8 BEST CAFES NEAR THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

THE GRAD SCHOOL GUIDE

BY: LAETITIA DANDAVINO-TARDIF

During the school year, we get caught up with our studies and often end up hiding between the stacks at Robarts Library. I recommend changing up your work environment and taking a coffee break to have a team meeting or a chat with friends! Here is a list of my favourite coffee shops to go in between classes to get a boost of caffeine.

All within walking distance of campus, what I appreciate about these locations is that they offer great coffee (obviously!) and have free Wi-Fi! Some are quiet and ideal to study, while others, more busy, are sources of inspiration thanks to their lovely décor and atmosphere.

Within a 5-minute walk: 

L’Espresso Bar Mercurio
321 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M5S 1S5

This café is perfect for a chat with friends or for a team meeting as they have a bookable private room. Yet, it is less ideal for long hours of study. I usually grab something to eat with my coffee as they have a great meal selection. The best part is that they offer 20% off on food with your student ID!

A post shared by sydney bradshaw (@sydneyalena) on Jul 8, 2017 at 10:36am PDT

b Espresso Bar
273 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M5S 1W2

This charming hidden gem is located in the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Atrium. With a lot of light coming in through the roof, this is an ideal location to study. I like to admire the architecture of the old building while enjoying my coffee.

A post shared by Matt (@elusivewords) on Feb 8, 2018 at 10:20am PST

Diabolos’ Coffee Bar
15 King's College Cir, Toronto, ON M5S 3H7

This hard-to-find student-run café is located in the Junior Common Room of University College. While it gets busy during lunch hour, there are always students studying at the large tables throughout the day. It also has a microwave to heat up your lunch. Fun fact: a friendly dog hangs out there sometimes!

A post shared by U of T Student Life (@uoftstudentlife) on Oct 23, 2017 at 8:09am PDT

Within a 10-minute walk: 

Café 059
1 Spadina Crescent, Toronto, ON M5S 2J5

This student-run café is located at the beautiful new University of Toronto’s Daniels Building. With very affordable coffee and baked goods, I enjoy staying in the lobby to study or taking my coffee with me to the Eberhard Zeidler Library There is also a microwave by this café if you want to heat up your lunch!

A post shared by laura jean marie (@laurajeanmarie) on Feb 18, 2018 at 5:29pm PST

Goldstruck Coffee
130 Cumberland St, Toronto, ON M5R 1A6

Tucked away in a half-basement in Yorkville, Goldstruck has dim lighting, is cozy, and is a great place to relax. With many tables and a larger one at the back, I enjoy that they each have an electric outlet to charge a computer.

A post shared by Eunice Villegas (@villegase_) on Feb 23, 2018 at 8:41am PST

Within a 20-minute walk: 

Jimmy’s Coffee (McCaul location)
166 McCaul St, Toronto, ON M5T 1W4

While Jimmy’s has many locations across Toronto, I like the one on McCaul because it is less crowded than the other locations, but still offers delicious coffee. I always try to grab the table hidden behind the fireplace, which is ideal for team meetings.

A post shared by Doris LW🕊 (@blissinlace) on Apr 8, 2018 at 12:24pm PDT

Café Pamenar
307 Augusta Ave, Toronto, ON M5T 2M2

Located in Kensington Market, this café is also a gallery with constantly changing photography exhibitions. When the weather is nice, I like to study on the café’s back patio (and the Wi-Fi reaches outside). However, as it turns into a bar at night, laptops are not allowed after 8 PM.

A post shared by Eat with Laetitia (@leti.eat) on Mar 29, 2018 at 3:06pm PDT

FIKA Cafe
28 Kensington Ave, Toronto, ON M5T 2J9

You might have heard of this café before or seen pictures of their famous book pages wall. The back room, with its large table, is ideal for working and is quite inspiring. However, in the heart of Kensington Market, it is often busy. If the weather is nice, you can work on their cozy patio (with Wi-Fi connection also available)!

A post shared by Laetitia (@letite) on Mar 8, 2018 at 6:37pm PST

Going to these cafés is also a great way to explore the city and make the most of your time in Toronto during your Masters of Museum Studies.

For more of my favorite places around Toronto, you can check my Instagram blog: @leti.eat.

Enjoy!

