Cafenara - Terrace

Cafenara was a real haven, after a long hot drive on a scorching August day down from Nisga'a stylish and quirky surroundings and a real touch of character, blessed air conditioning after the 36C heat outside, and best of all some delicious crisp fresh bowls of Vietnamese salad with crunchy peanut toppings and a tasty dressing big bowls too. Three of us tucked into these gratefully while the fourth member of the party wolfed down a bowl of thick and delicious homemade soup. All of us had coffees too nice coffees. Just what we needed, and clearly a popular place with lots of locals too. It was humming. Definitely somewhere to come back to if we're up in this part of BC again.

One thing I’ve noticed about Terrace eateries is that a lot are met with rave reviews – at least on sites like this – and I’m left wondering why? To be fair that doesn’t happen to me all the time, but it’s happened enough in this town that I’ve noticed the pattern. Cafenara was one of those places that left me with a question mark hovering above my head. With so many 5-star reviews, I seriously thought I was going to be in for some kind of treat, but I left thinking “this place is just your typical coffee house . . . except it also happens to sell sushi of all things.” While the sandwiches are fine, they’re not anything remarkable, nor were the baked goods I tried. The cranberry cream cheese squares are a case in point. They sound good in theory, but I found them to be quite dry. The one shining point for me? I enjoyed my smoothie – appreciated that it was made with real fruit and was a pretty large serving. Besides that, there wasn’t too much that stood out to me. The place is pretty popular with the locals (must be the “organic coffee?” , but I didn’t particularly care for the setting. The place looked kind of junky to me: giant burlap sacks lined up against the walls, paper signage everywhere and a centralized utensil and garbage disposal unit plopped almost right in the center of the coffee shop. The general utensil bin was off-putting – you know, just grab your fork and knife from a large bin. Who knows where other peoples’ hands have been? As well, the garbage – located on the same “island” – was overflowing. So, in that sense, the atmosphere of Cafenara was quite unimpressive. FOOD: 2.75/5 (decent smoothie SERVICE: 3/5 VALUE: 2.75/5 (again, good smoothie RECOMMENDATION: Simply put, there are better coffee shops in Terrace (try Xanders that, on top of having better food items, are much cleaner, too. Maybe I’m missing something, but I just don’t get this place’s popularity?

Such a great place to go and have a seat, beverage and snack. Or Lunch! Comfortable atmosphere and you feel good solo as well as if you come with friends or even a meeting. So much diversity in the coffee and tea menu as well as the daily lunch menu. The bakery counter is always stocked with treats and deli foods! Love it! I also love the magazine browsing selection!

Excellent place to relax by yourself or meet up with friends family for coffee, snack or lunch. Delicious daily specials. My favourite is the chicken teriyaki stir-fry crazy rolls on a Saturday afternoon. Also offer a variety of wraps, baked goods desserts. Very helpful friendly owners staff. Free wifi.

Nothing but good to say about this place, especially the service, the atmosphere, and the friendly clientele that you're likely to meet on your way in or on your way out.