All the things that make a JJ Beans a Commercial Drive...