The Sequel Cafe

A solid café.
Unilocal is super crazy about this place, so I expected to be blown away. I wasn’t, but this place is very, very good for the money.
The cream of cauliflower soup was piping hot and excellent. Both the veggie and egg salad sandwich were yummy and the perfect thickness. The chocolate chip cookie wasn’t too great; it had the density and texture of my childhood mishaps (mild though they were).
As reviews have emphasized, what really makes a difference here is the staff. I’m guessing most people don’t come here with the intent of coming here, but instead as an enroute stop to somewhere else. In these busy times it’s so lovely to give and receive authentic smiles. As soon as I ran out of water, a lady came by and filled it back up again. It’s these little touches you never see any more in counter service restaurants.
Do not go to second cup, Starbucks, or subway, come here and support a cute local business. I’ll definitely be back. I need to try out the pacman table!

This will now be a regular lunch spot for me.
The service was excellent.
The food was all homemade and fresh.
The menu only has a few items, but what they have is amazing.
It surprising how hard it can be to find a good Cesar salad for a reasonable price. This place solves that and many other lunchtime problems.

Fantastic food at a good price. Everything is good — best corn chowder and spinach salad in the City.

As others have stated, both the staff and the food make this spot one of my favourite lunch places in the city. The prices are totally reasonable, and the PacMan table is a wonderful bonus. Thanks for feeding me so many great meals, Sequel!

I don’t just come here for the food. I come here for the staff (Shyla & Dale). They both are so nice, and they try to get to know their customers when they are not too busy with the lunch rush.
The first time I came here, I came for the roast beef sandwich. It was delicious. But I started getting their egg salad sandwich which tastes exactly like how my Granny used to make it. They do ask you if you want mustard /​mayo on your bread, along with cheese /​lettuce, but I like my egg salad sandwich just plain. It isn’t on ordinary bread but a nice wholewheat bread.
I also absolutely love their homemade ice tea. Not too sweet, yet the right amount of sweetness. I also ask for a chocolate chip cookie to go with my sandwich. So for a sandwich, ice tea and a cookie — all of that is $ 8.50. Right size portion for me.
The food is always made fresh, and you never have to wait more than 5 minutes. I love the interior of their café, and they said they are looking to renovate the inside, so I am really looking forward to their updated look.
Just a head up that its cash only, so be sure to have cash on hand !

I was underwhelmed by the soup and salad I had today for lunch. I came here specifically after reading such great reviews of this hidden little café.
I had the caesar salad and borscht soup combo. Although the lettuce use in the caesar was fresh, it was pretty ordinary and topped with small croutons and a bit of shaved parmesan. I found the caesar dressing oddly sweet and slightly offputting. As for the borscht, it was loaded with veggies yes, but I also found the soup to be way too sweet for my tastes. So my entire meal had the same sweet undertones to the point where I couldn’t finish my soup and had to take the majority of it home to try for leftovers later on. Disappointing. I was hoping the caesar salad would have that garlicky-​anchovie like hit I appreciate but the dressing they use (or make) certainly doesn’t provide you with that expectation.
Service was friendly and succinct. Atmosphere left a lot to be desired… too dark and quirky for my taste.

This might be the best lunch I have had in a long time!
Awesome staff. Great menu. Great prices. Great location. What more could I ask for?

I was at The Sequel Café for the first time the other day, and I absolutely loved it! The carrot ginger soup was amazing! Also, it was very affordable (which is always nice). Shyla and Dale were very friendly. I will be back!

Super super great place for lunch ! Try the beet soup! It is so good for you. Nice friendly staff and fun atmosphere Be there or be square!

Great service and amazing. Shyla gives great service with a smile. A must go if you’re in Edmonton.

I had the tomato spinach soup and egg sandwich, it was great. I’ll be back.

I love the sequel café’s homemade soups and «mom» level sandwiches (this only applies if your mom is a great cook.) Their breakfast sandwich and latte can’t be beat in the mornings. My only drawback is they are cash only, but the food is so good it’s worth a trip to the ATM. The owners are awesome and always friendly!

This is a gem. Never would have found it without Unilocaler reviews! Great fresh soup and sandwiches. I had corn chowder and veggie sandwich. It was so good. B had the tomato soup and Greek salad. Really tasty as well. All the portions were substantial and you can tell they take a lot of pride in the food. And they should. It’s great. Price is really good too!

