Commune Cafe

I saw this reviewed on the front page of Unilocal on September 2, 2015 and decided to book mark this for future reference.
I came here with my girlfriend for our month end dinner.
The atmosphere was clean and basic in colour. Lots of seating.
The customer service was great, super friendly.
I really wanted to try the dessert, however, the kitchen was a bit backed up. Another reason to come back.
I had the warm Quinoa salad which was healthy and satisfying. She had a pasta dish.
Prices are mid range.

Great little place. Cute heated patio.
We came here for brunch last weekend. The stuffed french toast was delicious! My boyfriend enjoyed his spinach/​goat cheese omelette as well. I can’t even recall what our friends ate because I was so into my french toast… oops! ;)

Lots of seating including out door. The décor and style inside is cool modern. Not overly crowded so we didn’t have to wait to be seated.
Service was a bit slow but good enough.
Breakfast ends at 3pm, lunch starts at 11am
We had the huevos rancheros ($ 15) and the corned beef hash ($ 15.50)
The ingredients were really good, but for the price I wasn’t amazed by the flavors or portion sizes. The latte was good though.

I’m actually changing my tune on this place. I don’t know if the kitchen staff changed recently, but I’m finding that things have taken a turn. Today I ordered a California Club. It comes with no side, and bacon is $ 4 extra. Small sandwich, it turns out.
So that’s:
–store bought sliced wheat bread
–tomato
–avocado
–sprouts
–bacon
For $ 13.50. If you think that’s a good deal, then go for it.
My wife’s potatoes came out cold. The black beans are flavorless.

Just happened to be downtown and this café was suggested for lunch. Ended up with the beef dip and it was the best beef dip I ‘ve ever had. The beef was medium rare and the multigrain was fresh and lightly toasted. The service was excellent. My wife had the Cobb salad which was also good. Would definitely recommend this establishment.

The good the bad and the ugly at this place. Wonderful dining room and patio, fantastic menu with some great selections, huge beer list, a bit variable on the service (some servers are quite attentive, others you may never see after they take your order). However, the food preparation is a major gap. Overall the food comes out good but there are some concerning problems periodically which raise suspicions about how well they’re actually caring for their food prep. This is one of those cases of «serve it how you would want to eat it» and it doesn’t always come out that way. Sometimes you get a fantastic meal, sometimes it looks like it was tossed together at random. One of my biggest issues is that I have repeatedly received salads with rotten greens — stinky, slimy, black. Often this is sitting RIGHT ON THE TOP OF THE SALAD — and the server doesn’t notice and delivers it to the table anyway. If this place can’t be bothered to make sure they’re not serving visibly rotten lettuce, what does it say for their food safety practice on other items? Might I be getting old meat that has passed its day? If someone noticed the problem would they just serve it anyway?
I really like this place, and I really want to give it a good review, but they need to get their kitchen in shape. Unfortunately until they start treating the food like it deserves the price they’re putting on the menu and actually caring for the prep and quality, Commune is only mediocre at best.

Sort of disappointed with this place. My friend had talked it up considerably so I was stoked to go. The atmosphere is awesome, the menu is great, but the service and food was really subpar. Our actual server was sweet enough and attempted to correct the mess up but didn’t really come through.
I had ordered the chorizo hash, ended up with the corn beef hash, had to ask for toast 3 times before it showed up, and our meals had to be remade as they initially came out nearly completely cold.
Won’t be coming back.

Love this joint Great place will give you great tips on what to order.
Had the coffee and eggs etc I really enjoyed it.
Price is very fair clean and great food I recommend it

Not my first go to brunch place but it’s decent with reasonable prices. I originally would have given this place two stars but my most recent visits have really shown improvement. Good portion size and flavour has gotten better, service as well. They have gluten and dairy free options on the menu which is nice but no gluten free bread. I always order the bacon heaven, it is quite delicious and unique! Don’t expect it to be crispy, for all those crispy bacon lovers.
I’ve tried the curry lentil soup with bacon (gf & df), chorizo and arugula hash, corned beef hash and big commune. The soup and chorizo hash were my favourite by far.
Side note: they do have a pretty good beer menu: lager, pilsners, gluten-​free, IPA, wheat, stout and porters, lots to chose from.

Went here for a team lunch. Everyone’s plates were beautifully put together and the presentation definately got my eye. I ordered the
Beef dip– fresh, exceptional pepperiness and crunch from arugula. Just right toasted bread being held together by a sweet white cheddar and pulled beef. Dip was the right consistency. Not sure how or why the sweet patato fries in all our orders were burnt. Chipotle aioli wasn’t good, but that’s because I don’t like chipotle anything.
Chocolate mousse: it’s all in the details. Sweet enough, chocolate it enough, fresh berries.
Would I go back? Only for the beef dip and mousse. Nothing else on the menu appealed to me, and the servers mixed up all our orders when they brought food to our table. Big no no!

Hosted a work Christmas party at the Commune Café and it was terrific. The manager, Craig, was very helpful and worked to make sure all our group’s needs were accommodated. Everything went super smoothly during the event and the three course set meal was delicious. Great food, service and venue! Highly recommended for a group event.

