Bridgehead Roastery

Logdriver is my favourite espresso blend of all time; it’s nice to be able to support a local company that itself supports fair trade and organic coffee farming.

Great atmosphere really. The closest thing to a specialty café in terms of the quality of coffee beans, variety of beans’ origins, various brew methods, and their fresh roasting. There an obvious effort to serve specialty coffee at a commercial level. And to be honest, that’s amazing in the absence of a vibrant independently owned specialty café’s scene in Ottawa.
I used to order my espresso whole beans from roasters in the UK and US until Bridgehead’s started roasting and selling beans. Not saying they are the best, but they are really good in the compared to anything else in the city. Oh and the barista’s at this location seem to know what they are doing! You’ll understand if you have a hint of coffee geekiness like me.

I’m a Bridgehead fan, admittedly. I really enjoy their coffee and of course, their morning bun – a delight of flaky pastry and sugar. It doesn’t hurt that the local brand is pretty much everywhere you want to be throughout Ottawa, so bypassing the other chains is as easy as walking a block.
But there is something extra special about the Preston (not actually on Preston) Roastery. It’s a bakery of impressive size, a tea lab, a cupping room, a hub for all things sumptuous and delicious. It’s a sprawling and pleasant spot, from a light breakfast in the morning to drinks and small plates after 4pm when the Roaster turns in to a aprés work gathering spot.
If your Bridgehead experience is confined to queuing up for your morning latte, try this lingering spot to enjoy a more spacious and pleasant environment and more programming and events to celebrate good eating and drinking.

Reminds me of the better version of Starbucks. The café vibes are Starbucks-​esque but the quality and selection of food I’d argue is better than the corporate giant. They have a health consciousness that is nice and even offer fresh cold pressed bottles juices. I enjoyed an apple, chicken sandwich on multi grain bread paired with a latte. Fully enjoyed this break and would pop in for a coffee again.

I’ve been to many a Bridgehead in the city, but as it turns out, none of them compare to this place! This location is huge, and it’s easily the coolest place to grab a coffee in Little Italy.
We came by on a Sunday afternoon with the intent of getting a coffee to go, but once I was inside I didn’t want to leave! The design is all industrial, with high, open ceilings and plenty of seating. Seeing all the equipment for roasting the coffee was super cool, and I loved that it’s all open so you can see what’s going on. They weren’t roasting while we were there, so we could look, but it wasn’t super loud as Coy mentioned in his review. So environment, 5 stars for sure.
I was pretty ravenous when we got there, and after seeing the flatbread, I totally wanted one. I can’t remember what it was called, but I’ll never forget the taste… I’ve been craving another one ever since! The crispy and chewy flatbread had toasted sesame seeds on the crust, and it was covered with pesto, just the right amount of cheese, tomatoes and black olives. It was so delicious and the perfect amount to split for a snack.
I also got their iced coffee which was fabulous, and a great drink on warmer days. They have a few seats outdoors, but plenty of space inside. I will definitely be coming back here soon!

Bridgehead Roastery is a cool coffee/​tea joint! Spacious and mod in design their flagship store or head store sits in the outskirts of downtown Ottawa. My sister her family and I dropped by one lazy Sunday afternoon. My sister wanted to get some lemongrass tea but we found out that their retail tea department is closed on Sundays. We decided to take a load off and sat down for a Maple Latte. It was pretty good. A hint of maple but not overwhelming or overpowering.
I really like this café! It’s not overly crowded and customers are not packed in like sardines. It’s a little off the beaten path but well worth the effort!

Bridgehead Roastery is one of the best coffee places ever. I love coming here for breakfasts ;) or late afternoon after work.
Their coffee is soooo good!

I rarely go to Bridgehead, not for any particular reason, but I hadn’t tried anything that knocked my socks off before.
Today, I stopped in with the intent of getting a few croissants, and a coffee of sorts. I had no idea that it was a roastery! What a treat!
I got a plain croissant, a almond one, and a few chocolate ones! And a vanilla latte! I was also looking for something for my dear friend who is on a type of food cleanse, no gluten, no corn, no dairy, no egg. When I asked the barista he showed me a bar that they make, perfect!
I got to see some of the process of coffee making… I think, I was in a rush. But! It seems like a great place to get some more info and have fun! Some of tables they had were occupied by a few guests, pretty cool!
The vanilla latte was great, one of the best I’ve had in a while! And once I tore into that chocolate croissant, I couldn’t stop!
Heard great things about the no gluten-​corn-​dairy-​egg bar aswell!

