CJ's Cafe In Bronte

A very nice experience

I found this cafe by chance. When I entered the door I was warmly greeted by the owner CJ. The menu was perfect for me, food made very much like I would make it at home, healthy choices and great fair trade coffee. Pricing is competitive with any of the other breakfast places that I have frequented and definitely more moderate than any other place that offers so many organic and free trade options. The atmosphere is very warm. Breakfast arrived quickly and nice and hot. CJ and her staff welcome all customers. As a matter of fact one elderly couple that arrived had barely settled in to their chosen table and the staff already had their favourite cup of coffee to serve. They were delighted. Local art and jewelry is featured for sale, as well as other jewelry items that support charities that help women around the world. Several newspapers were available as well as inspirational materials! If you are in this week make sure that you vote for your favourite artist's original pumpkin designs. The favour of a donation is optional but it's a great cause and there is a chance to win each of the pumpkins. CJs is tucked into a small plaza on the Bronte Lakeshore landscape. Make sure that you don't miss the experience.

Good caps & coffees. Fun cafe atmosphere with nice ambiance & local art. If you want to read & drink a coffee in a Cafe in Bronte it's nice. The food is mediocre at best. They do not even have a kitchen, but a microwave & counter electric griddle. It's overpriced & not good. If your looking for lunch or breakfast, go somewhere else. Usually service is fairly quick. The other review on Canada Day was unfairly judged in that perspective. Canada was nuts everywhere & the place is not intended for that kind of traffic.

Great, but not at everything.

Wonderful coffee, great atmosphere, terribly mediocre and over priced meals and decent pastries. CJ's is a coffee house. If you want to sit in a nice cafe with good art and music, or outside under an umbrella in the summer and watch the light downtown traffic while enjoying a cup of coffee, a novel, and maybe a scone, it's awesome. If you want to eat a meal, go elsewhere. The food is hastily prepared (their kitchen is tiny!), not very good, and expensive all all anything. Due to the aforementioned tiny kitchen, it taked them a very long time to crank out the food, and around meal times, they're ALWAYS busy, so expect up to a hour hour/forty five minute wait. Also, this place will not be able to comfortably seat a party of more than four or five. Six can be done, but it's very cramped. Overall, it's a nice place, but don't treat it like a restaurant. It's a cafe, it will always be cafe (unless they move), and it cannot be anything but a cafe.

Terrible and expensive experience!!

We visited CJ's cafe on Canada Day. We left home with the idea of having a "nice breakfast" in the Bronte area. Our experience here was so disappointing that it ruined the mood of the day. First the cafe was way understaffed for a busy day. After making an understandably long line, we ordered 3 breakfasts. They were out of mango smoothie, so we had to settled with a bad tasting bottled orange juice. I asked to use the house mugs for the coffee as we were staying for breakfasts but they were not letting people use them because of the number of people they were serving (huh??). My first surprise was when I saw the bill for $30+ CND. I mean, $30 for 3 scrambled eggs, bacon and toast breakfasts and coffee?? -- See, don't get me wrong. I would have gladly spend $50 if the experienced had been worthwhile but up to this moment I had waiting in line forever, they didn't have what we wanted, I couldn't use the mugs and when I went to pour my own coffee... well, they were out of coffee. That's not too bad as she replaced it with some tallboys that had been sitting there. The table were the coffee was to be poured from was messy and crowded, so I ended up spilling the coffee on myself. I looked for the sweeteners and guess what? no sweetener packages. I thought they were on the table, but no... no sweetener packages on the table either. No salt, pepper or regular sugar for that matter. We were also warned that it would take up to 20 minutes to get our eggs (OMG!) -- since we had waited already so much, we just went with it. We waited, and waited and waited and after more than 30 minutes we got 3 paper plates with some very cold microwaved-cooked eggs, some burned toasts, a styrofoam cup with jam and 2 strips of bacon. By this point we just wanted to eat and get it over with. No apologies for the "extra" delay, not even a smiley face to deliver 3 paper plates with cold microwaved eggs. Maybe I'm spoiled, but around the corner of my house you can get an all day breakfast with bottomless coffee, served really nicely, with warm food on a decent plate for $5 to $7... with salt and pepper at the table... ahh, and sweetener. Again, it's not the cost of it, it's the whole experience which somehow seemed "OK" in the eyes of the employees and owner based on their behaviour. Nope, I wouldn't recommend to anyone.