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If you’re looking for your next favourite coffee place in Kingston, you have to try The Elm Café – even if you don’t drink coffee. Located at the corner of Montreal and Charles streets, The Elm Café has been a local favourite of the Inner Harbour neighbourhood since it opened in 2015. The café, open at 7:30 am daily, offers a selection of made-to-order breakfast sandwiches, assorted baked goods, and some of the best lattes in town. Breakfast is served until 11 am; after that, a variety of fresh sandwiches is available from the grab-and-go fridge.
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The Elm Café is located in a red brick building that used to house a laundromat – a “Laverne’s Laundry” sign is prominently displayed near the front. Seating 18 people inside, but with room for more outside on the back patio in the warmer months, the café offers a cozy, welcoming ambiance. You can grab your order to go, but if you dine in, you can sink into one of the vintage armchairs, people-watch, and enjoy the local artwork hanging on the walls. Savour a beverage served to you in a china teacup from the café’s eclectic collection, while you nibble on a chocolate hazelnut croissant or the café’s most popular breakfast sandwich, “The whole shebang.” Café owners Logan and Matthew source many of their menu ingredients locally, from places including Tara Foods and Pig & Olive.
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The café is open until 5 pm daily, but on the first Tuesday of every month, it reopens from 7 to 9:30 pm for a poetry open mic night, hosted by local poet Bruce Kauffman.
Before you leave, check out the tote bags and T-shirts for sale; they feature an Inner Harbour-inspired design by local graphic designer Benjamin Nelson (who also did the café’s outside mural on the Charles Street side of the building).
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The Elm Café, at 303 Montreal Street, is open daily from 7:30 am to 5 pm.
