Higher Grounds Urban Market Cafe

Food and coffee are excellent!!! Nice atmosphere.

Love this coffee shop! The staff is always friendly and the coffee and food is delicious!
I will always chose to walk the 4 extra blocks to go here instead of the Starbucks thats right across the street :)

Nice comfy space to relax and read while sipping a nice coffee. Lots of light and great atmosphere. Definitely a place that I’d come to if I needed to read or relax or just hang out with friends.
Staff were friendly and helpful as well. Not much more you could ask for. Definitely a gear option if you’re in the area and looking for a coffee.

This little coffee shop is just around the corner from our apartment. A favourite place to go for coffees and breakfast on weekend mornings. They don’t have the best coffee ever, or the best food ever, but everything is good!
They have done some renos recently and have improved the space quite a bit. They also take debit and credit — some older posts highlight that they did not.

This is a solid meeting place for conversation or school work. I love the old building location.
The seats are comfortable, the drinks are tasty, and they even have a couple vegan treats to enjoy. The non treat menu has several veg options too. Sandwiches, samosas. If you don’t want a sandwich though, best eat elsewhere — that’s really your only option.
The staff is sweet and great at remembering your order — which I find really nice and creepy all at the same time. You know what I mean.
FYI — there wifi seems to be in and out all the time. And I don’t think it’s turned on until later in the day sometimes. Again, can someone please explain this to me! Also, if you are there around the holidays, look up, they always have a cute Santa display lit up. If you’re into that sort of thing.

Could have gotten a ⁴⁄₅ or even a ⁵⁄₅. But staff need a pinch more training in their customer service.
The Good:
For starters, I loved the decaf cappuccino. Second best I’ve ever had. oddly the best I’ve had has been at Café Crêpe. But this is a great place for it as well. The Kitsilano Cookie is also fantastic. My friends Latte needed a pinch of sugar. Granted, she’s from England. So sugar is sort of necessity in her world. lol.
The Environment is perfect. I love the bathroom and how clean it is, the seating is good enough and comfortable for a place of this size. But most importantly, it is warm on a cold day. It’s rare to find a coffee shop that doesn’t try to freeze out their customers so they don’t hang around.
So you can see where they got their three stars. Now onto the staff:
The not so good:
They are friendly. A bit toooo friendly. An older customer was speaking to one of them for a few minutes while I waited by the cash register ready to order. After he finished talking to her she walked over to me and asked if anyone served me. I gave my mothers angry, «no» response. It’s polite but harsh at the same time. She apologized and said some customers are talkative. It was clear to her that I didn’t accept this excuse but I did accept her apology. Now before you picture that this older customer was a frail old Italian man with a Walker and a zest for life, no it wasn’t him. This was a guy in his early sixties, healthy and seems as though he talks everyone up.
If a customer is talkative and you have other customers, which you should always be scanning the room for, the number one thing you should know from day one at a coffee shop is the «Sorry, will you excuse me? I just need to help this customer.»
Later on I saw another staff member doing the same thing with another customer. So it’s a bit too friendly. To the point where the business suffers. If my friend didn’t already have her drink, we would have simply gone to another coffee shop instead.
This is the kind of place I want to really like. There’s obviously a lot of love put into it. But the staff need to learn a few trade secrets of being able to multi-​task as well as politely excuse themselves from conversations when customers are waiting.
Given the other reviews that mention customer service, this appears to be a bit of a trend. So I will give it one more try a few weeks from now. And I’ll send an update. Because I’d love to give this a ⁴⁄₅ or even ⁵⁄₅. But not quite yet.

This is my favorite early morning hang out spot and study spot!
The atmosphere is very welcoming, the staff are sweet and very accommodating to special requests and there are lots of options for alternative diets, gluten free snacks, almond milk for my coffee etc.
The oatmeal is packed with yummy stuff and you can always get milk on the side if you so desire. The veg breakfast sandwich is also one of my favorites, its filled with tons of avocado, tomato and cheese to go with the egg.
Its always busy in the mornings and fills up quickly with regulars, but I’ve never gone in and not had a place to sit. (though the big comfy seats are filled up quickly).
the free wifi doesn’t get turned on until the afternoon, and sometimes the music is a little too loud and distracts me from my studying… but its usually good music.

Stopped here briefly for a snack and a warm beverage. What a comfortable atmosphere, very welcoming! There are a couple of couch chairs, tables with chairs, and a counter to sit at along the windows. Although the space has some charming character, the surfaces are clean and well-​maintained. Some patrons were typing away at their laptops or reading textbooks. The crowd here I imagine is student-​dominated, since it’s proximity to direct bus lines to UBC.
When wandering along West Broadway, I will be stopping by Higher Grounds again, sometime soon!

