The Nugget is a pocket coffee shop in the garage next to Village Pizza. Covered in eye-catching graffiti by local artist Billy (on Instagram as @eaturpie), the garage door opens early each morning to reveal the word COFFEE in tile at the entrance.

The guys behind Village Pizza, who also own this spot, are no strangers to the coffee business. Before ever selling their first slice, they ran Hub Coffee in Dovercourt Village.

Space is limited but full of personality, stickers all over grinders and espresso machines. The previous landlords viewed the space as a burden, recommending the guys tear it down and turn it into a patio, but they knew the red tape that would entail. 

They’re using Detour coffee here the same as they do at Hub and the same Simonelli machines.

Their Punch Buggy espresso is used for lattes both hot ($4) and iced ($4.50).

Bags of Detour beans are also for sale, along with Black River juices and Hub coffee mugs ($5). Branded Nugget mugs should be available too.

Mixes for walnut carrot date, blueberry and chocolate chip zucchini muffins ($3) are technically made at the Hub location, but are actually cooked on site under the counter using a super high end toaster oven for some serious commitment to freshness and on-site baking.

Pluck supplies English Breakfast, green, chai and more teas for tea ($2.50) and tea lattes ($4).

A vegan spin on an iced capp ($4.50) made in an authentic slushie machine with hot chocolate mix, sugar, a few pots of coffee and coconut milk is the star of the operation for me.

The machine is ideal for the space, and the coconut flavour of the milk blends really nicely with the coffee and hot chocolate.

Apparently when the local artist first painted the garage it was unbeknownst to him that it would become a coffee shop, but his Etsy features products with the slogan “Drink more coffee.”

Expect the art covering the walk-up espresso bar to change up regularly, providing the intersection with both caffeine and an ever-evolving piece of street art.