Bean & Baker Malt Shop

The Bean & Baker looks like it popped out of the pages of an Archie comic, and the offerings are good enough to turn me into Jughead. It’s great to have a reliable spot that’s open before 11am near Bickford Park, and the coffee is respectable and inexpensive. The owners both work there, and can answer any of your questions about their retro menu.
The Wisey’s Pies, old-​fashion sodas, and butter tarts are all stellar, but definitely order a hand-​blended malted milkshake first. I learned that malt is a nutritional supplement made from dried grain that was particularly popular during the Great Depression. I interpreted that as «malted shakes are good for you.» The malt adds a toasty depth of flavour to the shakes that makes them addictive. Try it with french vanilla ice cream so you can really appreciate the flavour.
It’s also worth mentioning that this spot has the friendliest staff I’ve encountered in Toronto. Between the owners, their staff of wholesome teenagers, and the menu, getting ice cream at the Bean & Baker will do a lot more for your seasonal affective disorder than a pint of Häagen-​Dazs.
The location has had a lot of turn over in the last four years, so my fingers are crossed that they make it through the winter and open a patio in the spring.

I absolutely love this place!
Liezel makes the best desserts in the city hands down! Her lemon meringue pie is the best I have ever had with soft gooey meringue over a tart lemon filling. The smore’s pie is another one of my favourite with a rich chocolatey filling over a graham cracker crust and these delicious puffs of marshmallow meringue on the top. Simply amazing!
The hand-​made sodas here are all incredible too. What a difference it makes to taste real ingredients rather than the artificial stuff that most sodas are made from.
Love love love this place!

I used to be a big fan of the old Malt Shop in Yorkville, before it was demolished and turned into a condo. Since then… WHOA, over 15 years ago! …I have missed visiting a place to have a Malt or a float in Toronto in a venue that had that 50’s Retro vibe.
Now, the new and as far as I know, only Retro 50’s malt shop in town is quite the location. Strong reds and a bright white accent can be found throughout the décor, not to mention the staff’s uniforms and soda hats, it all has that cute kitsch factor. They do focus on drinks but have a few select pastries to pick and choose, although not many.
During the Summer, Bickford park across the street is a wonderful place to go and sit if you want to avoid remaining indoors while a beautiful sunny day blasts outside. In fact, I used to do this very thing when I used to visit the previous 2 café joints that used to exist on this very location in the last 3 years.
Now, the reason why I am bringing this up is because the B&B location is fairly removed from any major hub like the Annex to the north, Little Italy to the South and the Harbord Village near Spadina, and as such I can only imagine that outside locals, traffic would be in general, very slow. Which is something that perhaps is reflected in their prices.
Since visiting in the past, I have noticed their prices slowly crawl their way up to the point that it is getting hard to justify, the trip, the limited goods, smallish space and the drinks themselves. Even when you take into consideration the friendly staff.
I mean, $ 8 for a float? $ 7 for a malt?
Come on.
Even here in the Unilocal photos of this establishment, another Unilocaler took photos of when floats where $ 5.25, that is around a 50%+ increase and the place has not even been open a year. Whether the pricing had not been finalized in the Summer or they discovered they are not selling enough, those prices will hurt their bottom line.
Since most people will start to think of them less as something to have often, ’cause they are delicious, and think of them as something to have seldomly as a «special treat.» Again, hurting their bottom line, since really, the main reason most customers would come and what sets them apart is NOT their drip coffee.
I am certain their overhead is higher than a regular coffee shop, the location they are now has been known for having higher than usual turnover possibly due to limited traffic and I doubt their locals will be buying $ 8 floats for their families on every visit.
Although the B&B is cute, has that retro charm and the couple who owns it are very friendly…
where they stand now, I do see them having issues in the future if they continue at those prices.
I wish them the best.

Lovely vintage décor. I had the soup and sandwich which were quite tasty and very reasonably priced. I will definitely be making this place a staple!

Root n Cola Float (Kawartha’s French Vanilla)
Lemon Rickey Soda
Lemon Meringue
Smores Tart
So we just had a huge dinner and decided to come here for dessert. Wish we had a smalller dinner because the desserts were absolutely delicious. Lemon Meringue was light and fluffy, Smores was very rich (the wife had this I’m not much for chocolate) The homemade sodas were surprisingly a very nice touch with the desserts. I thought it might be a mistake and too heavy but I was glad I had it.
Best part — The Staff! INCREDIBLY friendly, patient, and just made us feel so comfortable! This is absolutely important to us as it often determines whether we would come back to a place… and we will… SOON!

+Yay! They do terrific New Zealand meat pies and excellent coffe. Definitely going to support this local business.

Love this place, great addition to the neighbourhood. Yummy Kawartha ice cream, amazing Wisey’s pies (try the butter chicken), old-​fashioned soda fountain. Would be nice if they had a few more savoury options!

Bean & Baker could not be any cuter if it tried. It occupies the space that The Bickford Flexitarian used to be in, and they have done a wonderful job of making the space feel inviting. They have vegan options, including vegan whipped cream! The servings are enormous, the staff is a delight, and the atmosphere is A+. Go for the extra malt, you will not be disappointed.
Extra lovely: The first time I visited, one of the people working came out and made a balloon animal (a dog!) for one of the kids in the restaurant.

