Restaurant Review: Dirtbag Café
DIRTBAG CAFÉ 10505 107th Street ~ dirtbagcafe.ca Instagram: @dirtbagcafe ~ Twitter: @DirtbagCafe Co-Diners: The E.A.T Crew
Who doesn't love a cozy cafe? I know that I'm always on the lookout for a comfortable spot to get a nice coffee and some tasty treats. Dirtbag Café is pretty unique because you'll find them located inside of a rock climbing gym in Central McDougall (just north of downtown) called Boulders Climbing. So if you're into rock climbing and cafes, this is truly the place for you. VUE Weekly voted Dirtbag Café as #1 Best Coffee Shop 2018 and #1 Best Chili 2018. However, much to my dismay, they no longer sell the chili. I visited the cafe for lunch on a chilly Thursday afternoon and was immediately enveloped by the warmth of the space upon entering. The cafe is quite large and streams of sunbeams pour in from all of the windows. There are plenty of tables as well as comfy couches for seating, tons of mixed wood, pops of turquoise, and edison bulbs hanging from everywhere. The space is extremely bright and there are live plants... It's all very fresh and lovely. When you're inside of the cafe section you would never know that there is a climbing gym just around the corner. We paid a visit to the counter to place our order, then grabbed a table. The staff was friendly and it wasn't long before our drinks were up and our food began to arrive. First: coffee. The cafe makes a bunch of smoothies but I was definitely in a coffee mood and went straight for the Mocha ($5.25 for small), which is always my jam.
First of all, their mugs are adorable and I loved the perfect branding. Secondly, this was a great coffee! It wasn't too sweet and I liked the robust, creamy flavour from the coffee and chocolate. I'm no coffee expert but I can usually tell when a coffee is "good." This one was very nice and I would certainly order it again. Dirtbag gets their coffee from Roasti Coffee Co. in Sherwood Park and I absolutely appreciated seeing that they're using a local roaster for their beans. I feel like Edmonton has really stepped up its coffee game in recent years and it's very cool to see. Next, because I couldn't have chili, I wanted to try something that was more of a full-on food item. The Breakfast Sandwich ($5.00) seemed like a great option and quite unique to the cafe itself.
You could also add bacon for $1, which I went ahead and did. This was a great breakfast sandwich. It came out warm and the biscuit really was the star. Soft and crumbly, I loved the texture and the big cheddar flavour was totally there. A breakfast sandwich on a biscuit is just good!! Inside was a cheesy, fluffy egg and salty cured bacon. The sandwich was simple but really gave me everything that I could have possibly wanted. Plus the price is pretty reasonable. I'd grab one of these any day. Lastly, I wanted to try something sweet and was easily sold on the Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie ($3.00).
This was a good cookie. Soft and chewy, with little crunches of peanuts throughout. I liked the added oatmeal for texture and the whole thing was packed with peanut butter flavour, which I love. You can't go wrong with a solid cookie like this. I enjoyed my visit to Dirtbag Café a lot. Their laid-back and comfortable atmosphere is almost the best part because it really feels like a place that you can settle into. The coffee was very good and so was the food. I would like to see a bit more for food options (bring back the chili so that I can try it!) but I would also say that they're doing a pretty great job with what they have right now. This is a perfect spot for a cozy afternoon and worth a try.
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