Cafe Du Soleil

Such a great little gem! Not to be confused with Café Deux Soleil, which is a larger joint closer to the skytrain station. This café is run by the SWEETEST family EVER. During the weekend the owner’s two sons are there who are just the best servers. The food is amazing– usually get the tofu scram which rivals any tofu scram on the drive. Totally yummy!

Favorite brunch on the drive. Whatever they do to those hash browns is magic. Plus, vegan sour cream and homemade gluten free bread? Yes please.

When I walked in, I was culturally confused and didn’t know what to expect. It’s a vegetarian café on the drive with a french name, some native art inside, run by an Indian family with some super chill, jazzy, world music. What in the world was the food going to be like?
The coffee was self serve drip and the bar-​style ordering concerned me as well. Even so, some of the menu items were intriguing and they had the usual, standard breakfast items but with flare (fruit options for pancakes, etc.). This made me consider, «Well, Indians are really great at making vegetarianism delicious.»
This place was great. I’m giving it five stars because the food was delicious. They use good eggs with orange yolks, they toast the english muffins to a perfect crisp, and use tasty, onion-​y spices for their hash browns.
The restaurant style was a bit different, but i think breakfast should just be casual and delicious. Prices were reasonable. $ 8 for the main.
I ordered the eggs poupon and my companions ordered the egg sandwich and eggs florentine.
Eggs Poupon: DELICIOUS! The english muffins on the bottom were buttery and beautifully crispy. The mustard was seedy and tangy but not too strong to be over powering. The eggs were pretty, with dark orange yolks, and were cooked runny. The grilled tomatoes on top were rich and red.
Eggs florentine: good but not as good as the poupon. The eggs were a little more well done and the hollandaise a bit mild.
Egg sandwich: delicious, savory mushrooms and grilled onions! This gave the sandwich and overall rich, grilled flavor. The fried egg was medium. This was a hefty sized breakfast sandwich where two hands were definitely required. Only complaint is that they could have used a crunchy roll instead of a regular white bun.
Anyways, the food is delicious and reasonably priced, while the restaurant arrangement is different but could be charming. It’s definitely worth a go.

Ordered the quattro burger and it had a hair in it. When I returned it I was only asked if I wanted another one. When I said no they did not apologize and did not give me my money back.
Would not recommend this place to any body. Bad food, bad service.

Was taken here by friends and we had Sangria and some appetizers. All delicious. Great spot on Commercial, close to public transport and nice to be able to sit on the patio area especially when the weather is so beautiful. After work gathering point for sure before heading home.

I enjoyed a late breakfast here after a early morning move. I’m not much of an eggs person so I had a bagel with cream cheese & oven roasted hash browns. I loved how their hash browns turned out. Thick potatoes piece perfectly roasted. The staff is extremely friendly & well-​dressed for a tiny little breakfast joint. One thing both my cousin and I thought, for the price we think we should have been able to get some protein of some sort. I do think this is a gluten-​free & perhaps cater to a vegetarian crowd however I did see sausage links. Either way, I would recommend and will visit again.

Great food. I ordered the perogies and it was delicious. The staff was friendly and accommodated to my 17 month old. There’s a section for kids to play. There was a poetry slam starting at 8:00 and we came in at 6:00. The poetry slam people were quite rude and rushed us out of there by 7:40. We barely finished our meal. It made the whole experience turn badly. We’ll try again for breakfast there.

Amazing!
Dont’ go! I don’t want to wait for my table. It’s a wonder this place isn’t crammed full every time we go for brunch. Not to be confused, but often is with the similarly named restaurant further South on The Drive. The one with open mics, poetry nights and bad food/​beer. No? Don’t know it? Never mind. Café Du Soleil, near Grandview Park has really good food.
So this place serves great veggie bacon, benny’s, a wicked wrap, epic home made sausages, and the most terrific hash browns. It appears to be a family run joint. Unless the owner hired or «cast» employees to resemble a family. You know, the Mom, the Dad, two boys, maybe a girl and a Grandmother too. Anyway, this food is great food. Not the entire menu, but from what I’ve had, yummo! Returning for more brunch soon.

