Second Cup Coffee Company

When it comes to big coffee chains Second Cup is my personal favorite as I usually find the service and product to be good regardless of which location im at and this one is no exception. The staff are all really lovely to chat with and get the drinks out to the customers reasonably quickly. They have a great variety of baked goods in their front case and they keep it stocked throughout the day (try the red velvet cake… it’s heaven!) I think my one and only issue is with the seating here. It is in the mall so the few tables out front are hard to secure as people coming out of the towers for lunch will sit there regardless of whether or not they have made a purchase here or at the neighboring Jugo Juice. There is a small semi enclosed seating area reserved for Second Cup customers next to the store but I find with it being City Center mall you do run into those that will buy a small beverage and then sit and loiter there long after they are done their drink. They also pull out all the tables and chairs from here during the holidays to sell gift baskets in what I believe is an attempt to be able to display the goods while also protecting them from shoplifters due to the high amount of theft in this mall. If your in the mall anyways it’s worth stopping and grabbing a drink but admittedly when im just roaming around the downtown core I tend to lean more towards patronizing the library Second Cup just because of the above mentioned seating issues.

Based on my small survey of coffee shops in Edmonton, Second Cup seems to be the hands-​down giant amongst local purveyors (vs. Peet’s and other machine-​like competitors) of coffee.
I ordered a depth charge a/​k/​a red eye and it was piping hot and quite tasty. It being somewhere in the region of –13 degrees, it is possible that this coffee to me is like water to the woman who just walked across the Mojave Desert.
The carbs on offer look far from hand crafted and, not wanting to review without actually tasting, I sadly report that the maple and walnut muffin confirmed my suspicion.
Wait staff? They are Canadian and, therefore, wonderful, warm and friendly.

Everybody seems to be in love with Second Cup, but I guess I didn’t get the memo.
I dunno, maybe people like the relaxed, lounge-​y atmosphere that comes with every Second Cup, but this one is just a stand so I didn’t get that vibe in any way.
I just ordered a hot chocolate and it was pretty decent. They had soy milk, which was great since I’m lactose intolerant. The waitress was a bit sloppy and was all over the place though. Maybe she’s been drinking too much of her own coffee, eh?