This place seems to be always full of old people, not that i have anything against them… but I think when they opened this place they wanted it to be a artsy/​hippie hangout and somewhere along the way it turned into a place where old people go to catch up. Arbutus coffee a few blocks away is a much better option in my opinion.
They are cash only and do serve some sandwiches/​soups etc that looked interesting but I wasn’t tempted. Free wifi also which is a plus.
overall its just ok, left me with a very «meh» feeling. it doesn’t stand out and there are much better coffee options in the area.

A great Place to hang out on weekend mornings and read! The food is a little meh but the coffee is spot on.

I walked in the door and found this shop by chance. Nice wooden décor inside and awesome high quality tea that is cheaper and better than Starbucks. The staff were friendly and patient with me. The cashier reminded me of Natalie Portman and was ubber sweet. Thankfully the staff were sweet ’cause the other patrons all acted as though they had sticks up their a$$. Of course me being ubber social and friendly was a little confused at the snobbery. When you walk in there is a jar of tennis balls and another of treats to buy for man’s best friend, how cute is that. The volume of water for the tea is a very generous portion. The bathroom has character and while you’re taking a piss, you can debate if you want to spend $ 400 on the piece of art that is hanging above you. I am not a coffee connoisseur, therefore, I cannot comment on the quality of the beans. The pastries didn’t look unique and or appetizing, however, when I am in a coffee shop, I am mostly there for the tea and writing. Cheap drinks, however, it annoyed me that they were cash or debit only.

Very cozy and a great meeting place. A true coffee «house.»
One of the first times that I didn’t order coffee, so I can’t actually speak for that here.
Parking is free in the hood– if you can find it.
I don’t appreciate that there is only one bathroom, as people always seem to be in the loo in coffee places.
The brownie seemed pretty good, if not generic.
A nice alternative to SB if you are looking for a place to hang out.

This has turned into a favourite post-​dog walking spot. There are a few tables outside which is great when the sun is out. Otherwise grab a seat at the window bar and watch people, dogs and even cats go by. Actually, we saw a rather amusing cat/​dog confrontation today… lessons to all dogs, cats will cut you.
Anyway, the coffee is solid. Americanos a tad water-​downed but decent. Baked goods and the vegan bars are yum and I had a really great, flavourful soup today.
All in all, a solid stop that will keep you well away from Starbucks.
Oh and yes, they take credit cards, interact and cash now.

I am in school nearby so I am here often. Nice locally ran café with friendly and helpful customer service. They do charge for hot water-​yes water which I think is ridiculous. While their Americano is decent they do have a great selection of teas.
Their carrot cake is moist and the icing isn’t too sweet but there isn’t enough of an icing/​cake ratio and there is not enough carrot in it. It is more like a moist, carrot «flavoured» cake.

I used to live by this coffee shop and went every morning for my soy latte!
Service is great, friendly (they know their regulars and their drink orders)
It’s a nice change from the Starbucks chain and it is independently owned.
No wireless but a nice place to bring a book or catch up with a friend.

Not a friendly place.

First of all cash only, which is not cool.
Found banana breads & other baked goods to be good, but greasy.
Sandwiches– low effort.
Good coffee/​tea selection, nice variety of drinks, but nothing special. I would not say quality.

A great corner location with lots of atmosphere and large windows for people watching during your designated caffeinating period. They make a really good Americano and Cappuccino, and their baked goods are pretty tasty too.
The only thing preventing me from a Yay! or a Woohoo! review is sometimes the staff seems stand-​offish or at times a bit rude. On my first visit, the barista seemed disappointingly resigned to the fact that she had to deal with me, and on repeat visits the baristas seemed more interested with talking with one another behind the counter and making me wait for my beverage than serving me (the only customer in the place) and letting everyone get on with their lives. Maybe I emit some kind of Barista revulsion rays after a tragic accident involving nuclear isotopes, I don’t know. If you’re reading this and you’re a barista, particularly one that works at Higher Grounds, please don’t hate me.

With a very nice corner location this cute place has a lot of seating and a nice selection of Tea and Coffee drinks.
I am a Coffee snob so I have to admit that I was not impressed with my beverage, or that they basically offer NOthing for my limited diet. I mean at least they could have a naked egg or some potato chips.
Would it be too much to shop across the street at the IGA ?
Must we be tortured by your glutinous mouth watering Cinamon Rolls and Cookies and Cake loaves? –jeez louise! This should be illegal!
I ordered my Soy Capp, drooled on the counter and went across the street for food I can eat.

I used to live right across the street from this place, and time after time it never failed! I don’t drink coffee (sorry) but the tea selection is great and they make great specialty drinks as well (i.e. hot chocolate, chai, matcha, etc.).
The food ain’t bad either. They have good soups, sandwiches and breakfast things to munch on. Plus, it’s easy on the wallet and if you can get a spot, a comfy place to study, read a book, or just people watch.