Prado Cafe

I don’t know what it was about this café but the flat white I had here was the best one I’ve had outside of New Zealand.
Cute little spot, on a bit of a sketchy corner so enjoy the people watching!

Omg I am so happy to find this place on my way to work! Love there breakfast sandwiches & there pumpkin cake! The location is cute & the staff is great. Only minus point is the coffee, not my absolute favourite but still good! Xo

Great place, though very standard. I come to expect more from cafés to not just be cookie cutter. We get it, wood is in, espresso machines are necessary, and so are delicious pastries and baking, but make some magic happen!
Staff are friendly and smiling. Pumpkin bread is something you’ll want to go back for more. But the bench will leave you feeling either hunched or uncomfortable.
Expect a pleasant hum of city kids Skyping with foreign lovers and/​or having awkward business conversations on their telephones.
It’s on a busy city corner, so people watching is heaven.

I have to admit, I was cautious to try this location as the one on the Drive has long intimidated me, and I don’t find the atmosphere particularly welcoming (nor the staff the time I went!) But this location is very different. It’s a beautiful building and the giant windows are a real treat.
I had a few minutes to kill so popped in to grab a drink and do some work. The staff were still a bit standoffish, but not as bad as the other location. They let me try the kombucha before I decided what I wanted, which was really nice! I love that they have kombucha on tap — it’s obviously SO hipster, but damn it it’s delicious!
It’s SUPER busy in here, so don’t expect it to be easy to find a table. I was lucky that someone was leaving as I arrived, but when I left my table was snatched up before I even stood up!

I LOVE mocha’s. I am always in search of the best mocha and I found it at Prado! They add a lil something extra to the chocolate that creates a wonderfully nuanced flavor profile.
This location can get busy, but they always seem to keep the line moving.

I first met Sammy Piccolo (the owner) in June 2009 in Minneapolis Minnesota, at Coffee Fest. We remained in touch and I followed some of his exploits on Twitter, but finally the day came (6 years after meeting) when I was finally in Canada to see his shop!
The shop is great, fabulous even. Both times the baristas efficiently produced a stellar drink. Prices seem reasonable to me. Clean space with eclectic touches.
Very glad I was able to visit.

Serving delicious 49^th Parallel beans, and the breakfast cookie is a tasty meal on its own

I ordered a chai tea latte and it was awful! It was like having a cup of luke warm milk, without any spice of chai. :(

So I have never tried a PRADO in my life (not that I recall). I came in one weekend for a caffeine fix. The shop at this local was packed (no seating). After placing an order (no line) we got our coffeeeeeez. They have almond milk, homo, soy milks. Honey, brown sugar (open jar i’m not so much of a fan as hands can go in it) and splenda (in packets).
Half the coffee sleeves were soaking wet. Fail.
Nowhere to sit (it’s ok since it wasn’t our intention).
Overall…a-ok.
They serve Parallel coffee, staff seemed distant and aloof and not very into customer service but put our order through fast.

Great coffee, amazing tea, yummy pastries. This place is awesome. I go there every day before I have to go to work and the service is always fast and the people are friendly. They have free wifi (openspaces is the password) and a bunch of wall plugs.
It does however get extremely hot in that store so it’s not ideal on a super hot summer day.

Crispy flakey on the outside and fluffy, buttery on the inside croissants. Great chai tea latte — not too sweet. They serve up Parallel 49 coffee. Large windows perfect for people watching/​cringing.

This place is awesome and I come here often. They do a great latte which looks as good as it tastes. They use the space well, it has enough seating without being cramped and the music is chill, not too loud. It has the trendy Gastown/​Hipster charm.

Us A-​holes review the Prado Americano here:

I love a coffee shop that has good coffee, good pastries and some ambiance where no one is typing on their laptop but rather having conversations or flipping through magazines… I think I have found what I was searching for all these years.
I popped into Prado’s new location on the edge of Gastown and was surprised that I spent a couple of hours there just reading, people watching and watch the world go by.
The décor is hipster chic, the baristas are friendly and don’t have a crazy attitude.
I tried a large Parallel 49^th drip coffee along with a Canele, which was just the perfect texture and taste and read one of their fashionable magazines.
Overall, even though the neighbourhood is still a «work in progress», I enjoyed spending a Saturday afternoon.

