Barista Espresso Bar

Love their coffee, gelato, tiramisu and truly unique atmosphere…

It is so hard to find a good authentic Italian espresso, especially in Liberty Village. Barista Espresso Bar is definitely my favourite. Smooth crema, nuttiness of the espresso brings me back to a café in Venice. This is a coffee place in LV you must visit.

One of my favorite places. I love the americanos. Also the nutella Danish is heaven. Super buttery and flakey but not too sweet. Heard that all the items are imported from Italy.
Update: January 12,2021
Didn’t realize that I didn’t post my original review. The place use to be really good but now they are experiencing some staffing issues. The opening hours are now pushed back to 8:30 and there is only one barista on staff. Not a place to pick up a quick coffee as wait times are normally 15mins. Also, they haven’t had the nutella Danish for 2 months. Tried the chocolate croissant but it’s not as buttery or flakey.
The owner is really nice and I hope that they are able to get more reliable staff and inventory management as the place is really good and I love supporting independent businesses.

Barista Espresso Bar is one of the many hangout spots that are sprouting in Liberty Village. I do not find myself here very often, but I arrived a tad early for the Unilocal Elite event: Masquerade @ Bar Vespa. Since I had some time to kill and it was pouring rain out, I sought refuge in the first shop I encountered that had seating.
The vibe here isn’t what I would call cozy or intimate and I wouldn’t even call it inviting. Perhaps the only saving grace are the plush couches and bar top which allows you to sit down and read the morning paper while downing your morning roast. There was a rather rowdy group in the corner and their conversation permeated in the air like gossip that is eager to reach the thousands. I don’t know how I’d feel about that kind of disturbance first thing in the morning if I were a local in the ‘hood.
As variety and quantity of food varies from Unilocal event to event, I decided to grab a quick bite. After all, even if there is a shortage of food, there is never a shortage of liquid calories, and I would need a good cushion to soak in all the fancy cocktails and mixed drinks. I settled on a Spicy Mortadella Panini and was offered the option of olives on the side but decided to pass. I also ordered an Americano. For a coffee bar, the coffee was definitely the weaker of the 2 items I ordered. The Americano was basically a watered down cup of a bold roast and didn’t have much of an aroma to it. The Panini was good mostly due to the bread that is used, because its not like they cure their own meats. The combination of spicy and crusty (from the bread) made for a good combination and the serving size was just right to satisfy my appetite.
Verdict:
I would not recommend making a special trip down just to try Barista Espresso Bar. There is a Balzac’s just down the street — but if these are the only 2 options available in Liberty Village then I think that everybody residing in the vicinity ought to go out and buy their own espresso machine and grind their own beans because I wouldn’t fork out the small change at either of these locations.

Liberty Village is a really out of the way to me, but Unilocal Elite Event at Bar Vespa and Indie Coffee Passport lured me into visiting Barista Espresso Bar.
Barista Espresso Bar serves not only coffee drinks, if you feel like a beer, you can get one here too!
The set up here is really nice! The comfy couch like seating! The nice chandeliers! Oh and the Plasma TV showing the Sport Channel?! (maybe it is nice for some sport fans?)
Cappuccino though was definitely not my favourite. A little bitter than what I usually prefer but the micro foam was really nice!
Free Wifi, just ask for the password!

This place is located in the up and coming liberty village area. A pain to get to with all the construction going on in that area.
Nevertheless its a nice setup in a nice little compound of shops etc. Interior is done well and is functional.
Now for the main drink I was offered a choice of an upgrade to double shot espresso which I gladly accepted. I asked for a sweetener in my drink but the Barista forgot to put it in.
Initial taste was bitter but it did mellow out afterwards. No latte art and nothing special IMO.
With a cool location I am bumping it up to 3 stars as 2 stars for the cappuccino.

Don’t go there on the weekend.
Bread is from the day before and Sunday it’s CLOSED! Excuse me?
— I need, I mean I NEED coffee on Sunday, too. I have a Toddler!
If you want to compete against the professionals, like Starbucks and Timmys, you have to provide better service and operating hours.
The Cappuccino was great, though.

You know, I really wanted to love this place…
It’s so close to our home. it’s cozy and nicely furnished. and the Unilocal reviews for this café have been great.
Unfortunately I can’t give it more than 3 stars.
We went there on a Saturday morning just before 10 am.
I admit that we were a few minutes too early, but I was surprised nonetheless that the café was still dark and locked.
Shouldn’t someone come a few minutes early to set up before opening for customers?
Eventually at 10.10 am someone arrived to let us in.
(I think it was the owner, so let’s refer to him as such in this review.)
By that time we had been waiting for 20 minutes — hungry and in desperate need for a coffee. :/​
We were able to sit down and I am happy to report that the couches are as comfy as they look.
We had to wait another couple of minutes before being able to place our order since the owner had to start his coffee-​making equipment.
(See… if he had come on time this wouldn’t have happened… but anyways…)
So we placed our order:
4 cappuccinos and 4 paninis (mozzarella/​tomato, spicy salami/​ham and turkey).
The drinks were great.
And the best: They were free since you can print a coupon off their website.
I have an issue with the paninis however.
While we were still waiting outside, I was able to see the paninis sit in the refrigerated display case which clearly told me that they were leftovers from at least the day before. Before ordering I asked the owner if the paninis were fresh.
And he said Yes, paused a moment and then claimed to have been here earlier to prepare them fresh for the day.
Liar, liar, pants on fire!
We ordered them despite this because a) we came with FabFind vouchers that we needed to use and b) I still wanted to know what the great Unilocal reviews were about.
Well, the paninis were OK, but not totally amazing.
All day-​old bread tastes fine if you warm it up and toast it for a bit…
On a positive note though:
We also got to sample the mini-​croissants and they were really nice.
Bite-​size with some kind of sweet filling. Very yummy.
The verdict:
Yes, we will be back (- we still have one FabFind voucher left), but Barista won’t become our go-​to breakfast place for the weekend.
Sometimes location isn’t everything.

I’ve now been to this place three or four times, and it’s never failed me. The panini are the best I’ve had in Toronto: copa, porchetta, capicola, etc. — all have been superb, made with just the right accompaniments, served with olives and other antipasti.
The espresso is equally excellent, served with a chocolate covered coffee bean. The biscotti are fresh. The barstools are comfortable. And the staff are always super-​friendly.
Definitely my favourite lunch spot in Liberty Village. I’m going to miss it when my contract runs out!