Coffee and a fabulous cheese bun at Rosso Coffee Roaster in Ramsay

Velet Bike Ski Cafe
Victoria Park
Back alley 105, 206 11 Avenue SE

Don’t be surprized to see folks arriving at Velet on two wheels. That’s because this funky, edge-of-downtown coffee spot is also a bicycle/ski repair and tune-up shop. Owner Hakan Kayabasi does it all: ski/bike technician, expert barista and purveyor of fresh-baked Turkish treats.

Velet is a unique ski-bike shop and cafe

Semantics Cafe
Victoria Park
1010 1 Street SE

Semantics, on the edge of downtown, is perhaps the artsiest coffee shop in Calgary. Beneath its impossibly high ceiling are local art, a drum kit, old vinyl records and books. Bonus points for the fresh Butter Block pastries and Chronicle-roasted beans.

Semantics artsy cafe on the edge of downtown

Gravity
Inglewood
909 10 Street SE

Gravity is a cozy, 13-year-old coffeeshop that welcomes residents and visitors to vibrant Inglewood. Come for fresh-roasted beans and a berry yogurt bowl. Stay for the unparalleled live music.

Inglewood’s Gravity mixes coffee and live music

Canela Vegan Bakery
Inglewood
1319 9 Avenue SE

Canela is a destination for vegans seeking a different take on baked treats, like cinnamon rolls or gussied-up croissants. The casually elegant space, which includes a cozy café, is perfect for a mid-morning sweet treat and a latte.

Grab a vegan treat and coffee at Canela bakery

Rosso Coffee Roasters
Ramsay
15, 803 24 Avenue SE

Rosso is a Calgary coffee juggernaut, hitting it out of the park with this flagship cafe in the historic Dominion Bridge Building in Ramsay. Watch award-winning baristas pull shots while you munch on a fabulous, toasted and buttered cheese bun (recipe from the owner’s mother).

Rosso Coffee’s historic Ramsay cafe

Eight Ounce Coffee
Coffee geek community
2040, 2600 Portland Street SE

Want to seriously up your coffee game? Just pop by Eight Ounce and peruse hundreds of roasted beans, from as far away as Florence, or perhaps invest in a $5,200 espresso machine. Or sample a much cheaper flight of coffees.

Eight Ounce is where the coffee geeks hang out

Baya Rica Cafe
Bridgeland
204 7A Street NE

It’s not hard to spot Baya Rica Café, near the western entrance to the Bridgeland community. Just look for the bright yellow house with a long metal smokestack. The latter is attached to an in-house stove roasting beans from an affiliated Costa Rican farm. A cappuccino goes well with a Mexican wedding cookie.

Baya Rica’s bright yellow cafe and coffee roaster

Mari Bakeshop
Bridgeland
103 Saint Matthews Square NE

The good espresso-based drinks are mainly a pretext for loading up on arguably the finest baked treats in Calgary—from airy croissants to slices of roll cake. A warning: This place gets crazy busy on summer weekends.

Folks flock to Mari Bakeshop in Bridgeland

Congress Coffee
Tuxedo
1A, 215 36 Avenue NE

Hidden in a Tuxedo industrial park, the dimly lit Congress is nonetheless a new community gathering spot for small-batch-roasted coffee, art shows and live music. Combine a pecan tart with a “pay what you feel” drip coffee.

Congress Coffee is a new Tuxedo gathering place