It was a nice, sunny day, the day we decided to go to the Java Connection. It immediately felt right, with its friendly and vibrant atmosphere and the sense of community.  

At the front, tables of two and of four lined up in two rows to allow for ample room to visit and to lunch. There is the choice of stools at a counter directly in front of the entrance-way, if you wish to sit side by side.

Further in, there is a larger table with good-sized chairs and on our visit the area was occupied by two young women and their toddlers and babies. Everyone seemed happy to be there. As did the group of people at the back, nestled in large leather couches and chairs, large cups of coffee in hand.

Java Connection has art on the walls and witty and artistic cards in a rack that I very much enjoyed looking through.  

The colours everywhere are bright and calm, all at the same time.

I checked out the menu at the front while I waited for my companion to arrive. Some options are written on a board at the back wall of the service counter. As well, there are daily specials and coffee choices on small, but easy to read signs. The women behind the counter were brisk and busy and smiling and chatting and the whole place had a sense of fun, familiarity and frivolity.

Friends were greeting one another and strangers were smiling at each other and one lady from out of town offered to share her table with me, out of friendship.  My companion arrived just as I snagged a window table.

The choices of food were enough that we had to think hard on what to choose. Specials? Tried and true? Vegetarian? Gluten-free?  

And the coffee. Well, they had Bean North coffee so we knew it was excellent. The prices of the dishes were low enough that it was affordable to order two separate options which, of course, made for another round of “What shall we have?’  There are soups, sandwiches, paninis, muffins, salads and more – and all kinds of fresh baked goods.

My companion chose the chickpea soup with coconut and I settled on the quinoa salad with coconut curry dressing. But, as soon as I finished it, I couldn’t resist ordering a bowl of the soup as well. I’d snuck a taste of my companion’s soup and just had to have some of my own.

We ordered and paid at the counter and the food was quickly brought to our table.   While we were there, we saw many people come in for coffee and lunches to go and it all went quite quickly. However, we didn’t feel rushed to leave our table.

The lighting was nice and the view out the (very clean) window was lovely. We were happy to take a moment out of our lives and enjoy the ambience and convivial atmosphere.

Java Connection is open Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is located at 3125 Third Avenue and offers breakfast, lunch, coffee breaks and takeout.

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