Morning Parade Coffee doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the band of the same name: it’s more about the parade of people that come through the door for their morning caffeine, and providing a place for them to connect.

The place was formerly the billiards area for a dive bar, which has been transformed into a restaurant space next door.

You can even still see the outline of the entryway where the two spaces used to connect in the wall, exposed brick on the opposite wall set off by murals by local artist Justin Rousseau.

A pretty white La Marzocco espresso machine is a refurbished one passed down from now-shuttered Bandit, keeping the lovely piece of equipment in the neighbourhood (and pulling great coffee).

Sam James Butter Knife is the default for all espresso, double shots for all drinks unless otherwise specified.

Espresso is meticulously weighed out both dry, freshly ground and wet.

Cortados go for $3.75, compacting the flavour of the Sam James beans into a tiny package, balanced out by default three per cent milk. Dairy alternatives are available for a 50 cent upcharge.

Lattes ($4.25) can also optionally be iced for a cooler treat, the flavours of the Sam James coffee still standing out amongst all the ice and milk.

Baked goods come from both Front Door Bakery, a wholesale operation run out of Red Rocket, and Mother Dough.

The latter is responsible for organic raspberry almond croissants ($3.75), very flaky and chock-full of almond paste, made with flour they mill themselves.

Mother Dough also does chocolate macaroons ($2.50) that are basically rectangles of coconut with a layer of chocolate on top and just so happen to be gluten-free.

Front Door supplies chunky, hearty scones ($3.50) in lots of savoury flavours like cheddar bacon, cheddar jalapeno, and cheese and broccoli. 

Front Door also does Nutella brownies, carrot cake ($3.75) and muffins, and Mother Dough supplies vegan brownies ($3.50).

An unsweetened iced berry tea ($3.25) comes from a line of Sloane teas that are meant specifically to be iced and can be made in batches, the cafe also fully stocked with their line of hot teas. 

Hot chocolate starts at $3.75, made with a powdered 66 per cent Dominican chocolate from Soul that yields a much more acidic, fruity hot chocolate with a lot more personality than usual.

Morning Parade Coffee has a capacity of 15 with a pair of little benches for outdoor seating.