After months of slow days and mounting costs, the owner of a popular queer-owned neighbourhood bar-bistro in Toronto’s downtown east end says the future of her café is far from guaranteed.
Buvette Pacey opened in late 2023 in a small storefront near Queen and Parliament, in the former Runner Market space. Late last month, owner Shabri Kapoor (better known to regulars as “Pacey’s mom” thanks to the café’s cute canine mascot) posted a candid appeal on Instagram. In it, she told followers that “our little spot is struggling,” in part due to low foot traffic and high rent, and that unless things pick up in the next two months, she may have to shut the café’s doors for 2026.
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“We know it’s a struggle for everyone right now, but anything you can afford to spend with us will help towards keeping us open and part of this community,” Kapoor said in the post, noting that any money people can afford to spend at the café over the next couple of months will go directly toward keeping it open and rooted in the community.
“Personally, of everything Buvette has accomplished so far, I am most proud of the community we’ve been able to foster– creating a safe & friendly Third Space for so many of you (and if I’m being honest– the safe space I didn’t know I so desperately needed myself). We love being your sapphic wine bar; your Wednesday chess club; your daily coffee fix; your makeshift office for those gloomy WFH days, when you need a martini to get through that last meeting.”
“If you’ve visited us over the last 2 years and enjoyed your time here, we would LOVE to see you from now until January: bring your friends, your families, and of course, your pups! Make reservations. Book your holiday parties with us. Buy wine from our bottle shop. Check out our new holiday wine packs. Treat yourself to a coffee or cocktail from our curated menu.”
Kapoor ended her post with a promise to continue nurturing the “beautiful East-End community” if the café keeps going through the next year, saying patrons can expect more pop-ups, events and “more magic.”
The café runs as a neighbourhood coffee shop, serving espresso drinks, chai and matcha lattes made with beans from local roaster Fahrenheit Coffee. Wine and beer service runs from 11 am until closing, with a list that leans heavily toward low-intervention wines. You can also enjoy seasonal cocktails (starting at 5 pm) alongside a snack menu that highlights queer and BIPOC producers, like empanadas made by the bar manager’s mom, dips from local kitchens and cheeses sourced from indie Toronto shops!
The response to Kapoor’s appeal was immediate.
“You’re one of our faves and an essential in the neighbourhood! “ Hang in there!!” one user commented, while another promised, “I will be there much more often for breakfast. Such a gem in the neighbourhood and would hate to lose it.” A third chimed in: “Noted. Will spread the word, and will pick up some wine for my holiday gatherings!”
Toronto author and LGBTQ advocate Rowan Jetté Knox, who also co-owns the east-end bookstore-bar Understory, posted a heartfelt slideshow about Buvette Pacey to Instagram.
The slides spotlight the café’s cute interior, seasonal drinks, sapphic wine nights and pastry case (“And their scones,” one caption notes), before ending with a simple plea: stop in for a drink and help keep the space alive.
“So much love for queer-owned small business,” he wrote in the post.
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Buvette Pacey is located at 141 Berkeley St, near Queen and Parliament.
