Chiasso Coffee Company

I came here with a bunch of friends on a Tuesday night and it was great.
I ordered a London fog, and it was seriously the best London fog I’ve ever had. I couldn’t tell where the tea ended and the foam began.
I’d totally go again.

Review #28 of Unilocal’s 30 Day Challenge 2012
Congratulations Chiasso! You’ve been upgraded. Why? I’ll tell you why:
— whenever I need a place to hunker down, there’s usually a spot or two available here.
— you’ve got great hours
— your wifi is reliable
— I’m in love with your ham and cheese croissant
— your breakfast sammy ain’t nothin’ to shake a fist at either
— your tea rocks
— your bathroom is always clean
— your internet always works
— you’ve installed plugins just underneath the bench seating all the way along the wall
— your staff are always great and usually say hello and goodbye to people as they come and go
— I enjoyed all of the quotes on your blackboard on the wall… but they seem to have disappeared. Please write us some new ones!

My friends and I chanced by this place after dinner at Una’s Pizzeria.
It was super nice to come to this comfortable place. Great atmosphere and décor. It was open late, there was hardly anyone in there except for a couple making out in the corner — gross.
Anyways my friends and I purchased beverages and chatted till really late. The baristas were friendly and really nice. The prices are decent. There is also free wifi and the washroom was very clean. I am a fan of clean places!
Would definitely bring or meet friends here for coffee (minus the hanky panky from the couple in the corner).

Good coffee, open late, free wifi, comfy chairs, great food…
did I mention the coffee was actually good? Like… good good, not «I think Van Houte is good» good, but actually good.

Checked in for my first time today. Great coffee, good display, but baristas should know the difference from a latte and capp. They were identical, maybe I’m too picky but if you want a capp make sure they don’t fill it too much. Dropped it too four on their clumsiness. Besides that, would need another latte soon for the taste.

Chiasso’s just keeps me coming back. Great coffee, great pastries, nicely lit space. I tend to drink simple black Americanos and this has one of the best.
Recently I tried there Cocoa Caliente as part of the YYC Hot chocolate fest. Excellent! The whip cream was a great mix for the heat that the drink brings. I can’t get enough of Chiasso’s and will come here as often as my wallet will let me.

If you’re in the 17^th Ave area then Chiasso is definitely the coffee shop to visit. From a quality perspective they are much better than Café Beano.
I’m from the San Francisco Bay Area so I’m spoiled by having ridiculously incredible coffee like Blue Bottle, Ritual, Barefoot etc so when I visit the in-​laws here in Calgary I’m always on the hunt for good coffee.
I ordered a cappuccino and a macchiato. Both were done well (not incredible like Phil & Sebastian) but definitely respectable. When I ordered the macchiato the barista made sure that I knew I wasn’t ordering one of those Starbucks monstrosities which I thought was funny and telling of the unfortunate impact that Starbucks has had on the definitions of espresso based drinks.
Let’s do the technical details run down:
— Locally roasted coffee beans:
Check. They source from Origins Roaster in Calgary
— Baristas with proper training on pulling espresso
Check.
— Microfoam quality and Latte Art:
Check.

I have been here a few times.
Always decent service.
I always get an Americano and it is consistently good. (which some places fail to do)
I like the location and the design of the shop.
Good treats and food.
Need to get rid of the bench seat that is sunken, hard to sit on, and is way lower than the table!
Love the bathrooms –LOL
Clean and awesome interior design!

Great ambiance, perfect meeting place and a wicked chai latte.
Surprisingly quiet even with a full house.

This might be one of those times when you just really have a bad experience. I will give this place another shot another day but today I was disappointed. The staff were being quite unprofessional and ruining the experience of sharing a coffee with a friend. One staff member had her boyfriend sitting at the bar next to me. The spent about an hour of my visit kissing three feet from my head, it was appalling. On top of that, other staff members were having a very inappropriate conversation at the till and ignoring some customers.
Like I said, i will give this «hot spot» another shot some other time, but today I was disappointed.

And to think I used to LOVE Chiasso…
A few weeks ago I went in and was served a terrible latte. It was made by a trainee, so that’s not the problem. The problem is that I knew it was bad, the trainer knew it was bad, and the trainer could tell I thought it was bad. Did she offer to remake it? No. I’m not one to complain and ask for a new one or for my money back, so I was going to leave it on the bar and leave but I really wanted a drink so I choked it down.
I had planned to let that slide, until today.
As you may know, Chiasso was recently closed for several days due to a misunderstanding with their landlord. To make up for this to their customers, they designated today as «free latte day». They spread it numerous times on Twitter and even had a huge banner in the window.
We went in and ordered two regular hazelnut lattes. I was told it would be $ 7.90. I took my money out and paid, expecting that perhaps the free lattes needed to be smalls. I said, «I thought I read on Twitter that lattes were free today.» The cashier replied, «that’s only for regular lattes, not those with syrup. Did you want regular lattes?» I told her that was ridiculous, and that I was paying eight bucks for syrup.
The drinks were okay, but unfortunately couldn’t get rid of the bitter taste in my mouth. I used to buy all my beans at Chiasso and it was my go-​to café when I was downtown. Thanks to some very poor customer service, I’ll be going to Bumpy’s and Insomnia now.

