There are a lot of coffee shops in Canmore considering how small their population base is, there are 11 I can think of off the top of my head. Of those 11 however, there is only one that I have visited with the intent of having only a coffee, yet ended up having an entire meal.

The coffee shop I speak of is the Harvest Cafe, a rustic little coffee shop that seems to be a second office to many of Canmore’s real estate agents and mortgage brokers. I completely understand why. Their coffee and espresso is outstanding, but what really sets this little hole in the wall apart is their hot, made to order sandwiches. They have flavors that range from completely vegan friendly, to tuna melts, to “great considering its Alberta” Montreal Smoked meat sandwiches. I wish I could remember the entire menu, because the selections were great.

Harvest also has some nice finishing touches. Ceramic mugs if you are staying instead of the environmentally hazardous paper alternative, complimentary bottles of ice water (similar to Pucinellas) you can take to your table and pour at your own pace, and baked from scratch pastries.

What I really loved though was that they were dog friendly, inviting us to bring our 9 month old lab Ca$h onto the patio while we ate. Apparently a lot of Canmore is dog friendly, but still, it blew me away. They even brought out a water dish just for her, pouring the water from the bottle of water sitting on our table.

If you are driving through Canmore and you are looking for a great place to stop for a coffee make sure you drive by the Tim Hortons, past the Starbucks, and right to this little gem of a coffee shop nestled in one of Canada’s most beautiful towns.

Happy eating!

Nolan