I am already a huge fan of Bridgehead, their coffees are really great, their food is fantastic and their fancier drinks are really quite something as well (Maple Latte ftw!)
I stopped in at their Roastery one day coming back from Little Italy and needing to kill some time. To be honest, I expected it to be a bit of a small place maybe with windows to see the roastery but for the most party just a little shop.
It’s not.
The whole café is in the middle of where they roast and package. As I was waiting to order people were packaging coffee and sorting it. Pretty awesome.
They have a really neat space here, it’s all very open and industrial, a few comfy chairs towards the roasters, some higher tables and then a baresque table at the window. Honestly, if I ever needed a place to escape and work, I do believe this would be top of the list.
I had a chai with cinnamon that was divine, as usual. I also had the cheese, nut and gluten free cracker box which is always delicious. They make the gluten free crackers themselves which is a lovely addition.
I’d be curious to see if they do events here because it seems like it would be a really neat space.

The Bridgehead location on Anderson Street is a full coffee shop /​roastery. Great looking place with a lot of open space for you to enjoy your coffee and other treats that they serve. The also serve special blends of coffee in a glass siphon, something everyone should try instead of just a plain old brewed cup of coffee.
What’s nice about Bridgehead is that they now roast all their coffee and the guys handling the roasting are always trying to perfect the process. What I found was that their coffee tastes a lot better then it use to when the roasting was done off-​site. This in my opinion is a major plus for Bridgehead and for us coffee snobs.
However, if you are looking for a quiet place to enjoy your coffee or tea, think again. when the roasting machines are running the noise levels are really high and quite deafening. I hope that sooner then later someone is going to add some sound barriers to make the whole coffee experience more enjoyable.
Fortunately the roasters are not always running and if you want to, call ahead and ask when the machines are not running. While you are at it, ask them about their Saturday tours, they are free and you will learn quite a bit about coffee and the Bridgehead experience.
Oh and before I forget, my daughter thinks their brownies are «lethal», all my kids will devour them in a flash. .. hmm, I wonder what they put in those brownies.
Give it a try.

We swung by here to grab a coffee after a delicious and filling sandwich down the street. I did not know that this place was the new Bridgehead roaster… SCORE!
The space is massive and there are a bunch of chairs scattered throughout the place. Thankfully we were coming by to just get a coffee.
As awesome and cool as the roasting process is here, you probably want to bring a pair of air traffic controller earmuffs as the place is pretty loud. It’s very exciting for the first few minutes but if you sit in here for an extended time I could see that get really annoying, really quickly.
The barista’s are going to hate me but I noticed they offer siphon coffee here which is a certain brew method with is awesome to watch and tastes great. It’s not as cool as the automated Japanese ones but it’s still awesome. It’s slightly more expensive than drip coffee but definitely tastier! I’d recommend you order one and put that barista to work! I think I’m getting spit in my next siphon coffee from them.
In the summer time there is plenty of seating on the outdoor patios and they sell a lot of coffee equipment here as well. I’d recommend you check out at least once.

As local micro-​chains go, I like Bridgehead. The coffee is decent, the food is ok and they have a surprisingly well-​rounded tea selection. So I was pleased that they were opening up a roastery. And the space is fantastic — just how I like my cafés — an expansive factory-​like warehouse with high ceilings and exposed brick. But, yeah, as remarked already, there’s a major problem with the Roastery. So big that despite my 3 star rating, I will not go back there. The noise. Holy crap this place is loud. Not white noise that you can block out loud (the kind of noise that makes me more productive when I’m working in cafes) but deafening industrial noise that hurts your ears and makes conversations utterly impossible. Sure, it’s a roastery and they have to roast the coffee there and the machines are loud, but I’m absolutely baffled as to why they didn’t encase the coffee roasters in noise-​insulating glass or other kind of sound insulation (like I’ve seen at other coffeehouse roasteries). Maybe they eventually will or maybe the roasters don’t operate ²⁴⁄₇ and I was just unlucky, but as is, this place is completely uninhabitable unless you bring some earplugs. A shame.

The newest addition to the Preston scene is a coffee shop with a difference. The Bridgehead Roastery will apparently be roasting all the coffee for local Bridgehead shops.
Not being a Bridgehead regular, I was pleased to see more than the usual assortment of edibles. There were the expected cookies and pastries, but also sandwiches and salads. There was enough for my gluten-​sensitive friend to eat as well.
Two quibbles — one is obvious, I suppose. When the roaster is operating, it is noisy and conversation is difficult.
The second should have been obvious — the website. It doesn’t have contact information, not even the address!
Give it a try — but get your treats to go if the roaster is on.