Fixx Cafe at Yonge and St.Clair is a relatively new cafe that's generating a lot of steam on this part of Yonge Street. With a Timothy's directly across the street, Fixx Cafe maintains an incredible level of cleanliness and order to ensure it remains competitive on this strip of Yonge.

The first thing to notice about Fixx is its clean, modern design and semi-open kitchen. Behind the counter is a shiny two-group Simonelli WBC Aurelia machine (with no automatic override), and fresh quiches, sandwiches and pastries behind glass.

As I walked up to the counter, I ordered a single shot and was asked to sit down and wait. This is something I'm unfamiliar with in a coffee shop, and it threw me off at first. I wasn't sure if I was being given the brush-off. Did I order my espresso in an overzealous way? Did I annoy this barista? Soon, once owner Tony Memauri clarified that i wanted a single-shot, I figured out what was happening: I was being served - a welcome change in a cafe, if you ask me.

As soon as I took a look at the shot in front of me, I knew what I was in for. The thin-looking crema had no tiger-striping and definitely no elasticity. I've been fooled before, but I was pretty certain this was going to be a lame shot. I was right. This shot had almost no acidity, and a very one-dimensional flavour. It tasted the same from beginning to end, and very seriously lacked any kind of sweetness, but not in a good way. Some blends are buttery, even savoury, but this was nothing short of "bleh."

On the upside, Fixx has a wide, and diverse selection of food to chose from. At the time I was there, everyone in the restaurant was eating, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. With daily soups, quiches and a selection of European pastries, the food really seems to be what attracts people to this upscale cafe, provided the elevator music doesn't turn them away before they order.

The owners of Fixx are so deliberate in the way they run their shop. I saw the owner follow a customer outside to ensure she was happy with the lunch she had just eaten.

If there is one thing this cafe has over many others like it in the city, its customer service. I can honestly say I have never seen anything like it in a coffee shop. Smiling staff and owners dead-set on making you happy make this a cafe worth checking out.

Before I left, I took a quick trip to the washroom to find they directly reflect the clean, modern style of the rest of the cafe. I don't usually write about cafe washrooms but the washrooms at Fixx, along with those at Barista Espresso Bar in Liberty Village, are two of the nicest and best-maintained restaurant washrooms I have ever seen. Nothing is more disgusting to me than a coffee shop with a dark and dirty washroom, and there are many like this.

My overall impressions: A great food menu, a coffee system that needs work, but overall an immaculately clean cafe giving people a nice independent alternative to the corporate chain across the street.

Photos by Dennis Marciniak