Roots Cafe

Friendly staff, fast service. My son loves the poutine here. Finding parking in the morning is really easy.

The butter chicken poutine is mouth watering awesome fusion. The fries are my favourite kind– they have that crisp, deep fried texture on the outside– similar to duffin’s donuts fries but a shade below.
I’ve always enjoyed the atmosphere and look of the café and the staff are always great, especially the owner! They are all sociable and friendly.
Yeah definitely check this place out if you haven’t and not only for the butter chicken poutine. They have solid breakfast items. I have yet to try much else but I really don’t think any of it would disappoint.

Lots of chicken in our Butter Chicken Poutine! Delicious as always! And the desserts are incredible too!

The butter chicken poutine lives up to the hype and really is a must-​try at this stylish Main St café. All the other items we tried were also on point. The breakfast sandwich was served on a beautifully swirled rye bread and the matcha latte was delicious. Service was also very accommodating and didn’t judge me for ordering poutine at 9 in the morning.

BEST AUTHENTIC CHAI IN VANCOUVER! I love coming here to chat with the owners and to listen to their life story and how their business is doing. Really relaxing atmosphere and they have a few plugs around if you wanna do work on your laptop. The poutines are amazing… They use veggie gravy i believe and it’s so yummy. Try the butter chicken poutine!

To skip the after work rush hour me and my bf stopped here to have a quick dinner since we were very hungry. We ordered chicken burger side with fresh salad and fries. We loved their fries. There’s a light batter that gives extra crisps to the potatoes. Salads were freshly made but I asked for ‘no onions’ in my salad and burger, which they somehow ignored. So both had a good spice kick. They never warned us that there’s hot sauce or shriracha in burger. My tongue was on fire and I drove home wagging my tongue out. Customer service was ok. Washrooms were clean. We sat at the very end, comfy seats that felt like throne.

Me and my partner just moved into this neighbourhood and were looking for some place to get a hot meal while we started painting and gutting our house. We were drawn to roots because it looked clean, modern and friendly from the exterior and we had seen the coming and going of regulars and other customers. It looked like a friendly, popular place to go in our new neighbourhood so we thought’d we’d scope it out!
We were not disappointed — the staff were friendly, the food was great and the atmosphere was very comfortable. We had been mourning the loss of our usual café as a result of our move, but I think we’ve found a home at Roots. Their milkshakes are delicious and will no doubt become an after work/​school treat!

Nice spot to grab a late breakfast! Like 4 pm! They make there own Chai too! Nice folks too!

I had the classic poutine. It was okay. I don’t think it was worth the $ 8 price tag. The cheese curds were chilled, the gravy a little bland, but the fries were good. They have a free dispenser of ice water but there were several flies around the café. I haven’t tried their coffees, so I can’t comment on those.
Bottom line: it was okay. Just okay. I don’t think I’ll bother walking over again.

Friendly staff and comfortable space, but I can’t give it a good review because I’ve had too many bad meals here. On some days something will be great and others the same order will taste dry and warmed up (I’m thinking of their vegetarian dishes such as the vegan breakfast or falafel burger). The coffee is decent and the desserts are good. They just need to be more consistent with their cooked food.
Also, it’s a great place for people watching from time to time. I’ve seen an orthodox priest, British dudes watching soccer and drinking beer, etc.

All set to be wowed.
I ordered a Cappuccino and went to use the facilities. It was a disaster paper overflowing from the bin, no soap in the dispenser ! Paper coming off the roller? I mentioned it to the counter, she went to attend to it.
Cap was good but the mood was ruined. Lots of boxes on the floor, and generally looked untidy.
Sorry Roots you miss the mark.

So I’ve read quite a few good reviews about this place, and thought I would check it out. I looked on Unilocal,as well as the Roots Café’s website, and it said they would be open at 8am. So I scheduled a breakfast meeting there with some of my colleagues. I showed up at 8:05am, and it was closed. No signs with available times, nobody inside… nothing. I tried calling, and no answer.
I was looking forward to trying this place, but it messed up my plans, and inconvenienced myself and 3 other business professionals!

Tried the chai latte and fries with curry mayo today. Chai latte seemed to be on the bland side while the fries with curry mayo was far too rich for my tastes. Hoping the rest of the menu is more enjoyable as I really liked the atmosphere and I can see myself spending many hours studying here. Today’s picks aside, I really love that this is in the neighborhood!

