Which chain coffee house is the best or in the top 3 in Toronto?

And please, please, please tell me that at the chains they are better than Starbucks.

Canadian's are partial to Tim Horton's...Tim's coffee is good and cheaper than Starbucks too!

Tim Horton's is so popular that they're opening one in Afghanistan. Surprisingly, several hundred staff offered to go - they need special training.

Second Cup and Timothy's are popular, too.

If you are asking Canadians, the answer has got to be Tim Horton's!!
We have a real love of 'Timmy's' and they are everywhere.

Re>And please, please, please tell me that at the chains they are better than Starbucks<

What's your problem with Starbucks? Hard to beat fine service, well trained staff, good products, comfortable chairs in many locations...

And what do you want to buy? "Normal" coffee, milk-enhanced coffee based drinks...

And food?

Tim Horton's has a wide vriety of food, and really is a restaurant.

Second Cup, Timothy's and Starbucks do not cook.

BAK

Starbucks coffee always tastes bitter. Yuk! In downtown Toronto, McDonald's coffee is pretty good! Better than Starbucks IMHO.
I like Timothy's too(not to be confused w/ the other Tim...Tim Hortons which is somtimes good & sometimes not)

I really don't like Tim Horton's - I think the coffee is awful. (And yes, I'm a real Canadian.) Lately I've been picking up my coffee at Second Cup on my way into the office - I love their lattes. But I also like Starbucks - it's just not on my way to work these days.

I also like Lettieri, which is a small Canadian owned but European-style premium chain.

http://www.lettiericafe.com/

Tim Horton's coffee is mediocre.

Note: This is an old post and the OP deleted their account with Fodor's.

For anyone else reading this, Tim Horton's is fast food coffee. An iced cappuccino comes from a powdered mix in a slushy machine, for example.

If somebody is seeking something that's "better than Starbucks" I read it that they're seeking something local, gourmet, and more authentically Italian - not Tim Horton's.

Aroma Coffee (500 Bloor St. West in the Annex) is an Israeli-based chain with so far only one branch here in TO. Luckily it is near me! But it is a sit-down-leisurely-paced-wait-for-a-seat-expensive-experience.

On a regular basis, for when you REALLY need a coffee you can count on, I am a huge fan of Tim Hortons: when you are on the road, it can't be beat.

They are also great philanthropists...for those who dutifully put their change in the box at Timmy's, they do add up to wonderful vacations for kids who wouldn't get them otherwise. My daughter has trained counsellors for those camps spread across North America and the work the Tim Horton's Foundations does makes me more generous! (plus who can resist the roll up the rim thing?)

I had to grin at the idea of trying to create an "authentically Italian iced cappucino": I think that just might be an oxymoron...

So true LJ

My point was that you don't go to Tim Horton's if you're seeking espresso-based drinks, as they don't have espresso makers. Their strength is drip coffee. This is obvious to us Canadians, but for out of towners who may not be familiar with Tim Horton's, they might be anticipating an actual coffee house with Italian style coffees made with steamed milk, espresso, etc. In that way Tim Horton's is more akin to McDonald's than it is to a coffee house - philanthropy included.

I know that Timmie's is the quick and easy place get you coffee fix, but I would be the gal looking for the local coffee houses. I like to help out the small business owner. I do like Timmies as a place to get a quick healthy sandwich whne I am on the road though.

By the time some little restaurant expands to three locations, the uniformity tends to slack off.

And I can't think of a three-location, or bigger, good little chain that's owner-operated.

Don;t know much about Letteri (or however it is spelled)

That Jet Fuel place on Parliament is borderline clean, and not very good.

And happy as I am to support small busienss owners, I'm also happy to support the young, and not so young, men and women who work at Starbucks, Second Cup and Timothy's, financing theior educations, in many cases, by working hard to keep us happy.

As for STarbuck's coffee always being bitter; hard to believe, since there are two coffees available at any time, the storage length is cargfully timed, and one type of coffee keeps getting replaced by another.

And Pike Place isn't bitter.

BAK

Knowlwdge gleaned from the nice young lady at Starbucks last night.

On the regualr coffee machnes (Pike's Place and whatever bold they are offering) there's a red light. WQhen the light is solid, the coffee is fresh, and when it starts to flash, it is time for the Starbuckians to make a fresh batch.

I've never paid attention to timers at other coffee shops.

BAK

Great to know BAK!
I sometimes have had coffee that seems like it sat for 10 hours! We brew ours at work and put it into insulated pots that will keep it steaming hot for hours!

Does anyone know Caffe Artigiano in Vancouver (and now Calgary)? If so, what is equivalent in style in Toronto?