Love the 50s diner look. Clean place. It’s very family friendly with all kids getting their sugar fix like me. The staff was very friendly and courteous to bring my drink when I was sitting. I went around after dinner. The place is very busy since it’s tucked in the neighbourhood outside
I got a salted caramel truffle milkshake. I actually got the last pie and the last bit of ice cream for the milkshake so I consider myself lucky to get the populars. Friends got banana boar and strawberry milkshake. Apple pie pocket to share for the table. We all liked our drink. Rich and creamy. Loved the crust of the apple pie pocket. The flakes didn’t fall apart and the apples were cooked well and it’s not saucy which I like. I’d definitely get the apple pocket pie again and maybe try a malt shake the next time.

This place is so cute and accents the neighborhood perfectly!
I was waiting to get my emissions test at Guan’s, just down the street, and wandered across this adorable milkshake shoppe. It is conveniently located on a Harbord street corner with ample parking around. I met the owner/​pastry chef and she mentioned that they had opened only two months ago. Both her and the other server were lovely.
I love the décor… It channels a ‘back in the day’ kind of vibe and it is situated right across from Bickford park, so, perfect for a stroll afterwards.
I bought a cherry pastry pocket, which might have been a mistake because it was so good, that it might be addictive. I’m impressed so far. :)
I’m looking forward to coming back one night for a milkshake!

I came here with my family on the weekend. We thought we would try out a few old fashioned sodas and sit in the park and chat.
The drink: we had the lemon Ricky, cherry cola, and a chocolate malt. All were really tasty and prepared right in front of you.
The restaurant: SUPER clean and ultra retro decorations. The staff were insanely friendly and the fella at the counter chatted with my mom for several minutes about their food.
The best part was about 20 minutes later the owner/​manager (not sure) came down to the park with free pastries from the café and thanked us for visiting! Talk about customer service. I’ll be back for sure.

A great little tribute to the quintessential ‘50s ice cream parlour. The malt shake was incredible. Will definitely return to try a sundae … or perhaps the banana split for 4! A few more savoury options — even just fries — would be an added bonus.

One sip of their delicious chocolate malted shake and I thought: «My mother would come back from the grave to drink one of these.» Very surprised by how delicious and creamy it was.

Fresh, light and savory crust for the win! Had a butter chicken pie. Because I enjoy punishing my metabolism. Fantastic service, cute ambience and delicious coffee. Will be going back as soon as I’ve worked off the abundant serving of perfectly crafted pie!

Great little place! Delicious ice cream and shakes.

This place is awesome! I was so disappointed when Bickford Flexitarian closed and my expectations were high for Bean and Baker. Although the vibe is SUPER different, it’s a welcome change! They can make everything on their menu vegan. I had the coconut ice cream float in homemade cherry cola (so good!) with coconut whipped cream on top. The décor, music and sharing a float made me feel like I was in a dream. So so so good.

I had an excellent experience at Bean and Baker today. The staff was among the friendliest that I can recall and seem to take genuine pride in their shakes, floats, etc. They were also very sweet with my little niece, making sure that she got the «right» color of straw, etc. Everything was delicious and the décor is very cute.

I have always loved Bickford park and Grace street, with the houses raised on a slope. Walking through and by this community-​oriented park gives me a really good feeling. Without knowing anything about Bean and Baker, I was narcissistically intrigued by the name as I walked by on opening day. I’ve been around for Linux café and Bickford Flexitarian at the southeast corner of the park and was curious to see what this new incarnation would hold…
There are checked floors, red chairs and red bow ties — you’ve entered the colourful parts of Pleasantville or the Wizard of Oz. I treated myself to a house made soda (flavour: hibiscus — $ 3) and was easily persuaded to try a baked good (a huge and rich bacon and pecan butter tart — WOW $ 4.25). A lot of effort has gone into this shop and I am hoping that they do well. I think families would enjoy bringing their kids here. Remember how much you used to like places like Licks when you were younger? This is even better because there isn’t forced singing (mind you I wouldn’t be opposed to the Beach Boys playing out of the speakers) and there IS artisanal flair and quality.
The staff are noticeably enthusiastic and sincere and it’s pretty adorable how they wear the classic hats and outfits. Everything is made in house except for the savoury New Zealand style pies from Wisey’s and the ice cream from Ed’s Reel scoop. Their sweet hand pies are apparently tasty, as well as cute and only 15 are baked each day. Get ‘em while they’re hot!

Had a great chocolate malted milkshake here. The place has a fun 1950s retro look (right down to the uniforms they wear). They sell a few small pies as well as ‘hand crafted’ sodas and ice cream.

Perfect place for good old desserts, traditional style.
New beautiful old school place on harbord street.
Home made desert with natural flavor. Unbelievably good tasting butter tart and burnt marshmallow ice cream.
Reasonable prices with no embellishment.
Great service.
Perfect for a date !