Very underwhelming. I ordered the quinoa bowl with tofu and had a hard time swallowing it down. Worst vegetarian food I’ve had in a very long time (if ever). The «marinated tofu» was not marinated –it clearly was firm tofu chopped up and maybe microwaved (super gross) the beets had to have been grated days ago because they were super dry and unpalatable and the sauce that was dumped all over everything in the weird mix of food tasted like some generic dressing from a bottle. This quinoa bowl would scare anyone away from being vegetarian if it was the first vegetarian dish that they ever had.
Additionally, the dish was a pretty small portion for 11 dollars worth of stale vegetables and plain chopped up tofu cubes (yuck). The weird textures and unpleasant flavours make me wonder about the other dishes on the menu. In Vancouver you generally expect way more than that monstrosity. Obviously I won’t be going back here ever. The best thing (the only good thing) about my experience at this café was the server on staff who was very nice and professional. This review definitely doesn’t reflect the lady that helped me.

After reading all the rave reviews on their butter chicken poutine, I had to give it a try.
Of course I went for a jog beforehand so I wouldn’t feel so guilty eating an entire bowl of greasy fries and butter sauce mid week. XD
They have a pretty large selection of food items from sandwiches and entrees to coffee and pastries
They serve local craft beer on draft — score!
Service: ⁴⁄₅
— Very friendly, greetings when you enter
— Orders placed at the front and they call out the order when its ready for pickup — think coffee shop but with made to order food too
Décor: ³⁄₅
— I really liked the space, there are alot of small seats, tables for 2, a couch area in the middle for groups. Window-​stool seating if you want to people watch. They also have seating outside
— My only grudge was it was a little dirty. The floors are covered in dust and dirt and scraps.
Food: ³⁄₅
Butter chicken poutine — They’ve even won an award for it according to the certificate up front.
— it has huge potential but it really should just be called butter sauce poutine. I was lucky to find 5 morsels of chicken the size of dice. The sauce is good, the cheese is soft and gooey. They add a dollop of sambal sauce, and its garnished with raw onion and parsley or cilantro
— for almost 10 $ more chicken is warranted.
I also had an americano — it was good,
The atmosphere is nice if you want to get some work done with a cup of coffee and a snack. Free wifi (ask for the password at the front) or if you want to sit back and relax over some beers with friends.

Naaaah I had way too many bad experiences with this place.
1. Food is meh. Even the esteemed butter chicken poutine wasn’t that great. Could’ve used more sauce. Mine had little sprinkles on my fries. So when I am looking at these photos in the Gallery, I’m like, «That is NOT what I had.» I had better Butter Chicken Poutine at the Night Market.
2. The staff is either rude or incompetent. I ordered a wrap, and the guy who took my order didn’t even get it ready until 20 min later after I had reminded him that I was still waiting. Then 10 min later, the middle of my wrap was FROZEN. Ya I guess it was my bad for asking for a new one here, since I could’ve just taken it home and warm it up there. At the same time though, they could’ve offered more than just a cup of coffee «next time». The waiting + forgotten order + having another customer give me a dirty look… for what? Because I wasn’t happy with waiting for 30 minutes, which for 20 minutes, the staff had completely forgotten about my order??? Ya cuz that’s totally a bad reason for me to be angry about the situation… and lol the apology was not even sincere.
The staff is super friendly to certain people here. I came here 4 – 5 times and they don’t even bother with me. Hell, they even forgot about my order. Just awful.
3. Cleanliness
Do they even wipe the tables here? How could this place ask for tip when they don’t even bring the food to you or wipe tables? One time, I gave them 15% tip to see if that changes anything… and nothing. I had to wipe down table myself with a napkin on every visit I had there. I still have to bring the food to my table. And do I even get a smile out of the staff? No. Half the times the utensils aren’t even properly washed.
Honestly, why do people even like this overpriced, ill-​mannered café? I am reading all these reviews that are giving this place 4 – 5 stars and I am in utter disbelief. Wake up, people! Tons of better places to experience «café» feel. I will never ever come back here.

Have been here quite a few times now and they have me hooked on their poutine of all things!
Both the vegetarian and butter chicken have been outstanding. I have yet to try the pulled pork poutine but I’ve heard its as good or better.
Also if they have it grab a slice of the carrot cake.

Beside the franchise coffee shops, this is another good little café on Main St. I just picked this café to meet with my friend for chic chatting.
My mocha was great! My friend’s green tea latte was fantastic too!
Staffs were friendly and we got an extra 2 cups of hot water after an hour chatting.
Just a bit disappointed coz the tables were dirty and no one really clean up the mess!

Lovely café that keeps getting better. Catch the sports highlights, enjoy delicious baked goods (vegan, dairy and gluten free), have a coffee, yerba matte or beer. Perfect for any occasion and the staff/​owners are really nice. Great addition to the neighborhood.

True to my word, i did try their butter chicken poutine. Normally i’m a traditionalist as i usually luv my butter chicken seperate w/​the indian rice, but one of their workers highly recommended this as their signature dish.
Generous toppings of cheese curds, purple onions, chilli sauce, and the taste of butter chicken has to rank right up there… enough for 2 ppl to share, under $ 10 too.