Mahtay Cafe

Beautiful place and friendly staff. I went with my friend and we both loved it. Ordered an iced coffee, iced mocha and lemon square. All of them were delicious. The ambience is good. Perfect to catch up with a friends. The couches and comfortable.

Best café in St. Catharines. They are extremely friendly, accommodating to your table space needs, and will let you stay and work in the café and the community room. The drinks are reasonably priced, especially compared to Toronto cafés, and the quality of coffee is good. One of their baristas is an expert at flat whites and may quiz you on the style you like (every place makes it differently in NA) so he can make it to your taste.
The frequently changing art is nice, they have Beau’s on tap!!! Great place all around will.

Decent coffee… great atmosphere and the artists playing tonite were great! If youre looking for a nice place to hang out and just enjoy some good music this is the place to be.

Went here after reading some other Unilocal reviews and a tireless search for good coffee in St. Catherines. Was thoroughly impressed with the quality of espresso used here. Most americanos I have ordered in SC are watered down and just plain crappy — Mahtay was the opposite. rich and creamy, just like if I’m ordering at my fave Café in Toronto. The staff was super friendly as well which is a bonus.

3 Stars.
This place has a wonderful vibe and is pretty standard for coffee shops. Being from Toronto I have been blessed by good coffee and when I go out of town I always try and find a place to camp out in for an afternoon. In St. Catharines, this is the place.
Their coffee is pretty good. They serve fair-​trade, which is always a bonus. Their espresso based drinks aren’t made with as much care and precision I have seen, but they still aren’t bad.
The food is delicious, but maybe a little over priced. The times I have gotten some food I have always been a little underwhelmed with the amount of food, but then again it is really good.
They have featured artists in their all the time and different ‘nights’ available throughout the week. Just on the inside of the door you can see the calendar with the schedule of upcoming events.
This place is just a bit above average, but the best place I have seen in St. Catharines thus far. I am still on the prowl, but have found nothing yet.
Go here because there is no risk of being disappointed.
That’s it.

Every smallish city needs one great coffee shop; somewhere you can go to hang out and see a few familiar faces, or meet a few friends for a tea (or a beer), or simply read a book and eat a (delicious) lemon square. This is the spot if you’re in St Catharines. The owners are lovely people who support the arts, and they seem to have a great relationship with the local population in general (always a good sign). There are often students and professionals coming and going, and their location is perfect: close to the artist-​run centre, the new art school, the transit hub, and the MTO. I’ve been to a lot of great coffee shops, and Mahtay is up there.

Hipsterish, drafty, pretentious, and fucking expensive.
I would much rather go somewhere people are not afraid to be friendly and down to earth, than here where they act like they’re «too cool». And $ 11 for a simple sandwich, are you kidding me?
The place is also cold, the seating areas are lacking, and the «art» displays make me feel like everyone’s trying too hard. Go to FineGrind or CoffeeCulture and experience some fun people instead of this place. The staff also look like the art: selected for display only.

Being a student, I am always on the lookout for new places to serve me that much needed coffee.
Mahtay has quickly become one of my favourite cafes. It’s conveniently located right next to the DT bus terminal. Inside is very spacious and a good atmosphere for chilling and getting sh*t done. The staff at Mahtay is absolutely great, it’s always a pleasure to chat with them. The coffee there is amazing and refills are only a $ 1, so you can imagine I’ve spent many hours there writing those final papers. They also have a feature coffee that changes often, so it’s nice for the regular customers. The food there is a little pricey (for a student budget) but it’s delicious.
Oh and did I mention they also serve beer?
Cafes don’t get much better than this, I highly recommend this place

I was very impressed with this place. The downtown core of St. Catharines is going through what I hope is a revitalization and this place has prime real estate with respect to the new arts centre. I can picture myself going to a show and grabbing a coffee with friends afterwards, in the future.
The ambiance here is great, art from Brock students is displayed on the walls, there is a good amount of seating and it’s arranged in clusters to promote conversation. My husband and I enjoyed sitting at a table set up on what must be a performance stage in the evenings.
Oh, and the price is right! We both got sandwiches and coffee-​based drinks and, with tip, we spent around $ 25. I got a tree hugger and my husband got the smoked salmon sandwich (it had a name but it escapes me). My only complaint would be that the seasonal roasted veggies for that day were very sweet potato centric, I would have liked a bit more variety but I understand that it’s still winter.
Anyways, to sum up. I’ll be back!

I went there today for the first time to meet someone. They picked the place and called it their favorite place to meet clients and associates.
I really enjoyed the décor, the ambiance and feel. They have tables if you need to work on papers or laptops but they also have nice comfortable chairs to sit and relax with a book or have a conversation.
The coffee is really good and I liked the over sized mug. The pastries looked good but I did not try any.
They have a small stage where musicians came perform during open stage nights, but I was there for lunch so I’ll have to come back for that.
I’m looking forward to going back for live music or another business meeting. Great place to hang out.