Playgrounds Cafe - Prince George

With plenty of space for the littles to roam(recommended for Children under the age of 5) parents can enjoy a delicious speciality coffee or tea with great baking or lunch. Definitely a must go.

Great coffee - even the more barista level is well done, amazing crepes and other yummy bakery treats. Nice atmosphere as well. Service tends to be slow, especially for a latte; but well worth the wait!

Admittedly, I was apprehensive in reviewing this location. It’s called Play Grounds Café, primarily catering to parents wanting a meal while their kids played…and here I am…a 40+ year-old man with no kids…and who often has lunch alone. That’s appropriate. Like an elderly man sitting on a bench outside an elementary school. Don’t presume unfounded anxiety, I once felt prejudged as a single man walking into a French restaurant. The waiters gave me a wide berth, and I was offered complimentary wine, assuming that I’d been stood up (I’m totally not lying; this happened).As it turned out, the namesake of Play Grounds is divided from the rest of the business, and I found numerous other patrons sporting no offspring. As a precaution, I brought my girlfriend as a wingman. In retrospect, I wonder if the balance of increased business from families is tempered by those avoiding a café defined by those often disrupting a peaceful café experience. I do appreciate it when a café does something different. Place it in a bookstore, fringe it with a chocolatier, I guess it’s something they have to do. Featuring a playpen just doesn’t do anything for me, and obviously so; see my previous paragraph. As for the décor, PG Café (oh, that’s a nice idea) wraps itself in the veneer of the bucolic, rustic café ironically often found in the dead center of major metropolitan centers. It’s almost comedic how clichéd it is, with chalkboards and counters made from wood looking reclaimed from the Fraser. I’m honestly shocked they don’t have a stage with a single plain brown bar stool and an acoustic guitar leaning against a mic stand. Go and look up “rustic café” in Google Image; they all look the same. I’m starting to think it’s a franchise, like barbecue diners and novelty oil and vinegar stores. The rustic trend is popularized because it can conceal some shoddy and annoying décor faults, like couches instead of chairs preventing you from leaning close to a table, and that aforementioned stage that’s way too large and always seems feature that annoying cover band of Mumford & Sons. As I entered the café, I searched around to find that one deal breaker. Counter looked normal enough. Bathrooms were functional. Maybe this place was different. I sat down at the table and—oh my god—the table has wheels! Why does the table have wheels! I can’t even lean forward without kicking the lunch plate from under my girlfriend. I knew it! There had to be something aggravating. So the gimmick is a bust, and outside of that, it’s just another café cliché. What else is there—WHOAW, wait a second! Back up the bus! They have a crepe machine. THEY HAVE!A CREPE MACHINE!Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! The black board is full of them. Savory. Sweet. Ambrosia! On Superman’s ashes, they also have a Ploughman’s Lunch special, and not squeezed in the sandwich board, on its own little adorable miniature board off center from the rest. I have to have that. But I want a crepe to. Okay, girlfriend can have a savory crepe (chicken, bacon, with mozza) while I bet it all on a Ploughman’s and a Nutella crepe. It’s not a prop. They’re actually using that crepe machine. It’s a machine. AND it makes crepes. I used to go on business trips to Vancouver with a friend and he would insist on finding crepes because no one in town made them on a regular basis. And here they have it, an entire menu of them. That’s your gimmick. No need for the playpen. This is the best café in town!What? I don’t know what you’re talking about; the décor is great. I like that rustic style in cafés. I braced my foot under the wheel so it wouldn’t move, all good. Mumford & Sons have some good songs. Maybe those old guys have legit reasons to be on that—I DON’T CARE. They have crepes. I felt like Tom Hanks after he made fire in Cast Away. I haven’t even gotten to the Ploughman’s Lunch, which was more like a charcuterie designed by Andre the Giant—huge cuts of cheeses and meats, saddled with a toasted baguette and flanked by fresh fruits and vegetables. The star of the show was a somewhat confused roasted garlic wrapped in bacon. Well, it didn’t have feelings--it was me that was confused—I unwrapped the bacon and then tried to squeeze the garlic with my fingers. Dumb. Squeeze the garlic, THEN peel the bacon.I love this place. The counter has an amazing display of food, and I appreciate the liquid options not just being fifty shades of coffee. If PG café was in the center of town, it would soak up business like a Shamwow (don’t knock it, one of those things absorbed my dog). Outside of the city center, PG Café depends on its gimmick of also being a children’s jungle gym. I say ignore that. Dismiss your trepidation. Take that extra minute driving. It’s worth it. And with prices bordering on reasonable, you won’t be disappointed. Food: 5/5Service: 3.5/5Presentation: 4/5Value: 5/5Recommendation: 4.5/5

Great quick lunch stop! All fresh and made onsite- great crepe selection__Stopped for lunch while working in the area.

This was our first visit to this cafe and we were blown away got here at 722 am and we got a warm greeting good service the coffee was fantastic and the