5 Things That Could Go in the Former Coffee Culture Location on Queen and Main

When Coffee Culture on Queen and Main closed its doors, it left Bramptonians wondering what would take its place.

A few new restaurants have opened this year in downtown Brampton, like Wendel Clark’s, Spicy Island Jerk Caribbean Fusion Cuisine, Trish Juice, and Sunset Grill.

Earlier this year, many Bramptonians thought that Sunset Grill might take Coffee Culture’s place, but were pleasantly surprised to see it open at Queen and George instead. The Coffee Culture space has remained vacant for months now.

Whether Coffee Culture will be replaced with another cafe, a restaurant, or something totally different is unknown to the public (perhaps even something to do with Brampton’s upcoming university??), but that doesn’t mean we can’t hope and speculate.

So, what are five businesses we’d love to see open in place of Coffee Culture? Here are our picks (in no particular order):

Disclaimer: There is no indication these options are coming, this is just a wishlist of sorts.

5. An Irish Pub with Nightlife

We don’t have many options for pubs with nightlife in Brampton. With a huge portion of our population under the age of 35, a low-key pub with nightlife on weekends could take off in Coffee Culture’s place. Though Fionn Maccools has a DJ on weekends at Ray Lawson and Hurontario, and Wendel Clark’s has the occasional band, something more central to the downtown core would be convenient for a lot of people, and provide another option for drinking and dancing. A great example of this is Failte in Mississauga – they have lots of seating, a few bars within, a small dance floor, and live bands on weekends. Personally, I love live bands, and I’d love to see more of them locally, preferably with a cold brew in hand.

4. Record Store or a Bookstore

With all of the culture in downtown Brampton, I’d like to see something independent and artsy join the scene. A independent vinyl store would fit nicely in the space, or even an independent bookstore where customers can get cozy with a novel in a comfortable seating space. Something similar to Sonic Boom on Spadina for a vinyl shop, or Book City on Danforth for a book shop, would be a fresh addition to our core – somewhere residents of any age can take a stroll, support a local business, and have as a new local retail hub.

3. A Comfort Food Restaurant

Sure, downtown Brampton boasts some great poutine, Thai food, a few chains, and a selection of Italian restaurants, but it’d be interesting to see a comfort food restaurant pop up, like Bannock in Toronto. Bannock is a casual dining experience, with Canadian-inspired and global comfort foods, and their menu is varied with pizza, noodles, sandwiches, and meat. Bannock also has a cafe with take-out. Having a casual comfort food option in downtown Brampton would offer yet another independent and unique food option in the core of our city, which I don’t think we can have too much of – yum.

2. A Paint Lounge

A lounge dedicated to alcohol and painting would provide a convenient activity option for everyone in Brampton, any night of the week. A few paint lounges exist in Toronto, Visual Arts Brampton holds the occasional paint night, and Paint Nites happen at certain pubs, but having a space dedicated to painting would be a lot of fun. The lounge could hire local artists to host paint nights, and it’d be a great spot for couples, groups of friends, a group of coworkers for team buildings, or even a solo casual Wednesday night after work. Downtown Brampton could use more options for activities, and a paint lounge could add that mix to the scene. Also, people in neighbouring cities might be attracted to the unique space, and come to explore what else our city has to offer, creating a more lively atmosphere in our downtown core.

1. An Independent Cafe

Where one cafe closes, another opens, right? With Coffee Culture closed, the main cafes that remain in the area are Starbucks and T by Daniel. While all of these are both great, Starbucks is very chain, and T by Daniel serves tea and cookies. It’d be great to have another independent option for coffee, snacks, comfortable seating, the occasional open mic night, and strong WiFi, similar to the Cold Pressery or Studio.89 in Mississauga. With such a central location and the fact that a coffee shop was already there, there’s potential for good traffic at an independent cafe at Queen and Main.