I’ve been hearing good things about this place, so I decided to finally give it a try.
I was surprised at how small and cozy the place was. It has a very nice vibe to it though. Service was incredibly friendly! Many restaurants’ servers have a decent attitude towards their customers, but here you truly feel warmly welcomed.
I had an eggs benny with a coffee for $ 10, which I felt is pretty standard fare pricing.
The coffee was self serve, and perfect. It’s worth it to come here just for the coffee if you’re nearby on a break.
I did feel a little mixed about the eggs benny though. Most eggs bennys I’ve had have ham. This one didn’t. I know there’s a veggie ham option, but that was extra, and at that price, I had assumed this default benny would have default ham. The hollandaise sauce was mild, which can be good or bad depending on how flavourful you like your sauce. In this case, it blended perfectly with the deliciously seasoned hashbrowns. The eggs were perfectly cooked (slightly softer than medium), and the English muffin had a perfect crisp to it. When people said their bread is great, they mean it!
Overall, this place is fantastic. They truly take pride and care about their food and service. I would highly recommend you at least give this place a try once.

First and foremost: this review is for Café DU Soleil (1393 Commercial Drive — by Kitchener), the non-​vegetarian restaurant on the Drive. Café DEUX Soleil is the vegetarian one.
The food is ok. It’s not the best. I ordered a spinach benny, and I was given 2 poached eggs on an english muffin with minced spinach sprinkled on my benny (think parsley garnish amount). The hollandaise was weak, and actually very pale yellow so I kind of questioned the quality of the egg yolks they used. I don’t know if they were running out of spinach (hence the sprinkle on top), but if they were, I really wish they could have told me so I could order something else.
The place is a bit cramped and definitely needs help (many tables are wobbly). I brought my stroller in, and it barely fit. I have a feeling that owner/​chef (?) wasn’t very impressed about that because when I was struggling to maneuver my stroller in, and had to move a few chairs, I asked him where it would be best to sit as to not be in the way, and he just ignored me and didn’t help. So parents take note: it is not stroller-​friendly.

Good value for money. Decent food.

Insert a laundry list of positive adjectives. All of the positive adjectives. I cannot say enough good things about this place.
We are talking about a hidden gem here people. It’s not showy. It’s not loud. It just is.
The food is consistently fantastic and the family that runs it, well shit, they are just the loveliest people.
The house made vegan sour cream. The sausages. The scramble. The scramble in the burrito. Yep yep yep. I really wish there was a way to veganize the «eggs in a hole» because it’s just the cutest thing.
If you’re wanting delicious, well priced brunch made by wonderful people and you’re NOT coming here… you’re a dummy.

My regular breakfast placed closed on the drive so I’m testing out new places. I work on the drive and I bike to work from Oakridge. I like to sit and have a bagel breakfast sandwich and a coffee before I see my clients.
That said I tried this place out yesterday morning. I walked in and was meet with sourpuss faces. I asked if they had a bagel breakfast sandwich, the heavy set man pointed to the sign looking pissed off.
So I ordered a breakfast sandwich. It was a English muffin with a over cooked egg and I think processed cheese. It looked ok, after 3 bites the middle of the English muffin was cold like ya got it out of the freezer and to add, it was crumbling, so, ya it was stale. I didn’t say anything as I didn’t want to piss them off.
I’ve been working on the drive since Dec 2011, this was the first AND last time I am spend my money here.

I love this place. Adore it, even.
The food is consistently great and everyone who works here makes it a really special place. The toast will blow your mind…“But it’s just toast” you say… just try it. They make their own bread. Seriously. Awesome.

I cannot believe for all the years I lived on the Drive I had my first Café Du Soleil a few weeks back! I have been missing out!
I love the family that runs the joint. Super friendly and so ok with our many substitutions. The youngest son is having the time of his life busing tables and running food.
The tofu scramble was super delish. Perfectly seasoned, and it came with english muffins. Adorable. The breakfast burrito can be veganized by asking for tofu instead of egg and holding the cheese. Guess what, the sour cream is vegan. I had no freaking idea. It tastes like the real thing! They have no problem adding a side of baked beans too.
The home made veggie sausages are incredible. And you get a lot, yay leftovers!
I’m docking a start for the awful coffee I experienced. It was bad and old. I’ve heard the americanos are much better.

