El Almacen Yerba Mate Café

Absolutely an amazing experience. I had the Yerba mate and took some empanadas home. Really delicious! The space is welcoming, the service is wonderful. A real neighborhood gem

Service:
The staff was friendly and help, as it was my first time at the café they explained to me what each item is about.
Ambiance:
A small café with sufficient seating. Good for group ranging from 2 – 4 people. If it’s a nice summer day, there’ll be extra seating outside too.
Food:
I got the Mate in the Groud, which is a hot tea in a served in a wood flask. It’s basically free refills as they let you put in more tea leaves and hot water as needed. I would recommend not going overboard, as it the tea can really get you wired up.

Came here while waiting for friends in the area. We ordered the Yerba Mate Latte, Apple Cider and Moccachino :)
The apple cider was the winner, it came out of a jug but I’d like to know where I can buy that jug! It wasn’t overly sweet but just soul warming.
The latte and coffee were both nice, the lightness of the tea was a welcome smell and taste after a heavy meal.
The atmosphere was nice, and most patrons during the time seemed to be regulars.
I’ll try their empanadas next time!

Most tasty empanadas, cozy ambiance, friendly owners, great mate and coffee… highly recommended!

finally caught this place when i was available to, and when the place was open
amazing place to get treats, and the tea is absolutely Stellar
very clean and everything inside the café is perfectly placed.
well displayed, friendly staff, and super clean.
a bit on the small side, and you have to be at the right angle to see each individual menu.
great place, will come back

Yerba mate has been trending for quite some time here in TO, so I won’t make you snooze with a lengthy explanation. Please know, though, if you’re a fan of coffee, tea and carefully concocted, slightly exotic things, I have a hunch you’ll love it.
The craftsmanship on everything in this place is incredibly impressive. Beautiful big brass machines and adorable little wooden chairs and tables, El Almacen truly transports you to another time and place. When I last popped in here, I enjoyed a lemonade with chia seeds. Good people, good surroundings, and energy-​giving drinks for everyone.

I love this ‘authentic’ mate experience in Toronto! The staff are great about showing newbies how drinking mate works, and the alfajores (shortbread-​like cookies with dulce de leche in the middle) are delectable! I love stopping in here anytime I’m walking past on Queen St.

This is my new favourite place! I love everything about it. They have great coffee, tea, empanadas (amazing, just perfection), prices, atmosphere, hours of operation, and service. If I lived in the area I would probably be here almost daily. They have yerba mate, and regular tea as well. The coffee is good, too. They also have the best rooibos tea I have ever had (I even took some home), and for a cup of tea and 50 grams to go, my order was only 7.00 which is just phenomenal considering how expensive loose leaf tea often is. One time I came with my friend (who loved everything here as well), and we saw a woman take 6 boxes of empanadas home. After trying them, I feel that quantity is quite reasonable.
I would love to spend more time inside when I have some time. The place is cute and cozy. I love the music, the art work, just everything. I feel a bit like I’m at a café in a hotel of an all inclusive resort. Come here instead of Starbucks nearby.

Update. I decided to change my rating because these guys are just so nice and the food was good. They just need to work on getting organized and communicating properly.
May 29
I really want to like these guys…
They have a nice place and the food is decent. It’s just that these guys are really bad at running a business. Or at least just really bad at communicating.
I had a large group reservation. They said they would email me the menu. They emailed me but didn’t send the menu. I asked again for the menu and they just ignored it. Luckily i had a picture of an old menu to use.
They asked if we could preorder because we are a large group. I said no problem. I sent them the order at 5pm. Then again at 7pm to add to the order. They email at 10:30 asking where the order was. They didn’t know how to read the quoted text in the email so they couldn’t see the order even though I sent it multiple times.
I sent a separate email again with the order and ask that they confirm they got it. They finally confirm from an iPad because they couldn’t see it on their iPhone.
I also had a lot of problems calling them. They gave me their unpublished cell number. When I call they don’t answer because they didn’t want to answer an unknown number. But they gave me their number to call them!!! You know I’m going to call!!!
Nice guys. Again, I really want to recommend them. It’s a nice place to go. Just need to be really patient with them. It’s a case of nice people who know how to cook and make coffee but they don’t really know how to run a business.

