Aside from being the capital of iced lattes and yoga pants, Vancouver is also a foodie paradise. Here’s a selection of the best desserts shop in town for whenever you take a closer look at your life and decide a sugarfix is necessary to cope with your despair. Diabetes has never tasted so good.

Grounds For Coffee

They say they make the best cinnamon buns in the World and as much as I hate to endorse a conceited bitch, I must admit this is utterly and absolutely true. Own it, Grounds. There’s not much else to say, really. If you have to make an exception to your new-year-new-me carb-free diet, put down that mojito, this is THE ONE.

They also have comfy chairs, good coffee and a proclivity to agree to give me extra icing when I say please, so I’m planning to move in very soon. I’ll keep you posted.

Grounds For Coffee
Locations: 2565 Alma St or 2088 Commercial Dr
Hours: 7 days a week, from 7:00am to 6:00pm on Alma St and from 7:00am to 9:00pm on Commercial Dr

Cartems Donuts

Okay so I’m all about local organic food to fuel my body like the sacred temple that it is. But when it comes to Donuts, I’m an unapologetically 7/11 kind of gal. It tastes cheap and fake just like my ex it’s supposed to. The only exception I’ll make to this Golden Rule is Cartems Donuts.

They make the weirdest donuts you’ll ever encounter – Honey Parmesan Donut, anyone? – so they might get burned down by the anti pineapple-on-pizza activists pretty soon. Since they also provide vegan and gluten free options – I mean, this is Vancouver after all – everyone on the 2019 food spectrum should find their match here. Except for donuts haters. But who do those people think they are anyway?

Cartems Donuts
Locations: 534 West Pender, 2190 Main St & 3040 West Broadway
Hours: Open 7 day a week, the hours depend on the day and location, you can find all the info here

Lucy’s Eastside Diner

Blenders are undeniably millennials’ best friends. But drop that pack of Spirulina and forget about all those power protein shakes with which you replace breakfast (I’m really trying not to throw up while writing this). Let’s get things straight:

a. Breakfasts are supposed to be eaten, not drunk. That’s what dinner is for.

b. Blenders are beautiful creatures that deserve to be filled with only the finest things, i.e. ice cream and alcohol. Boozy milkshakes are the best thing ever, especially when they also invite peanut butter and Oreos to the party.

Lucy’s has made it its specialty and you should def try every one on the menu so you can finally agree that Turkey Lurkey is the best one.

They also run the Uncle Grant’s Eating Challenge, which consists of six 4 oz beef patties, six pieces of cheese, 12 pieces of bacon, a side of poutine, a side of mac and cheese and a 26 ounce milkshake. If you conquer this meal in less than 20 minutes, you get it for free and win a Polaroid spot on the Wall of Fame. But let’s stay civilized, shall we?

Lucy’s Eastside Diner
Location: 2708 Main St
Hours: 7 days a week, 24/24

Arbutus Coffee

If you need a break from downtown’s busy vibe, this coffee shop hidden between 7th and Arbutus is the perfect place. The wooden interior is beyond cute, plus it serves good homemade classic pastries like cookies, brownies, scones and banana bread. They even have power bars and gluten free stuff if you want to pretend you care about your health.

Arbutus Coffee
Location: 2200 Arbutus Street
Hours: Weekdays 6:30am-6:00pm – Weekends 7:00am-6:00pm

Cupcakes

Co-founded by two BFFs, this place serves preservative-free cakes in a Hello-Kitty-stars-in-Grease kind of decor. In other words, there’s a lot of pink to process, even for a cupcake shop. But embrace yourself and push that door open because OMFG, you won’t regret it.

There’s literally an army of cupcakes behind the glass counter, waiting for you to buy them. Classics, flavours of the month, cake pops… It’s like the bakery version of The Bachelorette. Even better, since those pastries won’t ever deceive you. I promise you.

My all time favorite is the Caramella, a caramel filled chocolate cake topped with caramel buttercream, a dollop of caramel and sprinkled with praline. They also make mini pre-packs of 12 pieces so you still get fat but in a diversified way.

Cupcakes
Location: 4700 Kingsway
Hours: Weekdays 10:00am-9:00pm – Weekends: 11:00am-7:00pm