Balzacs Coffee Roastery

Toronto, Canada

3.9

Open now

20 reviews

Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 416-368-4949
Website:
www.balzacs.com
Address:
10 Market Street, Toronto, ON, M5E
St. Lawrence
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.2 miVictoria Street
0.2 miJarvis Street
0.2 miScott Street
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepted Cards
Credit, Debit
Parking
Garage
Bike Parking
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
No
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
No
Waiter Service
No
Caters
No

Today

Today 7:00 am – 7:00 pm
Open now
Local time (Toronto) 9:34 AM Thursday, May 22, 2025

Business hours

Monday 7:00 am – 7:00 pm
Tuesday 7:00 am – 7:00 pm
Wednesday 7:00 am – 7:00 pm
Thursday 7:00 am – 7:00 pm
Friday 7:00 am – 7:00 pm
Saturday 7:00 am – 8:00 pm
Sunday 8:00 am – 7:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Balzac’s Café’s are perfect venues to delve into a good book, catch up with an old friend, or just simply enjoy a delicious cup of coffee and a sweat treat.

History

Established in 1996.

Our original location is in Stratford, Ontario. 10 Market Street is our 8th location and opened in May 2014.

Meet the Business Owner

Diana O.

Business Owner

While earning a university degree in French Literature, Diana Olsen, President and Founder of Balzac’s, discovered a kindred spirit in Monsieur Balzac and his genuine passion for coffee. Upon graduating, she immersed herself in authentic French culture, spending a year and a half in France. Passing many enchanting afternoons in the Grand cafés of Paris, Ms. Olsen was inspired to bring this sophisticated celebration of coffee and social tradition back home to Canada.

San Francisco was her next stop in 1993, to learn the craft of coffee roasting and bean selection at the West Coast Specialty Coffee Training Institute. In 1996, the first Balzac’s café was opened in Stratford, Ontario. Today, Diana oversees all aspects of café operations and coffee roasting from the Balzac’s Roastery in Stoney Creek, Ontario.

On the première episode of the sixth season of CBC’s Dragons’ Den, Diana ventured into the Den and won over two Dragons with her unique pitch.

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20 reviews of Balzacs Coffee Roastery

