Second Cup

I have a bit of a bias for the Square fillets second cup. I go there every morning for my morning coffee and bagel. One of the things I like the most is that there is one barista there who seems to be the morning manager and she is I really welcoming and friendly morning person. Although I go there every day they always remember what size and type of coffee I like to take and they often bring me my bagel to my table once I sit down which is actually a very nice touch. They also have free Wi-​Fi there which is pretty cool and it’s one of the places I like hang out there the most once I’m in that area. They have the usual thoroughfare of pastries croissants, and other delicious treats although I stay away from those. (For health reasons) To conclude although most of these franchise coffee Shops are majoritarily the same the difference really comes with the staff and how friendly and courteous they are. And this is one of the friendliest most easy-​going group of baristas in the city.

There are many Second Cups in metro Montréal and this is the one I consider to be the nicest, near Place des Arts. I haven’t had the time to explore all of them, nor will I ever have that time, being that I am occasionally a tourist to this exceptional city.
I find Second Cup to be better than Starbucks. Everything is just as good, but the branding and image thing is a lot more low key. Maybe it’s because, as a visitor to Canada, I don’t want to deal with more and more Starbucks. Their items, service, and pricing are all very good. They generally seem more crowded than do the often nearby competing Starbucks locations in Canada.
This chain offers the best places in metro Montréal to have a cup of coffee or tea, and maybe an accompanying dessert item.

I’ve never tried Second Cup. This place was my first. I really didn’t plan on coming here to grab anything but on a Saturday morning stroll downtown, I stopped by this particular SC and got the MATCHA GREEN TEA LATTE. The warm foamy milk, it was like drinking a warm green tea ice cream. It was just delicious.

I was walking by and decided that I wanted a tea.
I wanted a Chai Latte, so I walked in and asked for a Chai, I forgot to use the word Latte, no questions were asked, so I assumed I was getting a Chai latte, I assumed wrong.
I got a cup with hot water and a tea bag floating in it that wasn’t mixed, no sugar, no milk and they didn’t ask me if I wanted any of that, or tell me where the counter was to go get it, I understand this might be alright for regulars who know where everything is.
So I managed to find the counter where the milk is supposed to be and there was no milk, not knowing there was another counter. Another customer saw me walking around aimlessly and told me that there is another counter, so I walked over took the cap off the top of my cup and there was water filled to the top, I had to dump some of it out to get some milk in there.
I know it was my fault for not ordering the right thing, but they could’ve mixed my tea and not filled it to the top and told me where the milk was!

The Starbucks of Canada. Delicious Lattes.

It’s 8am on a Sunday in Montréal. The streets are empty and everything is pretty much closed, awaiting the inevitable brunch rush. Evidence of the revelry of Saturday night litters Rue Ste. Catherine.
Just when I’m pretty sure nothing in this town is open this early, I come across one of the handful of Second Cups in Montréal. The barista seemed frankly surprised to see someone walking around. I came in and asked her what the best thing on the menu was, and she recommended the vanilla latte (good, but too sweet for my tastes).
I pestered her for quite some time about her life and what to do and see in Montréal. She was very helpful and entertained my many questions. I left with a local’s view of what to do in Montréal for the remainder of my stay.
Thank God for morning people. And chains? Not always a bad thing.