For some reason, I tend to frequent this place a lot, even thought I’m not much of a coffee drinker.
I think it’s the atmosphere of the place; there’s plenty of sunlight, and the staff are always friendly. I can spend a couple hours here without feeling like I’m loitering or being stalked, and I once, after losing track of time, stayed past closing for 20 minutes and they didn’t try to force me out (so, very friendly ;-)).
I’ve started to take a liking to the Iced Mochachinos from here, their Breakfast Sandwich is like Breakfast Crack (i.e. very tasty), and their Lemon Squares are reasonably priced and yummy (and gluten free).
There’s free wi-​fi here (although you’ll have to ask for the password), and my only complaint is that I wish they had more power outlets to plug a laptop in.
No outdoor seating, but there is a parking lot out back.
It’s hard for me to say for certain why I like this place so much, but this is another place you may find me frequenting on 17^th Ave if I ever need a quiet place to work on the laptop.

This review is not for the coffee – but it looked delicious. Sadly, I had opted to drink mine at Starbucks earlier in the day as I have a weakness for frapps. I know… the iced coffee looked delicious.
Drink: nice selection of drinks. Bottled water was awesome. Had their brand. Cool bottle and tasted like bottled water should, which is not always the case.
Eat: Ham and cheese croissant. Best I’ve had!
Atmosphere: beautiful/​clean. ditto for the bathrooms.
Staff: friendly, nice
Overall, my new fave coffee place in Calgary. If only I lived there!

I will gladly walk 10 blocks to be served by a smiling and kind staff. They take special requests for preparation and put care into it, a value that is underrated now days.
Their atmosphere has a elegance that is married into the attitudes of the staff, very comfortable.

I really liked this place! They made me a really mean spanish latte and the service was exelent! probably the nicest bathroom I have ever seen in a coffee shop! next time I stroll down 17^th ave I will be sure to stop in and fuel up on some classy cafiene! I liked it!

Chiasso is a great addition to an increasingly crowded third-​wave coffee scene in Calgary and in particular, it’s great to have a superb coffeehouse on 17^th (yes, Beano and Kawa are nearby but neither is ON the Ave). Chiasso sources from Origins Coffee in Vancouver and is the only coffeehouse using it in Calgary– add Origins to the outstanding choice of quality beans we have in this city now. They pull DELICIOUS shots on a beautiful La Marzocco (an FB 80, I think), are the only place in town to make siphon brewed coffee, do exemplary latte art, and, on top of the outstanding coffee, their food is good also. I love their tuna melt, best in town. But Chiasso is first, foremost and unapologetically about the coffee.

My favourite coffee place in Calgary at the moment. I love how the staff can be both friendly and knowledgeable and exacting (my french press coffee was 20 grams of coffee and 4 minutes of steeping). Beano is funkier but the coffee is better at Chiasso. If the pastries were more exciting I’d give it a fifth star, though this is a coffee shop, not a bakery.

Tea with a timer? No, I couldn’t believe my eyes! Not only is tea served properly (loose leaves vs bag) but the attention to detailed timing blew my mind!
This is a space I lounge in for a while. Long and narrow with wood accents and modern tiled wall accents, it’s both comfy and sleek. The staff are sweet, bringing your coffee/​tea out to you at a table.
Looks like their lunch menu is something I could get behind as well. Was that a big bowl of tomato (or roasted pepper) soup I spied? Looking forward to an earlier visit!
Wi-​Fi password is mountroyal :) and it’s fast and furious!

The staff was very friendly and eager. They saw me eyeing the strange looking glassware on their counter top (vacuum coffee pot) and explained how it worked.
I ordered a caramel macchiato and an almond, coconut and chocolate biscotti. The drink was very tasty and I like the big, widemouthed cups they served it in. This was my first time having biscotti and I was pleasantly surprised.
The seating in the high chairs by the window drew me in. You can enjoy your coffee and watch the people walk by on 17^th Ave. The atmosphere was great with lots of seating, and it was shiny and new. A lovely place to sit and enjoy a coffee and a treat!

Baby, there’s a shark in the water. OK yes that’s technically a song by V.V. Brown but it applies to this coffee shop. Why? Because it’s a block away from the legendary Beano and that is a bold move in itself. The Beano rats will never leave — they love it, will fight for it, would start a co-​op to buy it if it ever went back into financial dismay. Chiasso opening it’s door so close by is, at the very least — a statement. A territorial challenge! Mind you — there’s plenty of customers to go around. 17^th Ave is a very popular strolling, shopping ground and a lot of people are intimidated by Beano. So maybe both can survive. Maybe.
Opening Day at Chiasso today — woot! Just my luck — no line up, lots of seating, plenty of «customer service» IE. hovering barristas and $ 1 lattes. Excellent. I heard about the $ 1 lattes over Twitter and since I had no lunch plans and just watched that «How to be alone» YouTube sensation — I figured I would give it a whirl.
Nice atmosphere — all greens and browns, relaxing and earthy. Lots of tables — seven or eight and tons of bench seating. Funny signage on the washroom doors (that’s a must nowadays). I had an Italian sandwich of some kind — with tasty sausage and tomato, mmmmm. I would have killed for some horseraddish with it but that’s only because I’m on a horseraddish kick lately.
So here’s my beef — I asked Paul, the General Manager if they had Wi-​Fi. He said no, and I figured that was because it was opening day. And so I asked when it might be expected? And he said «…who knows!» as in they hadn’t thought of bringing it in. It hadn’t occurred to them to get Wi-​Fi… in a coffee shop… near downtown… Mmmmmk.
This Chiasso is owned by the Lux Group (they own the Flatiron and a bunch of other Chiasso’s) — and boys, you better do some research. Your strolling by clientele is not what keeps a coffee shop open. It’s your regulars, your Tuesday afternooners who come in for meetings regulars. And your regulars want Wi-​Fi — or they won’t be so regular anymore.