With a latte love: A community-minded cafe in the Beaches

Written by: Gabby Peyton

A cacophony of cafe sounds tinkled in the background as co-owner Leslie Grant described a typical morning at Judy’s Beach Cafe in Toronto.

“As I look around right now, all our tables are full. We’ve got a couple gentlemen in the corner having a little business meeting, a couple of women in the front window—one’s got a little baby, and someone sitting with their laptop,” she explains. 

When Grant and her business partner Donna Shannon Paterson opened their cafe in the Beaches neighbourhood last September, there was a lot of press. Judy’s Beach Cafe is a registered charity and employs people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They both expressed the desire to create a community in their cafe, and seven months later, it sure seems like they have.

Grant and Shannon Paterson are lifelong friends and have always had this idea – they’re both retired educators who spent decades working with children. “Both our careers have revolved around helping students reach their full potential,” says Grant. She was in Special Ed., as was Donna. “That’s been our passion all along.”

Shannon Paterson is the third child of 12 in her family; the youngest, named Judy, was born with Down syndrome. Judy lived with their mother, but when she passed away, Judy spent time living with each of her siblings.

“Judy would spend 37 days each year with the 10 remaining siblings. So when Judy would come to Toronto to spend her 37 days with Donna—Donna was still teaching at the time—so I would go and pick up Judy and take her for the day, go on walks. I got to know her very well,” Grant recalls fondly.  

Judy passed away in 2024 at the age of 51, but her enthusiasm for her work at a local flower shop in Montreal and zest for life are the cafe’s namesake and legacy. “We wanted to open a cafe, and employ other people like Judy, and give them a chance.” 

The cafe is set up as a non-profit, and Grant and Shannon Paterson are volunteers, though they work at the cafe full-time. They employ 10 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities: “Typically one on shift at a time, so it’s a normalized experience for them,” explains Grant.

They knew they needed to set up as a charity right away, as their business model is quite different from your standard cafe. Judy’s Beach Cafe has three times the number of employees working on any given shift. The individuals with disabilities need support and mentoring, but they also earn a wage—minimum wage with tips. “The fact that it’s non-profit is necessary for this business model,” says Grant.

The Judy’s Beach Cafe employees with intellectual and developmental disabilities don the title of “Cafe Assistant,” and the owners’ main mission is to help raise awareness of the importance of people like Judy having meaningful (and paid) work.

“They want to work. I remember one of our first interviews with one of our employees. She came in with her sister for support and said that it was their 200th application,” recalls Grant. “Businesses don’t want to take the leap because of the cost of training and risks associated with it. It’s daunting for a small business, but you will never find a more loyal and dedicated employee.”

Grant says the staff typically come in early, and are so grateful to have a job where they feel useful. They find meaning and purpose, their families get a break, and there’s also a greater social impact. “It means that individuals need less government support, and the family needs less support, so it benefits everybody,” says Grant.

“What I’m hoping is other businesses will look at us and say, ‘Hey, we can do that!’”

Both Grant and Shannon Paterson live in the Beaches and knew that the neighbourhood would embrace their project. “It’s a quieter neighbourhood than downtown,” explains Grant. They were focused on specifically not being a grab-and-go kind of place. “People come in there for the connection.”

“I think it’s important that both Donna and I live here,” says Grant. “We run into customers along the boardwalk. The other day, I ran into someone at the printing store. We get to know our customers.”

“The community has really embraced our mission, and they’ve come to support it. We get donations from the community because we’re a registered charity,” says Grant. “The food is fantastic; the coffee is fantastic. We worked really hard on that piece. People come initially to support the mission, but they come back because it’s just so great.”

Speaking of the food and coffee, they keep everything as local as possible. Judy’s Beach Cafe gets many of its pastries, sandwiches and salads from Circles and Squares, a beloved bakery and wholesaler based in East York. They also have local suppliers that provide vegan and gluten-free options, like Bunner’s Bake Shop, Sweets from the Earth and Tori’s Bakeshop, a plant-based bakery also located in the Beaches neighbourhood.

“We’ve also got a beautiful espresso machine that you need a PhD to operate, but our baristas are doing a fabulous job with it,” Grant laughs. “Everybody raves about the coffee.” The beans are locally roasted by Mountain View Estates Coffee, and the owner just happens to live in the Beaches, so there’s no missing out on espresso if they forget to get their order in.

So, what do the next five years look like for Judy’s Beach Cafe? Grant hopes they continue the status quo, honing their barista skills and developing the community aspects of the cafe. They have lots of regulars who visit multiple times a week, and they’ve started hosting events – last week, a musician came and did an hour of children’s music. They’ve also hosted writer’s groups and political events.

“Two moms with Down Syndrome babies met each other at the cafe for the first time,” explains Grant. “So they meet at the cafe regularly to support each other on this journey, and they’ve reached out to other moms too. If we can be a hub for folks dealing with disabilities, that would be fantastic.”

They’ve also learned a lot about the seasonality of cafe ownership, which comes with a sharp learning curve about staffing. That said, there’s a patio license application with the city for the summer, so one thing is for certain: Judy’s Beach Cafe will continue to be a community hub, with a whole latte of love surrounding it.

Presented with support from:

Leslie Grant, owner of Judy’s Beach Café, appreciates that Square’s interface is easy to use and can be customized for her business.

“This means we can use photos on the iPad which allow our cafe assistants with disabilities to be more comfortable on till,” she shares. “This, in turn, gives them an opportunity to interact with customers and makes our mission more visible to the community.”

With Here for the Good Stuff, Square is not only celebrating hospitality businesses but investing in the stories of operators who help make Canadian neighbourhoods feel distinct, connected, and alive. In collaboration with MENU Magazine, the campaign shines a light on iconic and emerging businesses whose impact reaches far beyond their walls.

Gabby Peyton is an award-winning author, food writer and culinary historian based in St. John’s, NL, where she’s always planning her next trip to eat. Her work on travel, dining and history has appeared in The Globe and Mail, Canadian Geographic, and EnRoute Magazine. Gabby’s first book, Where We Ate: A Field Guide to Canada’s Restaurants, Past and Present, is a bestseller and chronicles the history of Canadian dining through the stories of 150 restaurants nationwide.

Follow Gabby: @gabbypeytoneats