I went here for brunch when the wait at Twisted Fork and The Templeton was too long for this hungry man cake.
I had the go-​to Sunday brunch standard that is Eggs Benny. And it was, like The Commune, OK.
There’s something unremarkable about this place and the food (the staff however were lovely).
There’s nothing bad here at all. But with the Twisted Fork, Templeton, Café Medina, and Homer Street Café all nearby and serving a variety of great brunch, this place doesn’t stand out.
Yes there’s much less of a wait (or no wait in fact) but that probably says it all.

I went here for brunch on Sunday as it’s walking distance from my apartment. The décor is clean and modern, perfect for a casual Sunday brunch.
My sister had the pulled pork eggs benny, it tasted great! Lots of flavor and decent portion size. I had the brunch french toast that I found to be a little dry and boring. It resembled a sandwich with blueberries in the middle.
Overall, if you live in the area it’s convenient but there’s nothing really different or exciting about Commune.

Not sure why so low on the stars but my partner and I are regulars here and LOVE the place, plus it’s perfectly located across the street from where we live :). We brought friends from the area here months ago and now they are regulars as well!
We have had almost everything on the breakfast menu as well as parts of the brunch menu. Stand outs: French toast, Salmon scramble (don’t think it’s on the menu anymore and that’s a shame as it was almost bang on) Pulled Pork Bennys, Apple Oat Meal, Beef dip sandwich and one of the best dishes they have, the short rib mac n cheese with bacon, it’s messed up how good it is!
The coffee here is fantastic as well as all the servers, honestly, I speak for all 4 of us and we have had nothing but great meals and services at this place.
Please note: When ordering the short rib mac n cheese, ask for the bacon to be cut up, I have had it both ways and it’s just easier with the bacon cut for you! Enjoy!

Came here a while back but forgot to write a review. Had the hummus wrap with rice instead of wrap… let’s just say it was the worse hummus I’ve ever had. It tasted of old raw garlic and was so pungent that I couldn’t eat anything that it touched. The rice tasted stale. Thought I’d inform the chef the hummus was inedible via email but it bounced. Ah well… will not be going back.

Went for lunch here today with a small group of ladies from work.
First impression was good — Clean, modern style café. We sat outside on the shady patio.
Food — I ordered the daily special. Pan seared salmon on a bed of greens with tomatoes, roasted asparagus and a horseradish cream sauce. It was cooked to perfection, and a very nice portion. A great deal for $ 12. The other ladies ordered delicious looking breakfast and mac n cheese. (So yummy!)
I would defenatly recoment this place for breakfast or lunch, the portions are a little small but that is great with me.
Fast friendlyt service.

I’m a big fan of this place. Small portions are key here and I appreciate it since I rarely finish my meal. And low on salt! I’m into that.
A little pricey, but hey, it’s a breakfast place downtown that’s two blocks away. I’m into the design of the place and once the construction is completed across the street, the patio will be even better.
Commune — overall good. But just good.

Good for lighter meals and those with sodium sensitivities.
I really want to like this place more as it’s conveniently located and has a bright, cozy atmosphere; particularly the center social long table which fosters patrons to mix and mingle with strangers. Hence ‘commune’ — a place for large gatherings of people who can share life together. I’ve been here a few times and while the food is prepped well — fresh ingredients cooked well, it lacks personality. More often than not I have found the food quite bland and portions on the small side for the pricing afforded. We came here for a late brunch/​lunch yesterday and I had ordered a king prawn chorizo rice bowl. The entire meal all I could think of was how I was just served a glorified lean cuisine meal: Plain white rice with some tomatoes, beans, lime juice and 3 succulent prawns. If we were to go this route, perhaps kick it up a notch. Brown rice even? The most fun part of our meal though was trying to get the salt and pepper to come out of the shakers. They were full but no amount of vigorous shaking could unleash the powerful flavour morsels in which our tongues craved. Personally, there is something too retro and high school cafeteria-​esque about salt and pepper shakers at modern eateries. At this stage of my life I would prefer to self grind fresh black pepper or sea salt on my food rather than what is construed as generic iodine treated salt and preground black pepper. I apologize for talking so much about salt and pepper but I had no other comments on the food.

Commune is our go-​to café in downtown Vancouver. We love it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Highly recommend for brunch too! After moving here from NYC, I have struggled to find a place that felt familiar and Commune fills that void. The service is also excellent. Food is always fresh and the frequent menu changes are nice. The oatmeal is one of my favorites for breakfast and their California sandwich is the best for lunch!
My only suggestion is bring in more local baked goods :)

«Long time listener yet first time caller…» I have driven/​walked by a lot but today was my first stop in.
I went with my friend for a snack and coffee and was surprised to find that there were less snacks and more full menu items. With the intention of a small meal, I succumbed to the caramelized apple and double cream Brie topped bagel as I thought it would be a lighter snacky food item. I’m sure you’re thinking I’m crazy since double cream Brie and a big-​ass bagel screams «HEAVY»!!! Ya, Well, I was trying to fool myself.
Didn’t happen.
It was a great combo of flavors for the toppings but the bagel was a little lack luster. Tasted more like a Costco bagel. My recommendation is to source some local craft bagel place and use their bagels. Would be a better fit with the place.
The coffee served here is 49^th parallel. Not a bad choice and a ⁷⁄₁₀ for the macchiato