I must say I’ve been boycotting this place for a number of years now since it changed ownership and as someone else said, is no longer staffed by ‘hot queers’ but by a family and their kids who are the staff. That just wasn’t ok in my books for a long time. I will never know what happened that turned this place from ‘the place to be’ in my books, bustling with commercial hippies and queers, with that tinge of social advocacy and good fuzzy things, diner-​chick except with dynamite fresh and tasty veggie food… into this dowdy place of dark colours and no atmosphere whatsoever.
My girl and I went there on Monday the long weekend because everything else was closed. My heart bled a little just being inside and all the memories, given how different it looks now, like eating in the middle of someone’s kitchen. BUT, you may wonder, what have I given it 4 stars for. I was glad to see most of the menu was kept the same, and the food, when it came was better looking than before, very fresh and very delicious.
Not super sure how much I’d be going there because it just doesn’t have that queer Drive vibe AT ALL any more, but I did want to commend the food quality.

Great little café for a nice and healthy breakfast in the middle of the drive.
I was able to have my first egg Benny since I am being diagnose with celiac allergy.
The service was great !! Own by a family where the kids do the service. They were super friendly and nice.
I liked very much and my BF and I will go back.

Cute place for brunch! The place is small with seating inside and several tables outside. Came in around 10am, on a Friday, was not busy which I liked. Its a self serve coffee, order at the counter type of place. My girlfriend and I both had eggs Florentine, great portion yummy potatoes. The hollandaise sauce needed more flavor and could have been more creamy but it was OK. I love commercial drive and willing to try different restaurants.

Suddenly I was sick of eating smoothies for lunch so me and the Man walked over to the Café Du Soleil. I had moseyed by it many times before but was never really into strictly vegetarian cuisine… until recently. And I had browsed Unilocal and saw they had gluten free bread. Not only did they have gluten free bread, but it was super delicious, soft, luscious, tastes like regular bread, gluten free bread.
I had a Lentil soup bowl and a peanut butter and banana sandwich. I didn’t realize that the soup came with bread. He didn’t tell me that and I guess I didn’t read the menu right. So now I have some extra delicious bread left over. OH DEAR. haha No but really, I would have liked him to inform me of that so that I could have swapped it for a salad or something. He could stand to be a tad more friendly. Thankfully the power of the food outweighed any downsides. I LOVED my peanut butter banana sandwich. The lentil soup was so tasty. I dipped my sandwich in it — YUM!
My Sweetie pie husband had the breakfast with eggs and hashbrowns and added pancakes. He’s a total pancake addict so he loved that this place has breakfast foods all day. He loved his food and we both agreed we would definately return. I would most definately order another pb and banana sandwich. They also offer dairy free cheese so I’m curious to try some of the other stuff. I love finding more places that cater to my retarded stomach — Yay! :)

This place changed ownership in 2009. It is still vegetarian but instead of being staffed by hot queers, it’s owned/​staffed by a middle-​aged couple (a portly man and his wife whom I have never spoken with). The food seems similar but is much better quality and better presented; however, it seems a little out of place since the place is still decorated like it used to be, that funky brightly-​coloured Commercial Drive décor style.
They don’t have organic soy milk for coffee. I was not cool with that. However, they do use organic tofu (I asked), and their tofu scramble was pretty good. It was served with a pile of absolutely delicious wonderful potatoes and two halves of English muffin. I was pretty impressed because I ordered the tofu scramble and they didn’t butter my muffin, while my friend who ordered eggs did get butter. Intuitive vegan-​friendliness, thanks guys.
50c charge on Interac. That sucked actually. I tipped 50c less than I was planning to because of this. Sorry, but that’s how I roll.
Anyway, I know there was some big fuss back when the place was sold because all the staff got fired and things got changed around in there. I was hesitant to go back in, but it turns out it’s even MORE vegan-​friendly than it used to be and the food is better.
I’m still hesitant to give this place a 4 because I really –liked– the queer eyecandy staff and the Commercial Drive feel of the place. It’s kind of halfway between a dive (like its excommunicated sister restaurant Café Deux Soleils) and an upscale eatery (like something you’d find in Yaletown). A bit of an identity crisis.