Kava Bean Commons - 24 Gaukel St, Kitchener

4.5	97%	4	3.5	3.5

My mom was in town visiting on November 22nd, so we decided to meet for breakfast in downtown Kitchener; we arrived at the Kava Bean Commons just as they were opening on Saturday morning.

I really like the atmosphere of Kava Bean - exposed brick walls covered in art, high ceilings, large windows, and soft light. It is a nice place to grab a coffee and hang out; they have free WiFi as well as delicious coffee in multiple blends and flavours.

It's also very conveniently located by the Charles Street bus terminal; when I was spending time on Greyhounds, I would split my time between Cafe Pyrus and this little cafe.

Our early arrival meant Kava Bean didn’t have their full selection of muffins or bagels done - my mom had to try ordering several options before she found one they had available. Further, their fruit cocktail is just a pre-packaged cup from a fridge, and their breakfast selection is pretty limited (the picture posted is the entire menu) - but I do have to give them leeway score-wise and selection-wise because they are a cafe rather than a diner or full-fledged restaurant. That they serve a hot breakfast at all is a bonus!

My mom ended up ordering an everything bagel with butter, which was nothing special, but definitely better than the bagels they serve at, say, Tim Horton’s.

I ordered the omelette sans ham; it had lots of “stuff” in it, and was cooked fine, but the toast was terrible (just store-bought wheat bread), and the hash browns were standard-from-frozen-and-fried.

I get the feeling hot breakfast at Kava Bean is an afterthought, which is fair, since the coffee more than takes the main stage.

SCORECARD

Atmosphere	Price	Variety	Taste	Flexibility	Service
4.5	3.5	3	3.75	3	4
Cleanliness	Special		Flavour		Courtesy
4	6.49		3.5		4
Ambience	Coffee		Cook		Speed
5	1.99		4		4
	Pancakes		Coffee
	N/A		5
	Omelette		Potatoes
	8.99 (with peppers, onion, mushroom, cheese, ham)		3

TOTAL SCORE: 3.5