Borscht as good as Oma used to make, paired with tabletop Pacman and a tasty sandwich make for a pleasant journey through good ol’ E-​Town, but what finally tipped the scale over to that 5^th star is the super sweet and genuine people behind the counter.
The lady working there saw *Jody B. and I staring dumbfoundedly at the magnet letter menu board, and stepped in to take us on a guided tour of all the delicious things they do and thank goodness! When I’m hungry, my brain is no does the think… just food — your advice was appreciated. She told me they’re pretty well known for their borscht so. yes please, I’ll have that. With a dollop of sour cream? Absolutely.
Wow, they had better be well known! Rich, flavourful, stain your teeth red and made with love! If there was ever any doubt that love is a culinary ingredient, you’ve gotta try this soup — it’s overflowing with it. Careful though, it may also cause memory loss… I remember liking my sandwich and it was a necessary companion to the soup, but for the life of me I can’t remember what it was like. This is no fault of the sandwich but a testament to the soup. While I was devouring it I may have even caught a glimpse of a fire juggling, unicycling Chihuahua, but who knows, because… borscht.
I guess I’m a stickler, but for me, a whole café doesn’t warrant a 5-​star for a soup. I even found the space a little too cold dark purple, echoey and barron with empty art-​free walls to want to hang out for too long. (Some cozy factor could really help!)
But thank to the people, I can’t help but go with the full 5. They do whatever is in their power to make sure you have a good time, encourage you to Pacman battle and even offer you the last cookies of the day because they’re closing shop. A little cookie goes a long way — you’ve got me hooked as a customer for life. See you next time I’m in Edmonton, Sequel Café!
Pay attention to the CASH ONLY part mentioned in a lot of reviews. There isn’t a handy ATM around either, so you’ll be stuck fighting the hoardes of mall-​zombies across the street, crying silently on the inside because you’re tired and hungry and so hungry and tired and all you want to be happy is a sandwich, so badly I want a sandwich, is that too much to ask?! *bawling* Why Sequel, why are you doing this to me!!! *cough…ahem* Anyway. Make sure you’ve got cash on you and you’ll be fine.
*Who’s Jody B. — Check out this rad lady’s reviews if you’re in Vancouver. They’ll take you the coolest and definitely quirkiest Vancouver tour you’ve been on:

This place awakes in me the need to speak in 80 year old lady lingo, because my gosh — it’s lovely!
The interesting thing about this place, is it isn’t the prettiest girl at the party so to speak. Sure, as many a reviewer has noted they make a mean sandwich — it’s fresh, it’s hearty and a solid lunch choice. But at the end of the day, it’s a tuna sandwich and far from knock your socks off mind-​blowing. Their salads & coffee? Much of the same, solid, solid options but ultimately just «really good». Even the spot itself is a little *shoulder shrug* — it’s a big dark room, with bare walls (meh) and a pacman table (woohoo!), balancing out to another resounding «ok».
So what makes this place a cut above, 5 star joint?
It’s run by people who may actually be the nicest humans in the world. I’m not kidding, i’m fairly sure their business cards would have the «World’s Nicest Person» title, if not for the fact that they are SO nice, they are likely to be too humble to point it out.
Want to know what a service ninja looks like? Voila.
From the first moment we walked in the door we were greeting by a cheerful rundown of the menu, followed by some damn helpful recommendations, peppered with an invitation to play pacman while we waited, an iced tea refill and check in as we ate and to finish it off, FREE COOKIES because they were closing up shop for the day.
These are gggooooooodddd people running this wee joint. Want to make an impression? Give strangers spontaneous free cookies — it’s that little extra love that takes a solid sandwich joint into the coveted five star range.
So Edmonton, next time I find myself trapped within your bizarre maze of streets, I WILL stop here for a sanity break and a great sandwich.
Word to the wise: if you should happen upon the Dale E while you’re there, don’t be challenging him to the video game table — Calgary’s CM is freakishly good at pacman.

This place is so insanely delicious that I want to quit my west-​end job and work downtown again just so I can go there every day. It’s so cute inside, with the little magnet letter menu and the super friendly and kind staff. Seriously, everyone who works there is so lovely!
Their tomato and spinach soup is heavenly. They sprinkle some feta cheese on top and it gets all melty and a little bit salty and is just the greatest. Their homemade iced tea is refreshing as heck and their coffee is strong and delicious. I have also had their sandwiches and salads, and everything is always fresh and extremely flavourful. I recommend this place to anyone, anytime.