You couldn’t pay me to go back to El Almacen. We wasted almost half an hour here waiting for service.
We were wanting to have a light brunch so we thought we’d try El Almacen for the first time. It wasn’t extremely busy in there. They have a good amount of tables and chairs. There were only 2 other parties seated at tables. We go inside and find a table. A server who was taking food orders from another table came by and gave us menus. Five minutes later we were wondering what was going on. The lady we first met was stationed behind the bar. There was a flow of single patrons coming in and ordering a drink at the bar and so she just stayed there helping new customers instead of coming to see us. Ten minutes go by and we saw another lady come out from the back. She starts fiddling around with the stereo volume and doesn’t even acknowledge us.
20 minutes go by and we were starting to think about leaving if we didn’t get any kind of acknowledgement. Over 25 minutes later we get up and leave. As we are leaving the lady behind the counter sees us and doesn’t even say anything.

Cool place to drink yerba mate in authentic style with super friendly staff.

Yep, I dig this joint 100%! Made a snap decision to meet a friend for coffee on Sunday as it was one of the only places local to us both that was open later on a Sunday that wasn’t a Starbucks or Timmies. I should add that this spot is anything BUT those two mentioned.
I walked in and immediately heard a mix of South American music peppered with the light banter of spanish spoken by S. American tongues. This seems to be a hang out spot for a mix of the Queen W/​Ossington crowd and South American ex-​pats living in Toronto. So much culture! Love it!
My friend got a capuccino, but upon asking what the signature drink was that everyone was enjoying (Yerba Mate) the cashier explained exactly what it was (similar to a green tea) what it would taste like and how exactly to enjoy it. Eager to check the box on my «try something new for the day» list I went with it (and tossed on an beef Empanada for good measure).
The loose leaves of the Yerba Mate at first produce a somewhat bitter/​strong tea like beverage (thank god for that metal straw with the filter on it), served in a hollow wooden cup. You’re given additional Yerba Mate on the side, as well as sugar and a thermos of hot water. You essentially can sit there and douse your Mate all day with fresh hot water and sugar OR dump your cup and start again. my suggestion, keep the same Mate as the flavours really mellow out and get more enjoyable with each cup.
The empanada was very delicately prepared, paper thin (but strong) crust, enveloping a sizable pocked of ground beef, perfectly seasoned. Perfect side snack!
This was one first that I’m thrilled to have tried, and something I can see myself returning for time and time again!

This is a very nice café near ossington strip. It has very funky art on the walls and a great set up with cozy wooden furniture. The Americano has great flavour and the perfect caffeine kick. They have a nice, limited, selection of grilled sandwiches for fair pricing. Service was very friendly and welcoming. Music they play throughout day is very mellow, fairly typical café background music. Only downfall is they don’t have internet on the weekend so plan on coming during week in your needing to work on work or watch tv shows when needing internet during week. Cafés seems to be doing this now, however, I find it a bit odd/​annoying if the reason I came to the café is to do work. This café is more of a brunch spot or grab and go coffee on weekends in my mind which they do very well.

I should preface by saying that I’m from Argentina, so I’ve had a million cups of mate and scarfed down my fare share of alfajores and facturas of different types.
That being said, the mate, the main draw to the establishment itself was pretty standard and so was the alfajor. It was by no means bad. Far from. It was very enjoyable. It just wasn’t something I wasn’t already used to.
But as the hours rolled by, as they do when you drink mate and complain about life, it was exactly what I needed; a shared cup of the most bitter drink I keep going back to time and time again.
But for some reason I was expecting some strange Queen & Ossington elevation of Latin baked goods and so on. But instead, they stick to the staples, which they do well, but it’s nothing that I’m not used to.

True it was only my first time here but the woman who owned the place was behind the counter and she was absolutely lovely. The smells cycling through the place also peaked my interest. I may eat there soon. Overall a very good and relaxing experience. Loved the vibe, the coffee is delicious and you can tell that they really take pride in delivering a good product. I would highly recommend this place based on my experience.