Prado Café has expanded their operations from the original Commercial Drive shop to a brand new, second location inside the new Argyll Building in Gastown.
The new café serves the same, well-​known 49^th Parallel coffee beans in those trademark blue cups. As for the coffee, their café mocha had a nice, not too sweet coffee and chocolate balance, while the macchiato was well-​brewed, strong, and crisp. The interior lets in so much natural light with floor to ceiling windows all around its corner locale.
Paired with their coffee is a fresh menu and selection of comforting sandwiches. My highlight was the delicious grilled cheese (on sourdough bread with medium-​aged cheddar, fresh mozzarella, asiago, and Romano cheese) in all its cheesy glory.
The prosciutto sandwich (also on sourdough with manchego cheese, tomato, caramelized onion jam, and arugula) was quite tasty and comforting. The Lana (on cranberry bread wit brie, honey caraway butter, pear, and arugula) was another tasty effort but a little too much for my tastes.
Prado’s new location is already bustling and full of coffee seekers with its warm, inviting atmosphere. It’s already a hot spot for café goers.

Team Tastic came here and I got to try a Pour Over Coffee, an Arugula, Cheese Cranberry Sandwich, a Prosciutto, Arugula, and Cheese Sandwich, and a Asiago Cheese Grilled Sandwich. On the topic of coffee, you don’t always see the Pour Over option at Vancouver coffee shops so I liked the option here. Essentially, Pour Over is a precise method of coffee brewing compared to drip. It requires a manual effort and results in smooth coffee that is filtered so well without any fine grains left inside. Using beans from 49^th Parallel Roasters also ups the quality and adds a local touch to the taste.
The sandwiches were all well-​made but I am partial towards the Asiago Cheese Grilled Sandwich. A combination of wholly sweet bread and a slight crisp on the exterior makes for a warm gooey cheese filling that was very fun to eat.
If playing on the playground could be cool as an adult (which I’m sure it is), this cheese sandwich was the coffee house equivalent. The cranberry bread used here was also quite sweet and was nice and fluffy to chew on. I don’t think these are Meat and Bread-​type sandwiches but they do compare very well to something like Pallet Coffee Roasters’ sandwiches. I’ve heard word that Prado will be rotating sandwiches on a weekly basis so you can expect to try a new delicious sandwich pretty often.

I was here after a few days that it was open for. I work around the neighborhood so it’s easy for me to come by through there is a lot of coffee shops around here that are kinda the same. This coffee shop serves 49^th parallel coffee beans which is something I like because it’s nice and smooth for my liking. Though I have to say 2 blocks down there is another coffee shop that serves the same beans.
I walked in during the middle of the day and there were a lot of people in there. Not sure if it’s because it’s fairly new and everyone is here to try it out. I love how their layout of the place. Their big glass windows make the place look bigger and there is not place to hide in there. Which is good considering it’s really close to downtown east side. You don’t want homeless people trying to sleep in there.
I ordered a vanilla latte and a chocolate cake (a little too dense for me and nothing really special about it. it’s got some sprinkles on top if you ask me). Their vanilla syrup is in a squeezy bottle instead of a bottle that you can pump out. So, i feel like they are eyeballing every time they put in the vanilla. But it’s all good. Mine tasted fine and I usually do extra sweet anyways.
Overall, nothing really special about this place. Came here only because it’s new and that they served 49^th parallel coffee. Asides from that I would have gone to another coffee shop. I’m not even sure if they even make their bake goods in house cause their back looks pretty small.

A great location for a quality coffee! A bright and open space that is inviting and warm. The staff are attentive and friendly. Decent prices compared to some of the other hipster coffee spots around Gastown.

I am really feeling this location both inside and out. Good coffee, lots of space. Grey tones with a hipster feel. Really good coffee. Great addition to the hood.

A solid 4.
They serve coffee and espresso based drinks using 49^th Parallel beans.
Their beans are a bit dark for my liking. I prefer lighter roasts such as the ones served at Matchstick, Luke’s General Store, or Revolver.
The space is clean and open with a bit of a hipster vibe.
Staff/​baristas were friendly and skilled (excellent latte pour).