To Live For Bakery & Cafe — Restaurant in Vancouver

Updated review July 24 2023 (1/5 for Too Good to Go Experience. Regular retail experience is still 5/5): My 5/5 review when purchasing full price still stands. I'm a fan of the iced lattes (lavender is the best!), regularly get soft serve, and love the whole savoury menu -- spanakopita and pizza are my faves! I regularly meet up with friends here, or pick up items to take back home. The service has always been pleasant.

But my Too Good to Go experiences with To Live for Bakery have been a let-down. And sad to say, it's the only place that's been a let-down on the app, which is ironic because this is actually my favorite bakery. However, I will no longer purchase surprise bags through Too Good to Go, because this is not a one-time thing. Today, I met up with a friend for coffee, and figured ordered two surprise bags, supposedly $24 value, for $7.99 each, with the intention to give her one, too. In one bag, I received a loaf of multi-grain bread. in the other bag, I got a loaf of white bread, plus a cheddar onion scone. Disappointing, and not nearly the value listed. I'd "let it go" in past experiences (more on that in a moment), but this time, I spoke up. Pointed out the posted prices of the items, which do not add up. I was advised that it's a "surprise bag", that you don't know what you'll get. True, I'd agreed to that ... but not if the value was equal/less to the $8. I asked if it would be possible to refund this, and I'll leave the bags. It wasn't. The staff did offer to see if something could be added to the bag, but I declined, after my previous experience of accepting a makeshift bag. In April, I had reserved two surprise bags through Too Good to Go. Why not? It's my favorite bakery! Whatever I get, day old or not, would be great. And I was there often anyways. Well, when I came in, the staff said they didn't have any bags available ... but contacted the owner, who was there, and put together two bags, each containing: 5 hot cross buns, and a demi-loaf. Hmm. Disappointing, I'd been there a few days ago, and purchased a half-dozen hot cross buns at $1.25 each (this was after Easter). Which means I also know that the bags were not valued at $24 each. Honestly, it doesn't even have to be fully that value, just within a few dollars would have been fine. But this was disappointing. I still took the bags, since I'd paid for them. I still continued to visit, just ordering off the menu, and always delicious. In June, I decided to give Too Good to Go one more try, figuring that "we don't have any bags available" in April was just a one off. And I did indeed receive a great bag with 6 different items. So that's why I tried again today. But this was an even worse experience than the last time. I ended up giving away the two loaves of bread on my neighborhood Buy Nothing group, but did eat the scone. A 20% success rate with Too Good to Go Surprise bags at this place, means it's not worth it. But -- the regular experience is.

Original review from April 2023 (5/5): I'm bursting with delicious baked goods as I write this review. To Live for Bakery is absolutely worth the trip. If you're coming there on the weekend, get there early, to get a seat and avoid line-ups. But even if you have to queue (always sign of a great place), the service is prompt and friendly. It was great to see the owner, Erin Ireland, personally checking that we'd been helped, and fulfilling orders. Ok, now the main thing: the food! My very favorite item is the cheese and onion scone, soft and moist. Filled croissants have been amazing, love the sausage rolls too, and there are many other things I have yet to try. Also a great spot to take non-vegans -- the food speaks for itself and has been well-received by anyone I've brought here. And, because there's no surcharge for non-dairy milk like in most cafes, my Rose Cardamom Latte, made with oat milk, costs less than a flavored latte...

Sausage and egg muffin is one of my favourite breakfast snacks. It's actually quite hard to find a coffee shop that makes a decent sausage patty. With a vegan diet, I didn't expect to be able to ever again satisfy my craving until we stopped at this bakery to check out their vegan carrot cake. There, we saw a row of pictures advertising different kinds of breakfast sandwiches with 'SOLD OUT' signs on them. Understandable, it was after lunch on a Sunday. Of course, we came back a few days later for the sausage and egg muffin. For my first bite, I didn't like the 'muffin' bun. The sausage patty was very delicious though, very spicy without any hint of garlic (yay!), and I couldn't even tell that it was vegan. The egg tasted like egg, and because the cheese is also vegan, we didn't have to order this without cheese! After a few more bites of the sandwich, I started to enjoy the muffin bun as well, and on reflection, it is definitely better than the typical dried out English muffin you get at Starbucks. We also purchased croissants. The gold standard of croissants for us is Angus T's brioche dough butter croissants. But because that contains eggs and dairy, that's off my list as well. These croissants are very edible compared to an Angus T. They lack the butter taste of an Angus T, but the texture inside is excellent, moist and chewy, and outside, it is crusty without being dried out. The third test was to compare the carrot cake with our favourite carrot cake from Milano Coffee made by Caffé de Medici, this was too sweet and I can taste the baking powder. I've known about To Live For Bakery for a while as their banana bread is sold in a lot of coffee shops and health food retail outlets. But since we are now on a low sugar diet, the VEGAN breakfast sausage and egg sandwiches and VEGAN croissants are already great finds for us, and I am sure we will drop by more often. We're not really keen on the sweet stuff. 5 stars for the breakfast sandwich and croissants. The bakery opens at 7 am. The breakfast sandwiches apparently start selling around 8 and can be sold out a couple of hours before closing. But twice now, we’ve been able to get them! Actually, I am...

I had an extremely unpleasant experience this morning, I ordered 2 pastries & a cold pumpkin spice latte. Waited for 10-15 minutes before following up with the female African barista. She gave me a skeptical look as she scrolled through the tablet and said the order was never entered. No further followup was offered. As the line had grown extremely long and extending outside of the shop, I was unwilling to wait in line to speak with the cashier...which by the way the barista could have easily done as they were standing close to one another.

I then left the shop but soon returned because my payment history seems too high for just 2 pastries. I go back and ask the barista to followup with the cashier only to have her indicate with her eyes (condescendingly as if I am stupid) that the drink on the counter is a pumpkin spice latte. Ok..? I know what a pumpkin spice latte looks like but I am not grabbing it in case it is someone else's? Especially when you just told me earlier that my order was not punched in.

She insisted that the drink on the counter is mine's so I explained that it is a take out order and asked why she told me earlier that my drink order was never registered. She then gave a fabricated story re: a conversation that never took place! The barista claimed that she had asked if my name is Rhonda and I had said no (no such conversation ever occurred and my name is NOT Rhonda). She noted that the cashier must have inputted the wrong name into the system....but ummm, did you not just brush me off moments earlier and insisted that my drink order did not exist?

This cafe is well decorated and the latte was tasty. The owner also seems nice and the cashier was friendly. However, the drink service is super slow and the line builds up quickly. The barista's attitude was standoffish, and she was unhelpful and dishonest; further staff training is highly advisable! Of note, the drink I ordered was cold but I received a hot drink instead. However I did not pursue this matter as the entire experience was too stressful and unpleasant...