Agora Café

The food is five stars all day long. We found this place on our way out of Toronto and were pleasantly surprised. The good: the bread is baked on site and amazing. I had the French omelet of the day with apple and cheddar. It was delicious as was my chai tea latte. The bad: it was blazing hot in there because of the oven. The barista forgot my bfs chai and then presented it to him as we were walking out the door.
This place is great if you’re on a leisurely pace. Since we were hitting the road right after I’d say the time from ordering to eating was about 20 minutes. All in all it was a great find.

Have been eating here for about four years and have only positive things to say — about the food, people, and ambiance. It’s a small, comfortable and cozy place; a relaxed setting. Whenever I come back to Toronto I try to drop in for one of the nice cakes and a tea, or one of the soups and Irish soda bread. If you’ve never had soda bread then do yourself a favour and get some. Short of popping across the pond to Ireland then this is your place. On that note their mince pies around Christmas, and ginger cookies at any time of year are to die for…

The best thing about Agora is that you can sit there for hours without the staff making you feel like you’ve worn out your welcome (especially great considering the free wifi). Coffee is average, though they’ve got a great selection of delicious loose-​leaf tea. The inside is a bit dark for my tastes, and the ez-​rock is… also not to my taste. They’ve very baby– and child-​friendly though, however to get to the washrooms you’ve got to go down a flight of stairs that I imagine could pose an obstacle for some folks.

I just recently moved to the Junction and have had the pleasure of eating at Agora several times already, so maybe if I Unilocal it, you’ll consider it too!
Each time I’ve been there, the staff has been very friendly and helpful, even if you’re sleep and caffeine-​deprived, which really makes a big difference when they are the first real face you see in the morning.
The latte’s and coffee are fairly priced, which is great considering they have fair-​trade and organic options, and the previously mentioned cold-​brew teas are really refreshing. (Highly recommend the Citrus tea!)
So far I’ve mainly been doing my noshing there during lunchtimes on their sandwich specials. As already mentioned in previous reviews, they do love their pears. Anytime I’m there and the sandwich special involves pear or another fruit chutney, I’m sold. (Although the Turkey and Cranberry sandwich which is always on the menu is a solid choice as well.)
They bake their own bread in house and a little birdie has told me that they will even sell those to customers if you make a request beforehand, not sure of the prices but their sunflower loaf is too delicious to pass up.
The atmosphere is very cozy, with seats at the front ideal for people-​watching and ones closer in the back are better for tucking back with a book. Personally, I’d rather snoop.

I’m a sucker for pears, and luckily there are over 400 types of pears in existence so it’ll be a while before I get sick of them.
I just had one of the most delightful soups of my soup-​eating career at Agora, under new ownership, and I can’t wait to have it again. It was Pear & Parsnip — what a wonderful combo! It was served with fresh homemade buttered bread (seriously, this bread was deadly — it was like a cross between a dense quickbread and a regular loaf).
They’ve got a boatload of freshly made sandwiches (roasted portobello with goat cheese and chicken, avocado and roasted red pepper, just to name two standouts) and lattes, organic teas and coffee by the pound. I had a refreshing glass of unsweetened rosehip & hibiscus iced tea for $ 2 — hard to find red iced tea in my experience so I savoured every mL of it.
I hesitate to mention the wi-​fi as it’s far from reliable and the signal is really weak.
Wonderful lunch spot if you live or work in the High Park/​Junction neighbourhood!