For ~2 years this Second Cup has been one of my go-to places to get some work done at a spot other than my home office! There aren't a lot of spots to go in the Burnside/Dartmouth North area, especially now that the Darkside Cafe has been closed down. Even if there were though, this coffee shop would still be one of my favourites!
1. The staff here is consistently some of the most genuinely friendly and happy that I've experienced in customer service roles.
2. One of the regular staff is/was bilingual (French/English) and would happily let me practice my French with her when ordering and doing a bit of chatting if it wasn't too busy.
3. There is a nice variety of seating available with electrical outlets near most tables. (E.g. long table for 6+ people, 4-person tables, 2-person tables, four comfortable chairs and a counter along the front window with ~4 taller chairs)
4. They have the best drinks as far as coffee chains are concerned!
5. Their rewards program is easy to use and rewards accumulate quickly.
6. It's in the middle of Dartmouth Crossing, so it's close to lots of shops if you need to run errands or just on the road to Halifax, Dartmouth or Truro.
Some of my favourite things to order are:
- Dark Chocolate Frozen "hot" chocolate
- Orange FroCho (it tastes like drinking an orange Creamsicle!)
- Blueberry muffin (made with Greek yogurt for greater protein content)
- Sumatra coffee
- Vanilla bean hot chocolate
- Pumpkin Spice Latte (I've tried versions from every coffee shops each year & keep coming back to this as the best)
- seasonal maple leaf shortbreads
- Chocolate peanut butter oat cake
- Harvest Berry tea (This is a wildberry tea made with their apple cider mix & it is PHENOMENAL! The perfect drink for one of those grey or rainy days.)
I will admit that I'm not super into their food or baked goods; the former I haven't tried and the latter I find too sweet for my tastebuds. It's why this coffee shop doesn't get 5 stars from me. They do have some gluten-free packaged snacks and I think maybe even fresh fruit.
If you're looking to get a great spot to work and/or a table for more than two people, I would recommend getting here earlier in the morning. I used to go in 8:30/9am and there were only a few people. Around ~10am, the business meetings seemed to start happening, so it gets louder and tables are harder to get.
As for coffee, they usually have a couple of roasts on the go. My favourite (Sumatra) is rarer in rotation. You can also buy bags of your favourite coffee to make at home, which I somehow didn't realize until a year ago! In addition to that, they have coffee makers, accessories, hot chocolate mixes, tea and apple cider mix for sale.
Since this is part of Dartmouth Crossing, it has a huge parking lot in front, so parking can always be found. If you are going through the drive-thru, it is one of the stranger ones I've seen. You go around the building on the far side from the SC and you're supposed to drive into the channel on the right of the road, then back across the road into the channel on that side to reach the point to order. You *can* just turn left into it if there's no lineup, but it is almost 90 degrees, hence the strange channel on the right. When you are exiting the drive-thru, just be aware and stop because it's quite busy with cars moving from three other angles and pedestrians. It's honestly not as bad as I make it sound though! haha
If you're looking for somewhere to get some work done in the Burnside/Dartmouth North area or just have a great drink, this is your spot!
Note: Even in the summer this location is cold because of the refrigeration required. Definitely take a light wrap or cardigan if you're planning to stay. read more