THE GRAD SCHOOL GUIDE: VIEWS FROM THE STACKS

THE GRAD SCHOOL GUIDE

BY: EMMA HOFFMAN

            Hey friends! Welcome back to The Grad School Guide: a place where you can sit back, relax, and learn about all things related to the wonderful world of higher education. In the second edition of the 2016 guide, we’re going to talk about the best places on campus to eat and study: perhaps the two things that take up most of a grad student's time (other than classes, that is).

            I have always been a notorious and un-repenting “in-class eater” and I want to share the passion I have for food with all of you lovely readers. During my undergrad, I was known as “that girl who always eats during class” and my reputation has not changed as I have become older, and hopefully wiser, during the first year of my MMSt. This article also serves as an apology to anyone who has been stuck beside me during a lecture and had to listen to me masticating everything from a granola bar to a full-sized bowl of udon noodle soup.

           As we know, our good ol’ Faculty of Information is located in the Claude Bissell Building, connected to Robarts Library. We second years also know that as grad students, sometimes we feel like we don’t have time (even though we definitely do) to wander beyond the walls of this building (especially during the winter!) on our everyday quest for basic sustenance. Although our faculty has a library of its very own (the Inforum, located on the fourth floor), UofT has a whopping total of 44 libraries with copious amounts of resources and interesting study spots galore.

           With this article, I aim to introduce MMSt students, new and old, to spaces other than the Robarts cafeteria and the Inforum. Why? Because we all need to break out of our normal routines and change it up once in a while. If you want to cue up the song “Breaking Free” from High School Musical and play it while reading the rest of this article, now would be the time to do so.

Helping you lovely readers enjoy this article more than I presume you already are. Source.

            Together, we are about to embark on a journey towards curating the ideal grad school experience, outside of the classroom. So without further ado: let’s get to studeating (a portmanteau of studying and eating that I just made up for my own entertainment, and because I enjoy laughing at my own jokes way too much).

WHERE TO STUDY...

Gerstein Library
7 King's College Circle

Although this library is known as the “science and information centre,” it’s anything but a sterile environment. With glass enclaves that face directly onto Queen’s Park Crescent, this library can provide a quiet and serene study space for anyone who wants to study in a bit more of an anonymous setting and change it up from the chatty environment that the Inforum can often foster.

A view of one of the quiet study enclaves in Gerstein. Source.

John W. Graham Library at Trinity College
6 Hoskin Ave.

Another nice and quiet spot to indulge in a study session (sensing a theme here?), Graham Library is a great place to hunker down in a cubicle and seriously get your study on. Its beautiful early-19th century facade doesn't hurt either. I recommend taking a study break to contemplate your life choices in front of the reflective pool and fountain (!) at the front of the building, or at one of the tables outside in the courtyard.

A view of Gerstein and its reflective pool from the courtyard. Source.

Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport
100 Devonshire Place
I know what you're thinking: "studying at the gym? That's just nuts." Well I'm here to prove you wrong. Not only is Goldring a hip new athletic facility, it also has a seating section on the main floor that is ideal for some post-cardio essay-writing, and that overlooks the Kimel Family Field House where basketball and volleyball games are played.

Goldring in all its glory. Source.

WHERE TO EAT...
Innis Café
2 Sussex Ave.

Located on the opposite side of Sussex Ave. from the Faculty of Information, this family-run café serves up healthy and hearty meals, made-to-order. The super sweet caf staff supply a menu of everything from breakfast sandwiches and freshly squeezed juices to burgers and quesadillas, all for a student-friendly price.

Someone else snapped an awesome photo of my favourite meal at Innis: the chicken skewers with salad and grilled vegetables. Source.

Diabolos Coffee Bar
15 King's College Circle
This student-run, fair-trade coffee shop in the Junior Common Room at University College sells coffee and snacks that will make you feel good too. If you're looking to "break free" (hope you're still listening to High School Musical!) from your usual caffeine-run to the Starbucks in Robarts cafeteria (and you might want to after a while), this is a great alternative.

View of Diabolos. Source.

Food Trucks
Looking for a break from the great indoors of the Faculty of Information but don't have time to head too far away? Roll on over to any of the food trucks that line the streets of St. George from Bloor to College. Anyone who has seen me during lunchtime knows that I eat the shwarma platter from the food truck right outside the entrance to Claude Bissell more often than I would like to admit in a public blog post. 

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Kee's food truck on St. George. Source.

This article serves as a mere appetizer to the varied array of restaurants and study spots in and around UofT campus, so please sound off in the comments if you have any recommendations that you wish to share. Stay tuned for the next edition of the Grad School Guide on July 15th and stay cool, first-year friends.