Very friendly, and professional. They’ll bring your drinks to you prior to paying, and will start a «bar tab» for everyone. Delicious coffee, both hot and iced. The café de leche is positively something that must be tried at least once.

It’s the one café along West Queen West that always has customers and I think it’s the owners and their unique touch that makes the difference.
On a sunny day like today the place is packed, and people are sitting outside on the benches. I order a macchiato and as I wait for my drink, I check out the gorgeous copper tin roof l, and stained glass.
The drink comes, accompanied by a soda water on the side. There are fresh cut flowers at my table. And as I look out and watch life go by on Queen West, I realize:
I could get used to this.

The sun came out on a chilly almost-​May day, so we decided to continue walking along Queen West before returning to our flat. I recommended this place to my travel mate because of the beautiful tables. We each ordered mate lattes with almond milk and split a vegetarian empanada. The service was ace and the tables were cleared quickly for the flow of customers. It’s my favorite café to share with friends and family for the vibe and décor. Some large tables make it an ideal low-​key meeting place.

First off, they have amazing coffee! Great options and there is really something for everyone.
We ordered off their brunch menu and then sat ourselves over at a table by the window to get some sunshine and enjoy the breeze from the open door. There were fresh cut flowers on the tables and a news paper to catch up on.
There was a bit of a wait for the food, but I was not bothered. When you have good company it doesn’t matter. The food was good, the chorizo in my benedict was a little too thick and dry, but other than that it was a good dish.
Overall great little coffee shop! Food true to the culture.

Great coffee, atmosphere and food… Eggs Benedict with home made chorizo sausage and spicy hollandaise was an excellent brunch choice. They don’t have many seats though so it’s good for smaller groups of 4 or less. The owners behind the bar were very helpful in describing the authentic South American specialty coffee they serve and the different brunch options. Would certainly go back on a quiet Sunday morning for a meal and coffee. It’s worthy of four stars in my opinion as they really offer a unique experience in terms of food options and beverages. I would highly recommend it to anyone in the area looking for a quick drink or bite for breakfast.

The turkey sandwich I ordered was good enough. It’s nice in here, interesting menu, tasty empanadas and sandwiches and teas.
My issue with this place is this:
I had made some rhubarb lemonade at my friend’s house and we wanted to take it to the park for a picnic. We decided to grab sandwiches from El Almacen because my friend said they were tasty and the location is close to the park. I ordered my sandwich and asked if I could also have a to go cup, in which to put my home made lemonade. The response I got was «we don’t do that». A little bit annoyed (i’m buying a sandwich from you), I offered to PAY for the cup — a much needed item to complete the picnic and this man refused. I was dumbfounded to be quite honest. He rudely asked me if I still wanted my sandwich and as I was visiting a friend and not wanting to make a fuss I obliged but honestly, I wouldn’t ever go back to this place based on this interaction alone. How can anyone be so rude and unhelpful to a guest at their business?
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Really nice little shop. Went there for the first time and got the yerba mate and the guy working there was really nice; he explained the proper way to drink it, all the health benefits, and a bit of the history behind the drink. Didn’t get a chance to try any of the food or other drinks, but i’ll definitely be back there.
Definitely would recommend you check it out if you’ve been wanting to try yerba mate.

My first experience of Yerba Mate with my dear friend was sentimental and pleasant!
Drinking mate «is a symbol of hospitality. As the mate gourd is passed around, a sense of connection emerges.» I just love the idea how it is shared with friends and like a little ritual and has certain type of symbolism.
Aside from that Mate («the drink of God») does have a lot of health benefits and loads with Antioxidants.
The taste remind me of the turtle herbal jello I usually eat in Chinese dessert place. Bitter but with a sweet undertone. even without sweetener. However, mate definitely tastes a lot grassier… a taste that have to get use of.
The barista here was super nice, showing us how to perform the «Mate Gourd Ceremony». The services was a little slow though, since she was the only one working there!
I will definitely be back to El Almacen Yerba Mate Café to chill out with my friends!