Rooms | 17 Baldwin

Rooms occupies a narrow storefront on Baldwin Street that unfolds into three distinct rooms as you walk back from the door. Owners Shun Yu and Nigel Wang, both originally from China, treat each of their Toronto locations as its own character study rather than a repeated formula, filling the space with knick knacks from neighborhood businesses and artwork drawn directly onto spent coffee bags by regular customers.

The front room is bright and quick for a takeaway espresso or croissant, the middle room doubles as a listening lounge with a proper sound system and a DJ booth where a barista pulls pour overs between sets, and the back room goes quiet and soundproofed for anyone who actually needs to work. Ceremonial matcha gets as much attention as the espresso, and a house nitro lemon tea, nicknamed the coffee beer, has become its own kind of signature.