No registration required
Place rating: 3
Toronto, Canada
Good coffee place, which they had more milk options like almond or coconut. Prices are a bit high, but I’d rather drink this that Starbucks or second cup.
Place rating: 5
Toronto, Canada
Great expreso. Cozy décor. Friendly, knowledgeable staff. Nice location on Market Street, right by St. Lawrence Market.
Coffee to stay served in nice clear glass tumblers.
Place rating: 3
East York, Canada
I’ve had several Americano drinks that were not that great recently. And the WiFi is very iffy — non-​existent if you sit outside. The Everyday Coffee Gourmet inside the St. Lawrence Market lower level is much tastier for the same price (when the market is open that is).
Place rating: 3
Toronto, Canada
Located directly across the street from St. Lawrence Market this Balzacs has a very comfortable and old world feel to it. It makes me feel like I took a time machine to the 40’s or something.
Besides that they have a selection of glass covered treats and decent coffee selection.
The round tables didn’t seem to move so there was no rearranging of the furniture but the spacing is comfortable and not cramped. As with many cafes you see people doing some sort of work requiring electronics and such. Along the baseboard of the wall where the bench seating is there are outlets and even USB chargers.
Place rating: 5
Toronto, Canada
Everyone who works there is always welcoming, if I’m not around my area to grab local coffee. I’m here at balzacs grabbing the farmers blend a good nice coffee. Their chocolate almond croissant is so tasty.
Place rating: 3
Toronto, Canada
Decent coffee. But wouldn’t say its anything special. The roasted almond latte was pretty good. Overall its somewhat underwhelming as the marketing and advertising is better than the product.
Place rating: 4
Vancouver, Canada
Quiet, pleasant, classic European space. Macchiato was good. Darker roast beans so not so bright and fruity. That’s neither good nor bad — just depends on your preference.
Place rating: 4
Toronto, Canada
I’ve been going to this coffee spot for a while now and their Parisian Mist is amazing (for those of you who aren’t big coffee drinkers)
If I remember correctly, the Parisian Mist is steeped tea with steamed milk and vanilla syrup. It smells almost like Earl Grey Tea.
It gets really busy around lunch time during the work week. But if you go around 2, you’ll usually have the place to yourself.
I’ve had their «Magic Bar», but I’m going to stick with just their drinks. Their pastries don’t really «wow» me… but that’s just a personal preference.
Ps. They have a patio, so take advantage of it!
Place rating: 2
Toronto, Canada
While I enjoy their coffee and the fact they discount for travel mug users, I’m less than thrilled with the terrible customer service. I moved to this neighborhood and set my sights on making this part of my morning coffee routine before work, but I’m so disappointed with the baristas that the discount, the good coffee and the nearby location is not enough for me to make this my morning haunt.
Place rating: 4
Pine Bush, NY
Found it by accident. Nice little shop, very friendly. They have some pastries on the counter and coffee. Plays decent relaxing music. Perfect for the rainy day.
Place rating: 3
Toronto, Canada
The coffee, as with all Balzac’s locations, is delicious. The service, unlike all Balzac’s locations, is poor, all because of one barista. I stopped going to this location this winter, when I was «served» by this woman who was clearly doing everyone a favor making them premium-​priced lattes.
I love Balzac’s Café Nordique. I buy it as a treat because, seriously, $ 6 latte. It came with cardamom. Or it was supposed to, but the Cardamom Nazi didn’t think it should. I ordered the drink, paid, gave a tip with the change, and waited at the end of the bar. The barista gave me a drink without cardamom. I asked for cardamom. She rolled her eyes, huffed and puffed, and took the precious cardamom in its glass salt-​shaker enclosure and tapped once delicately over the latte. She then turned around to clean (I think — there was no one else in line ordering), taking away the spice. I left deflated but determined to get my cardamom next time.
The next time I came in, Cardamom Nazi was brewing again. I ordered my Café Nordique and waited at the end of the bar. The latte came down, cardamom noticeably missing. I asked her for the cardamom. She turned around, holding aloft the cardamom and tapped once. This time nothing came out. She was about to turn around but no! I asked for the shaker itself! She was horrified: «This is very expensive you know! I don’t want to put too much.» But she relented, giving me control of the shaker. She watched me tap out half a teaspoon of cardamom — what was likely a good 5 cents worth!
A man at the bar saluted my move. We acknowledged it was dismal service for a café of Balzac’s stature. I left and never came back. I bought a bag of cardamom from St. Lawrence Market that day.
Place rating: 5
New York, NY
Truly excellent — I did not expect to have such great coffee in Toronto so randomly. Basically the St. Lawrence Market next door is oversupplied with raw meats and undersupplied with delicious beverages, so I ventured outside to grab a cup here.
The Balzac’s Blend was so good I bought another cup at the Distillery location an hour later, and brought a pack of the raw beans back to the US. It is a lighter blend, perhaps a bit stronger than Starbucks’ blond blend, and there is a really savory and smooth finish on the tongue with the taste of vanilla and nuts.
The environment inside is very Parisian with customized Balzac posters everywhere. A lot of young and hip student-​types are studying on their laptops or reading a book. It creates a nice setting to sit, people-​watch, or catch up on a Kindle book.
Bottom line: we need this in the US. It’s like a better Starbucks without the pretense of Gregory’s or Blue Bottle. Drink up.
Place rating: 5
Toronto, Canada
This Great little coffee shop carries on the Balzacs tradition. Expect great coffee, fresh pastries and that interesting twist that makes it special. The patio is full of mid day sun, and the décor is very classy.
Cappuccino’s and specialty drinks are expertly made. As for pastries, expect lots of variety… Croissants, Turkish delight, Cookies, Biscotti, they have it all.
Perfect for a weekend on the sunny patio.
Place rating: 5
Toronto, Canada
The place looks incredible. Definitely has a European vibe located on Market Street, with lots of sun on their patio. It’s even got a good feel when I came here the other day in the pouring rain — place was packed with happy people.
I just come here for coffee — I’m really simple when it comes to these cafes. The drip is always good with lots of blends to choose from. I’ve always really liked Balzac’s takeout cups as well — good design.
Staff has always been nice and efficient with me. I’ve only been a handful of times, but I’m sure I’ll frequent lots more this year — hopefully with some friends so I can stick around and enjoy the views!
Place rating: 4
New York, NY
Nice addition to the neighbourhood. I like the little patio out front and the general ambience of the place. Coffee is pretty decent too.
Place rating: 2
Mississauga, Canada
Great coffee, beautiful setting, but meh service. Robotic, zoned out, and not engaging. If I wanted that, just make your coffee slightly cheaper and self-​serve. When I asked for a receipt, I was met with a blank stare.
Loved the huge condiments bar though. It was nice that there was that large of a space to dress up my coffee!
Place rating: 4
Toronto, Canada
I’ve heard so much about Balzacs coffee. There’s multiple locations in Toronto and as someone who is always on the lookout for a great new coffee place, I’m really glad I stopped by the Market st. location. I ordered a cappuccino (with almond milk) and a pumpkin muffin. Both were delicious. It came to 7 $m which is a little on the expensive side but the quality of the coffee was obvious. This location is fairly large and conveniently located directly across from the St. Lawrence market. Lots of seating but with a cozy vibe. The barista and staff were also super lovely!
Place rating: 4
Toronto, Canada
I keep coming back! I’ve been coming here pretty regularly after it’s opening in May. Because I like it :) It has a quite European feel, reminds me a little bit of Vienna.
The staff is very friendly and their coffee & tea selection is great. There are some options if you’re looking for a sweet indulgence but they clearly aren’t huge bakery enthusiastics (like the Viennese).
If you like black teas I would suggest trying the Marco Polo. If you come here to work etc: it is unfortunate that sometimes their wifi connection isn’t working properly. Also the air conditioning is sometimes adjusted to way too cool in my opinion.
Place rating: 4
Philadelphia, PA
Finally a Balzacs closer to work — right beside the St. Lawrence market (South-​West side).
Met with friendly and polite service. Lots of seating inside and a cool little patio out front.
In my opinion they have the best Café Mocha — not too sweet, just right. Medium is about $ 5 with tax — similar to Starbucks pricing but much better in taste.
Sweets look really good — especially the double chocolate brownie. A must try next time.
Highly recommended… a nice change from Starbucks.
BK
Place rating: 5
Toronto, Canada
Great neighborhood feel and the team is knowledgable and just a great vibe to the place. Been to the other locations. Not too shabby for being right by the St. Lawrence market.