Dark Horse Espresso Bar

Good coffee, but the ham and cheese croissant was old and stale. I was there on a Sunday, so I’d guess it was from the Friday batch. Either way, I think you could get a better croissant out of a vending machine.

Hip, chill and perfect for hanging out for a coffee and getting some work done!
Communal style tables means sitting together. There aren’t enough electric plugs around so come with a charged laptop if you can.

This new location is not as cozy as the last space in this neighbourhood, but the espresso is still good.
It’s really nice to see that they have options for our kids. The in house lemonade and warm or cold cider were great.

Coffee was too strong and bitter. Properly brewed coffee should not be too bitter after sugar and dairy. I’m a regular customer here since I work nearby. Sometimes the coffee is good, but definitely undrinkable at times because of the bitterness. I noticed this usually happens when they hire a new barista.

Great communal tables and consistent wifi signal. The french press coffee is tasty. They also have different types of sweeteners, cane sugar, agave and honey.
I took one star away because they often toast my food longer than necessary.
I took another star away because they have forgotten my order more than once.

I only started coming back here last month since they moved to the new location on Queen Street East and Carroll a long while ago. I love the new space. It’s bigger, just as bright and always pleasant to be greeted by the awesome staff.

The Dark Horse Espresso Bar has a variety of coffee-​based drinks available along with an assortment of pastries. We stopped in for some lattes. They were very good with a slightly unique taste.
The location on John Street was a bit out of the way for us, but it was worth making the trip over there since the drinks were so good.
We took our drinks to go, but we could have stayed. The John Street location is rather small and seating is somewhat limited.
Overall, Dark Horse was a great place to stop for some coffee and worth going a bit out of the way to get to.

Wow. Last time I go to Dark Horse. It tasted as rough as it looked. Undrinkable. They used to be the best game in town, now I’d rather go to Starbucks. And I’d never go to Starbucks. Did they just get too big and successful to care about making coffee? Bummer.

3* for the coffee because the beans are on the fruity side and I like the old school beans.
5* for the ambiance and décor. Huge glass windows with tons of sun and large tables.

This café was super popular, no matter when do I come visit, the café was always fully packed with customers

Dark Horse Espresso
Purveyors of hip coffee
A yuppie magnet
Watered down coffee
People seems obsessed with it
Overrated much
Come in and do work
Everyone’s staring at laptops
Feels like an office.

Came here, had a genmaicha ice tea on a hot summer day. So refreshing. You should sit on their lawn chairs outside their new café. It’s hipster and super comfy because the building provides a really nice shady area :)

Dark Horse is one of those fantastic coffee shops that you need to check out at least once. It has really nice décor and a variety of different spots to sit (from cozy wooden corners to large public tables). The coffee is pretty great, as are the variety of sweets they offer.
Just a heads up: seating is pretty limited when you stop by so be prepared to either wait it out or just take the coffee to go.

I drink a lot of espresso and cappuccinos and any of my followers may notice. I enjoy trying new places. I stopped by here to try a coffee. This is a nice place, they do not roast their own beans, but use beans from Detour in Vancouver (great roaster). The cappuccino was excellent, one of the best ones I’d had in Toronto.

This is a cute little coffee shop on the corner of Hamilton and Queen.
The atmosphere is great, food and drinks are great too. There’s always a riddle posted that is challenging but fun to try to solve.
Downsides are: chairs are a bit unstable/​rocky, and there’s only one outlet.
It closes at 7pm most days, so a good amount of time for studying or working in the evening compared to some other shops that close earlier.

I’ll keep this short and sweet (like how I take my espressos). The coffee, location and aesthetic all receive full marks here. No question. I mean they wouldn’t have expanded as quickly as they have in Toronto if they didn’t have these things nailed down.
Where they fell short was in some basic service areas.
The Wifi, not one of my 3 devices was able to connect (phone, tablet, laptop), none. I was coming here to enjoy a cuppa Americano and do some work but that became quickly apparent that wasn’t going to happen.
Further to this, no plugs for laptop or phone charging… like anywhere. Not even a little bebe plug for 2 min. I understand it’s to motivate turnover but come on… daddy needs to earn his pay folks. A little wifi and a power bar in the back wouldn’t hurt.
Lastly seating — is this for people under 5’2? I felt like my 6 ft frame had to do some auto-​bot type transformer shifting to squirrel into one of their tables. I mean they look hella cool, but I was short fall away from a Yoga class, imagine if I was taller (or more rotund?).
At the end of the day this is a laundry list of #firstworldproblems, and their coffee is good, next time, I’m coming with a fully charged laptop, setting up my personal hotspot (on my phone) and bringing in my own recliner for seating.
Last note — that patio is pretty sweet, next time Dark Horse, next time!

Really great to see this spot after being away from Toronto for over 7yrs. Know the east side pretty well. Hello from down the street from the former Coleman factory :)
Staff are chilled — Cortado was served up perfectly. Tough negotiations around «Song & Dance» for cookies :)
Seating is albeit a bit eclectic but love the communal work table. Interesting to see how folks interact in this space. Seats along the wall and the windows — all works out.
Definitely will be back. Lots of friends have told me to get here to slurp on some good coffee. Also, great snacks — tried the chocolate and walnut cookie.
If you arrive at the right moment — you might get a joke from the barista

Great addition to east end of dt. This is one of the best coffee chains in my book. The interior décor is very funky and has an open concept. I love the exposed brick walls with abstract art. It has a very modern Vibe and has a very friendly and open atmosphere. with great staff and fair– priced specialty coffee beverages.

15 minutes pour un espresso?

Just remember this: 49^th Parallel
This is what Dark Horses uses for their espresso (they can correct me if I’m wrong). I use to drink this in Vancouver and by far, they have the best coffee ever.
I cam in and grabbed an ice Americano… the coffee is creamy and just heavenly, and believe me… I limit myself to 2 coffees a week (I’m afraid I’m going to be hooked).
Thanks for the Agave, simple syrup and honey at the bar, you can customize the sweetness of your drink to however you like… can’t blame anyone but yourself.
Just remember what I said above… you won’t regret it!

This Dark Horse location is one of the few reasons I wish I was still an east-​ender.
The staff here isn’t holier than thou about their lattes, the communal table is usually filled with kind writers/​new moms, both with spunky «we’re all in this together» attitudes and there is a handy TTC stop right out front to whisk you downtown.
Big windows and ample seating with lots of lunch locations nearby earns this Dark Horse the gold metal in the race. Five stars.
PEPPER POINTS for impeccable wifi.