This place is ridiculously amazing. Come for the Pac Man table, stay for the best lunch in downtown Edmonton. Dale and Shyla have a great philosophy about food — that you can make great tasting, healthy meals with ingredients that don’t break the bank. The savings on making the food get passed right along down to you and your delicious meal is super affordable. Basically everything is homemade — from the iced tea, and soup to cookies and salad dressings. They even made the cream cheese for their bagels, and it is some of the best sundried tomato cream cheese I’ve ever had.
I have tried a number of things on the menu, and have never been disappointed. I love their corn chowder and when you pair it with the pepper salami sandwich you can’t go wrong. The dressing they use for their spinach salad is SO GOOD. They package soups for takeout — they should really consider selling their dressings. Additional to everything tasting so damn good, the portion sizes are huge. If you are looking for a hearty, home cooked meal that will cost you as much as any of the fast food joints downtown then you can’t miss Sequel.
As others have mentioned, they accept cash only and I don’t mind at all. If it keeps costs low, I am down I am happy with that.
Pro Tip: Skip the Tim’s or Starbucks — they are open for breakfast and have a great affordable menu!

Hearty, healthy, real meals; the kind that your Grandma used to make (well, that is if your Granny really knew how to make a mean, mind blowing soup!)
The Sequel Café is a little hard to find unless you know where to look. It is small and sweet. They only take cash. Everything I have had is delicious and I think one of the reasons why, besides quality ingredients and fantastic seasoning, is because the people who work there really seem to love what they are serving. You just feel the warmth and the love for this tiny spot, from the staff — it makes my day when I go in and always an unforgettable meal.
Soups on!

Probably the best customer service I’ve ever received anywhere. First of all, I was greeted very enthusiastically by their owner, who had given me directions over the phone on how to find them (they are across the library and edmonton centre, on the corner… gotta look for their sandwich board).
Then, when my friend and I found out they only took cash and we didn’t have enough on hand, the owner insisted we just order right away since she understood how short lunch hours can be with work, and that we can pay her after we’ve finished our meal (and after we’ve left the establishment to withdraw money at TD).
!!!
What’s this? Trust? Earnestness? In this day and age?
Then, the actual lunch we had was fabulous — and huge! I ordered their quiche which came with a nice spinach and almond salad as well as potatoes. I didn’t really touch my potatoes since the entire meal was huge and filling already. And yep, tasty. Really tasty.
If you want genuine service AND good food to boot, you should really head to the Sequel Café.

Whoa whoa whoa — hold the phone! Do we have a new contender for my new favourite lunch spot downtown?! I think we do!
I’ve often walked by the little sandwich board sign outside the First National Bank building on my way to the library; the black one with multi-​coloured words that look like those magnets you put on the fridge as a kid. Then, earlier this week, the place came up in conversation with another downtown friend, and he had nothing but good things to say about it. It is owned by the same people who used to own a place called Whole in the Wall Café that closed a few years ago. I had a lunch date with my aunt this week, so I figured it was the perfect opportunity to check them out.
Go to where the sandwich board is to get to the café. You’ll go up a couple of stairs and there it is! The space is actually a lot bigger and airier than I expected it to be — nice. There are five or six tall tables there. It wasn’t full, so we got a table right away. The menu is above the counter, again in those cute fridge magnet-​y letters. There were about four soup choices (all vegetarian), some sandwiches, salads, and the hot plates. Today there was a sirloin quesedilla, ravioli, vegetarian burrito, a quiche, a calzone, and a couple of other things. They all come with salad, or salad and potatoes. I had the quesedilla ($ 12) and my aunt had the burrito (I think $ 10.50 or $ 11). Both of our dishes were delicious, light and filling.
The people that work here are the kind of people I love. So nice, so friendly, and obviously care about the people that come to the business they so clearly love.
I have an hour for lunch. We were done our meals within about 35 minutes and just chilled the rest of the time. It’s important for me, if I’m going to spend my hard earned dollars at lunchtime rather than bringing from home, not to feel rushed and wait around forever for the food.
I probably normally wouldn’t rave above a place so openly after only going there once, but I could really feel it with this place, you know? Great food, great people, and really convenient for the downtown lunch crowd. I already have two more lunch dates set up to go here — can’t wait!
CASH ONLY!
UPDATE! May 10, 2011 — I’ve been meaning to update this review for a while! Since I wrote my first review, I’ve been to The Sequel a dozen more times and I love it more than I did at first! There is now a tie for my favourite meal there — the veggie burrito or the calzone! Shyla, Dale and Brian are super great, friendly, remember your likes and dislikes, etc., and the food is always delish!